Monday, January 25, 2021

SpaceX Launches Satellite Ridesharing Mission

Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX successfully launched its first, dedicated satellite ridesharing mission into space on Sunday, launching 133 commercial and government spacecraft--plus 10 Starlink satellites--into space in one fell swoop. SpaceX's Transporter-1 mission used a Falcon 9 rocket, and launched into space at 10:00 a.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral. The Falcon 9 used in the ridesharing mission was used in four prior launches--Crew Dragon's second demonstration mission, the ANASIS-II mission, a Starlink mission, and launch of Dragon's 21st cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. Satellite ridesharing launches are ones where multiple satellites are deployed into space using a single rocket; SpaceX has previously launched other rideshares, typically in addition to a primary mission. This launch is the first entirely made up of rideshared satellites.