SpaceX Launches 81 Payloads to Sun-Synchronous Orbit as Military Tech Demos Join Rideshare

3 articles · Updated · KeepTrack · Jul 7

Vandenberg’s Falcon 9 lifted off on the Transporter-17 rideshare mission, sending 81 payloads into sun-synchronous orbit during a launch window that opened at 12:12 a.m. PDT.
The batch includes fire-detection satellites, military technology demonstrators, 3D printers and research hardware, extending SpaceX’s smallsat rideshare model to both commercial and defense customers.
Deployments unfolded over about 2.5 hours, a pace that typically creates a dense cluster of newly tracked objects in orbit.
NORAD catalog additions are expected in the coming days as Space-Track assigns entries and orbital data for the newly released spacecraft.

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