From Space.com:
SpaceX Launches Super-Heavy Communications Satellite
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from launch pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center here today (May 15) with a communications satellite that will complete Inmarsat's fifth-generation broadband network.
The 23-story-tall booster soared off its seaside launch pad, which once hosted NASA's space shuttles and Apollo moon rockets, at 7:21 p.m. EDT (2321 GMT). It was the sixth of more than 20 missions SpaceX plans to fly this year.
Perched on top of the two-stage rocket was the 13,400-lb. (6,100 kilograms) Inmarsat-5 F4 communications satellite, the heaviest spacecraft yet to be delivered by a Falcon booster into a geostationary transfer orbit some 22,300 miles (35,800 km) above Earth.
Delivering 13,400 pounds to geosynchronous is some incredible heavy lifting. It took all of the rocket's fuel so they were not able to land back on Earth. They seem to be running a good business:
SpaceX, which has now flown the Falcon 9 six times successfully since the launch pad accident, has a backlog of more than 70 missions, worth more than $10 billion. Inmarsat has an option for another future flight with SpaceX.
Beats having to beg rides from the Russians. NASA did get us to the moon as well as developing some incredible technologies but it is time to get big government out of the picture and privatize the space industry. Bring competition into the mix.
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