SpaceX launches Bulgarian satellite, lands rocket on drone ship

Jot down another double win for SpaceX.

After launching a Bulgarian satellite into space, the company managed to recover its rocket on an Atlantic Ocean drone ship.

The BulgariaSat-1 should be operational within a month.

Pictures: SpaceX launch from Kennedy Space Center
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket into space carrying BulgariaSat-1 from Kennedy Space Center on June 23, 2017.
Roughly 9 minutes, 10 seconds after SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launched at 3:10 p.m. with its payload in tow, video footage at the “Of Course I Still Love You” drone ship showed the launch vehicle had landed.

The launch marks the first of two this weekend for SpaceX, which has another planned for take off from Vendenberg Air Force Base in California on Sunday.

The launch appeared to go smoothly, with the Falcon 9 lifting off from a cloud of smoke and fire on Florida’s Space Coast.

SpaceX recovered the rocket, though CEO Elon Musk tried to tamp down expectations earlier Friday, warning on Twitter that there was a “good chance rocket booster doesn’t make it back.

The launch of a refurbished rocket, which previously launched in California, also marked a small milestone: One rocket that has now launched from both coasts.

SpaceX’s next Florida launch is planned for July 1.

The Bulgaria mission had been delayed multiple times.

BulgariaSat-1 represents the country’s first geostationary telecommunications satellite.

SpaceX has three planned launches from Florida in July.

Officials with Bulgaria Sat, the largest provider of pay-TV services in Bulgaria, blamed weather forecasts for the initial June 15 delay.

The Bulgaria Sat launch marks the second time SpaceX relaunches a rocket booster, following the March 30 relaunch of a booster from Florida.