Space X Launches Its First Mission to Space with 64 Satellites

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from California recently carrying 64 small satellites into low orbit around the Earth, which marked one of the largest satellite ride sharing missions ever launched and the most crowded single mission in the US history.

Elon Musk’s company SpaceX also known as Space Exploration Technology launched the rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Monday after a series of delays triggered by weather conditions and a series of inspections for the rocket. The Falcon 9 blasted off carrying satellites from 34 different companies, government agencies and universities, including the University of Illinois.

SpaceX said in a statement that the mission was “one of the most complex and intricate endeavors” for the Seattle-based startup Spaceflight, the ride-share company that has arranged for the passage for each satellite maker.

Spaceflight aims at providing a kind of Uber service for space tour. It is the Satellite rides sharing. Spaceflight has for years worked as a liaison between small satellite companies and the launch providers, so to put small payloads onto rockets with extra room on board. It is the first space mission, where Spaceflight has filled the rocket entirely with its small satellite customers, which came from 34 companies and organizations across 17 countries.

Curt Blake, President, Spaceflight, said in a recent interview, “We started off just selling the excess capacity on whatever launches were out there. Then, we said, ‘Wow demand is so big, we should just buy a whole rocket ourselves’. That's how this mission came to be”.

The mission has finally established that the growing demand to launch small satellites, modern devices that some companies hope will empower a series of new businesses, from internet service to supply chain monitoring. 

SpaceX has named the mission SSO-A, which also marked its 19th launch of 2018, surpassing its previous annual record of 18 launches last year. It was also the first time, where Elon Musk’s company attempted to fly one of its rocket boosters for the third time. The booster, which was covered in black soot in its two prior flights, landed again on a remote controlled platform in the Pacific Ocean after successfully launching the rocket.

The goal of SpaceX is to reduce the cost of a launch by reusing the hardware, a feat its competitors thought was impossible or uneconomical. It is also important to note that the US mission comes days after India fired a rocket, which carried 31 satellites into space.