Oct. 23 (UPI) -- SpaceX launched a Spanish communications satellite atop a Falcon 9 rocket Thursday night from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida in a rare expendable mission.
The rocket deployed the SpainSat NG 2 satellite about 35 minutes after launch above the island of Madagascar, and headed into geostationary orbit about 23,000 miles above the Earth.
Watch Falcon 9 launch the SpainSat NG II mission to orbit https://t.co/Y1rz0lOGjL— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 24, 2025
The V10 76 first-stage reusable fuel booster, which typically returns to a droneship, was used for the 21st and final time, and is being retired.
Since the first-stage booster was expendable, it was not fitted with landing legs or grid fins that are typically used to guide the rocket back to the waiting droneship.
