{"id":10125,"date":"2024-05-03T00:07:58","date_gmt":"2024-05-02T16:07:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacex-launches-maxars-first-worldview-legion-satellites-on-falcon-9-flight-from-vandenberg-space-force-base\/"},"modified":"2024-05-03T00:07:58","modified_gmt":"2024-05-02T16:07:58","slug":"spacex-launches-maxars-first-worldview-legion-satellites-on-falcon-9-flight-from-vandenberg-space-force-base","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacex-launches-maxars-first-worldview-legion-satellites-on-falcon-9-flight-from-vandenberg-space-force-base\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX launches Maxar\u2019s first WorldView Legion satellites on Falcon 9 flight from Vandenberg Space Force Base"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_66072\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-66072\" style=\"width: 876px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66072\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240502_WorldView_Legion_1-2_liftoff.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"876\" height=\"409\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240502_WorldView_Legion_1-2_liftoff.jpg 876w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240502_WorldView_Legion_1-2_liftoff-300x140.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240502_WorldView_Legion_1-2_liftoff-678x317.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240502_WorldView_Legion_1-2_liftoff-768x359.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 876px) 100vw, 876px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-66072\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, carrying the first pair of WorldView Legion satellites for Maxar Space Systems. Image: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>SpaceX completed the first of a planned pair of Falcon 9 launches on Thursday, hours after it worked with NASA to relocate its Crew Dragon spacecraft on the International Space Station. First up to launch was a pair of Maxar Space Systems\u2019 WorldView Legion satellites.<\/p>\n<p>Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 11:36 a.m. PDT (2:36 p.m. EDT, 1836 UTC), which was the opening of a 14-minute window.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_BghEK_4U2A\" width=\"678\" height=\"381\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The first stage booster supporting this mission, B1061, launched for a 20th time, becoming the third booster to reach this milestone. It previously launched two astronaut missions (Crew-1 and Crew-2), two smallsat rideshare missions (Transporter-4 and Transporter-5) as well as nine Starlink missions.<\/p>\n<p>About 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1061 touched down back at Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4). This was the 18th landing to date at LZ-4 and the 303rd booster landing for SpaceX.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, SpaceX noted that it was in the process of qualifying its Falcon boosters for up to 40 flights.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1784382036096242138&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fspaceflightnow.com%2F2024%2F05%2F02%2Flive-coverage-spacex-to-launch-maxars-first-worldview-legion-satellites-on-falcon-9-flight-from-vandenberg-space-force-base%2F&amp;sessionId=6e96cece1288c75561390eb5b39ac3e5f31fdc67&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782461575366467567=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We\u2019re working toward qualifying our fleet of Falcon boosters and fairings to support 40 missions each. Increasing Falcon&#8217;s flight count provides valuable information on repeated reuse, a critical element for making life multiplanetary with Starship<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 28, 2024<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h4>Here\u2019s lookin\u2019 at you, Earth<\/h4>\n<p>Onboard the Falcon 9 are a pair of WorldView Legion satellites. These are the first two of a planned six-satellite constellation for Maxar. Once all six of these Earth-observing satellites are on orbit, they will allow Maxar\u2019s customers to revisit views of a particular location up to 15 times per day.<\/p>\n<p>The current satellites the company has on-orbit are able to revisit a site two times per day.<\/p>\n<p>Maxar\u2019s WorldView Legion satellites are built on the first of the company\u2019s Maxar 500 Series satellite buses. They\u2019re described as \u201ca mid-size platform that can be tailored for multiple missions and orbits.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_66063\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-66063\" style=\"width: 876px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66063\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240502_WorldView-Legion_Shipment_small.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"876\" height=\"493\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240502_WorldView-Legion_Shipment_small.jpg 876w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240502_WorldView-Legion_Shipment_small-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240502_WorldView-Legion_Shipment_small-678x381.