On Wednesday, June 30 at 3:31 p.m. EDT, Falcon 9 launched the Transporter-2, SpaceX’s second dedicated SmallSat Rideshare Program mission, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The mission also marked SpaceX’s second launch to a polar orbit from Florida. This was the eighth launch and landing of this Falcon 9 first stage booster in exactly one year, including launch of GPS III Space Vehicle 03, Turksat 5A, and five Starlink missions. Following stage separation, SpaceX landed Falcon 9’s first stage on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
On board this launch were 85 commercial and government spacecraft (including CubeSats, microsats, and orbital transfer vehicles) and 3 Starlink satellites. While there were fewer spacecraft on board compared to Transporter-1, this mission launched more mass to orbit for SpaceX’s customers.