SpaceX Launches CSG-2 Satellite for ISA

Credit: SpaceX

On Monday, January 31 at 6:11 pm ET (23:11 UTC), SpaceX launcedh the CSG-2 (Cosmo-Skymed Second Generation 2) for the Italian Space Agency (ISA) to sun-synchronous orbit atop a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Launch was originally scheduled for Thursday, Friday and later Saturday, but the launch was scrubbed due to unfavorable weather on all three attempts. Another attempt was made on January 30, but a cruise ship violated the "red" zone. The CSG-2 satellite is part of the Italian Cosmo-Skymed sun-synchronous constellation intended to provide earth observation data to both civilian and military customers. The first stage (B1062), which previously flew on Arabsat-6A and STP-2 as a Falcon Heavy side booster, landed on a landing pad on land, Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1). This wasq the 8th orbital attempt of 2022, 147th SpaceX mission, and the 139th Falcon 9 launch.