SpaceX launches 90 payloads into orbit on 'rideshare' mission
SpaceX launched its Transporter-9 mission on Saturday (Nov. 11), a 'rideshare' flight that lofted 90 payloads into orbit.
A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base at 1:49 p.m. EST (1849 GMT; 10:49 a.m. local California time), kicking off the Transporter-9 mission.
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The Falcon 9's first stage came back to Earth for a vertical touchdown at Vandenberg about 7.5 minutes after liftoff. It was the 12th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description .
The mission carried 90 payloads for a variety of different customers, "including cubesats, microsats, and orbital transfer vehicles carrying spacecraft to be deployed at a later time," the mission description reads.
These payloads will be deployed into low Earth orbit between 54 and 85.5 minutes after liftoff, according to the mission description.
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Ninety is a hefty number to be sure, but it isn't close to a record. SpaceX's Transporter-1 mission holds the mark, sending 143 satellites to orbit in January 2021. And Transporter-6 , which lifted off this past January, was also more prolific, carrying 114 satellites aloft.
Transporter-9 is the 82nd orbital mission for SpaceX in 2023, extending the company's record for a single year. (The previous mark, 61 launches, was set in 2022.) Most of this year's missions have been devoted to building out Starlink , SpaceX's internet megaconstellation, which currently consist of more than 5,000 operational satellites .
