With 114 satellites aboard, this morning's SpaceX launch (Wednesday, Jan. 3) from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station was the second most spacecraft ever lofted in a single operation.
Transporter-6 is significant for more than just its mission.
Today's launch was the 15th time that the same first stage of a Falcon 9 has been used, matching a reusability record achieved by SpaceX only last month. It was also the 161st successful rocket landing for SpaceX and the company's 200th mission overall.
The Transporter-6 Mission
Today at 9:56 AM EST (14:56 GMT), the Falcon 9 successfully launched, marking the beginning of Transporter-6, SpaceX's 6th designated small-satellite rideshare mission.
In Space.com's report, the mission description provided by SpaceX reads that the 114 payloads aboard the flight consist of "CubeSats, microsats, picosats, and orbital transfer vehicles carrying spacecraft to be deployed at a later time."
Cargoes on Board
Planet, a firm headquartered out of San Francisco, operates 36 "SuperDoves," which are tiny satellites about the size of a loaf of bread, to observe Earth.
Six satellites for Spire Global, a space analytics business located in Virginia, and the first satellite in EOS Data Analytics' (EOSDA) planned seven-satellite agriculture-focused constellation, EOS SAT-1, will be launched aboard Transporter-6.
Spire Global, a Virginia-based space analytics firm, will operate six satellites aboard Transporter-6.
EOS SAT-1, the first satellite of a projected seven-satellite, agriculture-focused constellation planned by EOS Data Analytics (EOSDA), will also be deployed on this rocket.
If everything goes according to plan, the EOSDA network will be completely operational by 2025, and it will then examine agricultural fields and forest ecosystems all across the globe. Company representatives claimed customers might use the data to monitor crop growth and health and switch to sustainable farming.
This morning, just 2.5 minutes after launch, the Falcon 9's two stages separated, and the first stage began its descent to Earth. Only six minutes later, the rocket landed safely at Cape Canaveral, indicating the successful conclusion of its return trip.
Meanwhile, the Falcon 9's upper stage kept boosting its many payloads into orbit.
The first 114 satellites will be launched roughly 58.5 minutes after launch. About 91 minutes after launch, the last satellite, EOS SAT-1, will be released from the rocket.
SpaceX intended to launch the Transporter-6 satellites in a whopping 82 different missions. But the company claimed it could not instantly confirm that each of those activities had happened.
Commercial Satellite Flights
SpaceX has launched many times using Falcon 9's first stage on this mission. In addition to the company's Transporter-2 rideshare mission and other commercial satellite flights, it deployed 10 Starlink internet satellite missions.
Though Transporter-6's manifest was packed to capacity, it was not a record-breaking number of satellite launches.
Transporter-1, built and operated by SpaceX, sent 143 satellites into orbit in January 2021, beating the previous record.
Small-satellite operators have more than just the Falcon 9 and India's PSLV (which launched 104 satellites in a single flight in 2017) to choose from when it comes to rockets. Rocket Lab's Electron and Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne are two examples of tiny spacecraft that provide one-way trips to orbit through air launch.
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