SpaceX successfully launched a fleet of tiny communications satellites into orbit in the early hours of the morning, going some way to justifying a flight delay after a last-second abort.
one Space Exploration Technologies Corporation The Falcon 9 rocket launched four “MicroGEO” satellites into orbit for Astranis from the Space Launch Complex at No. 40. Cape Canaveral Space Force Station In Florida. It will take off on time at 12 a.m. Eastern Time (0500 GMT) on December 29.
The midnight launch marks SpaceX’s second attempt to launch a MicroGEO satellite for Astranis, following the December 21 launch attempt End with last second abort as Falcon 9 rocketFirst stage engine ignition. in a post Astranis Vice President Christian Keil said on the social media site X that SpaceX replaced the Falcon 9 rocket booster for this flight.
SpaceX’s MicroGEO satellite launch, dubbed “Atranis: One to Many,” is the second of three launches SpaceX plans to conduct over three days this weekend. company Successfully launched 22 Starlink network satellites Launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Saturday (December 28) and then launched 21 Starlink satellite Sent from another base in Florida on Monday (December 30).
SpaceX aims to launch Falcon 9 rockets from all three launch pads in Florida and California within the next three days wrote in X social media post Friday (December 27).
The MicroGEO satellite launched Sunday is manufactured by San Francisco-based Astranis and is designed to provide satellite communications services to a variety of customers. Two of the four satellites will provide Colorado-based Anuvu with in-flight connectivity to aircraft, ships or other vehicles, while the other – Called Aguila — will be a communications satellite dedicated to the Philippines. The fourth satellite, called UtilitySat, will serve multiple customers during its lifetime.
Astranis CEO John Gedmark said in a statement before launch: “These are our most advanced satellites to date, with a series of improvements that will increase the satellite’s capacity and affordability.”
The satellite was successfully deployed about 35 minutes after liftoff and will conduct its final launch geosynchronous orbit It is approximately 22,236 miles (35,786 kilometers) from Earth.
The Falcon 9 that launched the MicroGEO mission for Astranis was not SpaceX’s chicken. The flight marked its seventh launch, with past missions including three Starlink flights, a NASA CRS-31 cargo flight and crewed Crew-8 and polar star dawn Astronaut flight.
The first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket returned to Earth eight minutes after liftoff and landed on the SpaceX drone ship A Shortfall Of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean.
Sunday’s launch marks SpaceX’s 133rd space mission of 2024, and the company also plans to launch its final Starlink mission early Monday.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 1 a.m. ET with details of the successful launch.