On Saturday, October 15, SpaceX launched the European Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13F mission with a previously-flown Falcon 9 rocket. Eutelsat is a a French satellite operator that provides coverage over the entire European continent, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, as well as the Americas. It is the world's third-largest satellite operator that manages a fleet of 36 satellites which broadcast nearly 7,000 television stations and 1,100 radio stations to over 274 million homes around the world. 

The HOTBIRD 13F communications satellite was launched into geosynchronous transfer orbit by the flight-proven Falcon 9 rocket at 1:22 a.m. ET from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. It marked the third launch of the first-stage booster, identified as B1069-3, which previously supported the launch of SpaceX’s 24th NASA Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-24) to the International Space Station and one Starlink mission.

Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/2aK8VZGm3l

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 15, 2022

Approximately eight minutes after liftoff, the Falcon 9 booster returned from space and landed for the third time on the 'Just Read the Instructions' autonomous droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. It was SpaceX's 147th landing of an orbital-class rocket and the 122nd time it has reused a Falcon 9 first-stage booster in its Block 5 fleet. The company is pushing the boundaries of rocketry, it has already flown a couple boosters 14 times which is unprecedented in the aerospace industry. 

Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the Just Read the Instructions droneship pic.twitter.com/R4X0ClHlXk

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 15, 2022

The HOTBIRD 13F satellite was deployed to orbit around half-an-hour after liftoff. The new satellite in Eutelsat's fleet is designed to provide up to 1,000 television channels, including high-definition television broadcasts of 4K video, to over 160 million households across Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East. "Our congratulations to the Eutelsat, Airbus and SpaceX teams for successfully launching our EUTELSAT HOTBIRD 13F satellite into geostationary orbit," said Eutelsat Chief Technical Officer Pascal Homsy. "This satellite brings the latest technology resources of the new Eurostar Neo platform at our leading 13-degree East position and confirms a long-term partnership between Airbus and Eutelsat."

Deployment of Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13F confirmed pic.twitter.com/R2t3PuOl8e

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 15, 2022

Featured Images Source: SpaceX