James Dean

FLORIDA TODAY

UPDATE 5 a.m.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station early today with a commercial communications satellite that will beam video and broadband services across the Asia-Pacific region.

The 224-foot rocket roared from its pad at 4 a.m. with 1.3 million pounds of thrust, punched through low, thin clouds and blazed a trail southeast over the Atlantic Ocean.

Liftoff came on SpaceX's second try of the morning, after an unspecified technical problem aborted the first countdown less than a minute before the launch window opened at 1:25 a.m.

After two upper stage engine firings, SpaceX confirmed deployment of the AsiaSat 8 satellite 32 minutes into the flight, on its way to a geostationary orbit 22,300 miles over the equator.

The satellite is the first of two SpaceX plans to launch from the Cape this month for Hong Kong-based Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Ltd., or AsiaSat, growing the company's fleet from four to six.

"These are growth satellites for us," said William Wade, AsiaSat president and CEO, in an interview before the launch. "They are adding additional capacity in existing, growing markets that will help us to provide additional services to our customers and help that market expand."

The new satellite is designed to last at least 15 years and will become the most powerful in AsiaSat's fleet.

Built by Space Systems/Loral and weighing roughly 10,000 pounds at launch, AsiaSat 8 is equipped with 24 Ku-band transponders to provide services including direct-to-home video, private networks and broadband connections.

AsiaSat 8 will fly near and bolster service already provided by AsiaSat 7, assuming an orbital slot at 105.5 degrees East longitude, where Wade said it will focus on the Indian subcontinent and Middle East.

"That's an area where we're seeing significant growth," he said.

The launch was SpaceX's third of a commercial communications satellite bound for a geostationary orbit, in which satellites match the speed of Earth's rotation and appear from the ground to be fixed in the sky.

SpaceX successfully launched similar missions for SES in December and Thaicom in January.

The mission was the 11th flown by a Falcon 9 since the rocket debuted in 2010, and the sixth by its upgraded "version 1.1."

The next Falcon 9 launch – of AsiaSat 6, which arrived at the Cape last week – is planned late this month.

Unlike on SpaceX's previous two launches to low Earth orbit, neither AsiaSat mission will include attempts to fly the Falcon 9 booster back to the ocean for recovery.

The payloads' size and trips to high orbits did not leave enough extra rocket fuel for those tests aimed at advancing development of a reusable booster.

Today's launch marked AsiaSat's return to Cape Canaveral, where it last launched 11 years ago on an Atlas rocket. The company's two most recent launches were on Russian rockets, and before 2003 it launched twice from China.

Wade said AsiaSat chose SpaceX in 2012 in part because of the satellites' relatively small size compared to some the company operates, which were a good fit for the Falcon 9.

And, of course, because of SpaceX's low cost: the company now advertises a Falcon 9 launch for $61.2 million.

"They are cheaper than some of the other alternatives," said Wade. "We were comfortable with the progress that they were making, and so we decided to make a commitment."

SpaceX says it now has nearly 50 government and commercial launches on its manifest worth nearly $5 billion.

AsiaSat 8 is only SpaceX's fourth launch of 2014, but that's one more than the 2013 total, and the company could launch four more times this year.

After AsiaSat 6, another International Space Station cargo run by a Dragon spacecraft is planned in mid-September.

Today's launch capped an impressive run from Cape Canaveral of three launches in just over a week by each of the three rockets based here, flying government and commercial payloads.

United Launch Alliance's Delta IV and Atlas V rockets delivered Air Force satellites to orbit on July 28 and Aug. 1, respectively.

UPDATE 4 a.m.

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

UPDATE 3:24 a.m.

SpaceX is now targeting a 4 a.m. liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

UPDATE 3:12 a.m.

Currently in a hold. No new launch time available yet.

UPDATE 2:20 a.m.

SpaceX hopeful for launch around 3 a.m. this morning.

No word yet on why initial countdown aborted.

UPDATE 12:14 a.m.

A 224-foot SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is fueled and counting down toward a 1:25 a.m. liftoff with the AsiaSat 8 commercial communications satellite, with no issues reported at this time.

There's a 70 percent chance of favorable weather during a window extending to 4:11 a.m. at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 40.

Join us for a live countdown chat here at 1 a.m., shortly before the start of a SpaceX launch Webcast.

PREVIOUS REPORT

The forecast remains favorable for SpaceX's planned 1:25 a.m. Tuesday launch of the AsiaSat 8 commercial communications satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

There's a 70 percent chance of conditions good enough to allow a Falcon 9 rocket to blast off from Launch Complex 40 during a window extending beyond 4 a.m.

Cumulus and thick clouds left over from afternoon and evening storms are a potential concern.

