SpaceX has successfully launched a rocket carrying three Canadian satellites into orbit, the company’s seventh launch of the year.
At 7.17 A.M. Pacific time today, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. About eight minutes after launch, the first stage of the booster touched down at the company’s Landing Zone 4 near the launch site – only the second ever landing here.
This was also the second time this booster had launched, having gone to space previously on the historic first uncrewed demonstration mission of the Crew Dragon spacecraft in March this year. That mission launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida, whereas this was SpaceX’s 15th ever launch from Vandenberg of their 79 total launches.
On board the rocket were three spacecraft in the RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM). Built by the US-based Maxar Technologies, the satellites are designed for a number of purposes to help Canada and the wider world.
“The three-satellite configuration of the RCM will provide daily revisits of Canada's vast territory and maritime approaches, including the Arctic up to 4 times a day, as well as daily access to any point of 90% of the world's surface,” SpaceX noted.
They added that the RCM would help monitor climate change and conduct disaster relief efforts, while it would also help create sea ice maps of Canada’s oceans and lakes. “Each satellite also carries an Automatic Identification System receiver, allowing improved detection and tracking of vessels of interest,” they added.
For SpaceX, the launch heralds a return to business as usual for the company in an exciting but somewhat tumultuous year so far. While the company earlier celebrated their Crew Dragon launch, a subsequent explosion back on Earth meant that the first humans to fly on the spacecraft may be delayed to 2020.
The company has also been hard at work on its new Starship vehicle, designed to one day take humans to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. CEO Elon Musk revealed they were working on two variants of the vehicle, with continued testing of a prototype known as Starhopper expected throughout the year.
SpaceX’s last launch was the flight of 60 Starlink satellites on May 24, the first batch of a planned mega constellation of 12,000 satellites designed to beam internet around the world. But astronomers and other experts have expressed concerns about the impacts of the constellation on the night sky and the sustainability of Earth orbit.
Numerous astronomy groups have voiced their opinions on constellations like Starlink, noting that the vast number of satellites – far more than the 2,000 active satellites currently in orbit – would outnumber visible stars in the night sky. SpaceX has yet to reveal how it will address these concerns.
The company’s next launch will be the third flight of the Falcon Heavy rocket on June 24, following the second flight of the rocket – the most powerful operational launch vehicle in the world – in April.
