Falcon 9 Block 5 | 425 Project Flight 1 & rideshare
SpaceXSpace Launch Complex 4E — Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
The launch vehicle successfully inserted its payload(s) into the target orbit(s).
mission
- Name
- 425 Project Flight 1 & rideshare
- Type
- Government/Top Secret
- Target orbit
- Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO)
Note: Name of payload is provisional. First launch of an ultimately 5 reconnaissance satellites for the South Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), with 1 satellite featuring an electro-optical infrared (EO/IR) telescope. The other 4 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites are to be launched at a later date. They will be launched to low Earth orbit between 600 and 700 km by 2025, enabling South Korea’s military to observe the nuclear-armed neighbor’s key military facilities every two hours with 30-50 centimeters resolution imagery, according to a 2019 report produced by the Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning. The project is lead by the Korean Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), with input from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), Hanwha Systems and Thales Alenia Space. ESA's EIRSAT-1 is also onboard as a rideshare passenger. This 2U cubesat carries three experiments, including a novel gamma ray detector to study some of the most luminous explosions in the universe.
schedule
- NET (no earlier than)
- Window opens
- Window closes
- Last updated
vehicle & provider
- Rocket
- Falcon 9 Block 5
- Family
- Falcon
- Variant
- Block 5
- Provider
- SpaceX
- Type
- Commercial
- Country
- USA
webcasts
launch site
- Pad
- Space Launch Complex 4E
- Location
- Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
- Country
- USA
- Timezone
- America/Los_Angeles
- Coordinates
- 34.6320, -120.6110