Screenshot from SpaceX Webcast of the Transporter-6 launch. Another School Bus full of science
Mission Rundown: SpaceX Falcon 9 - Transporter-6
Written: January 4, 2023
Lift Off Time | January 3, 2023 – 09:56:20 EST | 14:56:20 UTC |
Mission Name | Transporter-6 |
Launch Provider | SpaceX |
Customers | Numerous |
Rocket | Falcon 9 Block 5 serial number B1060-15 |
Launch Location | Space Launch Complex 40 - SLC-40 Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida |
Payload | 114 Commercial and Government CubeSats, Microsats, Pocket Qubes, and Orbital Transfer Vehicles |
Payload mass | ~3 500 kg ~ 7 700 pounds - guesswork |
Where did the CubeSats go? | Sun Synchronous Polar Orbit - 537 km x 540 km x 97,39° |
Recovery of the first stage? | Yes - 1st stage will do a Boost Back Burn |
Where will the first stage land? | LZ-1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida |
Recovery of the fairings? | Yes. Recovery ship Bob will salvage the fairings 604 km downrange north of Cuba |
Are these fairings new? | No. Type 3.1 fairing with 4x2 venting ports, thermal steel tip, lowered protrusion and no acoustic tiles |
This will be the: This is the 161st landing but one Falcon Heavy core booster fell overboard, so it didn’t make it to shore for refurbishment | – 195th flight of all Falcon 9 rockets – 132nd re-flight of all Falcon 9 boosters – 139th flight of a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket – 118th re-flight of a Block 5 booster – 107th SpaceX launch from SLC-40 – 160th booster landing overall – 1st mission for SpaceX in 2023 |
Where to watch Where to read more in depth | SpaceX YouTube link Want to know or learn more go visit or see Tim Dodd |
Launch debriefing (This is what happens) Horizontal velocity by 1st stage is usually 7000 km/h after MECO - The Boost Back Burn cut that back with -8000 km/h 2nd stage got into SSO at 537-540 km altitude Payload camera 1 and 2 look forward in between row 1-2 and 3-4 Black EXO in camera 1 Jumps in telemetry is acquisition/loss of signal | T-00:07:09 Host: T 00:00:00 T+00:01:11 T+00:02:19 T+00:02:30 T+00:02:35 T+00:03:52 T+00:04:32 T+00:06:52 T+00:08:01 T+00:08:28 T+00:54:46 T+00:55:22 - T+00:58:28 T+01:16:17 T+01:16:20 T+01:32:02 | SpaceX live feed at 04:51 Siva Bharadvaj Liftoff at 09:50 - 14:56:20.690 UTC MaxQ at 11:01 - Audio 2 seconds later MECO 12:09, stage separation 12:12 SES-1 at 12:20 - No green TEA-TAB ignition Boost back burn 3 Merlin 1D# at 12:25 for 49 seconds Fairing separation at 13:42 - No acoustic tiles visible 1st stage apogee at 14:22 - 1 049 km/h at 146 km Reentry burn 16:42 by 3 Merlin 1D# for 22 seconds Landing burn 17:51 by 1 Merlin 1D# - for 34 seconds SECO at 18:18 and coasting in a elliptical orbit SpaceX resumes live feed at 1:04:36 SES-2 and SECO-2 in 2 seconds at 1:05:11 gave a velocity boost from 27 288 km/h to 27 608 km/h Deployment begins at 1:08:18 - 15:54:48 UTC SpaceX resumes live feed at 1:26:07 after blackout Deployment continues at 1:26:18 - 15:54:48 UTC Wrap up from Hawthorne Mezzanine Studio at 1:41:51 |
Another busload gone south
SpaceX began another busy year with the launch of the Transporter-6 rideshare mission from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket at 09:56 EST (14:56 UTC) on Tuesday, January 3, 2023. Falcon 9’s first stage returned to land at Landing Zone-1 at CCSFS approximately eight and a half minutes after launch.
This was the sixth dedicated rideshare mission organized by SpaceX and carried 114 payloads into a sun-synchronous orbit — some of which will be deployed later from a number of space tugs that are on the mission.
The payloads range in size from picosatellites of less than a kilogram — measuring only a few centimeters on each side — to microsatellites massing around 100 kg.
The Transporter missions are intended to provide a consistent cadence of rideshare opportunities to popular orbits such as Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO). As with many other satellite missions in 2022, the Transporter-6 launch date slipped from its original October 2022 target, ending up at the beginning of 2023.
