It’s been a busy and successfull weekend for SpaceX with three launches from Friday through Sunday. Most recently SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launched 11 satellites from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on Sunday, April 7 at 7:16 p.m. EDT (2316 GMT) on its first-ever Bandwagon-1 class rideshare mission and successfully landed its rocket shortly thereafter.
The spacecraft successfully reached orbit, and SpaceX ended its livestream at the request of its customer South Korea, which flew its Project 425 SAR synthetic aperture radar satellite on the mission.
SpaceX’s successful second launch in a three part series
On Saturday, April 6 at 7:25 p.m. PT, Falcon 9 launched 21 Starlink satellites, including six with Direct to Cell capabilities, to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
This was the sixth flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-7, CRS-29, PACE, Transporter-10, and now two Starlink mission.
Following stage separation, the first stage landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
SpaceX’s part 2 in a 3 part series of launches, Saturday’s Direct to Cell
SpaceX has delayed the Friday Starlink launch now targeting Saturday, April 6 for a Falcon 9 launch of 21 Starlink satellites, including six with Direct to Cell capabilities, to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Liftoff is targeted for 7:25 p.m. PT, with backup opportunities available until 11:17 p.m. PT. If needed, additional opportunities are also available on Sunday, April 7 starting at 7:25 p.m. PT.
A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about five minutes prior to liftoff. Watch live.
This is the sixth flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-7, CRS-29, PACE, Transporter-10, and one Starlink mission. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
SpaceX’s 1st launch in a 3 part series for the weekend
SpaceX had its 23rd launch of the year early Friday, April 5 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 more of the company’s Starlink internet satellites lifted off from Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 5:12 a.m.
The first-stage booster made its 14th flight and stuck another recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas.
It was the 275th time SpaceX has recovered a Falcon 9 booster, part of the company’s efforts to reduce costs through reusability.
21 Starlink satellites, including six with Direct to Cell capabilities
Later today from the West Coast SpaceX is targeting Friday, April 5 for a Falcon 9 launch of 21 Starlink satellites, including six with Direct to Cell capabilities, to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
Liftoff is targeted for 7:31 p.m. PT, with backup opportunities available until 11:25 p.m. PT. If needed, additional opportunities are also available on Saturday, April 6 starting at 7:25 p.m. PT.
A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about five minutes prior to liftoff. Watch live.
This is the sixth flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-7, CRS-29, PACE, Transporter-10, and one Starlink mission. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
SpaceX plans three launches over weekend two Starlink and a first with ‘Bandwagon-1’
The SpaceX Thursday / Friday, April 4th – 5th, 2024, 11:14 PM – 3:45 a.m., PDT, is on schedule for the batch of Starlink v2 Mini satellites launching from a Falcon 9 rocket from CCSFS SLC-40. This could be the start of a weekend that could see three missions for the company.
SpaceX is also preparing for two other Falcon 9 launches that could take place over the weekend: a Starlink mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Starlink 8-1, and a rideshare mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center called “Bandwagon-1.”
“Bandwagon-1” is the first of its kind for the company and will send a collection of small satellites to a mid-inclination orbit. Passengers include Capella Space’s Acadia-4 satellite, HawkEye 360’s clusters 8 and 9 (six satellites total) and iQPS’s QPS-SAR-7 or “Tsukuyomi-2” satellite.
After the launch the Falcon 9 first stage booster will land on the SpaceX droneship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas,’ about 8.5 minutes after liftoff, and will be the 64th booster landing on ASOG and the 292nd booster to date.
