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SPACEX

SpaceX plans Sept. 3 launch from Cape Canaveral

James Dean, FLORIDA TODAY

SpaceX hopes to kick off Labor Day Weekend with a launch early next Saturday, Sept. 3, of a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Liftoff with an Israeli communications satellite is targeted for 3 a.m., the opening of a two-hour window at Launch Complex 40.

With the Amos-6 satellite bound for an orbit 22,300 miles over the equator, SpaceX will be expected to try to land the rocket’s first stage on a ship stationed down range in the Atlantic Ocean.

A successful launch would do more than just deliver the satellite to orbit.

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It would also help close the acquisition announced last week of the satellite's owner, Spacecom, by Beijing Xinwei Technology Group, a Chinese conglomerate.

The $285 million merger is contingent upon the launch and other conditions, including approval by shareholders of Spacecom, a publicly traded company on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. 

Spacecom, short for Space Communication Ltd., operates three satellites: Amos-2, Amos-3 and Amos-4.

The new one, Amos-6, is slated to replace Amos-2 at an orbital position of 4 degrees West longitude.

Facebook has bought some of the satellite’s capacity to support its Internet.org initiative, which aims to expand Internet access to roughly 4 billion people lacking it around the globe.

Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 or jdean@floridatoday.com. And follow on Twitter at @flatoday_jdean and on Facebook at facebook.com/jamesdeanspace.

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