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Copernical Team
Weather clears as SpaceX knocks out overnight satellite launch
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![Credit: CC0 Public Domain rocket launch](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2019/rocketlaunch.jpg)
After a week of stormy weather delays, SpaceX waited just a bit longer but managed an early Saturday liftoff of a satellite to knock out the Space Coast's 26th launch of the year.
A Falcon 9 carrying the Arabsat BADR-8 telecommunications satellite headed for geosynchronous orbit let the winds die down from the opening of the launch window late Friday, but managed to blast off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Space Launch Complex 40 at 12:30 a.m. a little over an hour later.
It was the fourth night launch for SpaceX this month with three previous successful Starlink missions from Cape Canaveral lighting up the sky in the wee hours.
The first-stage booster made its 14th flight with a recovery on SpaceX's droneship Just Read the Instructions down range in the Atlantic Ocean. It was the 195th time the company has recovered a booster from its rockets.
This was the second launch SpaceX has done for Arabsat following what was the first Falcon Heavy launch with a customer in 2019. SpaceX has a third launch contracted for what will be the first of Arabsat's seventh-generation satellites.
China plans to land astronauts on moon before 2030, another step in what looks like a new space race
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![Chinese astronauts for the upcoming Shenzhou-16 mission, from left, Gui Haichao, Jing Haipeng, and Zhu Yangzhu wave as they stand behind glass during a meeting with the press at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Monday, May 29, 2023. China's space program plans to land astronauts on the moon before 2030, a top official with the country's space program said Monday. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein China plans to land astronauts on moon before 2030, another step in what looks like a new space race](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2023/china-plans-to-land-as.jpg)
China prepares to send first civilian into space
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China to send first civilian to space on Tuesday: space agency
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China to launch Shenzhou 16 on Tuesday
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Planet Partners with UAE to build satellite atlas for climate resilience
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NASA Successfully Completes Globetrotting SuperBIT Balloon Flight
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NASA-developed spherical robots to the rescue
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China's hypersonic missiles threaten US power in the Pacific
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NASA's HyTEC Engine Core Project Show Progress
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