• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • NEWS:
  • SatNews
  • SatMagazine
  • MilSatMagazine
  • SmallSat News
  • |     EVENTS:
  • SmallSat Symposium
  • Satellite Innovation
  • MilSat Symposium

SatNews

  • HOME
  • Magazines
  • Events
  • SmallSat Europe Insights
  • Industry Calendar
    • IN PERSON
    • VIRTUAL
  • Subscribe

SpaceX Pushes SAOCOM-1B + Two Smallsats To Orbit

August 30, 2020

Having been delayed since March of 2020, and using a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket with a 3X, previous flight completion record, SpaceX has now successfully launched — from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida — the SAOCOM-1B Earth Observation (EO) satellite for Argentina plus two rideshare smallsats.

Artistic rendition of a SAOCOM satellite.

This was a rare southern launch trajectory from Florida as SAOCOM-1B headed for a polar orbit (SSO) with the launch vehicle heading over Miami and Cuba. The last time such a southerly launch occurred from Florida was in 1969.

As rockets on this flight path do cross populated areas (one reason most polar orbit launches occur from Vandenberg AFB in California), an automatic flight safety systems is incorporated into the Falcon 9 that enables the rocket to self-destruct without command from the flight operations center, should anything go amiss with the flight, such as straying too far from the designated path.

This particular Falcon 9 previously launched two cargo missions, one in December of 2019 and one in March of 2020 and registers this launch as the 42nd re-flight and 59th landing for the company with this rocket.

The successful first stage lands at Cape Canaveral.

The first stage, ID’s as B1059 by SpaceX, accomplished a landing at Cape Canaveral, being only the second time this year such a re-berthing has occurred on dry land.

The twin fairings for this mission splashed down into the Atlantic and one of the company’s recovery craft went into its “scoop-out-of-the-water” mode for this important hardware.

The SAOCOM 1B satellite is operated by the Argentinian space agency and is the second to reach orbit for that nation. A major capability of the SAOCOM 1B is the satellite’s ability to image the same area of Earth each day at the same time.

Artistic rendition of PlanetIQ’s GGNOMES-1 smallsat.

The rideshare payloads included Tyvak-0172 and GNOMES-1 for PlanetIQ. The former is a smallsat built by Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems for a customer that remains undisclosed. PlanetIQ, the developer and builder of the GNOMES 1 smallsat, is planning to orbit a fleet of approximately 20 smallsats that will collect data on a variety of atmospheric conditions to assist in weather forecasting.

Filed Under: Launch, SmallSat

Primary Sidebar

Most Read Stories

  • Space Debris, and the EU’s Space Act
  • In celebration of Juneteenth
  • Wishing Everyone a Happy July 4th … Independence Day, U.S.A.
  • Eutelsat's efforts to obtain funding to save OneWeb
  • Forrester's Digest: Starlink active in Iran

About Satnews

  • Contacts
  • History

Archives

  • July 2025
  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020

Secondary Sidebar

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.
x
Sign up Now (For Free)
Access daily or weekly satellite news updates covering all aspects of the commercial and military satellite industry.
Invalid email address
Notify Me Regarding ( At least one ):
We value your privacy and will not sell or share your email or other information with any other company. You may also unsubscribe at anytime.

Click Here to see our full privacy policy.
Thanks for subscribing!