A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has blasted off from Florida carrying into orbit a Luxembourg-made communications satellite designed in part to expand NATO's surveillance reach and its capability to deter cyber attacks on alliance members.
The liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station followed a technical glitch that prompted a 24-hour flight delay. It marksthe second rocket launch this year for billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk and his privately owned Space Exploration Technologies.
It comes a week before the California-based company is slated to conduct its highly anticipated first test flight of the much larger and more powerful Falcon Heavy rocket, which packs three times the thrust of the Falcon 9.
Wednesday's payload is a communications satellite built for LuxGovSat SA, a public-private joint venture between the Luxembourg government and Luxembourg-based telecommunications company SES, in part to fulfill that nation's growing defense obligations to NATO.
