Sunday night saw an on-time launch for SpaceX’s latest Falcon 9 mission known as Bandwagon-1. The rideshare mission, SpaceX’s 35th of 2024, carried 11 satellites to a mid-inclination orbit (45 degrees) for six different companies. A mid-inclination orbit places satellites over populated areas rather than providing global coverage seen with standard polar orbits.
Sunday’s flight puts SpaceX in competition with Rocket Labs, which has been using its Electron rockets to achieve such orbits in recent years.
One of the most high-profile payloads was a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) for South Korea. SAR satellites are capable of high-resolution imaging despite darkness or cloud cover. The satellite was one of five launched as part of the country’s 425 project.
Japan’s Institue for Q-Shu Pioneers for Space also had a satellite on board, OPS-SAR-7. The satellite is capable of providing resolution to .46 meters and is one of 24 planned for their constellation.
Several other companies also had their own versions of SAR satellites on board.
Following the pre-sunset launch, Booster 1073 made a perfect landing at Cape Canaveral’s LZ-1, marking the 14th flight of the booster.
