SpaceX launches SES ASTRA 1P communications satellite from Florida

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - After twice being delayed this week, SpaceX launched the SES ASTRA 1P communications satellite from Florida on Thursday atop a Falcon 9 rocket. 

The launch from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station was initially scheduled for Tuesday.

This mission marked the ninth flight of the first-stage booster, which had previously launched Ax-2, Euclid, Ax-3, CRS-30, and four Starlink missions. 

Post-separation, the booster landed on the Just Read the Instructions droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.

What is the SES ASTRA 1P mission?

According to the Kennedy Space Center, ASTRA 1P/SES-24 is a wide-beam satellite that will bolster SES’s leading TV network. It will allow content creators and private and public broadcasters in Germany, France, and Spain to cost-effectively maintain high-quality satellite TV broadcasting.