CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX successfully launched an ambitious rideshare mission as one of its veteran boosters hoisted 143 small satellites — a new record for a single rocket — into space before nailing a landing at sea.
The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off Sunday morning Jan. 24, at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT) from the Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Sunday's launch marks the third mission this year for SpaceX and the company's second within a week.
Jan 20, SpaceX launched it's Starlink satellites atop a different Falcon 9. The booster used on that mission became the first in SpaceX's fleet to launch and land eight times.
The rocket powering today's mission is also a frequent flier, marking its fifth flight. The booster first entered service in May 2020 when it launched two NASA astronauts—Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley— into space as part of NASA's first crewed mission under the agency's Commercial Crew program. The flight marked the first astronaut mission to the International Space Station to launch from U.S. soil since the retirement of the space shuttle program in 2011.
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The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off Sunday morning Jan. 24, at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT) from the Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Sunday's launch marks the third mission this year for SpaceX and the company's second within a week.
Jan 20, SpaceX launched it's Starlink satellites atop a different Falcon 9. The booster used on that mission became the first in SpaceX's fleet to launch and land eight times.
The rocket powering today's mission is also a frequent flier, marking its fifth flight. The booster first entered service in May 2020 when it launched two NASA astronauts—Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley— into space as part of NASA's first crewed mission under the agency's Commercial Crew program. The flight marked the first astronaut mission to the International Space Station to launch from U.S. soil since the retirement of the space shuttle program in 2011.
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https://www.space.com/spacex-launches-143-satellites-transporter-1-rocket-landing