There are three additional Transporter missions scheduled for 2023, launching in the first, second, and fourth quarters of the year.
The payloads are destined for an SSO of approximately 525 km in altitude and a 97.6-degree inclination. Payload deployments will begin around an hour after launch and last for about half an hour.
The Falcon 9 launch vehicle for this mission featured booster B1060-15, which tied the record for most flights of a Falcon 9 booster at 15. This record was just set in December 2022 as SpaceX continues to increase the longevity of its booster fleet.
B1060 previously launched a GPS satellite, two Geostationary Transfer Orbit missions for Turksat and Intelsat, the Transporter-2 rideshare, and 10 Starlink missions.
2nd stage flight path
Following stage separation, the second stage’s Merlin Vacuum engine ignited, beginning the six minute long burn toward an initial parking orbit. SpaceX used the “Polar Corridor” for this mission that allows launches from CCSFS to reach polar orbits. With Florida and populated islands to the south, rockets have to complete a “dogleg” maneuver to avoid them – essentially flying around them.
While the payload mass or destination orbit usually don’t prevents the first stage from preserving the energy needed for a boostback burn, Transporter missions are relatively light and target a single orbit, abling a “Return to Launch Site” (RTLS) flight profile and cancel the need for downrange drone ship recovery.
Three Merlin engines lit for 29 seconds to perform the ‘entry burn’, protecting the booster from the aerodynamic stresses and chock bow plasma burns caused by the atmospheric reentry. The single center engine then lit one final time to land B1060-15 on LZ-1. It was the 160th landing overall and the 87th consecutive successful landing of a Falcon rocket.
Second stage burned for 9 minutes 59 seconds to insert itself into its transfer orbit. This orbit measured 207 km x 537 km.
During this transfer orbit the initiation of the Outpost Mars Demo 1 experiment was performed by the hosted NASA payload, where a number of cuts were made in a space grade plate to demonstrate friction cuts and veldings.
After that the second stage coasted for 55 minutes before Second Engine Start (SES-2) for 3-4 seconds, entering its orbit of 490 x 510 km at an inclination of 97.4 degrees. Starting at T+00:59:00 minutes, the rest of the payloads began deploying. The deployment sequence then lasted for 16 minutes 22 seconds.
B1060-15 didn’t perform a static fire test after refurbishment and waiting for an east coast launch out of the Cape. SpaceX has omitted this safety precaution several times so far. It is not required to perform a static fire test inhouse missions like Starlink, that will save money and time before the launch.
B1060-15 will have made its fifteenth flight after launching its next mission:
GPS III SV03 | June 30, 2020 | Starlink Group 4-3 | December 2, 2021 |
Starlink V1.0 L11 | September 3, 2020 | Starlink Group 4-6 | January 19, 2022 |
Starlink V1.0 L14 | October 24, 2020 | Starlink Group 4-9 | March 3, 2022 |
Türksat-5A | January 8, 2021 | Starlink Grp. 4-14 | April 21, 2022 |
Starlink V1.0 L18 | February 4, 2021 | Starlink Grp. 4-19 | June 17, 2022 |
Starlink V1.0 L22 | March 24, 2021 | Galaxy 33-34 | October 8, 2022 |
Starlink V1.0 L24 | April 29, 2021 | Transporter-6 | January 3, 2023 |
Transporter-2 | June 30, 2021 |
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SpaceX is the first entity ever that recovers and reflies its fairings. After being jettisoned, the two fairing halves will use cold gas thrusters to orientate themselves as they descend through the atmosphere. Once at a lower altitude, they will deploy drogue chutes and parafoils to help them glide down to a soft landing for recovery.
Falcon fairings halfs have been recovered and reused since 2019. Improved design changes and overall refurbishment procedures have decreased the effects of water landings and led to an increased recovery rate of fairings.
The fairings are a new pair. Both fairings survived the landing. The active fairing is equipped with four pushrods to separate the other passive fairing. Nitrox - A gas mixture of Oxygen - Nitrogen gasses known by deep sea divers is pumped into the fairing to prevent humid air from entering, corroding and damaging the payload.
Fairings have evenly spaced venting ports that have been redesigned a number of times by having first ten, then eight and now having their venting ports built as close pairs along the fairing edge. This prevents saltwater from the ocean from flooding and sinking the fairing, and makes refurbishment toward the next flight easier.
The Transporter-6 Payload
SpaceX will launch 114 satellites into two Sun-Synchronous Orbits. These satellites are either directly attached to the four ESPA rings A, B, C, D and E or indirectly to dispensers attached to them. The 15 inch - 24 inch ports on ESPA ring A - E are secured to the Payload Adaptor Fitting on top of the 2nd stage.
