When Falcon 9 is on a night launch with RTLS, a gorgeous post-staging nebula is the result.
It is a shimmering, beautiful event in the sky, maybe 50% bigger than a full moon overhead.
| Payload Name | Operator/Customer | Description | Integrator |
|---|---|---|---|
| KOREA ADD (Satellite 1) | Agency for Defense Development (ADD), South Korea | Reconnaissance satellite | KOREA ADD |
| KOREA ADD (Satellite 2) | Agency for Defense Development (ADD), South Korea | Reconnaissance satellite | KOREA ADD |
| Starcloud-1 | Starcloud (part of Vast) | AI satellite testing on-orbit AI capabilities with NVIDIA H100 GPU | Starcloud/Vast |
| Lumen-1 | Vast | Technology demonstration satellite for in-orbit data center operations and edge computing capabilities | Vast |
| Tomorrow-R3 | Tomorrow Companies Inc. (Tomorrow.io) | Weather radar satellite for Earth observation and weather forecasting | Tomorrow Companies Inc. |
| Tomorrow-R4 | Tomorrow Companies Inc. (Tomorrow.io) | Weather radar satellite for Earth observation and weather forecasting | Tomorrow Companies Inc. |
| Orbit Guard #2 | EPIC Aerospace | Technology demonstration satellite for in-orbit inspection/servicing (via CHIMERA OTV) | Exolaunch |
| Fergani-DEMO 1 | Fergani | Technology demonstration satellite | Fergani |
| TAURUS 1 | Türkiye | Picosatellite for Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity and technology validation | Exolaunch |
| TAURUS 2 | Türkiye | Picosatellite for Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity and technology validation | Exolaunch |
| TAURUS 3 | Türkiye | Picosatellite for Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity and technology validation | Exolaunch |
| TAURUS 4 | Türkiye | Picosatellite for Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity and technology validation | Exolaunch |
| Unnamed Payload 1 | Exolaunch Customer (Argentina) | Earth observation, IoT, or science/technology demonstration CubeSat | Exolaunch |
| Unnamed Payload 2 | Exolaunch Customer (Czechia) | Earth observation, IoT, or science/technology demonstration CubeSat | Exolaunch |
| Unnamed Payload 3 | Exolaunch Customer (Finland) | Earth observation, IoT, or science/technology demonstration CubeSat | Exolaunch |
| Unnamed Payload 4 | Exolaunch Customer (Netherlands) | Earth observation, IoT, or science/technology demonstration CubeSat | Exolaunch |
| Unnamed Payload 5 | Exolaunch Customer (United States) | Earth observation, IoT, or science/technology demonstration CubeSat | Exolaunch |
| Unnamed Payload 6 | Exolaunch Customer (International) | Earth observation, IoT, or science/technology demonstration CubeSat | Exolaunch |
| Unnamed Payload 7 | Exolaunch Customer (International) | Earth observation, IoT, or science/technology demonstration CubeSat | Exolaunch |
Links are included only where publicly available official pages exist; unnamed Exolaunch customers currently have no public payload pages.
SpaceX launched the Bandwagon-4 mission aboard Falcon 9 this morning in a beautiful launch that flew into mostly cloudy skies. Liftoff was at the first 01:09:59 AM of the night; daylight savings time ended less than an hour after the launch and it was 1am all over again.
At the Booster B1091 put on an incredible display after staging as it turned to return to Landing Zone 2 at Cape Canaveral. Shortly after touching down at the T+07:46 mark, a familiar pair of sonic booms washed over the Space Coast, heralding the return of the booster while Stage 2 continued on to orbit. It and the payload of some eighteen assorted satellites achieved that orbit at T+09:38 after liftoff.
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