SpaceX Launches 88 Satellites & Historic First Stage Landing

SpaceX Completes Second Dedicated Rideshare Mission

On Tuesday, SpaceX successfully deployed a total of 88 satellites into orbit. This included 85 satellites belonging to various external clients, alongside three additional Starlink satellites.

Transporter-2: A Significant Payload

While the Transporter-2 mission carried fewer individual satellites compared to its predecessor, Transporter-1 (which launched a record-breaking 143 satellites), it delivered a greater overall mass to orbit.

The Rideshare Business Model

These Transporter launches are central to SpaceX’s innovative rideshare program. Introduced in 2019, this model allows multiple customers to share the rocket’s payload capacity.

This division of capacity results in reduced costs for each client, particularly benefiting smaller companies that might otherwise struggle with the financial demands of independent orbital access. SpaceX, in turn, ensures a fully utilized launch and sustained operational revenue.

Launch Details and First Stage Recovery

The Falcon 9 rocket initiated its ascent from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at approximately 3:31 PM Eastern Time. This marked the 20th Falcon 9 launch of 2021.

Notably, it was the first launch this year to feature a first-stage booster returning to land onshore, deviating from the usual practice of landing on a drone ship at sea.

The first stage separated around 3:34 PM ET and achieved a successful landing back at Cape Canaveral approximately eight minutes after liftoff. This represented the booster’s eighth flight.

Diverse Customer Payload

The mission accommodated nearly ten distinct customers. Some of these were launch service providers, such as Spaceflight Inc., who were coordinating payloads for their own clients.

Spaceflight Inc. launched 36 small satellites on behalf of 14 separate customers, utilizing their Sherpa-LTE electric propulsion vehicle.

The launch also included the inaugural satellite deployment for space intelligence firm Umbra, and Loft Orbital’s “rideshare” satellites, YAM-2 and YAM-3. Each of these is equipped with five independent sensors, serving different customers.

Record-Breaking Launch Rate

With this being SpaceX’s 20th launch of the year (and the 127th mission overall), it is highly probable that the company will exceed its previous annual record of 26 launches.

Previous Launch Attempt and Regulatory Response

This launch was the second attempt for Transporter-2, originally scheduled for June 29th. The initial attempt was aborted at T-11 seconds due to an unauthorized rotary aircraft entering the designated flight zone.

Following the scrub, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk publicly criticized the existing regulatory framework as being flawed.