The countdown is on as SpaceX launches 45 satellites into low Earth orbit from California in the early hours of Sunday, May 3, and the mission is carrying more than the usual rideshare cargo. The Falcon 9 booster making this flight is one landing away from tying the company’s own reuse record.
How to watch the SpaceX CAS500-2 launch live
A live webcast of this mission will begin approximately 15 minutes before launch, which you can watch on SpaceX’s official page and social media handles.
What is SpaceX CAS500-2?
CAS500-2 serves as the main payload representing a small Earth observation satellite created by the Korean Aerospace Research Institute. The first launch contract for the satellite was secured in 2022 with a Russian Soyuz rocket, but the international partnership for the contract fell apart after Russia invaded Ukraine in February. The satellite remained in storage while South Korea looked for an alternative launch vehicle.
The CAS500-2 satellite is one of five satellites in South Korea’s “Compact Advanced Satellite 500” program that collects data for disaster monitoring and agricultural observations.
Two other satellites have been successfully placed in orbit; CAS500-1 was launched in March 2021 on a Soyuz rocket, while CAS500-3 was launched in November 2025 on a Korean Nuri rocket.
In addition to CAS500-2, 44 rideshare satellites will be launched, including the companies Planet Labs, Lynk Global, True Anomaly, Argotec, Exolaunch and Loft-EarthDaily. The deployment is expected to take place an hour after the rocket launch and last 90 minutes, with the payload being deployed from the upper stage of the Falcon 9 rocket.
B1071 is the booster used in this mission, making the 33rd launch and landing just one launch away from setting the Falcon 9 reusability record by another booster in March 2026.
