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425 Project Flight 1 & rideshare

Falcon 9 Block 5

SpaceX

Launch Status
Success

Trajectory


View comprehensive details including the rocket’s trajectory, velocity, altitude, thrust, and more at FlightClub.io.

Mission


425 Project Flight 1 & rideshare

  • Type: Government/Top Secret
  • Orbit: Sun-Synchronous Orbit
  • Launch Cost: $52,000,000

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.

425 Project Flight 1 & rideshare

Location


Space Launch Complex 4E

Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Space Launch Complex 4E has witnessed the launch of 162 rockets, including 162 orbital launch attempts, while Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA, has been the site for 774 rocket launches.

Space Launch Complex 4E

Rocket


SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5

Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The Block 5 variant is the fifth major interval aimed at improving upon the ability for rapid reusability.

Falcon 9 Block 5

Landing


Core B1061

Booster B1061 last launched 10/07/2024 and has seen 22 successful launches and landings. Booster which launched Crew-1, Crew-2 and IXPE. Expended for the launch of Hera.

Landing Zone 4 – LZ-4

LZ at Vandenberg

Return to Launch Site – RTLS

A return to launch site usually means that after stage separation the booster flips and does a burn back towards the launch site, landing near where it initially launched from.

B1061

Agency


SpaceX

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. SpaceX operates from many pads, on the East Coast of the US they operate from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and historic LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. They also operate from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, usually for polar launches. Another launch site is being developed at Boca Chica, Texas.

SpaceX
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Aaron Gosnell
Aaron Gosnell
11 months ago

I hope to see it launch.It will be a successful flight.I look forward to watching it go.

Steve Lyons
Steve Lyons
11 months ago

Heading to Lompoc to watch close up if the winds cooperate. The RTLS sonic booms are always great.

Ken & Judy O
Ken & Judy O' Neill
11 months ago

HELLO FREE WORLD.!……