Washington. 1st of February. INTERFAX - The American Falcon 9 heavy rocket launched into orbit on Tuesday Moscow time with the Italian COSMO-SkyMed radar surveillance satellite (CSG-2), the SpaceX carrier development company said.
The rocket was launched at 18:11 on Monday, US East Coast time (Tuesday at 02:11 Moscow Time) from the 40th launch complex at the Cape Canaveral Cosmodrome in Florida.
The launch was carried out after its four-time postponement due to adverse weather conditions in the area of the cosmodrome and due to the entry of a marine vessel into the restricted zone.
The satellite of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) is designed to perform tasks for military and scientific purposes. He will mainly monitor the situation in the Mediterranean region.
The satellite will replenish the orbital grouping of similar spacecraft CSG-1, CSG-3 and CSG-4. But at the same time it is an improved version of them. It will be launched into an orbit with a height of 619 km.
Approximately eight minutes after launch, the first reusable stage of the SpaceX launch vehicle, which is being used for launches for the third time, will have to make a controlled vertical landing at the Cape Canaveral cosmodrome.
