Prior to today’s flight, SpaceX’s CEO and Founder, Elon Musk, stated that the chances of a recovery of the first stage were slim: “Falcon 9 will experience its highest ever re-entry force and heat in today’s Launch.

The spacecraft was launched to provide direct-to-home television (DTH) and data communications services across the European region, the Balkans, Middle East, and North Africa.

About a minute and 19 seconds or so into its ascent, the Falcon 9’s speed, coupled with the very air that surrounded it, conspired against the Rocket – placing it under the greatest amount of stress during the flight “uphill”.

With this period of the mission complete, the next milestone that the rocket needed to achieve was first stage main engine cutoff, which occurred at two minutes and roughly 36 seconds after the F9 had left the pad at LC-39A.

At approximately 34 minutes and 55 seconds after it had left the pad that sent Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins on their historic voyage to the Moon – Bulgariasat-1 was deployed.