Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) launched 13 military satellites for the US Space Development Agency (SDA) using a Falcon 9 rocket at around 7:26 minutes while breaking its own flight record.
About 7.5 minutes after launch, the rocket completed its landing at Vandenberg Space Force Base. This was the 13th launch and landing of the booster and the 222nd overall recovery of SpaceX’s orbital-stage rocket. This was also the company’s Launch 260th.
“This launch marks SpaceX’s 61st launch of 2023, tying last year’s annual record with four months left before the end of the year,” Zachary Luppen, SpaceX avionics reliability engineer, said at the scene.
The information found that SpaceX initially tried to launch the Tranche 0 mission on August 31, but it was delayed due to an unexpected reaction in one of the Falcon 9 first-stage engines, and the second attempt on September 1 also failed. It was cancelled about 12 minutes before liftoff.
It’s unclear when the series of satellites will be deployed, and SpaceX and the U.S. military have not provided any information on the milestone.
