A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the SES' O3b mPOWER 9 and 10 from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on July 22, 2025 at 5:12 p.m. EDT (2112 GMT).
00:0010, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, lift off, go Falcon, go and power.
00:24Vehicle is pitching downrange.
00:26M1D chamber pressure is nominal.
00:45At T plus 30 seconds and counting, Falcon 9 has successfully lifted off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, carrying the O3B Empower payload.
00:54In just a few seconds, we'll throttle the engines down in preparation for max Q, which is the period of maximum aerodynamic pressure.
01:04This is a critical moment during flight because the combined stress is caused by Falcon 9 accelerating through the atmosphere, and the ambient static pressure are at their greatest.
01:24Max Q.
01:27And there's the callout for max Q.
01:29Now, the rocket typically needs to go 17,500 miles per hour horizontally in order to avoid being pulled back down to Earth and get into orbit.
01:37So, if you like, you can track our progress to orbit by watching the left corner of your display that's showing Stage 1 telemetry.
01:46Now, we have several events coming up in quick succession.
01:49And we should hear all of these called out by Mission Control, starting with main engine cutoff, or MECO, then stage separation, SCS-1, and fairing separation.
01:59MECO is where we shut down all nine M1D engines on the first stage.
02:04Stage separation is when the first and second stages of Falcon separate from one another.
02:09And then second engine start one, or SCS-1, is when we'll light the MBAC engine on the second stage for the first time.
02:16Less than a minute later, the fairing will then jettison from the second stage, as it's no longer needed to protect the payload once we're in space.
02:22So, let's keep an eye out for these events happening back-to-back in about 20 seconds from now.
02:45Main engine cutoff.
02:47Stage separation confirmed.
02:52.
03:22We should be hearing that call-out for fairing separation in just a few moments from now.
03:29As mentioned earlier, we will be attempting to retrieve these fairing halves once they
03:32fall back down to Earth.
03:34They'll be taken to shore by our ocean recovery vessel, Bob.
03:38Faring separation confirmed.
03:44And a great call-out for fairing separation.
03:51So we are at T plus 3 minutes and 38 seconds into today's mission, and we're currently
03:55in the first of two planned MVAC burns for satellite deployment.
04:00The next major milestone is coming up at T plus 6 minutes and 13 seconds, where you should
04:05see the first stage's entry burn on your screen.
04:08For the entry burn, we'll relight three of the M1D engines, starting with the center E9
04:13engine, followed shortly after by the E1 and E5 engines, which slows down the vehicle as
04:19it passes back into Earth's atmosphere.
04:22You'll be able to follow along with that relight with the graphics along the bottom of your
04:26screen.
04:27We use that re-entry burn to slow down to reduce the re-entry forces, which helps us recover
04:33and reuse the first stage.
04:45SES has collaboratively designed the O3B Empower satellites with their long-standing satellite
04:50manufacturing partner, Boeing.
04:53O3B Empower is built on the proven track record of SES's O3B constellation of 20 MEO satellites.
05:01The first-generation MEO system, O3B, has been delivering high-performance communication
05:06services since 2014 to customers operating in nearly 50 countries today.
05:11SES has been deploying the second-generation O3B Empower services worldwide since April 2024,
05:18with the system's core infrastructure deployed, tested, and in use on a global basis.
05:27Usability is the key to lowering the cost of spaceflight, and the Falcon 9's first stage
05:31that is supporting today's mission will perform this entry burn for its sixth time.
05:36It previously supported SES's Empower mission back in December last year, NASA's Crew 10
05:42mission, SpaceX's Bandwagon 3 ride share, and two Starlink missions.
05:46During the entry burn, Falcon 9 is decelerating by firing its Merlin engines, but the vehicle is still moving really fast.
05:58This causes it to fly through Merlin's exhaust gases, which are also known as the rocket's plume,
06:03and deposits a layer of soot on the vehicle surface, which is why our flight-proven vehicles look the way that they do.
06:09That soot comes from the carbon-based fuel that Falcon 9 uses, and with each flight,
06:14the soot builds up a little bit more on the outside of the vehicle.
06:17Oftentimes, prior to launch, you can see some of that soot from prior flights on the first stage.
06:22Stage 1 entry burn startup. Stage 1 FTS is saved.
06:34And there was the callout for the entry burn startup on the Falcon 9 first stage.
06:38This burn is set to last about 25 seconds, and again is slowing down the vehicle in preparation for its final burn and landing.
06:52Stage 1 entry burn shutdown.
06:59And there was a great callout for the entry burn shutdown, the completion of the Falcon 9 first stage's entry burn.
07:06Coming up next will be CECO 1, or second engine cutoff, in less than a minute, followed by the first stage landing burn.
07:13The Merlins on the first stage are optimized for sea level, and these achieve 190,000 pounds of thrust during ascent and descent.
07:24The MVAC engine on the second stage, however, has a much wider nozzle.
07:28Stage 2 is in terminal guidance.
07:30And is optimized to 120,500 pounds of thrust and vacuum.
07:35Coming up next, we'll start our MVAC engine shutdown on the second stage, followed quickly by the landing burn on the first stage.
07:55We can expect CECO 1... Stage 1 transonic. Stage 2 FTS is saved.
08:10I'm back, shutdown.
08:15We're now coming up on the landing burn for the first stage.
08:19Nominal orbit insertion.
08:23Stage 1 landing burn.
08:26There was a callout for the landing burn start on the Falcon 9 first stage.
08:30And this is the final burn that this booster will see.
08:32Before touching down on our drone ship, just read the instructions.
08:41Stage 1 landing, leg deploy.
08:50Stage 1 landing, confirmed.
08:52And there you saw and heard the callout for a successful landing of our Falcon 9 rocket.
08:59This landing marks the sixth landing for this booster.
09:01There we go.
09:02And here we go.
09:03And this looks really good.
09:05The air had been raditated with the first place.
09:08And let's just add a move on.
09:09And we'll show you this booster.
09:10And make sure that's every member of this booster.
09:11The other hand will continue.
09:12I'll show you a slightly better use of the booster.
09:13All welcome.
09:14And let's do the laser.
09:15And I'll show you the pronounced insert in the next stage.
09:16I'm when the main button Santa Claus 9, 200, 200, 400, 200, 200, 200, 200, 200, 300, 300, 200, 600, 300, 200, 300, 300, 300, 300, 300, 600, 300, 300, 300, 700, 300, 300 here 700, 300, 400, 300, 700, 300, 300, 300, 300, 500, 300, 600, 300 and 300, 300, 600, 600, 400.
