On Friday, SpaceX achieved a significant milestone in space exploration with the launch of its 11th Transporter mission, sending a record-breaking 116 payloads into orbit. A Falcon 9 rocket propelled the mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, taking off at 11:56 a.m. PT. The mission, which was expected to last 2 hours and 36 minutes, successfully deployed all payloads.
The launch marked a significant achievement for Planet, with the deployment of their first hyperspectral satellite, Tanager-1, along with 36 SuperDoves. Tanager-1, a collaboration between Planet and the Carbon Mapper Coalition, will provide hyperspectral data for both Carbon Mapper and Planet's commercial operations. The satellite's primary focus is on monitoring methane and carbon dioxide for a wide range of applications.
Exolaunch, a leading payload integration company, supported a record 42 satellites on the mission. Among these were two satellites for Australia's ARC Training Centre CUAVA for cubesats and UAVs, CUAVA-2 and Waratah Seed-1. Exolaunch also facilitated the launch of seven satellites for Spire Global, Sateliot, and Unseenlabs.
Hydrosat, a climate tech company, debuted its first satellite, VanZyl-1, which is designed to collect high-resolution thermal imagery for monitoring water stress, crop health, and climate-related events.
SEOPS, a rideshare integrator, successfully integrated five payloads on the mission. This included two payloads for NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate's Small Spacecraft Technology program. Other notable payloads included Iperdrone, funded by the Italian Space Agency; Train Rapid On Payload (TROOP-F2) hosted payload for NearSpace Launch; and Water Resources in Efficient Networks (WREN-1) from Hungarian space company C3S.
ISISpace played a pivotal role in the mission by manifesting various customers, including a South Australian satellite, Kanyini, equipped with dual IoT and imager payloads. Other customers included Maverick Space Systems, Satellogic, Tomorrow.io, Capella Space, and the TYCHE imaging satellite for the U.K. military, manifested by Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL).
This launch underscores the growing significance of small satellites in various fields, including environmental monitoring, communication, and defense. The successful deployment of numerous payloads from a single mission demonstrates the increasing capacity for space-based innovation and its potential to address real-world challenges.