Falcon 9 B5 • Transporter-15

Falcon 9 B5 • Transporter-15

A SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket will launch several smallsats on the Transporter-15 rideshare mission to Sun-synchronous orbit. Onboard is LEO Express 3, which is a Mira OTV (Orbital Tug Vehicle) by Impulse Space. Part of the payloads is also ESA's second Earth observation Scout mission, HydroGNSS, which will provide measurements of key hydrological climate variables, including soil moisture, freeze–thaw state over permafrost, inundation and wetlands, and above-ground biomass, using a technique called Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) reflectometry. The satellite measures the signal reflected off the land, ice and ocean from existing GNSS missions such as Galileo and GPS. Although these signals are faint, they can be collected by a low power receiver that can be accommodated on a small satellite in low Earth orbit making it compatible with a Scout mission. The mission will complement missions such as ESA's SMOS and Biomass, Copernicus Sentinel 1 and NASA's SMAP. The Mauve space telescope and 8 IRIDE satellites for Italy's ASI will also be on this flight. The booster is designated B10XX.X for this mission and will perform a RTLS (return to launch site) at LZ-4. - Delayed from October. Webcast: https://www.spacex.com/launches https://spaceflightnow.com

📍 Vandenberg AFB Space Launch Complex 4, Lompoc, Kalifornien 93436, USA

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