SpaceX launched two communication satellites from Florida’s House Coast right now (Dec. 17) on the second leg of a spaceflight doubleheader.
A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy House Heart right now at 5:26 p.m. EDT (2226 GMT), carrying the O3b mPOWER 7 and eight satellites towards medium Earth orbit (MEO), about 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) above our planet.
The Falcon 9’s first stage got here again to Earth for a landing on the SpaceX droneship “Simply Learn the Directions” about 8.5 minutes after launch right now as deliberate. It was the first-ever liftoff and touchdown for this specific booster, based on a SpaceX mission description.
The rocket’s higher stage, in the meantime, continued carrying the 2 satellites to orbit. It is going to deploy the primary one about 113 minutes after launch and the second seven minutes later.
Associated: SpaceX launches O3b mPOWER communication satellites on its 84th mission of 2023
O3b mPOWER is a MEO communications constellation operated by the Luxembourg-based firm SES. It at present consists of six satellites, which reached orbit on three Falcon 9 missions that flew between December 2022 and November 2023.
The community is operational now, however it can continue to grow to a complete of 11 satellites, all of which is able to depart Earth atop Falcon 9 rockets. The spacecraft are constructed by Boeing and weigh about 3,750 kilos (1,700 kilograms) apiece.
The mPOWER launch was SpaceX’s second of the day. One other Falcon 9, flying from Vandenberg House Power Base in California this morning, lofted the NROL-149 mission for the U.S. Nationwide Reconnaissance company.
SpaceX has launched greater than 120 Falcon 9 missions in 2024 up to now. The overwhelming majority of them — almost 70% — have been dedicated to assembling the corporate’s Starlink broadband community in low Earth orbit.
The Starlink megaconstellation at present consists of greater than 6,800 operational satellites and will ultimately harbor 40,000 spacecraft.
Editor’s be aware: This story was up to date at 5:45 p.m. ET on Dec. 17 with information of profitable launch and rocket touchdown.
