SpaceX sends KoreaSat-5A into orbit
and then lands Falcon 9 booster.
>"SpaceX executed its 16th Falcon 9 rocket launch of the year today, sending the Koreasat-5A telecommunications satellite into orbit and then having the first-stage booster fly itself back to an oceangoing launch pad.
The mission marked a doubling of SpaceX’s launch tally from last year and signaled that the California-based launch company is hitting its stride, 14 months after a launch pad accident dealt a setback to the Falcon 9 program.
Liftoff came at 3:34 p.m. ET (12:34 p.m. PT) from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Minutes after launch, the Falcon 9’s second stage separated from the first and sent the 8,000-pound satellite on a trajectory heading for geostationary transfer orbit. Meanwhile, the first stage maneuvered itself for a landing on “Of Course I Still Love You,” a drone ship stationed hundreds of miles off the Florida Coast."<
more:
https://www.geekwire.com/2017/sweet-16-spacex-sends-koreasat-5a-orbit-lands-falcon-9-booster/