Video: Falcon 9 Launches FormoSat-5 & 1st Stage Lands on Pacific Drone Ship
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg Air Force Base at 18:51 UTC on August 24, 2017 on a long-delayed mission with the FormoSat-5 Earth Observation Satellite for Taiwan’s National Space Organization. Checking off its 12th orbital delivery of the year, Falcon 9 injected the satellite into a 720-Kilometer orbit with a single burn of the MVac-powered second stage with spacecraft separation eleven minutes after launch. The rocket’s first stage enjoyed the longest ‘hang time’ of any mission to date, touching down on the Drone Ship ‘Just Read The Instructions’ ten minutes and 48 seconds after launch for future re-use.
