SpaceX Ovzon-3 satellite mission marks first launch from Space Coast during 2024
Kicking off the Space Coast's 2024 orbital-launch tally, a two-stage SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off Wednesday evening from Cape Canaveral carrying a Swedish communications satellite inside its 17-foot-diameter carbon-composite fairing.
The SpaceX Ovzon-3 mission, which promptly disappeared into the clouds from numerous Brevard County vantage points, marked the first launch of the year from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's neighboring Kennedy Space Center.
Florida's Space Coast hosted a record-shattering 72 orbital launches last year — with SpaceX accounting for 68 of them. Space Launch Delta 45 officials tweeted celebratory photos of SpaceX's Thursday back-to-back Falcon Heavy and Falcon 9 launch doubleheader, which closed out the calendar year.
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Nationwide, Wednesday's launch marked SpaceX's second of 2024 — following a Tuesday night Starlink mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California — and 297th overall, Zachary Luppen, a SpaceX avionics reliability engineer, said during the launch webcast.
"Ovzon 3 is the first privately funded and developed Swedish geostationary satellite ever to be launched," Luppen said.
"It carries Ovzon's patented solution with high-power steerable beams and unique software-defined capabilities. It will become operational when reaching its exact destination, and after in-orbit testing, by mid-year 2024," he said.
As we bid farewell to 2023, we're thrilled to share the last two launches of the year, launch #71 (#FalconHeavy USSF-52) and #72 (#Falcon9 Starlink 6-36), with a view that's nothing short of breathtaking! ?? @SpaceForceDoD | @USSF_SSC | @gospaceforce #SpaceCoast pic.twitter.com/e6uWudDqoX
— Space Launch Delta 45 (@SLDelta45) December 30, 2023
The Falcon 9 first-stage booster wrapped up its 10th flight during Wednesday's mission, SpaceX reported. After stage separation, the booster touched down eight minutes after liftoff back at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The booster previously launched CRS-26, OneWeb Launch 16, Intelsat IS-40e, O3b mPOWER and five Starlink missions before propelling Ovzon 3 into geosynchronous transfer orbit, SpaceX reported.
For the latest launch schedule updates from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or [email protected]. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX Ovzon-3 satellite launch marks first from Space Coast in 2024
