CASSIOPE & Others

Launch Success

Liftoff Time (GMT)

16:00:00

Sunday September 29, 2013

Watch Replay

Official Livestream

Mission Details

Read Article

Launch Notes

The first Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, and the first flight of Falcon 9 v1.1.

CUSat (Nanosat 4)

Wiki

CUSat (Cornell University Satellite) project is a multi-year effort to design, build, and launch an end-to-end autonomous on orbit inspection system. The CUSat system will demonstrate a process through which one satellite can diagnose the structural health and configuration of another.

Polar Orbit

1 Payload

25 kilograms

CASSIOPE

Wiki

CASSIOPE, or CAScade, Smallsat and IOnospheric Polar Explorer, is a Canadian Space Agency (CSA) multi-mission satellite operated by MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA). The mission is funded through CSA and the Technology Partnerships Canada program. CASSIOPE is the first Canadian hybrid satellite to carry a dual mission in the fields of telecommunications and scientific research. The main objectives are to gather information to better understand the science of space weather, while verifying high-speed communications concepts through the use of advanced space technologies.

Polar Orbit

1 Payload

500 kilograms

DANDE (Nanosat 5)

Wiki

DANDE (Drag and Atmospheric Neutral Density Explorer) is a low-cost satellite which makes in-situ measurements of the neutral atmosphere at altitudes of 200 - 350 km is being developed at the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU) as a part of the Air Force sponsored University Nanosat Program. Neutral density, composition, and wind measurements are increasingly needed to further scientific understanding of the upper atmosphere.

Polar Orbit

1 Payload

50 kilograms

POPACS 1 to 3

Wiki

POPACS (Polar Orbiting Passive Atmospheric Calibration Sphere) is a mission by a collaboration between Utah State University, Gil Moore, Planetary Systems Corporation, Drexel University, American Aerospace Advisors, Inc., SpaceX, Analytical Graphics, Inc, et al. to assess changes in the density of the upper atmosphere in response to heightened solar activity.

Polar Orbit

3 Payloads

4.5 kilograms

Rocket

Retired
Falcon 9 Block 2 (v1.1)

Active 2013 to 2016

SpaceX logo

Agency

SpaceX

Price

$56.50 million

Rocket

Diameter: 3.7m

Height: 68.4m

Payload to Orbit

LEO: 13,150 kg

GTO: 4,850 kg

Liftoff Thrust

5,885 Kilonewtons

Fairing

Diameter: 5.2m

Height: 13m

Stages

2

Launch Site

SLC-4E

Vandenberg SFB, California, USA

Fastest Turnaround

2 days 21 hours

Stats

Falcon 9


6th

Mission

2nd

Mission of 2013

SpaceX


11th

Mission

2nd

Mission of 2013

2013


57th

Orbital launch attempt