SpaceX launched its first Bandwagon rideshare mission on Sunday, sending eleven payloads to orbit.
The mission took off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center to send the satellites to a mid-inclination orbit.
Liftoff of Bandwagon-1! pic.twitter.com/wdf6ZaCA91
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 7, 2024
This is the second type of rideshare offered by SpaceX, which has been launching the Transporter rideshare missions that launch into a Sun-synchronous orbit. The Bandwagon missions will give customers a chance to launch into a more favorable orbit that gives their satellites more time over their desired coverage areas.
The satellites that were launched include Capella Space’s Acadia-4, HawkEye 360’s Clusters 8 & 9 (6 satellites), iQPS’s QPS-SAR No. 7, also known as TSUKYOMI-II, Korea’s 425SAT, Tyvak International’s Centauri-6 and Tata Advanced Systems Limited’s TSAT-1A.
Capella Space, HawkEye 360, and iQPS have also previously launched their satellites on Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket, which is dedicated primarily to their payloads. However, with SpaceX now offering rideshare to their desired orbits, these companies can now deploy their constellations at a faster rate.
The Falcon 9 that launched this mission was Booster 1073, which completed its 14th mission. Following stage separation, B1073 performed a flip maneuver and re-ignited its engines to begin the boost back burn towards Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and after a smooth re-entry, the Falcon 9 lit once more for a soft touchdown and announcing its return by sending sonic booms across the Space Coast.
Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on Landing Zone 1 – completing the 14th launch and landing for this first stage booster pic.twitter.com/g3gYlf5fmt
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 7, 2024
SpaceX is also hoping to once again recover the fairings from this mission with recovery vessel Doug which was already out to sea for the Starlink 6-47 mission a few days earlier.
This mission marked SpaceX’s 35th mission of the year, continuing with its high flight cadence and goal of 140 launches.
SpaceX’s next mission will be a Starlink mission from Florida no earlier than midnight local time on Wednesday.
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