Based on two payload camera views it looks like that there are four ESPA rings A - D.
ESPA ring A has four 24 inch ports A1 - A4, ESPA ring B has four 24 inch ports B1 - B4, ESPA ring C has four 24 inch ports C1 - C4, ESPA ring D has four 24 inch ports D1 - D4
Port sizes are not evident right now, but several are shared with other payloads.
While some Transporter customers deal directly with SpaceX to get a ride for their spacecraft, most of the payloads are handled by launch integrators who buy ports on the payload stack and then assemble multiple customers into that space.
The payloads will then either deploy directly from the sub contractors satellite ring adapter or from a separable CubeSat deployer or a ‘space tug’ that will release its payloads at a later time — possibly after shifting and adjusting to another orbit.
Subcontractors such as ISILaunch handled the integration of 47 spacecraft in CubeSat deployers mounted on two of the ports, some of which are being done on behalf of launch service providers Spaceflight and SpaceBD.
The company ExoLaunch has a variety of CubeSat and microsatellite customers deploying from multiple ports on the payload stack. Maverick Space will also be integrating some United States government payloads onboard.
Italian firm D-Orbit is flying two of their ION tugs on this mission.
ION SCV-007 (Glorious Gratia) and ION SCV-008 (Fierce Franciscus) will carry a variety of spacecraft and hosted payloads for customers.
The CubeSat spacecraft onboard the ‘tugs’ come from the companies Astrocast, AAC Clyde Space, NPC Spacemind, SAASST, and Tel Aviv University.
Hosted payloads include a SWIR camera for returning customer IAC, a propulsion system for Genergo, and prototype satellite hardware for Cryptosat. But which tug carries or hosts what payload is not exactly clear. Time to guess ‘Name that payload?’.
Momentus is launching its second test flight of a space tug with Vigoride-5.
After experiencing several problems during its previous test flight, Momentus will test an upgraded design while deploying a CubeSat for Qosmosys and hosting a payload for the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
Caltech’s Space Solar Power Demonstration One (SSPD-1) payload aims to test several technologies related to solar power generation and deployment mechanisms.
Launcher Inc. has its first Orbiter space tug on board. Launcher is also working on its own launch vehicle, meaning that it will eventually be able to provide a complete end-to-end space transportation service.
The Orbiter tug features a new green propulsion system using ethane and nitrous oxide as propellants. Orbiter SN1 carries a variety of customer spacecraft and hosted payloads.
Spacecraft are to be deployed for customers Alba Orbital, Innova Space, NPC Spacemind, Bronco Space, and Stanford Student Space Initiative.
Three payloads are being hosted for Logitech Mevo, TRL11, and Beyond Burials.
EPIC Aerospace will also debut its Chimera space tug with the CHIMERA LEO 1 spacecraft. These tugs feature a propulsion system with non-toxic liquid propellants.
Australian firm Skykraft has their Block 2 test satellites on board. This 260 kg system includes the Skykraft-1 tug that separates from the launch vehicle and deploys four more similar Skykraft satellites which will assist with Air Traffic Control.
The Skykraft satellites provide air traffic control services in VHF frequencies, along with aircraft tracking on Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) transmissions.
The use of satellites for communicating on air traffic control frequencies will require regulatory updates, but Skykraft will be able to begin testing the service in collaboration with Airservices Australia.
Skykraft hopes to eliminate gaps in air traffic control coverage and enhance safety by combining the ability to track and communicate with aircraft from the same platform.
Six ‘tugs’ will deploy from the five ring ESPA tower mounted on a Payload Adaptor Fitting attached to the Falcon 9 second stage along with numerous micro satellites, CubeSat and all kinds of smaller mini satellites.
SpaceX has been launching numerous payloads from many space companies such as Planet, Capella Space, Kepler, Guardian, Exolaunch, Nanoracks, Satellogic, Spaceflight, and a large number of other companies and universities.
Another one of many multi-launch partners for the smallsat rideshare program, Exolauch Inc. once again has ports for their customers. Exolaunch is a German-based launch service and separation system provider for smallsat payloads.
Mounted on the CarboNIX separation ring, a microsatellite will be released and deployed for their customer. The EXOpod CubeSat deployer will carry up to four CubeSats. Nine quad EXOpods mounted on a porthole extension plate can deploy 36 CubeSats.
