The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the O3b mPOWER communications satellite into MEO orbit and completed 84 launches in 2023.
CTOnews.com, November 13, SpaceX today used a nine-hand Falcon 9 rocket (B1076.9) to successfully launch two O3b mPOWER communications satellites into medium Earth orbit (MEO) at the SLC-40 launch site of the Cape Cabo Space Force Station.
About 8.5 minutes after liftoff, the first-class booster successfully landed vertically on the recovery ship "undignified", and the surface already looked quite dark.
This is SpaceX's 82nd launch this year and 183rd around the world, setting another record for the company's annual launches (CTOnews.com Note: a total of 61 launches in 2022), and is expected to continue to set records over the next month.
According to reports, the O3b mPOWER 54th satellite is owned by the European satellite company SES GLOBAL, operated by its subsidiary O3b (Other 3 billion), and developed by Boeing Satellite Systems.
This is a new type of communication satellite with megabit per second O3b mPOWER constellation in medium and low earth orbit, which adopts all-electric propulsion system and is equipped with electronically scanned phased array antenna (ESPA). It works in Ka band and has more than 5000 digital beams.
After launch, it will take about five months for the satellite to ascend to the medium Earth orbit (MEO) at an altitude of 7825 km using its own electric push system, followed by a month for in-orbit testing.
By the time all six satellites are deployed, the company is expected to provide high-speed connectivity to a variety of government and private sector customers from the end of 2023.
