π UPDATE β September 13, 2026
The SES O3b mPOWER mission launched successfully at 2:49 p.m. ET (18:49 UTC) from Pad 40, with SpaceX confirming liftoff and a flawless booster recovery. Falcon 9 first stage B1080 touched down on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship, marking its 29th flight and landing β a new milestone for the veteran booster. NASASpaceflight noted the increasingly routine nature of such high-flight-count reusability, adding that similar records for Starship are on the horizon.
@SpaceX Β· Sep 13, 2026
Falcon 9's first stage has landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship
View on X β
SpaceX has stood up a Falcon 9 at Space Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral, Florida, ahead of today's launch of three O3b mPOWER satellites for SES. The 87-minute window opens at 2:49 p.m. ET (18:49 UTC), with teams watching weather conditions currently sitting at 60% favorable for liftoff. A backup opportunity is available Monday, September 14, in the same window.
What Makes This Mission Notable
This is the first O3b mPOWER mission to fly three satellites simultaneously. Previous mPOWER launches have carried fewer spacecraft per flight, so stacking three Boeing-built satellites onto a single Falcon 9 represents a step up in deployment cadence for the constellation SES is building out to deliver high-throughput connectivity in medium Earth orbit.
The booster assigned to this mission β B1080 β is heading into its 29th flight. That's a significant data point on its own: Falcon 9 boosters routinely flying into the late 20s and beyond is now standard operating procedure for SpaceX, but each additional flight adds to the empirical record supporting the economics of rapid reuse. After stage separation, B1080 is targeting a landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic.
The Numbers Behind the Mission
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Launch site | SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station |
| Window open | 2:49 p.m. ET (18:49 UTC) |
| Window duration | 87 minutes |
| Payload | 3 Γ SES O3b mPOWER satellites (Boeing-built) |
| Booster | B1080 β flight 29 |
| Landing target | ASOG droneship, Atlantic Ocean |
| Weather (GO probability) | 60% |
| Backup date | Monday, September 14, same window |
Context: O3b mPOWER and What SES Is Building
SES's O3b mPOWER constellation is designed to deliver low-latency, high-throughput connectivity from medium Earth orbit β a different orbital regime than the low-Earth orbit systems that dominate headlines. The mPOWER satellites are built by Boeing and operate at roughly 8,000 km altitude, giving them broader coverage footprints than LEO constellations but with latency characteristics better suited to enterprise and maritime customers than traditional geostationary satellites.
SpaceX has been the launch provider of choice for multiple mPOWER missions. Today's three-satellite deployment, if it proceeds as planned, would accelerate SES's ability to bring the full constellation online. For SpaceX, it's another commercial contract executed with a flight-proven booster β the kind of routine that has become the company's core competitive advantage.
The 60% weather probability leaves meaningful uncertainty heading into the window. Florida's afternoon launch conditions in September are notoriously variable, and the presence of a same-window backup on Monday suggests both SpaceX and SES built in schedule flexibility. Watch the SpaceX webcast, which typically goes live roughly 15 minutes before the window opens, for real-time weather officer updates. For more on SpaceX's launch cadence and upcoming missions, see our SpaceX coverage.
Sources & reporting notes
The links below identify the material source records used for this report.
- @SpaceX on X (2026-09-13T16:49:44.000Z) β Direct source
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