The EXOport porthole - 24 inch to 15 inch - reducer plate, Exolaunch will deploy a number of ‘Toolbox’ sized 12U to 24U CubeSats even up to four 15 inch minisatellites.
This picture from ExoLaunch Inc. shows their capability to deploy many types of payloads.
Among the satellites that Transporter-6 deployed into sun-synchronous orbit, rideshare aggregator ExoLaunch accounted for a number of satellites, including satellites for ICEYE, Satellogic and Spire. Smallsat manufacturer Terran Orbital flew satellites for several customers, such as Fleet, GeoOptics and NASA.
Umbra launched two Synthetic Aperture Radar imaging satellites to a sun-synchronous orbit to an altitude of 525 km.
Deployment schedule of Transporter-6
After the 2nd stage engine first cut-off the deployment begins in this order. This list is written with following sources: Everyday Astronaut on launch order, NasaSpaceFlight on payloads, EOportal on some details and Günters Space Page with even finer details starting with the two Umbra SAR satellites.
00:55:20 | 2nd stage engine restarts (SES-2) - 2 second Orbit circularization burn |
00:55:22 | 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-2) |
00:58:24 | KuwaitSat-1 deploys, |
ESPA ? | KuwaitSat-1, a 2U CubeSat from Kuwait |
00:58:34 | BDSat-2 deploys, |
ESPA ? | BDSat-2, a 1U CubeSat from the Czech firm BD Sensors that has payloads for amateur radio operators and will test CubeSat components. |
00:58:35 | SharedSat 2211 deploys, Endurosat |
ESPA ? | Platform-2, a 6U CubeSat from Endurosat, will carry a number of demonstration payloads including propulsions systems from Magdrive and Hypernova. |
00:58:44 | LEMUR 2 EMMACULATE deploys, Spire Global, Exolaunch |
ESPA A2 | Spire Global satellites are manifested on the SpaceX Transporter-5 Mission through a multi-launch agreement between Spire and ExoLaunch. Spire announced that it will launch five satellites (Lemur-2) on the upcoming SpaceX Transporter-5 Mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Lemur-2 satellites - Earth observation, traffic monitoring are built by Spire and launched since September 28, 2015. Lemur-2 satellites carry three payloads: STRATOS (GPS radio occultation payload), SENSE (AIS-receiver), AirSafe ASD-B payload. This is Lemur number 158. |
00:58:55 | LEMUR 2 FUENTE TAJA-01 deploys, Spire Global, Exolaunch |
ESPA A2 | Lemur-2 satellites - Earth observation, traffic monitoring are built by Spire and launched since September 28, 2015. Lemur-2 satellites carry three payloads: STRATOS (GPS radio occultation payload), SENSE (AIS-receiver), AirSafe ASD-B payload. This is Lemur number 159 |
00:59:51 | ConnectaT1.2 deploys, Plan-S, Turkey |
ESPA ? | Connecta T1.2, a 3U test satellite from Plan-S in Turkey |
01:00:00 | GAMA Alpha deploys, Gama, France |
ESPA ? | Gama Alpha, a 6U CubeSat from the French firm Gama will test the deployment of a solar sail. |
01:00:01 | BRO-8 deploys, Unseenlabs, France |
ESPA ? | Bro-8 from Unseenlabs in France has a 6U satellite. |
01:00:12 | Menut deploys, Open Cosmos |
ESPA ? | Menut from Open Cosmos, a 6U imaging satellite with a 5 m resolution that will prioritize taking imagery of the Catalonia region of Spain. |
01:00:18 | Huygens deploys |
ESPA C4 | Huygens, a 6U satellite owned by the Dutch ministry of defense that will fly in formation to detect radar emissions from ships. |
01:00:24 | LEMUR 2 DISCLAIMER deploys, Spire Global, Exolaunch |
ESPA A2 | Lemur-2 satellites - Earth observation, traffic monitoring are built by Spire and launched since September 28, 2015. Lemur-2 satellites carry three payloads: STRATOS (GPS radio occultation payload), SENSE (AIS-receiver), AirSafe ASD-B payload. This is Lemur number 157 |
01:00:35 | STAR VIBE deploys, Scanway Space, Poland |
ESPA A2 | STAR VIBE from Scanway Space, Poland, a 6U satellite testing an Earth observation telescope as well as a satellite self-inspection imager on a small boom. |
01:00:55 | LEMUR 2 STEVEALBERS deploys, Spire Global, Exolaunch |
ESPA A2 | Lemur-2 satellites - Earth observation, traffic monitoring are built by Spire and launched since September 28, 2015. Lemur-2 satellites carry three payloads: STRATOS (GPS radio occultation payload), SENSE (AIS-receiver), AirSafe ASD-B payload. This is Lemur number 162 |
