{"id":22712,"date":"2021-06-27T00:31:41","date_gmt":"2021-06-26T16:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/this-day-in-space-june-25-2019-the-launch-of-stp-2-on-falcon-heavy\/"},"modified":"2021-06-27T00:31:41","modified_gmt":"2021-06-26T16:31:41","slug":"this-day-in-space-june-25-2019-the-launch-of-stp-2-on-falcon-heavy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/this-day-in-space-june-25-2019-the-launch-of-stp-2-on-falcon-heavy\/","title":{"rendered":"This Day In Space (June 25, 2019): The launch of STP-2 on Falcon Heavy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\t\"\"Image Credit: SpaceX<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tImage Credit: SpaceX\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SpaceX launched the Space Test Program 2 (STP-2) mission in early June 25th, 2019. STP-2 was launched on the third flight of Falcon Heavy, reusing the side boosters from the Arabsat-6A launch earlier that year. <\/p>\n

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This mission carried 24 satellites to a few different orbits. These orbit changes made this one of the most complex missions SpaceX has ever done. One of the payloads carried on this mission was COSMIC-2. COSMIC-2 was a cluster of 6 satellites that were designed to provide radio occultation data. Essentially, these satellites would help with weather forecasting. The satellites would maneuver themselves into their final orbits, with this occurring by February 2021. <\/p>\n

Another notable payload of STP-2 was LightSail 2. This was a small CubeSat designed and built by The Planetary Society to demonstrate the functionality of solar sailing. That means using radiation pressure from sunlight being reflected off of a large, reflective surface to propel a spacecraft. <\/p>\n