On Saturday, SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, successfully launched its Transporter-9 mission, a ‘rideshare’ flight carrying 90 payloads. Elon Musk took to X (formerly Twitter) a few hours after the launch to announce that this mission marked a new “world record” as SpaceX has now delivered over 1,000 tonnes into orbit this year.
Elaborating on the achievement, Musk stated, “Falcon has delivered over 1000 tons to orbit this year, a world record.” He compared this milestone to historical space achievements, noting that only the Soviet Union at its “peak” had similar delivery capacity, and in modern times, China, which he said has only launched one-fourth of the payload. He emphasized that this surpasses the entire annual payload launches of any country and highlighted the significance of SpaceX’s achievement.
The Transporter-9 mission was launched from SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. According to SpaceX mission details, this marked the 12th launch and landing of the Falcon 9 stage booster used in this mission. The 90 payloads included CubeSats, MicroSats, and orbital transfer vehicles. These payloads were expected to deploy during the mission, with 86 deployments confirmed.
SpaceX’s Transporter 9 is the company’s 82nd orbital mission for the year, breaking its own previous record of 61 launches set in 2022. While the mission’s 90 payloads contribute to this success, SpaceX had earlier set a record by sending 143 satellites into orbit during its Transporter-1 mission in January 2021. The company’s consistent achievements underscore its leadership in the space industry and its commitment to advancing space exploration and technology.
Post Your Comments