The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully completed a mission to deploy 143 spacecraft and satellites into orbit on Sunday (January 24), after which the rocket once returned safely to a sea-based landing pad.
The two-stage Falcon 9 rocket took flight on its ‘Transporter-1’ mission at 10am (15:00GMT) after a weather considerations caused the planned launch on Saturday (January 23) to be scrapped.
SpaceX is calling Transporter-1 its first ‘SmallSat RideShare Program’ mission. Falcon 9 carried and deployed a payload of 133 commercial and government spacecraft and 10 ‘Starlink’ satellites, according to a press release.
Falcon 9 took off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and the State One rocket soon returned to a landing ship named ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ in the Atlantic Ocean.
Sunday’s mission was the fifth successful launch and landing for Falcon 9, the company said.
(Production: Ashraf Fahim)