One week after SpaceX and the world’s first orbital launch of 2022, the corporate is a couple of days out from its second launch of the yr – this time carrying dozens of small satellites for a spread of rideshare clients.
Aside from probably being the world’s second orbital launch of the yr, the mission – often known as Transporter-3 – would be the third Falcon 9 launch devoted to SpaceX’s Smallsat Rideshare Program, which provides what is probably going the world’s most reasonably priced ticket to orbit.
Prospective clients shopping for instantly by way of SpaceX can presently pay simply $1 million to launch as much as 200 kg (440 lb) to sun-synchronous low Earth orbit (LEO). While rideshare payloads lose out on the advantages of hands-on, white-glove customer support and a extra direct, tailor-made orbit insertion provided by a devoted launch, the small rockets that supply direct launch companies for small satellites are extraordinarily costly. There are presently solely two or possibly three small rockets which might be presently lively, have flown no less than a couple of business satellites, and will be anticipated to launch each few months.
Rocket Lab’s Electron is essentially the most obtainable of the three and is succesful of launching 200 kilograms to a 500 kilometer (310 mi) sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) for about $7.5 million – $37,500/kg if absolutely exploited. While it’s solely accomplished two profitable launches, Virgin Orbit’s air-launched LauncherOne rocket is succesful of delivering 300 kg (~660 lb) to the identical orbit for $12 million ($40,000/kg). Other rockets like Japan’s Epsilon and Arianespace’s Vega usually supply rideshare companies however each price just below $40 million apiece and may solely ship 1-2 tons to orbit with the identical downsides as a Falcon rideshare.
Put merely, there’s a cause that SpaceX’s Smallsat Rideshare Program has been so profitable. In simply two Transporter launches, the corporate has delivered nearly 220 small satellites to orbit for dozens of completely different clients – together with startups, universities, area companies, scholar teams, science groups, and extra. Transporter-3 will probably be no completely different and will carry 80-90+ small satellites to orbit, together with 44 SuperDove Earth statement spacecraft for Planet. That doesn’t embody the chance that SpaceX – because it has performed on each prior Transporter missions – will embody a number of Starlink satellites to take full benefit of Falcon 9’s efficiency.
Transporter-3 will mark SpaceX’s first ‘land landing’ of a Falcon booster in additional than six months and its first actually polar launch of 2022. Falcon 9 is scheduled to elevate off no sooner than (NET) 10:25 am EST (15:25 UTC) on Thursday, January thirteenth. Three extra Falcon 9s – together with one NET January twenty fourth – are scheduled to launch earlier than the top of the month. Barring schedule delays, Transporter-3 may be the primary of as much as 4 devoted SpaceX rideshare launches this yr.