This Falcon 9 was first launched on May 11, 2018. It carried
Bangabandhu-1, Bangladesh's first geostationary communications satellite, from Kennedy Space Center. This marked the 54th flight of the Falcon 9 and the first flight of the Falcon 9 Block 5. After completing a successful ascent, B1046 separated from the second stage and landed on the
drone ship Of Course I Still Love You. This marked the 11th successful landing on OCISLY and the 25th successful landing of the Falcon 9. After inspection and refurbishment, B1046 was launched a second time on August 7, 2018, carrying the
Telkom-4 (Merah Putih) satellite from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Telkom-4 mission marked the first time an orbital-class rocket booster launched two GTO missions. This was also the first re-flight of a Block 5 booster. Four months after the Telkom-4 mission, B1046 arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base to support the
SSO-A mission. Following delays for additional satellite checks, liftoff occurred from
SLC-4E on December 3, 2018. This marked the first time that the same orbital-class booster flew three times. While the mission profile allowed for the booster to return to the launch site, it landed offshore on the drone ship
Just Read The Instructions due to vibration concerns for a Delta IV Heavy and its
NRO payload awaiting launch at nearby
SLC-6. On its fourth and last mission, it launched a
Crew Dragon capsule from Kennedy Space Center, up to the point of
maximum dynamic pressure, where the stack separated to
test the capsule's abort system in flight. Flying in expendable configuration, the booster had its engines turned off during the most challenging part of the flight to imitate a critical anomaly, after which the Dragon successfully activated its escape engines. The booster was subsequently destroyed. == Launches ==