A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off Saturday from Space Launch Complex 4 East at the Vandenberg Space Force Station, carrying 45 satellites into sun-synchronous orbit for a mission that will cross at least a decade of geopolitical turbulence to reach the platform.
The spacecraft’s main payload is the CAS500-2, designed by the Korean company Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI). The compact advanced satellite was scheduled to be launched by a Russian missile in 2022, but the invasion of Ukraine forced Korea to change its launch plans.
There were also some further complications regarding the satellite launch after SpaceX decided to reorganize their joint launch, causing CAS500-2’s launch date to fall behind that of its replacement, CAS500-3, which had been successfully launched on South Korea’s Nuri rocket in November 2024.
The first-stage Falcon 9 B1071 had flown into orbit on its 33rd mission and was responsible for the launch of Germany’s SARah-1 reconnaissance satellite, NASA’s Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission, five NRO classified payloads, and 20 rideshare Starlink missions before that.
Within 7.5 minutes of launch, the B1071 aimed for a successful landing at Landing Zone 4, located near the launch pad. In accomplishing this, SpaceX has recovered its 608th ever booster and 34th landing at the site.
Exolaunch was responsible for managing the deployment of 21 CubeSats and 18 onboard MicroSats through two separate orbital release phases at 76 minutes and 142 minutes after launch.
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