SpaceX rocket launches 140 satellites into orbit on Transporter-15, aces landing at sea (video)

When you purchase through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.

SpaceX’s rocket blasted into space from the California coast after more than a week’s delay, carrying more than 100 spacecraft into orbit before landing at sea.

The veteran Falcon 9 rocket launched SpaceX’s Transporter-15 rideshare mission on Friday, November 28. Vandenberg Space Base in California. Liftoff occurred around 1:45 p.m. EST (6:45 p.m. GMT) from Vandenberg’s Space Launch Complex-4E, about half an hour after a 57-minute window. The mission had been delayed since November 19, with SpaceX cancels launch attempt Wednesday, just 15 minutes before takeoff.

Transporter-15 is expected to take just over 2.5 hours to deploy all of its 140 satellites into a sun-synchronous orbit, where each will begin its own individualized mission. The flight of the first floor, for its part, lasted a little more than 8 minutes,

If you’re looking for a SpaceX rocket model that’s off the beaten path, this Starship 3D wooden puzzle is just what you need and you can save 20% right now for Black Friday.See the deal

The mission continues SpaceX’s increasing frequency of rideshare launches and follows the late summer liftoff of Carrier Flight-14which delivered dozens of cubesats, technology demonstrations and research machines to low earth orbit (LION).

Not all Transporter-15 payloads have been confirmed or identified prior to launch. But among these, we found notable contributions from organizations like the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Taiwan Space Agency (TASA), as well as companies and organizations like Planet Labs, SEOPS, Leaf Space, and various universities and educational institutions.

the ESA HydroGNSS-1 and HydroGNSS-2 satellites are flying as part of the agency’s first scout mission. They will study the Earth’s water cycle using the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) reflectometry measurement technique to literally “search for water”, according to the ESA.

Taiwan launched its FORMOSAT-8A Earth imaging satellite, as well as three domestically built cubesats: Bellbird-1, Black Kite-1 and TORO-8U-1, from Tron Future Tech, Rapidtek Technologies Inc. and Pyras Technology Inc., respectively. They are designed to test high-speed data transfer communications, Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and perform remote sensing to monitor the health of algae, plankton and oceans.

THE Pelican imaging satellites 5 and 6, as well as 36 Super Doves of the “Flock 4H” group, all built by the Californian company Planet Labs, are also participating in the Transporter-15 mission. Planet Labs’ expanding Pelican Earth Observation Network is designed to “effectively capture ephemeral and emerging events, particularly those that can anticipate new patterns or risks,” the company’s website says. The accompanying SuperDoves will join Planet Labs’ PlanetScope monitoring mission.

SEOPS is using the Transporter-15 flight to demonstrate its custom payload integration capabilities with the deployment of a wide range of scientific and commercial spacecraft built by students. These vehicles include four payloads managed by Alba Orbital. Also in flight is Hungary’s HUNITY, a new “pocketqube” platform for even smaller cubesats, measuring just 2 inches (5 centimeters). Two of these pocketqubes are SARI-1 and SARI-2 of the Saudi Space Agency, which will carry out experiments in telemetry, IoT and other research. Alba also pilots the ANISCSAT mission from Azerbaijan, which will study environmental conditions in LEO.

Previous Booster 1071 Missions

NROL-87 | NROL-85 | SARah-1 | WORK | Carrier-8 | Carrier-9 | Carrier-13 | NROL-146 | Moving Train-2 | NROL-153 | NROL-192 | 18 Starlink missions

SEOPS manages two cubesats for CS3, called WISDOM and Mauve. WISDOM, part of ESA’s Navisp program, will test collision avoidance and deorbit technologies using a 6U cubesat that will separate into two individual 3U spacecraft, while Mauve, a 16U cubesat, will perform ultraviolet astronomy using a 13cm telescope.

SEOPS also manages NASA’s 3UCubed-A, designed to measure rushing electrons and ultraviolet emissions at Earth’s poles, SatRev’s PW-6U Earth imaging satellite for agriculture and energy customers, and TRYAD-1 and 2, lightning observation satellites built by students at the University of Alabama at Huntsville and Auburn University, and funded by the National Science Foundation of the United States.

A large part of the Transporter-15 satellites will be supported by Leaf Space. In a demonstration of its growing ground infrastructure, the Italian company will add 31 of the Transporter-15 payloads to its Leaf Line ground station network, or approximately 30 percent of the launch spacecraft’s total. These 31 will join the 140 spacecraft that use the network, operated by various commercial customers who rely on Leaf Space for tracking and telemetry data.

You can see a complete list of all 140 satellites on Transporter-15 on the SpaceX mission site.

Due to the large number of payloads and the diversity of their missions, the Falcon 9 second stage will feature a longer deployment process than usual, beginning approximately 55 minutes after launch and lasting approximately 2 hours and 43 minutes.

SpaceX’s Transporter-15 mission is the 30th flight of the first stage booster (called B1071), which has already launched 18 Starlink missions, four rideshare missions, five national security missions and two missions carrying Earth observation satellites.

The mission also appeared to be a reflight of the payload fairing, with the shell-like front cone protecting the satellite’s payload. The fairing seemed weathered from previous flights, as did the first stage booster. SpaceX said the company plans to retrieve the fairing halves from the sea for recovery and reuse.

“These fairings will return to Earth for recovery,” a SpaceX spokesperson said during live commentary of the launch.

Editor’s note: This story was updated on November 28 to include new photos and confirmation of SpaceX’s successful Transporter-15 launch.