On Saturday and Sunday, Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched two rockets: one with two radar reconnaissance satellites for the German military and one carrying Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit.
On Sunday at 8:11 a.m. EST, SpaceX launched the Sarah-2 mission, which carried the German satellites, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The flight was postponed from Saturday in order to provide more time for preflight inspections.
Less than eight minutes later, the first stage touched down in Landing Zone 4, and later that morning, the satellite deployment was verified.
The German aerospace company OHB SE, which built the two satellites, said in a statement, “It is a wonderful and relieving feeling to know that the two satellites are safely in orbit after all the hard work.”
“The fact that we were able to experience this special moment today is a team effort and became possible thanks to the entire Sarah team and the supporting colleagues from OHB.”
Sarah, also known as SARah, is the replacement mission for Germany’s first military satellites, the SAR-Lupe system.
From Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 Starlink satellites on Saturday. The satellites were confirmed to have deployed at 1:38 a.m., after the launch, which took place at 12:33 a.m.
The first stage booster supporting this mission made its 19th flight today. Previously, it launched CRS-21, ANASIS-11, Transporter-1, Transporter-3, and 14 more Starlink missions.
Despite rising worries, SpaceX is still building its network of satellites. According to reports earlier this year, SpaceX satellites have had to shift more than 50,000 times to avoid collisions since 2019, and the Federal Aviation Administration has issued a warning about the risk posed by falling debris.
The growing issue of light pollution impeding astronomers’ studies has also been brought to their attention.
