Launch Date: January 24 Launch Window: 10:00 AM EST, 7:00 AM PST (1500 UTC) Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida Core Booster Recovery: ASDS - OCISLY Booster: B1058-5 Fairings: New Mass: Approx 5000 kg - 133 satellites (a record) Orbit: SSO A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Transporter 1 mission, a rideshare flight to a sun-synchronous orbit with dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers. The launch will include 10 Starlink satellites. First flight of a Falcon 9 with a third stage. 3rd launch of the year for SpaceX. Details: Transporter-1 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Everyday Astronaut
Not just a rideshare mission, but one with 10 Starlink polar sats on it! https://www.reddit.com/r/Starlink/comments/ktbzne/the_fcc_approves_launch_of_10_ten_starlink/
It looks like for this launch it doesn't have propulsion. It appears that will be a smart dispenser allowing communication with the payloads.
The third stage is not a spaceX product. As far as Falcon is concerned, the mission is over when the transporter (and Starlinks) are deployed from the second stage. Spaceflight - Mission Management, Including Licensing and Integration
80% chance of good weather at the launch site. Starlink 16 showed us that weather in the recovery area can still mess up a launch even when the forecast at the launch site is very good.
OMG! People worry about rockets having issues but what are the odds that all that deployment will go off without a hitch?
SuperDoves are a pretty significantly upgrade over their ‘baseline’ Dove satellites. I don’t think the resolution is much different (resolution is primarily a function of physical size) but they can do a bunch more spectral bands.
I can't wait for this one - normally deployment is the most boring part of the mission - this time it'll be pretty exciting to watch real time.