Elon Musk’s SpaceX has launched a rocket carrying 64 small satellites into low orbit around Earth.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has launched a Falcon 9 rocket from California carrying 64 small satellites into low orbit around the Earth, which the company called the largest-ever « ride share » mission by a US-based rocket.
The mission, dubbed SSO-A, also marked the third voyage to space for the same Falcon 9 rocket — another milestone for SpaceX’s cost-cutting reusable rocket technology.
The Falcon 9 blasted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 10.34am local time, carrying satellites from 34 different companies, government agencies, and universities.
SpaceX said the mission was « one of the most complex and intricate endeavours » for Seattle-based startup Spaceflight, the ride-share company that arranged passage for each satellite maker.
The mission comes days after India fired a rocket carrying 31 satellites from eight different countries into space.
After the launch, the Falcon 9’s first-stage booster returned to earth as planned, landing on a ship off the coast of southern California, according to a live video of the flight.
However, the Falcon 9’s payload fairing — an enclosure that protected the satellites during launch — missed a landing net on the barge and ended up in the ocean.
« Falcon fairing halves missed the net, but touched down softly in the water, » Musk, SpaceX’s chief executive officer, said on Twitter. He said the boat was moving to pick them up.
« Plan is to dry them out & launch again. Nothing wrong with a little swim, » Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla, said on Twitter.
Hitching a ride on the Falcon rocket was a satellite from Australian Internet of Things (IoT) satellite technology startup Myriota, which will be put into a sun-synchronous orbit and add to the company’s existing constellation.
