Elon Musk's SpaceX launches 88 satellites as part of 'ride-share' mission
Tech
billionaire Elon Musk's space company Spacex has launched 88 satellites, as
part of the firm's second in-house "ride-share" mission from Florida,
bringing the total number of orbital objects this year to nearly 900, the media
reported.
The
company launched the satellites on Wednesday on a reused Falcon 9 rocket for
the "Transporter-2" mission, including the first five for a new
Pentagon agency and dozens more for various companies, countries, and schools,
the Verge reported.
On
Wednesday, June 30 at 3:31 p.m. EDT, Falcon 9 launched the Transporter-2,
SpaceX's second dedicated SmallSat Rideshare Programme mission, from Space
Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, the company
said.
The
mission also marked SpaceX's second launch to a polar orbit from Florida. This
marked the company's 20th launch this year and the eighth flight for the
rocket's first stage booster. That booster returned to Earth about 10 minutes
later at SpaceX's Landing Zone 1.
On
board this launch were 85 commercial and government spacecraft (including
CubeSats, microsats, and orbital transfer vehicles) and three Starlink
satellites.
The
Transporter-1 mission, in January this year, set up a new record for most
satellites -- it sent up 143 satellites. The Transporter-2 mission, however,
launched more mass to orbit overall,the company said.
The
Transporter launches, first announced in 2019, are part of the company's
rideshare business model.
The
Transporter-2 mission includes nearly 10 customers, some of whom are launch
service providers who are themselves organizing customer payloads -- like
Spaceflight, which is launching 36 small satellites on behalf of 14 customers,
as well as its electric propulsion vehicle dubbed Sherpa-LTE, the TechCrunch
reported.
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