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Additional Media

SpaceX launches South Korean spy satellite and more, lands in California

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launched the Korea 425 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on December 1st at 1:19pm ET for the launch of the Kor...

Ad Astra: Launch of EIRSAT-1

Watch live as Ireland goes to space, for the first time, with the launch of EIRSAT-1. Built by students at @universitycollegedublin under the guidance of ESA...

Livestream on X

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SpaceX

SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company was founded in 2002 to revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets.

425 Project Flight 1 & rideshare

Circle Image

Overview

Destination: Sun-Synchronous Orbit
Mission: Government/Top Secret

Sun-Synchronous Orbit Space Launch Complex 4E Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
B1061 - Landing Zone 4

Note: Name of payload is provisional. First launch of an ultimately 5 reconnaissance satellites for the South Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), with 1 satellite featuring an electro-optical infrared (EO/IR) telescope. The other 4 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites are to be launched at a later date. They will be launched to low Earth orbit between 600 and 700 km by 2025, enabling South Korea’s military to observe the nuclear-armed neighbor’s key military facilities every two hours with 30-50 centimeters resolution imagery, according to a 2019 report produced by the Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning. The project is lead by the Korean Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), with input from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), Hanwha Systems and Thales Alenia Space. ESA's EIRSAT-1 is also onboard as a rideshare passenger. This 2U cubesat carries three experiments, including a novel gamma ray detector to study some of the most luminous explosions in the universe.

Telemetry

Launch trajectory and telemetry simulations provided by Flight Club - a rocket launch simulator and orbital trajectory visualiser for all things space!

Updates

Cosmic_Penguin • Dec. 2, 2023, 6:43 a.m.

Launch success.


Nosu • Dec. 1, 2023, 6:19 p.m.

Liftoff


LL2 • Dec. 1, 2023, 5:46 p.m.

Livestream has started


SwGustav • Nov. 30, 2023, 11:49 p.m.

Adjusting T-0 and setting GO


Nosu • Nov. 29, 2023, 9:44 p.m.

Adjusting T-0


Falcon 9

Family:
Configuration: Block 5

Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The Block 5 variant is the fifth major interval aimed at improving upon the ability for rapid reusability.

See Details
Specifications
  • Minimum Stage
    1
  • Max Stage
    2
  • Length
    70.0 m
  • Diameter
    3.65 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    5.2 m
  • Launch Mass
    549.0 T
  • Thrust
    7607.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Falcon 9
  • Family
  • Variant
    Block 5
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    Falcon 9 Block 5
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
    $52000000
  • Low Earth Orbit
    22800.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
    8300.0 kg
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity

Booster Info


B1061

Status: Expended


Type: Core
Flight Proven: Yes
First Flight: November 16, 2020
Last Flight: October 7, 2024
Flights: 23
Landings Attempted: 22
Landings Successful: 22
Previous B1061 Flights

Landing Information

B1061 has landed back at the launch site after its 17th flight.

Result: Successful Return to Launch Site landing at Landing Zone 4.

SpaceX

SpaceX

(SpX)

CEO: Elon Musk Founded: 2002 Successes: 414 Failures: 12 Pending: 117

Agency Type:

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. SpaceX operates from many pads, on the East Coast of the US they operate from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and historic LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. They also operate from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, usually for polar launches. Another launch site is being developed at Boca Chica, Texas.

INFO WIKI

Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Space Launch Complex 4E


Falcon 9
Success
1 day, 23 hours ago
Starlink Group 6-68
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Falcon 9
Success
2 days, 7 hours ago
Starlink Group 9-11
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 20 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Long March 4B
Success
2 days, 13 hours ago
Haiyang 4-01
Launch Complex 9 - Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Next generation Chinese ocean salinity measurements satellite to study ocean climatic changes and its effects on ecology and biological cycles.


Falcon 9
Success
4 days, 15 hours ago
Starlink Group 6-69
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Falcon 9
Success
4 days, 19 hours ago
Koreasat 6A
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

The Koreasat 6A spacecraft, built by Thales Alenia Space, will have 20 transponders for fixed satellite services and six for TV broadcasting to repla…


Kinetica 1
Success
5 days, 8 hours ago
15 satellites
Launch Area 130 - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Launch of 15 satellites on share-ride to SSO: * Shiyan 26 A/B/C * Jilin-1 High Resolution-05B * Jilin-1 Platform-02A-03 * Yunyao-1 31-36 * Xig…


Falcon 9
Success
1 week ago
Starlink Group 9-10
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 20 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Long March 2
Success
1 week ago
PIESAT-2 01-04
Launch Area 4 (SLS-2 / 603) - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

4 X-band synthetic-aperture radar Earth observation satellites for the Chinese Earth observation satellite company PIESAT.


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 1 day ago
Starlink Group 6-77
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 23 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Electron
Success
1 week, 4 days ago
Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes (Protosat-1)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Launch of a yet to identified satellite to SSO for an undisclosed customer. The customer is highly likely to be Low Earth Orbit communication satelli…