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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Accelerating toward space, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket propelled three passengers toward geostationary transfer orbit. One of which was a lunar lander that is set to become the first private vehicle to land on the surface of the Moon. There were three passengers on this rideshare mission. The primary payload was the Indonesian Nusantara Satu communications satellite, also known as PSN 6. On top of PSN 6 was the private BereSheet lander designed and built by Israeli company SpaceIL. Attached to PSN 6 for later deployment is the United States Air Force Research Lab’s (USAFRL) S5 spacecraft. Lifting off at 8:45 p.m. EST Feb. 21 (01:45 GMT Feb. 22), 2019, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 40, the Falcon 9 rocket lit up the night sky in Central Florida. The first stage was being flown for the third time, having first lofted the Iridium-7 and SAOCOM 1A missions in July and October of 2018. After the flight, the stage made its way to the "Of Course I Still Love You" autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship in the Atlantic Ocean, becoming the 34th Falcon 9 first stage to be recovered. Photos courtesy of Mike Howard, Scott Schilke, Michael McCabe
