Not too long ago, SpaceX’s CEO Elon Musk announced the launch of the Falcon 9’s 51 spacecraft to Orbit – Transporter-7.
Unfortunately, the American spacecraft has confirmed the postponement of the Transporter-7 Mission due to unfavorable weather conditions.
SpaceX affirmed the new development in a tweet via its official Twitter page:
Initially, the Transporter-7 mission is expected to leave from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Dorce Base in California on Thursday.
The Transporter-7 is SpaceX’s seventh dedicated smallsat rideshare mission. There will be 51 payloads on this flight, including CubeSats, MicroSats, hosted payloads, and orbital transfer-carrying spacecraft to be deployed at a later time.
The first stage booster supporting the mission was previously launched by Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, DART, and seven Starlink missions. Following stage separation, Falcon 9 will land on Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) at Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Transporter-7 Mission
51 payloads are being launched into orbit on this, SpaceX’s sixth dedicated rideshare mission; some of these payloads will subsequently be released from the two space tugs that are also on board.
The payloads range in size from picosatellites, which weigh less than a kilogram and have a small side diameter, to an 800kg Turkish earth observation satellite. The majority of the payloads will be launched into a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) with a 97.4-degree inclination and a height of roughly 500 kilometers.
The Transporter missions are designed to offer regular rideshare opportunities to well-liked orbits like SSO. There are two more Transporter missions planned for 2023, the first of which might happen as early as June and the second of which could happen as late as (NET) October.
The majority of payloads are handled by launch integrators who purchase ports on the payload stack and then assemble multiple customers into that space, launching either directly from the launch vehicle’s second stage or on board a separable deployer or space tug that will release payloads at a later time, possibly after adjusting the orbit. While some Transporter customers deal directly with SpaceX to get a ride for their spacecraft.
