flown by SpaceX USA

GovSat-1

Success
JAN 31201821:25:00 UTC

Luxembourg government and military communications satellite for the GovSat joint venture, flying to a high-energy supersynchronous transfer orbit of 250 x 51,500 km.

The booster, which SpaceX did not intend to recover, performed a controlled soft ocean landing and unexpectedly remained intact. After initial discussion of a possible recovery attempt, SpaceX chose instead to deliberately destroy and sink the stage.

launched from SLC-40 Canaveral

aboard Falcon 9 Full Thrust F9-048 into GSO

Broadcast

Watch how the launch went

Booster

B1032.2

Splashed down in the sea

Payload

GovSat-1 (SES-16)

Communications

last updated May 30, 2026