SpaceX’s first rocket launch of 2023 blasted off Tuesday morning, sending more than 100 satellites into space that will provide various services for agriculture, maritime monitoring and radio scrutiny.
The Falcon 9 launched the Transporter-6 rideshare mission from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at about 9:56 a.m., EST.
The first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket safely returned to Earth and landed after boosting the second stage into space.
Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on Landing Zone 1 pic.twitter.com/j6243ROlgY- SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 3, 2023
SpaceX said the flight carried 114 satellite payloads “including CubeSats, microsats, picosats and orbital transfer vehicles carrying spacecraft to be deployed at a later time.”
The launch on behalf of EOSDA will contain seven agriculture satellites to work with a constellation.
“This launch brings new game-changing possibilities of satellite technologies to the agricultural industry,” EOSDA CEO Artiom Anisimov said. “EOSDA will now work with proprietary datasets to provide even deeper and more accurate insights for its customers and partners.”
The newly launched agricultural satellite is designed to examine 386,000 miles daily using 11 bands of light. Such a probe will allow farmers to better customize their care for the crops, to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, energy consumption and water usage, along with other benefits.
When the entire constellation is working in conjunction with each other by 2025, they will be able to examine 4.6 million square miles every day, about a third more than the equivalent area of the United States. The seven satellites have a goal to reach 100% of countries “with the largest areas of farmlands and forestlands,” EOSDA said.
SpaceX’s Transporter missions consist of space “dedicated rideshares” that allow dozens of small satellites to be taken into space on a single Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceX conducted its largest “rideshare” flight on Jan. 24, 2021, when its Falcon 9 released 143 satellites into space.
The past SpaceX rideshare payloads have ranged in size from picosatellites of less than a kilogram – measuring only a few centimeters on each side – to microsatellites massing around 200 pounds.
The launch date for the Transporter 6 was originally set for October 2022 but eventually fell to Tuesday. The space company said there are three additional Transporter missions scheduled for 2023, one for each quarter.
Source: United Press International
Related Links
SpaceX
Rocket Science News at Space-Travel.Com
| Tweet |
|
|
|
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook – our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don’t have a paywall – with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution. |
||
|
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5+ Billed Monthly |
 |
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal |
Falcon 9 rocket launches 54 Starlink satellites
Washington DC (UPI) Dec 28, 2021
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 54 Starlink Internet satellites launched from Florida on Wednesday as part of a mission to begin populating a new orbital shell authorized by federal regulators.
The rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 4:34 a.m. The mission was SpaceX’s 60th of the year, nearly double the total from last year. One more launch is scheduled for the end of this week.
“Under our new license, we are now able to deploy satellites to new orbits that will add eve … read more
