Elon Musk’s SpaceX successfully launched the Transporter-1 mission carrying 143 satellites that will be deployed to the polar orbit on Sunday.
The space exploration company launched Transporter-1, its first dedicated SmallSat Rideshare Program mission, on a Falcon 9 rocket after a slight delay because of the weather.
SpaceX was set to launch the Transporter-1, which included 133 commercials and government spacecrafts (CubeSats, microsats, and orbital transfer vehicles) and 10 Starlink satellites, on Saturday. However, due to bad weather conditions, the launch was delayed for 24 hours.
On Saturday, the company tweeted,“Due to unfavorable weather, we are standing down from today’s launch.”
According to Space.com, the Transporter-1 mission broke a world record for launching the largest number of spacecraft on a single launch. The previous record was 104-satellites in 2017.
SpaceX eventually executed the Falcon 9 launch at 10 A.M. ET Sunday from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
According to SpaceX, the mission was set for December. However, the process was thwarted due to technical issues.
What SpaceX aim to do with all the satellites
Currently, SpaceX has 1010 Starlink satellites in the orbit. Musk is getting closer to achieving his immediate goal to deploy 1,584 satellites to build an internet connectivity constellation to provide super-fast, low-latency internet service to consumers around the world.
