SpaceX Falcon 9 launches Bandwagon-1 mission with 11 spacecraft

On Sunday, April 7, 2024, SpaceX launched a new Falcon 9 rocket with a Bandwagon-1 mission to low-Earth orbit including 11 spacecraft from commercial partners.

The launch occurred at 7:16 p.m. ET from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The 11 spacecraft are KOREA’s 425Sat, HawkEye 360’s, Clusters 8 & 9, Tyvak International’s CENTAURI-6, iQPS’s QPS-SAR-7 TSUKUYOMI-II, Capella Space’s Capella-14, and Tata Advanced Systems Limited’s TSAT-1A.

This is the first SpaceX Bandwagon-1 rideshare mission to mid-inclination orbit. On the other hand, its Transporter rideshare missions launch to a sun-synchronous orbit.

The advantage of inserting a satellite into this orbit has a higher revisit rate. It means that the time between flyovers of the same point is faster than what is seen with other orbits.

Rideshare missions are designed for low-cost orbit flights as low as $300,000. It inserts satellites into SSO, LEO, and POLAR orbits. Last month SpaceX launched Transporter-10 rideshare mission from California. Its payload contained 53 satellites and spacecraft.

The weather was favorable for this launch as the rocket ascended to reach supersonic. After the engine cutoff, the first stage landed on Landing Zone-1 completing its 14th flight.