SpaceX launches O3b mPower satellites

SpaceX launched O3b mPower satellites for SES’ next generation broadband constellation, each promising 10 times more throughput than their predecessors in medium Earth orbit (MEO).

A Falcon 9 carrying two of 11 planned O3b mPower satellites lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, at 4:18 am IST, on 17 December 2022. Eastern and deployed them in separate sequences about two hours later.

It was the eighth mission for the rocket’s reusable first-stage booster, which landed on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean shortly after lift-off.

Using onboard all-electric propulsion, it will take about five months for the Boeing-built O3b mPower satellites to reach their orbital positions.

Meanwhile, SpaceX plans to launch two more pairs of O3b mPower satellites early next year, which would enable SES to start initial O3b mPower services globally by the third quarter of 2023.

SpaceX is to launch another pair of O3b mPower satellites later 2023, and then three on a single Falcon 9 mission in 2024 to add additional capacity to the constellation.

Also read: SWOT Rises Like Water Vapor: NASA

Saturday( according to IST) marks two launches in one day for SpaceX. Over at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, early morning, SpaceX sent up the SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) satellite.

Its mission is to chart the location and speed of growing sea levels and the change of coastlines.

The two satellites are from the company SES, a Luxembourgish-French satellite telecommunications company.

O3b mPOWER 1 and 2 are part of the company’s second-generation satellites and “… will deliver high-performance connectivity services to enterprises and governments around the world,” the company stated in a press release.

Globally, Collar expects about 50% of O3b mPower’s capacity will serve government customers, including the U.S. where SES is strengthening its focus on the national security market.

“We had great views of SpaceX’s launch of O3b mPower 1&2 tonight and were treated to an awesome twilight effect,” wrote observers at NCSpaceOps on Twitter handle, tagging the view as a “jellyfish effect.”