UPDATED 6:08 AM ET May. 27, 2023 PUBLISHED 4:50 PM ET May 23, 2023 PUBLISHED 4:50 PM EDT May 23, 2023 SHARE CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — SpaceX kicked off the Memorial Day weekend with a successful launch early Saturday, sending a communications satellite into orbit. The Falcon 9 rocket, carrying Arabsat’s Badr 8 communications satellite, lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 12:30 a.m. What You Need To Know SpaceX launched a Saudi Arabian telecommunications satellite into orbit at 12:30 a.m. Saturday Arabsat is a Saudi Arabian company that operates communications satellites over the Arab region. In a press release from 2020, it was announced that Arabsat signed a contract with the company Airbus Defense and Space to build the Arabsat Badr-8 satellite, which has been known as Arabsat 7B. The Arabsat Badr-8 is the first seventh-generation satellites for the company. “BADR-8, as a 7th Generation satellite, will be based on the-state-of-the-art Airbus Eurostar Neo electric orbit raising platform giving access to a wide range of launchers, covering Europe, Middle East, Africa and central Asia,” the company stated. Watch the launch