BulgariaSat-1 satellite launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket
BulgariaSat-1 satellite launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket
Bulgaria Sat is an affiliate of Bulsatcom, the satellite TV, internet & mobile operator and was founded in 2000 as the first DVB-C operator in Bulgaria. The company is headquartered in Sofia and has operations in Stara Zagora. Since 2009 it has entered the Internet service provisioning market and since 2015 the company also provides 4G LTE mobile data services. Currently Bulsatcom has the largest number pay-tv subscribers in Bulgaria and has added in late 2015 IPTV services to its product portfolio.
Bulgaria Sat planned to launch its own satellite, BulgariaSat-1 by the end of 2016 but was rescheduled for Q1 2017. The Satellite was constructed by Space Systems/Loral (SSL) and was launched on June 23rd 2017 by SpaceX launch operator.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is a US based aerospace manufacturer and space transportation company headquartered in Hawthorne, California USA. SpaceX has developed several launch vehicles, the Starlink satellite constellation, the Dragon cargo spacecraft, and flown humans to the International Space Station on the Crew Dragon Demo-2.
Former PayPal entrepreneur and Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk founded the company in 2002 with the goal of creating the technologies to reduce space transportation costs and enable the colonization of Mars.
SpaceX developed the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 launch vehicles, both of which were designed from conception to eventually become reusable, and the Dragon spacecraft, which is flown into orbit by the Falcon 9 launch vehicle to supply the International Space Station (ISS) with cargo.
The Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. As the first rocket completely developed in the 21st century, Falcon 9 was designed from the ground up for maximum reliability. Falcon 9’s simple two-stage configuration minimizes the number of separation events — and with nine first-stage engines, it can safely complete its mission even in the event of an engine shutdown.
The Falcon 9 made history in 2012 when it delivered Dragon into the correct orbit for rendezvous with the International Space Station, making SpaceX the first commercial company ever to visit the station. Since then SpaceX has made multiple flights to the space station, both delivering and returning cargo for NASA. Falcon 9, along with the Dragon spacecraft, was designed from the outset to deliver humans into space and under an agreement with NASA, SpaceX is actively working towards that goal.