01:01:11 | Kleos KSF3-A deploys, Kleos Space, Luxembourg - ISILAUNCH - Blue box cam 2 |
ESPA D3 | KSF3-A, a 6U signals intelligence CubeSats from Kleos Space of Luxembourg has its fourth cluster of satellites, the Observer mission will fly in formation. |
01:02:02 | Birkeland deploys |
ESPA C4 | Birkeland, a 6U satellite owned by the Norwegian ministry of defense that will fly in formation to detect radar emissions from ships. |
01:02:07 | SPACEBEE-156/167 deploys |
| SPACEBEE, a 0.25U CubeSats from SpaceX’s Swarm subsidiary, will launch 12 more of their quarter sized CubeSats. |
01:02:47 | LEMUR 2 MMOLO deploys, Spire Global, Exolaunch |
ESPA A2 | Lemur-2 satellites - Earth observation, traffic monitoring are built by Spire and launched since September 28, 2015. Lemur-2 satellites carry three payloads: STRATOS (GPS radio occultation payload), SENSE (AIS-receiver), AirSafe ASD-B payload. This is Lemur number 160 |
01:02:54 | ISILAUNCH Kleos KSF3-B deploys |
ESPA D3 | KSF3-B, a 6U signals intelligence CubeSats from Kleos Space of Luxembourg has its fourth cluster of satellites, the Observer mission will fly in formation. |
01:03:25 | ISILAUNCH Kleos KSF3-C deploys, |
ESPA D3 | KSF3-C, a 6U signals intelligence CubeSats from Kleos Space of Luxembourg has its fourth cluster of satellites, the Observer mission will fly in formation. |
01:04:47 | LEMUR 2 PHILARI deploys, Spire Global, Exolaunch |
ESPA A2 | Lemur-2 satellites - Earth observation, traffic monitoring are built by Spire and launched since September 28, 2015. Lemur-2 satellites carry three payloads: STRATOS (GPS radio occultation payload), SENSE (AIS-receiver), AirSafe ASD-B payload. This is Lemur number 161 |
01:05:02 | ISILAUNCH Kleos KSF3-D deploys |
ESPA D3 | KSF3-D, a 6U signals intelligence CubeSats from Kleos Space of Luxembourg has its fourth cluster of satellites, the Observer mission will fly in formation. |
01:05:03 | First Flock 4Y deploys, Planet Inc. |
ESPA D1 | 1st Flock 4Y Super Dove - optical imaging satellites from Planet. 36 CubeSats will replenish the Dove constellation with newer models that provide 8-band multispectral imaging. |
01:05:11 | EWS RROCI deploys, Orion Space |
ESPA D3 | Rapid Revisit Optical Cloud Imager (RROCI), a 12U satellite from Orion Space that will demonstrate the collection of weather data for the United States Space Force. |
01:05:12 | PolyItan HP-30 deploys, Kiev, Ukraine - SpaceBD ISILAUNCH |
ESPA D3 | PolyItan HP-30, a 2U CubeSat testing heat pipes design, from Kiev, Ukraine - SpaceBD |
01:05:14 | Second Flock 4Y deploys |
ESPA D1 | 2nd Flock 4Y Super Dove - optical imaging satellites from Planet. 36 CubeSats will replenish the Dove constellation with newer models that provide 8-band multispectral imaging. |
01:05:23 | Guardian-alpha deploys, OrbAstro |
ESPA D3 | Guardian-Alpha, a 3U satellite from OrbAstro that tests components including onboard computing. |
01:05:25 | Third Flock 4Y deploys |
ESPA D1 | 3rd Flock 4Y Super Dove - optical imaging satellites from Planet. 36 CubeSats will replenish the Dove constellation with newer models that provide 8-band multispectral imaging. |
01:05:36 | Fourth Flock 4Y deploys |
ESPA D1 | 4th Flock 4Y Super Dove - optical imaging satellites from Planet. 36 CubeSats will replenish the Dove constellation with newer models that provide 8-band multispectral imaging. |
01:05:40 | Star Sphere-1 deploys, Sony - SpaceBD |
ESPA D3 | Star Sphere-1, a 6U imaging satellite from Sony that can take still images and 4k video with a Sony full-frame sensor, intended to be made available for a wide range of uses including artistic and educational purposes. |
01:05:50 | NSLSat-2 deploys, NSLComm, Israel - ISILAUNCH ClydeSpace |
| NSLSat-2, a 6U satellite from NSLComm, Israel with a deployable antenna to allow increased data rates in Ka-band. |
01:06:30 | Sternula-1 deploys, Sternula, Denmark - ISILAUNCH |
ESPA D3 | Sternula-1, a 6U satellite from the Danish firm Sternula has to enhance maritime communications by providing Automatic Identification System (AIS) 2.0 service, a newer AIS protocol with two-way communications at VHF frequencies. |
