SpaceX Officially Launches Its First Falcon 9 Rocket Of 2025; Sends Thuraya 4 Spacecraft To Orbit
Last month, SpaceX officially launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 21 Starlink satellites to the constellation. And yesterday SpaceX, officially launched its first Falcon 9 rocket of 2025.
Falcon 9 launches @Space42ai’s Thuraya 4 to orbit, completing our first mission of the year! pic.twitter.com/ekVQR6605M
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 4, 2025
This Falcon 9 rocket took off on 3rd January at 8:27 p.m. EST (0127 MT) from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, launching the Thuraya 4 spacecraft to geosynchronous orbit. Thuraya 4 is operated by Space42, a satellite and space services company based in UAE. The satellite will provide mobile communications service throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa for both commercial and government customers.
This was the 20th flight and recovery for this Falcon 9 first-stage booster, and SpaceX’s 341st recovery of an orbital class rocket, including both Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy boosters.
Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship pic.twitter.com/DeNJcdfH6t
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 4, 2025
It is revealed that 8 minutes and 40 seconds after taking off, the Falcon 9 booster returned to Earth for a landing aboard SpaceX’s droneship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” offshore nearby in the Atlantic Ocean.
Roughly 35 minutes and 30 seconds into the flight, the Thuraya 4 satellite separated from the rocket’s second stage and deployed into geostationary transfer orbit where it will then be raisin up to geosynchronous orbit above a fixed spot on Earth.
