The Falcon 9 launch vehicle with the Israeli communications satellite Amos-17 has launched in the US; SpaceX is broadcasting the launch, RIA Novosti reported.

The rocket was set from the launch site at Cape Canaveral in Florida.

Amos-17 is supposed to replace the Amos-5 satellite, launched in 2011, the connection with which was lost in 2015. Amos-17 will provide Ka-, Ku- and C-band signaling and will expand Spacecom coverage in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.

The decision not to preserve the first stage is due to the fact that the Israeli satellite is very heavy: it weighs about 6.5 tons and all the power of the launch vehicle is necessary in order to put it into a geostationary orbit.

The Amos-17 satellite, built by Boeing, is owned by the Israeli Spacecom Ltd. In September 2016, as a result of a Falcon 9 rocket exploded during a pre-launch fire test, the company lost its Amos-6 satellite. As a result of the incident, SpaceX revised the practice and now carries out a test launch of the engines, usually carried out several days before the launch of the rocket, without a payload.