A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket thundered to life and vaulted into space early Sunday, boosting a commercial communications satellite into orbit for the Hong Kong-based Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co., the second AsiaSat relay station in a row to be launched by an upgraded Falcon 9.
Running 10 minutes late to give clouds more time to dissipate, the 224-foot-tall rocket's nine Merlin 1D first-stage engines ignited with a brilliant burst of orange flame at 1 a.m. EDT, throttled up to full thrust and quickly pushed the booster away from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air ...
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