7 hours ago 10

SpaceX launches mystery satellite to geostationary transfer orbit

a white and black rocket launches into the dark of night, its bright white thrust lighting up its launch pad and surrounding area.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off with the Commercial GTO-1 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on July 13, 2025. (Image credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX launched a mystery satellite to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) from Florida's Space Coast early Sunday morning (July 13).

A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Sunday at 1:04 a.m. EDT (0504 GMT), on a mission SpaceX called Commercial GTO-1.

The company didn't identify the payload, though it's believed to be an Israeli communications satellite called Dror-1 .

"Dror-1 is a geostationary communication satellite built and developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI)," NextSpaceflight.com wrote.

"It is intended to meet the satellite communication needs of Israel for the next 15 years," the outlet added. "Dror-1 is comprised primarily of local Israeli technologies developed at IAI, including an advanced digital communication payload and 'smartphone in space' capabilities, to provide communication agility throughout the satellite’s lifetime in space."

Geostationary orbit lies 22,236 miles (35,786 kilometers) above Earth. At this altitude, orbital speed matches our planet's rotational speed, so spacecraft in this path "hover" over the same patch of Earth continuously.

a downward facing camera mounted to the side of a rocket's first stage captures the view as it nears a propulsive landing on four deployed landing legs on an ocean-based droneship.

The Falcon 9's first stage, designated B1083, came back to Earth as planned on Sunday. It touched down about 8.5 minutes after liftoff on the SpaceX drone ship "Just Read the Instructions," which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

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It was the 13th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description. That description did not give an estimated time for the deployment of the Commercial GTO-1 satellite.

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Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.