Intelsat 35e (Falcon 9)
5 July 2017
Space Launch Complex 39A
Kennedy Space Center

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched Intelsat 35e, a commercial communications satellite, to a Geostationary Transfer Orbit at 7:38 p.m. on 5 July 2017 from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. Manufactured by Boeing and equipped with an advanced digital payload, Intelsat 35e will deliver high performance services in C- and Ku-band for wireless infrastructure, mobility, broadband, government and media customers in the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe and Africa.

The photos below include not only the launch, but the two previous launch attempts that resulted in scrubs.

FIRST SCRUB - 2 July 2017
Gaseous oxygen vents from the Falcon 9 rocket, which is hidden behind the LC-39A gantry, during fueling of liquid oxygen. The launch attempt scrubbed at T-9 seconds due to a fault with the guidance and navigation computer.

SECOND SCRUB - 3 July 2017
Late afternoon summer storms moving through the area caused the launch time to be moved back three times, eventually ending up at the last minute of the launch window to allow for the storms to pass. Ultimately, it was another technical problem that scrubbed the launch in the last few seconds, and not the weather, that caused the delay.

A surveillance helicopter from Patrick Air Force Base silhouetted against the storm clouds.
Panoramas of the storm moving through the area that delayed the launch attempt until the end of the launch window.
LAUNCH - 5 July 2017
The rocket streaks to orbit in this time exposure.
A more conventional view of the liftoff.
The images below show the rocket climbing to orbit through to first stage main engine cutoff.
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