Space Exploration Technologies Corporation “SpaceX” successfully launched 30 satellites into space on Saturday using its Falcon 9 rocket, the company announced.
SpaceX said the rocket lifted off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base at 6:34 a.m. EDT (3:34 a.m. local time), placing the satellites into low Earth orbit as part of the Bandwagon-2 mission.
The Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth about eight minutes after launch, landing vertically at SpaceX’s recovery zone in Vandenberg. This marks the 21st flight for this specific booster, just three short of SpaceX’s rocket reuse record.
Falcon 9 launches 30 payloads on our second dedicated rideshare mission to mid-inclination orbit pic.twitter.com/SOM1fnVaCT
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 21, 2024
The Bandwagon-2 mission included payloads for South Korea’s Agency for Defense Development and companies like Arrow Science and Technology, Exolaunch, HawkEye 360, Maverick Space Systems, Sidus Space, Tomorrow Companies Inc., True Anomaly, and Think Orbital.
This follows the Bandwagon-1 mission in April, which launched 11 satellites. SpaceX has also completed 11 missions under its Transporter rideshare series, including the record-setting Transporter-1 in January 2021, which launched 143 satellites in a single flight.
While SpaceX did not specify the timeline for deploying the 30 satellites, the launch underscores the company’s ongoing advancements in reusable rocket technology and satellite deployment.