SpaceX successfully launched a communications satellite for the country of Qatar Thursday from Kennedy Space Center. The on-time launch was the first daytime launch from the Cape in 6 months.
The payload was a communications satellite for the Middle East, Africa and Europe. A bonus for amateur radio operators in that area: A HAM transponder is part of the payload. In keeping with SpaceX’s reusability plan, the first stage had been flown before. And they landed it again on the Of Course I Still Love You barge, floating out in the Atlantic.
The next launch from the Cape comes in less than three weeks as SpaceX flies cargo to the International Space Station.