01:06:30 | Fifth to 35th Flock 4Y deploys in a row during black out |
ESPA D1 | 5th - 35th Flock 4Y Super Dove - optical imaging satellites from Planet. 36 CubeSats will replenish the Dove constellation with newer models that provide 8-band multispectral imaging. |
01:19:42 | 36th Flock 4Y deploys |
ESPA D1 | 36th Flock 4Y Super Dove - optical imaging satellites from Planet. 36 CubeSats will replenish the Dove constellation with newer models that provide 8-band multispectral imaging. |
01:19:46 | Lynk Tower 3 deploys, Lynk Global |
ESPA D2 | Tower 3, a satellite from Lynk Global, will provide messaging services directly to cell phones. |
01:20:00 | Albania 1 deploys |
ESPA B1 | ÑuSat 32 (NewSat 32, Aleph-1 32, Albania 1), an Argentinean earth observation satellite from the Aleph-1 constellation developed and operated by Satellogic S.A. The satellites in the constellation are identical 51 cm × 57 cm × 82 cm spacecraft of 37.5 kg mass. The satellites are equipped with an imaging system operating in visible light and infrared. The constellation will allow for commercially available real-time Earth imaging and video with a ground resolution of 1 m. The satellites were developed based on the experience gained on the BugSat 1 (Tita) prototype satellite. The Albanian government will have priority access to the Albania 1 & 2 satellites. |
01:20:02 | Lynk Tower 4 deploys, Lynk Global |
ESPA D2 | Tower 4, a satellite from Lynk Global, will provide messaging services directly to cell phones. |
01:20:42 | YAM-5 deploys, Loft Orbital |
ESPA B3 | YAM-5, an 87 kg microsatellite from Loft Orbital will be hosting a variety of customer payloads, including a longwave infrared camera, sensing payload, and S-band IoT payload. |
01:21:48 | Newsat 34 deploys, Satellogic |
ESPA B1 | ÑuSat 34 (NewSat 34, Aleph-1 34, Amelia Earhart), an Argentinean earth observation satellite from the Aleph-1 constellation developed and operated by Satellogic S.A. The satellites in the constellation are identical 51 cm × 57 cm × 82 cm spacecraft of 37.5 kg mass. The satellites are equipped with an imaging system operating in visible light and infrared. The constellation will allow for commercially available real-time Earth imaging and video with a ground resolution of 1 m. The satellites were developed based on the experience gained on the BugSat 1 (Tita) prototype satellite. |
01:22:03 | Albania 2 deploys |
ESPA B1 | ÑuSat 33 (NewSat 33, Aleph-1 33, Albania 2), an Argentinean earth observation satellite from the Aleph-1 constellation developed and operated by Satellogic S.A. The satellites in the constellation are identical 51 cm × 57 cm × 82 cm spacecraft of 37.5 kg mass. The satellites are equipped with an imaging system operating in visible light and infrared. The constellation will allow for commercially available real-time Earth imaging and video with a ground resolution of 1 m. The satellites were developed based on the experience gained on the BugSat 1 (Tita) prototype satellite. The Albanian government will have priority access to the Albania 1 & 2 satellites. |
01:22:58 | X22 deploys, ICEye, Finland |
ESPA B4 | ICEYE SAR satellites of Finland via ExoLaunch. The launch also included the second and third satellites built, licensed and operated by ICEYE US. ICEYE X22 |
01:23:04 | X21 deploys, ICEye, Finland |
| ICEYE SAR satellites of Finland via ExoLaunch. The launch also included the second and third satellites built, licensed and operated by ICEYE US. ICEYE X21 |
01:23:46 | First Umbra-05 deploys, Umbra Lab |
ESPA D4 | Umbra-05, X-band SAR microsatellites (65 kg) of Umbra Lab, Santa Barbara, CA. The mission is to test technologies and designs, validate performance, and progress into an operational architecture. |
01:23:50 | Second Umbra-06 deploys, Umbra Lab |
ESPA D2 | Umbra-06, X-band SAR microsatellites (65 kg) of Umbra Lab, Santa Barbara, CA. The mission is to test technologies and designs, validate performance, and progress into an operational architecture. |
01:24:47 | Newsat 35 deploys, Satellogic |
