On May 27, 2023, a Saudi Arabian satellite weighing almost 10,000 pounds was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40), Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS), Florida. The Airbus-built Badr 8 communications satellite was launched for the Riyadh-based company Arabsat. The Falcon 9 rocket headed east from Cape Canaveral to deliver Badr 8 into an elliptical geostationary transfer orbit, based on Airbus Defense and Space’s Eurostar Neo platform. Badr 8 will provide television broadcast services, video relay, and data services across central Africa, Europe, and the Middle East in C-band and Ku-band. After launch, Badr 8 will maneuver into a circular geostationary orbit more than 22,000 miles over the equator for the next four-to-five months, adjusting to reach its operational orbit at 26 degrees east longitude. An Airbus optical communications payload, TELEO, hitched a ride on Badr 8. According to Airbus, TELEO will allow communications across high-capacity analog optical feeder links. This form of data transfer should be extremely resistant to jamming. The Falcon 9 first-stage booster utilized in this mission was B1062, which has previously launched and landed 13 times. Eight and a half minutes after liftoff, B1062 landed on SpaceX’s autonomous drone ship “Just Read The Instructions” (JRTI), parked in the Atlantic Ocean. The Arabsat Badr 8 mission marks the 14th flight to space and back for B1062.
