elon musk‘s spaceX launched a falcon 9 rocket into space on tuesday marking the aerospace company’s 50th launch since the first rocket flew in june 2010. the mission flew a bus-sized satellite to an orbit 22,300 miles above earth.

 

the rocket took off at 12:33 AM, and deployed its payload 33 minutes later when it’s upper stage deployed the satellite, officially called hispasat 30W-6, into an orbit some 22,300 miles above earth. the satellite will hover above the planet’s surface, providing ‘television, broadband, corporate networks and other telecommunications solutions,’ spaceX said in a press kit for the mission.

 

dubbed the hispasat 30W-6, it marks falcon 9’s heaviest payload ever at 6,092 kilograms (13,400 pounds). this launch also marks spaceX’s fifth completed mission this year, including the test of the falcon heavy, which launched a tesla roadster into space, and the falcon 9’s 50th launch to date.

 

header image courtesy of spaceX/flickr