ESPA B1 | ÑuSat 35 (NewSat 35, Aleph-1 35, Williamina Fleming), an Argentinean earth observation satellite from the Aleph-1 constellation developed and operated by Satellogic S.A. The satellites in the constellation are identical 51 cm × 57 cm × 82 cm spacecraft of 37.5 kg mass. The satellites are equipped with an imaging system operating in visible light and infrared. The constellation will allow for commercially available real-time Earth imaging and video with a ground resolution of 1 m. |
01:24:59 | ION SCV007 GLORIOUS GRATIA deploys, D-Orbit |
ESPA A4 | ION SCV-007 Satellite Carrier is a satellite platform developed, manufactured, and operated by Italian company D-Orbit. The platform features a customizable 64U satellite dispenser capable of hosting a combination of CubeSats that fits the volume. Throughout a mission, the ION Satellite Carrier can release the hosted satellites individually, changing orbital parameters between one deployment and the next. Each of the miniature CubeSats weighs a few kilograms. Astrocast 1-4, 3U IoT satellites from Astrocast, Switzerland DRAGO-2, a hosted SWIR camera from Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias Genergo-2, a hosted propulsion system from Genergo |
01:24:59 | ION SCV-008 FIERCE FRANCISCUS deploys |
ESPA C1 | ION SCV-008 Satellite Carrier is a satellite platform developed, manufactured, and operated by Italian company D-Orbit. The platform features a customizable 64U satellite dispenser capable of hosting a combination of CubeSats that fits the volume. Throughout a mission, the ION Satellite Carrier can release the hosted satellites individually, changing orbital parameters between one deployment and the next. Each of the miniature CubeSats weighs a few kilograms. Futura-1, a 3U CubeSat and Futura-3, a 6U CubeSat, both from NPC Spacemind will test hardware including a drag sail, and will also launch from NPC Spacemind’s own CubeSat deployer hardware. Kelpie, a 3U satellite from AAC Clyde Space that will collect AIS data for customer ORBCOMM. Sharja-Sat-1, a 3U+ CubeSat with an X-Ray detector and a camera system from Sharjah Academy for Astronomy, Space Sciences, Israel TAUSAT2, a 2U CubeSat with Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) for an experiment with optical tracking of objects in space from Tel Aviv University, Israel Cryptosat-2 a hosted prototype nanosatellite from Cryptosat |
01:26:11 | Launcher Orbiter SN1 deploys, Launcher Inc. |
ESPA A3 | Launcher Orbiter SN1, from Launcher Inc. has its first Orbiter space tug on board. Launcher is also working on its own launch vehicle, meaning that it will eventually be able to provide a complete end-to-end space transportation service. The Orbiter tug features a propulsion system using ethane and nitrous oxide as propellants. Orbiter SN1 carries a variety of customer spacecraft and hosted payloads. Spacecraft are to be deployed for customers: Alba Orbital, Unicorn-2G/2H - 2 x 3P CubeSats Innova Space, MDQSAT-1A "Dibu Martinez" & "Juana Uzurduy" - 2 x 0.5U CubeSats, Argentina, IoT NPC Spacemind, ? PROVES-Yearling 1U CubeSat demonstrator from Bronco Space, California Polytechnic, Pomona Sapling-1 Sempervirens, a 1U CubeSat testing autonomous cloud filtering and smart downlinking using Google Coral hardware from Stanford University - Student Space Initiative 3 Payloads are being hosted for Logitech Mevo, TRL11, and Beyond Burials. |
01:27:31 | X27 deploys, ICEye, Finland |
ESPA C4 | ICEYE SAR satellites of Finland via ExoLaunch. The launch also included the second and third satellites built, licensed and operated by ICEYE US. ICEYE X27 |
01:27:34 | Skykraft 1 deploys, Skykraft, Australia |
ESPA B2 | Skykraft-1, a 260 kg tug that deploys four more Skykraft 1A-1D Block 2 test satellites. The Australian Skykraft satellites provide air traffic control services in VHF frequencies, along with aircraft tracking using Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) transmissions. The use of satellites for communicating on air traffic control frequencies will require regulatory updates, but Skykraft will be able to begin testing the service in collaboration with Airservices Australia. Skykraft hopes to eliminate gaps in air traffic control coverage and enhance safety by combining the ability to both track and communicate with aircraft from the same platform. |
