In its first foray into medium-inclination orbits, SpaceX has inaugurated its “Bandwagon” launch series, under 11 satellites. Last weekend, the company completed its debut in shared and distributed transport missions for orbits.
SpaceX’s inaugural Bandwagon mission
The event, called Bandwagon-1, was launched from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A on April 7 by a Falcon 9 rocket. This mission deployed 11 satellites, including one from “Project 425” destined for the South Korean military, signaling a growing demand for more Bandwagon missions to medium inclination orbits.
The Bandwagon-1 mission is the beginning of a series of shared series of shared SpaceX missions s series of shared missions, in contrast to the more commonly used Sun-synchronous orbits. Despite sustained demand, this is the first time SpaceX has performed a dedicated shared transport mission to medium inclination orbits, prioritizing the most in-demand Transporter missions and Starlink launches.
The Bandwagon-1 launch placed the payloads into a low Earth orbit at an inclination of approximately 45 degrees to the equator. Elon Musk recently highlighted Starlink’s crucial role in SpaceX’s financial operations, which influences mission prioritization. About seven and a half minutes after launch, the Falcon 9 first stage made its 14th successful landing, demonstrating SpaceX’s reusability.
The company unveiled its Bandwagon initiative during last year’s Small Satellite Conference , previewing its plan for multiple missions over the next few years. Bandwagon-1 mission customers have emphasized the choice of medium-inclination orbits because of their greater coverage at low and medium altitudes compared to sun-synchronous orbits.
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Source and photo: SpaceX
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