CBS News reports that in a Monday doubleheader, SpaceX “launched 52 Starlink internet satellites from Florida and then fired off another Falcon 9 from California, putting 72 small payloads from multiple vendors into orbit in the company’s eighth low-cost ‘rideshare’ mission.” The Florida-based mission launched 52 Starlink satellites into orbit from Cape Canaveral in a pre-dawn flight to bring the company’s satellite constellation total to 4,595. The Transporter 8 mission “took off from Vandenberg Space Force Base northwest of Los Angeles at 5:35 p.m. EDT, carrying 72 rideshare payloads provided by multiple vendors and launch brokers.” Transporter missions are “intended to provide low-cost access to space for small payloads that might otherwise have to wait for rides on missions dedicated to larger satellites.” SpaceX “charges $275,000 for a 110-pound payload, and $5,500 for each additional 2.2 pounds.”
Full Story (CBS News)
Tag: falcon rockets
SpaceX to Use Second Vandenberg Launch Pad for Falcon Rockets
Space News reports SpaceX is adding a second West Coast launch pad after receiving “approval to lease Space Launch Complex 6 (SLC-6) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, a historic site previously occupied by United Launch Alliance.” Space Force unit Space Launch Delta 30 announced this week that SpaceX will use the location to launch Falcon rockets. SpaceX is expanding its “operations at Vandenberg…following a period of extraordinary growth fueled by commercial launch demand and the deployment of its Starlink internet mega-constellation.”
Full Story (Space News)