SpaceX to Launch Italian Earth-Observation Satellite Today
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Chapter 1: Launch Overview
SpaceX is poised to launch an Italian Earth-observation satellite today (January 29), after a delay of two days caused by adverse weather conditions. You can catch the live broadcast of this event here as it unfolds.
The launch will feature a two-stage SpaceX rocket carrying the Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 (CSG-2) satellite, scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 6:11 p.m. EST (2311 GMT) on Saturday. Originally planned for Thursday, the mission had to be postponed less than an hour before the intended launch due to a thick cloud cover. SpaceX announced, "We are standing down from today's launch of COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 due to poor weather at the launch site; the next opportunity is tomorrow, January 29 at 6:11 p.m. EST."
You can watch all the action live here at Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX, with webcasts typically starting 15 to 20 minutes prior to liftoff. The weather forecast for Saturday indicates an 80% chance of favorable launch conditions, with the primary concerns being winds at the time of launch and upper-level wind shear, as noted by the U.S. Space Force's Delta 45 group.
Section 1.1: The Cosmo-SkyMed Program
The Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation program is financially supported by the Italian Space Agency, the Italian Ministry of Defense, and the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities, and Scientific Research. This program comprises two satellites that utilize synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for Earth observation.
CSG represents an advanced iteration of the original Cosmo-SkyMed system. According to officials from the European Space Agency, "COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation aims to monitor the Earth for emergency prevention, strategic, scientific, and commercial purposes, delivering global data to aid various applications, including risk management, cartography, environmental protection, natural resource exploration, land management, defense and security, maritime surveillance, and agricultural management."
Subsection 1.1.1: Previous Launches
The initial CSG satellite, CSG-1, was launched aboard an Arianespace Soyuz rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, in December 2019 and is currently in a sun-synchronous polar orbit at an altitude of 385 miles (620 kilometers) above Earth. CSG-2 will also be placed in the same orbit.
This launch will mark the third mission for the first stage of this Falcon 9 rocket. The booster has previously facilitated the launches of the Arabsat-6A communications satellite and the Space Test Program 2 mission for the U.S. military. Following the launch, the rocket is expected to return for a vertical landing at SpaceX's Landing Site 1 at Cape Canaveral.
Chapter 2: Upcoming Launch Events
The first video showcases SpaceX's historic launch of the first commercial spacewalk, Polaris Dawn. Witness the exciting moments as the crew ventures into space, marking a significant milestone in commercial space exploration.
The second video features a live broadcast of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching two Earth-observing satellites for Maxar. Watch as this mission unfolds, contributing to the advancement of Earth observation technology.
This article was last updated at 6:26 p.m. EST (2326 GMT) on January 28 to reflect the scrubbed launch attempt. Saturday's planned launch is part of a busy schedule for SpaceX, which included the robotic Dragon cargo spacecraft launch on January 24, and upcoming plans to deploy a batch of Starlink satellites on January 30, followed by the NROL-87 mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office on February 2.