If the first launch attempt scrubs, SpaceX could try again around the same time early Wednesday, when the forecast improves slightly to an 80 percent chance of favorable weather.

The launch is the first of two planned this month for AsiaSat, a Hong Kong-based provider of video and telecommunications services.

The nearly 10,000-pound AsiaSat 8 satellite, built by Space Systems/Loral, will provide additional capacity focused on the Indian subcontinent and Middle East. The spacecraft and its 24 Ku-band transponders will fly at the 105.5 degrees East orbital location, near the company's existing AsiaSat 7 satellite, in a geostationary orbit more than 22,000 miles over the equator.

AsiaSat 6, with its 28 C-band transponders, is scheduled to launch later this month to a slot at 120 degrees East.

Florida Today will have live coverage beginning at 1 a.m. Tuesday

STAY UP LATE

Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9

Mission: AsiaSat 8 communications satellite

Launch time: 1:25 a.m. Tuesday

Launch window: to 4:11 a.m. Tuesday

Launch complex: 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

Live coverage begins at 1 a.m. at floridatoday.com.

Read the 45th Weather Squadron's official forecast here: http://www.patrick.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-070716-028.pdf.

Read the mission press kit here: http://www.asiasat.com/asiasat/EN/upload/doc/AsiaSat8/PressKit.pdf.

PREVIOUS STORY

Two SpaceX launches this month — the first after midnight tonight — reflect the Cape's opportunities and challenges as it seeks to recapture its lost share of commercial satellite missions.

The first launch, of the AsiaSat 8 communications satellite on a Falcon 9 rocket at 1:25 a.m. Tuesday, will be SpaceX's fourth commercial mission from Cape Canaveral since December, when it ended a four-year drought in commercial launches here.

RELATED: Florida Today will have live coverage at 1 a.m. Tuesday

Launch of AsiaSat 6 follows later this month.

Hong Kong-based AsiaSat returns to the Cape after an 11-year hiatus during which it launched twice on Russian rockets — a shift to overseas launchers typical of the industry as a whole.

SpaceX's affordability and the Falcon 9's good fit for these new satellites brought AsiaSat back to Florida.

William Wade, AsiaSat president and CEO, is excited for the upcoming launches, but confirmed the company's experience here has not been as easy as at other launch sites.

Access to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for roughly 60 employees, shareholders and customers now in town — most not U.S. citizens and many who are Chinese nationals – has been difficult.

"That is proving to be somewhat cumbersome," Wade said. "We have to go through all the security clearances, which is expected, but we are finding as a foreign company that it is a bit more difficult conducting our launches there."

The company found the process easier when it last flew from the Cape in 2003, on an Atlas IIIB rocket.

Here, Wade said, the company also worries more about the potential for launch delays because of federal government missions that may be given higher priority, which adds uncertainty to its financial forecasting and marketing of satellite services.

"The government launches, those are a little bit unpredictable," Wade said. "You don't really know whether you're going to get bumped, whether issues might come up that could create a situation where they take precedence. So that has proven to be a little bit more worrisome, whereas in some of our previous experiences elsewhere, we haven't seen that to be as big a factor."

A desire for more control over range operations and customer access are among the key reasons why SpaceX wants to develop a private launch complex for commercial missions, separate from its two East Coast pads on federally controlled property at the Cape and Kennedy Space Center.

A site on Texas' Gulf Coast recently cleared an environmental review and is considered the front-runner among options in multiple states.

Space Florida has proposed an alternative at the north end of Kennedy Space Center and the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge that is now under environmental review.

In a speech last month, Space Florida CEO Frank DiBello bemoaned the Cape's inability to create an environment better suited for commercial missions, the best growth opportunity.

The Space Coast will continue to host these commercial launches — comprising six of SpaceX's next 10 from the Cape — in the near-term, but risks losing them if SpaceX commits to building a pad elsewhere.

A satellite operator's choice of a launch provider is based more on rocket reliability and cost than issues like access and scheduling. But all else being equal, said Wade, "certainly that could become factor."

"If things were a little bit easier, more accommodating, that would certainly be welcome," he said.

This month's planned launches will increase AsiaSat's satellite fleet from four to six, allowing the company to expand its video and telecommunications services in China, India and the Middle East.

Company guests will be able to watch the launch from an approved facility, though not the one they originally wanted, and their experience will include a tour of KSC.

"We're looking forward to having an enjoyable and successful launch," Wade said.

Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 or jdean@floridatoday.com.

STAY UP LATE

Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9

Mission: AsiaSat 8 communications satellite

Launch time: 1:25 a.m. Tuesday

Launch window: to 4:11 a.m. Tuesday

Launch complex: 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

Live coverage begins at 1 a.m. at floridatoday.com.