The SpaceX Transporter-9 mission took off on Saturday (Nov. 11), carrying 90 payloads. A Falcon 9 rocket launched from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base at 1:49 p.m. EST, commencing the Transporter-9 mission.
After lift-off, the Falcon 9’s first stage landed back at Vandenberg after 7.5 minutes. This specific booster had already logged 12 launches and landings, according to a SpaceX mission description.
The payloads included cubesats, microsats, and orbital transfer vehicles, deploying into low Earth orbit 54 to 85.5 minutes after lift-off. This mission focused on delivering various spacecraft for different customers.
Ninety payloads are an impressive feat, but it fell short of the record held by SpaceX’s Transporter-1 mission, which launched 143 satellites in January 2021. Another mission, Transporter-6, also surpassed Transporter-9, launching 114 satellites earlier this year.
Transporter-9 marked SpaceX’s 82nd orbital mission in 2023, breaking its previously set record of 61 launches in 2022. The company’s focus this year has been on expanding its Starlink internet megaconstellation, adding to its current fleet of over 5,000 operational satellites.
