Overview

• The Commercial GTO-1 mission lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 1:04 a.m. EDT on July 13, delivering Dror 1 to geostationary transfer orbit on Falcon 9’s 500th flight.
• Booster B1083 flew its 13th mission and landed on the droneship Just Read the Instructions, marking the vessel’s 128th touchdown and SpaceX’s 474th booster recovery.
• Dror 1 was developed by Israel Aerospace Industries’ Systems, Missile and Space Group with advanced digital capabilities and a projected 15-year operational life.
• The launch advances Israel’s 2018 strategy for sovereign communications infrastructure, following earlier AMOS series deployments and the 2016 loss of AMOS 6.
• SpaceX’s reusability milestones have enabled more than 100 annual launches from Florida’s Space Coast, reshaping commercial and strategic access to orbit.