SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket blasted off Sunday evening (August 11) for the 22nd consecutive time, carrying two satellites that will provide broadband coverage in the Arctic region.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying two spacecraft for the Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM) lifted off from Vandenberg Space Base in California at 10:02 p.m. EDT (7:02 p.m. California local time; 0202 GMT on Aug. 12) on Sunday.
The Falcon 9 spacecraft broke through a blanket of coastal fog — a common occurrence during launches from Vandenberg — as it soared into the dark evening sky.
The first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket returned to Earth about 8.5 minutes after launch as planned, landing on SpaceX’s Of Course I Still Love You drone ship, which was stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
This was the 22nd launch and landing of this particular booster rocket, according to SpaceX Mission DescriptionThese numbers are equal to the company’s record for rocket reuse, which was set last June during the launch of SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites.
Meanwhile, the Falcon 9 upper stage continued to carry the anti-ballistic missile satellites into orbit. The first stage launched 42.5 minutes after launch and the second stage five minutes later.
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The ASBM is designed to “extend broadband coverage to the Arctic region for the U.S. Space Force and the Norwegian Space Agency.” according to Space giant Northrop Grumman, which built two satellites for the mission. (Space Norway is a state-owned company that develops and manages the country’s strategic space infrastructure.)
The anti-ballistic missile satellites — which will operate in a highly elliptical orbit to reach their coverage area — carry multiple instruments, “including military payloads for the U.S. and Norwegian armed forces, as well as a commercial payload for Viasat and a radiation monitor for the European Commission,” Northrop Grumman wrote in its mission description.
Sunday’s launch was part of a busy weekend for SpaceX. On Saturday morning (Aug. 10), the company launched 21 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida. SpaceX attempted to launch another batch of Starlinks on Sunday morning from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, also on Florida’s Space Coast, but abort that attempt with 46 seconds left in the countdown.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 10:54 p.m. ET on Aug. 11 with news of the successful launch, rocket landing and satellite deployment.