The year might come to an end, but for some, there’s still something left to show, especially in SpaceX’s case!
The space agency sent a rocket on its final flight of 2022, placing an Israeli reconnaissance satellite atop it, and marking its 61st flight this year. What plans has SpaceX for this current project, and what to expect next year?
Here is what you need to know.
SpaceX’s Final Project Marks Major Milestone
This is our 61st and final SpaceX launch of 2022, said Jesse Anderson, SpaceX’s production and engineering manager.
Late on Thursday night (December 29), a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base launched the Israeli Earth-imaging satellite EROS C-3 into orbit. The cargo was released into orbit around 15 minutes after leaving Earth, after two attempts.
The space agency sent 54 of the newest Starlink broadband satellites into orbit on Wednesday (December 28) by launching its first Gen2 Starlink satellites from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Base. Quite impressive, isn’t it?!
But there are more things to praise about SpaceX’s projects!
The first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket had completed its 11th mission, as well. And it has previously succeeded in completing two other NASA astronaut flights, six different unmanned commercial and NASA missions, and two missions for the Starlink internet satellite. What a force!
According to its Israeli manufacturer ImageSat International, the EROS C-3, aka Earth Resources Observation Satellite C3, Earth observation satellite was created to allow “military and intelligence agencies to undertake operations under total anonymity,” data security, too, and it cost about $186 million.
But what’s remarkable about EROS C-3 is that it can capture photos with a sleek resolution of two feet for multispectral data and around one foot for greyscale data. How great is that?!
The current EROS C-3 will be just one of four EROS spacecraft that will operate alongside two synthetic aperture radar satellites by the end of the decade.