A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Transporter 11 group of satellites flew to orbit from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Friday.
ADVERTISEMENTSpaceX has launched an epic rideshare mission carrying 116 payloads from nine different companies.
A Falcon 9 rocket took off from the Vandenburg Space Force Base in California on Friday morning.
SpaceX is expected to confirm the deployment of the payloads later.
These included the European Space Agency Arctic Weather satellite, UK-based Surrey Satellites' Tyche satellite, Japan-based iQPS' QPS-SAR No. 8 satellite and US-based Planet Labs's Tanager-1 satellite.
The Transporter 11 launch is SpaceX's 80th this year and more than 70% of the satellites on board will be deployed to the Starlink communications network.
Meanwhile, NASA said on Wednesday it's still deciding whether to keep two astronauts at the International Space Station until early next year and send their troubled Boeing capsule back empty.
Rather than flying Boeing’s Starliner back to Earth, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams would catch a ride on SpaceX’s next flight. That option would keep them at the space station until next February.
The test pilots anticipated being away just a week or so when they rocketed away as Starliner's first crew. But thruster failures and helium leaks marred the capsule’s trip to the space station, raising doubts about its ability to return safely and leaving the astronauts in limbo.
NASA officials said they're analysing more data before making a decision by end of next week or beginning of the next. These thrusters are crucial for holding the capsule in the right position when it comes time to descend from orbit.
“We’ve got time available before we bring Starliner home and we want to use that time wisely,” said Ken Bowersox, NASA’s space operations mission chief.
