SpaceX Transporter-1 carpool launch carries 143 spacecraft

SpaceX launched another rocket in the record books on Sunday with the first mission of its “carpooling” program carrying dozens of small satellites into space.

The Falcon 9 rocket, which took off from Cape Canaveral in Florida, carried 143 spacecraft into orbit – a new world record for the most spacecraft launched at a time and surpassing the 104 mark set by a PSLV rocket Indian in February 2017.

Called Transporter-1, the SpaceX mission was the first in the company’s SmallSat Rideshare program.

As SpaceX announces a dedicated single-satellite Falcon 9 launch for $ 62 million, the company’s SmallSat Rideshare launches give smaller satellites – as small as the size of a mailbox – an in-orbit option for as little as $ 1 million for 200 kilograms.

Such ridesharing missions have become increasingly common in the space industry, with international competitors like Arianespace’s Vega seeking to claim a share of the growing small satellite market.

Carpool missions offer a different option for low-cost satellites looking to orbit, with smaller rockets like Rocket Lab’s Electron offering a more personalized approach.

“SpaceX offers a competitive ridesharing option, largely leveraging its Starlink launches,” said Phil Smith, senior analyst at Bryce Space and Technology at CNBC.

SpaceX service isn’t quite on-demand, Smith said, but companies can pay a premium for the launch based on their schedule, rather than that of the primary customer.

“A fairly reliable ‘bus line’ is available,” Smith said of SpaceX, “so I guess you could compare companies like Rocket Lab and Virgin Orbit as guard taxis that get your satellite there. wherever you want as soon as possible. ”

Elon Musk’s company has launched 133 satellites for a wide variety of government and private customers, as well as 10 of its own Starlink satellites.

SpaceX customers aboard the Transporter-1 include: Planet Labs, Exolaunch, D-Orbit, Kepler Communications, Spaceflight Inc, Nanoracks, NASA and Capella Space, as well as iQPS, Loft Orbital, Spire Global, ICEYE, HawkEye 360, Astrocast and the Institute of Applied Engineering at the University of South Florida.

Notably, the 10 Starlink satellites aboard this mission will be the first in the constellation to deploy into a polar orbit, as the company continues to expand public access to its Internet satellite network. These 10 satellites were added after Momentus pulled its first Vigoride mission from the Transporter-1 launch earlier this month. Momentus cited the additional time required for regulatory approval as the reason for the change.

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