A SpaceX Falcon 9 launch of the Transporter-8 mission to LEO occurred at Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E), at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
The first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched NROL-87, NROL-85, SARah-1, SWOT, and four Starlink missions.
Following 1st stage separation, Falcon 9 landed on Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) at Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Transporter-8 is SpaceX’s eighth dedicated smallsat rideshare mission. There are 72 payloads on this flight, including smallsats, a re-entry capsule and orbital transfer vehicles (OTV) carrying spacecraft for orbit deployment at a later time.
As a member of this mission, Space Systems Command (SSC)’s Space Domain Awareness & Combat Power (SDA&CP) and partner Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) have now launched the Department of Defense‘s Space Test Program (STP)-CR2301 mission, with three, experimental satellites delivered to LEO.
The three experimental satellites built by Blue Canyon Technologies were delivered by STP-CR2301 to LEO include two Modular Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (MISR) CubeSats and an XVI military communications spacecraft. The MISR CubeSats demonstrate two-way communications with ground devices as well as experiment with novel methods for the DoD to tactically leverage smallsat capabilities. The XVI CubeSat will test the capacity of the Link-16 network to communicate to space.
Official confirmation of satellite deployment was received from the SDA&CP program office 90 minutes after orbital insertion. In the next few days, satellite operators will make initial contact with the deployed satellites ensuring nominal functionality.
STP-CR2301 is another example of demonstrating commercially available rideshare solutions for placing USSF satellite capabilities on-orbit, providing flexibility and resiliency for the USSF, and supporting warfighter requirements in an increasingly contested environment.
STP-CR2301 is managed by the DoD STP office located at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. SSC’s SDA&CP headquartered at Los Angeles Air Force Base, administers the DoD STP which delivers experimental demonstrations of new capabilities and expedient space access solutions for research and development experiments.
SDA&CP is the program executive office within SSC that is responsible for delivering ground- and space-based infrastructure and systems that identify threats to national, allied, and commercial space systems. Its innovations integrate seamlessly across the space enterprise and promote deterrence by providing advances in space-enabled warfighting capabilities to our joint military forces.
“We are proud of our continued partnership with the Air Force Research laboratory and the Department of Defense and commend them on achieving this milestone. Proving these new technologies in the space environment is a vital step for future deployment in operational Space Force systems. This 306th mission continues the Space Test Program’s 56-year history of providing access to space and testing these experiments and I’m honored to be part of this team launching these payloads today.”
— Lt. Col. Jonathan Shea, SSC’s director of the DoD’s Space Test Program
SSC is the U.S. Space Force’s field command responsible for acquiring and delivering resilient war fighting capabilities to protect our nation’s strategic advantage in and from space. SSC manages an $11 billion space acquisition budget for the DoD and works in partnership with joint forces, industry, government agencies, academic and allied organizations to accelerate innovation and outpace emerging threats. Our actions today are making the world a better space for tomorrow.
Additional deployed payloads included…
D-Orbit manifested, ION SCV-011 to be deployed by Savvy Simon
Exolaunch manifested, AFR-1 | All-DELTA | Ayris-1, -2 | Droid.001 | EIVE | GEISAT | Grégoire | ICEYE-1, -2, -3, -4, deployed for ICEYE | LEMUR 2 AADAM-ALIYAH, LEMUR 2 EMBRIONOVIS, LEMUR 2 NAZIYAH | MuSat-1 | Spacebees [Swarm] |
iQPS: QPA-SAR-6 AMATERU III
Launcher: Orbiter SN3
Lockheed Martin Corporation: Blackjack Aces-1, -2, -3 and -4
Maverick Space Systems: FOSSASAT-FEROX | GHOSt-3 | MISR-A, MISR-B | Tomorrow-R2 | Tiger-4 | XVI |
Satellogic: NewSat 40, 41, 42, 43
SatVu: HotSat-1
Skykraft: Skykraft-3
Terran Orbital: Runner-1
Varda: W-Series 1
