SpaceX to set the record for most satellites launched in a single mission

Early on Saturday morning, SpaceX will launch its first mission dedicated to the Flight Sharing Program Announced In late 2019. As part of this plan, the company sought to bundle dozens of small satellites together for regular launches on the Falcon 9 rocket.

There appears to have been a fair amount of interest in the program, which offered a very low price of $ 15,000 per kilogram delivered to sun-synchronous orbit. In its first “Transporter-1” mission, SpaceX said it will launch 133 commercial and government spacecraft, as well as 10 of its Starlink satellites. SpaceX had to obtain permission to deploy these Starlink satellites in polar orbit.

With this launch total of 143 satellites, SpaceX will surpass the previous record holder for most satellites launched in a single mission, set by the Indian Launch Vehicle in 2017. In February of that year, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle I arrived successfully 104 satellites in a few sun-synchronous orbits.

SpaceX has not revealed many details about the popularity of its rideshare software, nor has the company announced the number of payloads reserved for future launches. However, many clients said they were surprised at the cost and speed of service SpaceX. Last year, after booking as a participant in the Starlink launch trip that launched in the summer of 2020, the Planet satellite operator publicly discussed how quickly the deal would be struck.

“This is the result of SpaceX that has significantly reduced the cost of getting to the launch,” Mike Savian, Vice President of Launch at Planet, said. He said in June. “It’s important. They lowered the price to the point where we couldn’t believe what we were looking for.”

A planet is about to take off 48 by SuperDove The satellites on the Transporter-1 mission.

The mission will closely follow small satellite missile companies, including Rocket Lab and Virgin Orbit, which have now proven boosters, as well as companies still developing their missiles. While smaller rockets can provide a dedicated service to small satellites by placing them one or two at a time, it will be difficult to compete with SpaceX on the price. Contestants will watch to see how regular the satellites are scattered – according to SpaceX schedule As for the mission, it will deploy in 12 waves.

The weather is a moderate concern for the attempted launch on Saturday, which is scheduled to be at 9:40 AM ET (14:40 UTC) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. According to predictors, there is 40 percent chance From weather violations due to dense clouds and cumulus clouds. The weather in the booster recovery area looks good.

The first stage of this missile will be the fifth flight. It made its debut in May 2020 with the historic Demo-2 mission transporting Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the International Space Station. Since then, she has been flying about every two months. It last launched a NASA payload mission to the International Space Station on December 6.

The webcast should start 15 minutes before the launch window opens on Saturday morning.

Image listing Trevor Mahlman