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240502_WorldView-Legion_Shipment_small-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 876px) 100vw, 876px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-66063\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">he first two WorldView Legion spacecraft are shown here at Maxar Space Systems\u2019 manufacturing facility in Palo Alto, California, ahead of shipment to launch base. Image: Maxar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWorldView Legion and the Maxar 500 series platform is the culmination of decades of experience in building satellites for customer missions,\u201d said Chris Johnson, Maxar Space Systems CEO, in a statement. \u201cWe are excited to reach this important program milestone and look forward to continued partnership on the program.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The company partnered with Raytheon Missiles and Defense to develop the instrument suite onboard the satellite. It will be able to view the Earth in what Maxar describes \u201c30 cm-class imagery\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile the multispectral bands are similar to what our current satellites provide, what\u2019s new on WorldView Legion is that our teams have more control to expose each band individually,\u201d Maxar said in a statement. \u201cThese improvements allow customers to more easily determine what objects on the ground are made of using our satellite imagery. For example, we can more easily distinguish what is vegetation versus what is manmade material. These enhancements also minimize sensitivity to water vapor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maxar also markets its technology as a way to augment other U.S. national security assets on orbit. It points to its ability to monitor \u201cthe development of nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities in North Korea and Iran\u201d as well as offering what it calls Vessel Detection Services (VDS).<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-1&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1785820354524615049&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fspaceflightnow.com%2F2024%2F05%2F02%2Flive-coverage-spacex-to-launch-maxars-first-worldview-legion-satellites-on-falcon-9-flight-from-vandenberg-space-force-base%2F&amp;sessionId=6e96cece1288c75561390eb5b39ac3e5f31fdc67&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782461575366467567=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We\u2019re less than 24 hours from launching our first two WorldView Legion satellites! The mission patch includes a nod to our launch provider, @SpaceX, and @RTX_News, who manufactured our instrument! Details: https:\/\/t.co\/IuiDZPljWY#ittakesalegion pic.twitter.com\/H0lPO4SNJU<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Maxar Technologies (@Maxar) May 1, 2024<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h4>Dragons and Falcons flying<\/h4>\n<p>In addition to launching the WorldView Legion satellites, SpaceX was also busy both at the International Space Station and over in Florida.<\/p>\n<p>At 8:51 a.m. EDT (1251 UTC), SpaceX and NASA undocked the Crew Dragon Endeavour from the forward port of the Harmony module to shift it to the zenith (space-facing) port. Physical separation from the ISS occurred at 8:57 a.m. EDT (1257 UTC).<\/p>\n<p>The relocation process took about an hour. Soft capture was confirmed at 9:46 a.m. EDT (1346 UTC).<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, another SpaceX team was preparing to launch a batch of Starlink satellites onboard another Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Starlink 6-55 mission is set to be the 30th dedicated flight for SpaceX\u2019s growing low Earth orbit constellation.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-2\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-2&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1786021407383601353&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fspaceflightnow.com%2F2024%2F05%2F02%2Flive-coverage-spacex-to-launch-maxars-first-worldview-legion-satellites-on-falcon-9-flight-from-vandenberg-space-force-base%2F&amp;sessionId=6e96cece1288c75561390eb5b39ac3e5f31fdc67&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782461575366467567=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The @SpaceX #Dragon crew spacecraft is now targeted to redock to a new station port at 9:41am ET today. Watch live\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/qpyi2M3CpV pic.twitter.com\/zNtsuAkY8Y<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 International Space Station (@Space_Station) May 2, 2024<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, carrying the first pair of WorldView Legion satellites for Maxar Space Systems. Image: SpaceX SpaceX completed the first of a planned pair of Falcon 9 launches on Thursday, hours after it worked with NASA to relocate its Crew Dragon spacecraft on the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1284,850,1273,1395,479,316,778,1198],"class_list":["post-10125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-b1061","tag-crew-dragon-endeavour","tag-crew-8","tag-dragon","tag-falcon-9","tag-spacex","tag-vandenberg-space-force-base","tag-worldview-legion"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10125"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10125\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}