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SpaceX launches South Korean spy satellite
Dec
SpaceX launched the Korea 425 reconnaissance satellite tv for pc and 24 different rideshare payloads Friday morning at 10:19 am PT from House Launch Complicated 4 East at Vandenberg House Drive Base in California.
That is the primary of 5 reconnaissance satellites from the South Korean Protection Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). Attributable to buyer requests, no video was proven of the payloads at fairing separation.
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/iXndCsnEFL
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 1, 2023
The satellite tv for pc was launched right into a Solar-synchronous orbit and, as soon as in orbit and thru the right checkouts, will likely be able to 30 to 50 centimeters of picture decision and can make an orbit about each two hours.
This isn’t the primary South Korean army payload launched by SpaceX, they beforehand launched the Anasis 2 army communications satellite tv for pc for the nation again in July 2020.
There have been 24 different numerous payloads on this mission hitching a journey to area, together with the very first Irish satellite tv for pc, EIRSAT-1, which was constructed by college students of the College School Dublin which partnered with the European House Company’s Fly Your Satellite tv for pc program.
A few of the different payloads onboard embody satellites from House BD, Planet IQ, D-Orbit, SITAEL, and York House Techniques.
As for the Falcon 9 on this mission, that is the primary time SpaceX has launched one other buyer payload on a Falcon that has launched greater than 15 instances.
Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on Touchdown Zone 4, finishing our 250th touchdown of a Falcon first stage booster pic.twitter.com/ZkOjq4hNRy
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 1, 2023
Booster 1061 took its seventeenth journey to area, and again. It has beforehand launched seven Starlink missions, eight (Crew 1 & 2) astronauts to the ISS, the CRS-23 mission to the ISS, and 6 different numerous payloads.
After stage separation, B1061 flipped round and carried out a boostback burn to return to Touchdown Zone 4, which is simply 1,400 toes away from the launch pad. SpaceX introduced that this was their 250th touchdown of a Falcon first stage, however it technically might be 251st if you happen to depend the Falcon Heavy heart core that efficiently landed in the course of the Arabsat 6A mission however later tipped over earlier than it might be secured resulting from tough seas.
SpaceX additionally used flight-proven payload fairings, which is now the norm for his or her mission, these fairings flew for the fifth and sixth time and will likely be recovered from the Pacific Ocean.
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