SpaceX launches 143 small satellites in third Florida mission of 2021
SpaceX launched 143 small satellites in a single Falcon 9 rocket Sunday morning from Cape Canaveral for its third Florida mission of 2021.
Transporter 1 includes a record-setting number of satellites, and owners include private companies, the U.S. Department of Defense and NASA. The rocket also has 10 SpaceX Starlink internet satellites on board.
After takeoff, the Falcon 9 rocket turned to the southeast, something that’s rare for Florida rocket launches, to put the satellites into polar orbit.
About nine minutes after the launch, SpaceX recovered the rocket’s reusable booster on its drone ship Of Course I Still Love You.
The 22-minute window for liftoff opened at 10 a.m. at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s launchpad 40, and the rocket took off right as it opened.
The Elon Musk-led company scrubbed liftoff Saturday because of clouds and rain.
On Wednesday, SpaceX launched a batch of 60 Starlink satellites as parts of its goal to create a large constellation of satellites that can deliver fast, affordable internet to remote parts of the globe.
The 10 Starlinks from Transporter 1 are the first to be put into a polar trip around the Earth, joining the more than 1,000 SpaceX has sent up so far.
An earlier January launch deployed a satellite for the Turkish company Turksat to expand television and internet services for the Middle East, southern Europe and parts of Africa and help with military operations.