01:28:10 | Momentus’ Vigoride 5 deploys |
ESPA A1 | Vigoride-5 is a 363 kg space tug from Momentus Space. The total payload capacity that it can support to LEO is 250 kg. Vigoride is capable of changing orbital planes, inclination, and propelling spacecraft to up to 2,000 km. Vigoride 5 is carrying 1 CubeSat and 1 hosted payload. ZEUS-1, a 3U Cubesat from Qosmosys-Orient G, Singapore SSPD-1 - Caltech’s Space Solar Power Demonstration One hosted payload on Vigoride 5 will test several technologies related to solar power generation and deployment mechanisms. |
01:28:54 | CHIMERA LEO 1 deploys, EPIC Aerospace |
ESPA C1 | CHIMERA LEO 1 - Chimera space tug from EPIC Aerospace will also make its debut in space. These tugs will feature and demonstrate a propulsion system with non-toxic liquid propellants. |
01:31:10 | EOS SAT-1 deploys, EOS Data Analytics |
ESPA C2 | EOS Agrisat-1 from EOS Data Analytics — founded by Max Polyakov — the first satellite in their Earth imaging constellation focused on agricultural uses. The 100 kg-class satellite was built in South Africa by Dragonfly Aerospace and provides both panchromatic imaging at 1.4 m resolution and multispectral imaging at 2.8 m resolution. |
Tug? | Pushan Alpha, a 3U Cubesat from Digantara, India to serve as a space weather testbed. Unknown. |
CubeSats are built within standard measurements of 10x10x10 centimeters as a 1U unit with lots of solar cells on the outside and various instruments on the inside. Planet of San Francisco’s SuperDove is a 3U CubeSat, sized as a ‘Loaf of bread’. The next size is the ‘Shoebox’ 6U which is two 3U built side by side or a ‘French Flüte’ with 6U on a row. A 12U CubeSat is a ‘Toolbox’ measuring 20x20x30 centimeters and fills a quad pack dispenser.
The CPOD, PTD-3, CENTAURI-5, and two CICERO-2 payloads from Terran Orbital Corporation. They were all 6U ‘shoebox’ CubeSats mounted on a plate fixed to a 24 inch port hole on the ESPA ring
A PocketQube is a type of miniaturized satellite for space research that usually has a size of 5cm cubed per unit or 'p' (one eighth the volume of a CubeSat). This technology paves the way to ‘democratizing access to space’ as the small form factor removes significant economic barriers to orbit for smaller organizations. It looks like a ‘Rubik's Cube’.
There is a smaller size, the 1/4U CubeSat, which is like a ‘Slice of bread’. SpaceBEE from Swarm Technologies, Inc. is an example of this size.
Terran Orbital Corporation have here mounted 5 CubeSats dispensers mounted on a plate attached to one of four 24 inch portholes in the ESPA D ring. The CubeSats dispensers each will open a lid from which a 6U CubeSat will deploy, CPOD will deploy two 3U CubeSat and two Cicero-2 will each deploy a larger 6U XXL CubeSat. The power wires go to the locks on the lids on the CubeSat dispensers - note the hinges on the lids edges.
The 16 ports on the four ESPA rings are not accounted for in detail as I would like.
Some callouts are based on quad cubesat deployers located on a dispenser plate mounted on an ESPA ring port “A1-4, B1-4, C1-4 and D1-4” plus at the top rim of ESPA ring D as port D5, where the heaviest satellite should be mounted.
From the 2nd stage top bulkhead there is attached a 12 foot fairing mounting ring onto which the Payload Adaptor Fitting is mounted; it tapers into where the ESPA rings are mounted. On the ESPA rings there are 4 to 6 portholes depending on their size, from where Microsats and plates can be attached, the plates are attachment points for smaller rings with CubeSat dispensers in all sizes from 1/4U to 12U.
All of them have a name and are made by a company, a college school, a university or a government office. There are space companies like Exolauch Inc. who collect a bunch of CubeSat and give their own spin on all these links of the chain between 2nd stage and deployment. Therefore it’s a puzzle that is very difficult to put together.
Just how many hours did I use to write this freaking payload list? 18 hours.
Author Austin Desisto link, Trevor Sesnic link NasaSpaceFlight: Danny Lentz link | Coauthor/Text Retriever Johnny Nielsen link to launch list - ElonX stats link |
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