SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launched the European Commission’s Galileo L12 mission to medium Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, April 27 at 8:34 p.m. ET.
SpaceX tied its rocket-reuse record on Saturday night (April 27) set earlier this month by a different Falcon 9 booster, on a launch of SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites..
“Due to the additional performance required to deliver the payload to medium Earth orbit, this mission marks the 20th and final launch for this Falcon 9 first stage booster,” SpaceX wrote in the mission description.
SpaceX achieved other milestones with the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Saturday. The weekend flight marked the first time that the European Commission’s Galileo satellites (similar to the United State’s Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites) launched onboard an American-made rocket and from U.S. soil.
The launch added to the Galileo constellation, Europe’s equivalent of the United States’ Global Positioning System (GPS). Twenty-eight Galileo satellites have launched to date, all of them on Russian-built Soyuz rockets or Europe’s Ariane 5.
However the Ariane 5 retired last summer without a new source and Europe had ended most of its space ties with Russia following the latter’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. As a result the European Space Agency contracted with SpaceX to launch up to four Galileo craft over two launches in 2024 making Saturday’s mission the first of two liftoffs.
Due to the additional performance required to deliver the payload to medium Earth orbit, this mission marks the 20th and final launch for this Falcon 9 first stage booster, which previously launched GPS III-3, Turksat 5A, Transporter-2, Intelsat G-33/G-34, Transporter-6, Intuitive Machines IM-1, and 13 Starlink missions.
The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at 8:34 p.m. EDT (0034 UTC). The first stage booster on this mission, tail number B1060 in the SpaceX fleet, launched for a 20th and final time. SpaceX did not plan to recover B1060 “due to the additional performance requirement to deliver the payload to medium Earth orbit.”
“The last time a first stage was expended during a Falcon 9 mission was 146 flights ago in November 2022,” SpaceX said in a social media post following the launch. “On most Falcon 9 missions, enough propellant remains in the first stage after stage separation to enable landing, recovery, and ultimately reuse on future missions.”
Because it wasn’t recovered, SpaceX removed the hypersonic grid fins at the top of the booster as well as the four landing legs.
The two-part payload fairing protecting the two Galileo satellites were recovered from the Atlantic Ocean by the recovery vessel, Bob, named for former NASA astronaut, Bob Behnken of the Demo-2 mission. SpaceX noted that this was also the 200th mission that used flight-proven payload fairings.
SpaceX added that it is in the process of qualifying both its boosters and its payload fairings for up to 40 missions each. They credit the data gathered on Falcon vehicle flights to furthering their development of the significantly larger and entirely reusable Starship rocket and their stated goal of “making life multi-planetary.”
During a press conference at the European Space Summit in Seville, Spain, in November 2023, Thierry Breton, the European Commission’s commissioner for the internal market, said that the continent’s lack of an orbital class rocket meant America, and SpaceX in particular, was their next logical option.
“We have four satellites to launch [in 2024] and given that Ariane 6 is still not going to be available, I accepted a proposal from ESA to use SpaceX,” Breton said. “We’re talking about very critical satellites. And so, we’re still negotiating with the American side and once that’s been finalized, yes, we will have two launches for four satellites, which will be carried out by SpaceX.”
Breton noted that the second launch via SpaceX is anticipated in July 2024.
While B1060 was not being recovered on this flight, it marked the most flight proven booster to launch a customer payload. The previous record was held by the same booster when it launched Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander on its 18th flight in February.
SpaceX’s update for Galileo L12 Mission the first of two Florida launches this weekend
SpaceX is targeting Saturday, April 27 at 8:34 p.m. ET for a Falcon 9 launch of the European Commission’s Galileo L12 mission to medium Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. If needed, there is a backup opportunity on Sunday, April 28 at 8:30 p.m. This will be the final launch for this Falcon 9 booster, more information below.
According to weather officials, there’s a 75% chance of favorable weather conditions at the time of the launch. The forecast calls for a temperature of 72°F, light rain, 94% cloud cover, a wind speed of 20mph and 0.14in of rain.
Due to the additional performance required to deliver the payload to medium Earth orbit, this mission marks the 20th and final launch for this Falcon 9 first stage booster, which previously launched GPS III-3, Turksat 5A, Transporter-2, Intelsat G-33/G-34, Transporter-6, Intuitive Machines IM-1, and 13 Starlink missions.
SpaceX has 2 weekend launches beginning with 2 satellites for Europe’s Galileo navigation system
SpaceX will launch 2 Galileo satellites into MEO from Europe’s Galileo navigation system on Saturday, April 27. The launch window is from 5:34 PM – 6:11 PM PDT
Though SpaceX has not publicly announced this mission, a National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency navigational warning shows this launch window will open Saturday, April 27, 2024.
- Mission: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch Galileo satellites for the European Space Agency’s global navigation system from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
- Launch window: 8:29 p.m. to 9:11 p.m. EDT Saturday, April 27, 2024
- Location: Launch pad 39A
Galileo is currently the world’s most precise satellite navigation system, serving over four billion smartphone users around the globe since entering Open Service in 2017. All smartphones sold in the European Single Market are now guaranteed Galileo-enabled. In addition, Galileo is making a difference across the fields of rail, maritime, agriculture, financial timing services and rescue operations.
A flagship program of the European Union (EU), Galileo is managed and funded by the European Commission. Since its inception, ESA leads the design, development and qualification of the space and ground systems, as well as procuring launches. ESA is also entrusted with research and development activities for the future of Galileo within the EU program Horizon Europe. The EU Agency for the Space Program (EUSPA) acts as the service provider, overseeing the market and application needs and closing the loop with users.