To commence the month of December, SpaceX initiated a Falcon 9 ride share mission featuring a payload of 25 spacecraft. The launch, conducted from Vandenberg Space Force Base, showcased the prominent Korea 425 mission.
Taking off from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at 10:19 a.m. PST (1:19 EST, 1819 UTC), this mission marks the first of two SpaceX launches scheduled for the weekend. The company has slated another mission to deploy a batch of 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The booster assigned to this mission, B1061, demonstrated its reliability by completing its 17th flight. Notably, it had previously supported missions such as Crew-1, Crew-2, and the fourth and fifth Transporter rideshare missions. What sets this launch apart is that it marked the inaugural occasion where a Falcon 9 first stage with more than 15 prior flights contributed to a non-Starlink mission.
After liftoff, the booster successfully executed a precise landing at Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, accomplishing this feat about eight-and-a-half minutes post-launch.
At the forefront of the 25 spacecraft payload on the Friday morning launch was a satellite designed for South Korea’s Agency for Defense Development (ADD) under its 425 Project. This sophisticated satellite features a 30cm resolution electro-optic (EO) and infrared (IR) sensors. a Falcon 9 ride
According to an earlier statement by an ADD spokesperson, this satellite represents South Korea’s inaugural military spy satellite, with plans for an additional four satellites to be launched by 2025. These supplementary synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites are in development through a collaboration between Thales Alenia Space, Aerospace Industries, LTD., and Hanwha Systems Corporation.
Donato Amoroso, Senior Vice-President, Observation, Exploration, and Navigation at Thales Alenia Space, expressed gratitude in 2018 for the trust placed in their capabilities by the Korean Ministry of Defense and other project stakeholders. He emphasized Thales Alenia Space’s proven track record in delivering cutting-edge observation satellites.