SpaceX launches 30 satellites in second mid-inclination rideshare mission
SpaceX's Falcon 9 launched 30 satellites on Saturday for the second dedicated rideshare mission to mid-inclination orbit.
The Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 3:34 a.m. local time on the Bandwagon-2 mission, according to Space News. The Falcon 9 first stage landed back at the launch site eight minutes and 15 seconds after liftoff, just as the second stage finished its burn.
The largest of the 30 payloads on the Bandwagon-2 mission was the third "425 Project" reconnaissance satellite for the South Korean military, the outlet reported. The first satellite of its kind was launched on a Falcon 9 a year ago and the second was on a Bandwagon-1 mission in April.
The other customers on the launch included a HawkEye 360, which deployed three satellites called Cluster 11 for radio-frequency intelligence. The company said the satellites feature advanced payloads for obtaining data and transmitters for relaying it to ground stations.
Another customer is Finnish company Iceye, which launched two synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites on Bandwagon-2 that are capable of proving radar imagery at a resolution of 25 centimeters.
Other companies with spacecraft on Bandwagon-2 include Sidus Space, Tomorrow.io, True Anomaly and Think Orbital.
SpaceX announced the Bandwagon line of rideshare missions last year to complement its Transporter series of dedicated rideshare missions to sun-synchronous orbits.
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The company said it offered mid-inclination missions because they were the orbits most commonly requested following sun synchronous. The company said it would carry out two Bandwagon missions this year and two additional ones next year.