Watch the Launch

Additional Media

ESA’s EarthCARE launch (Official broadcast)

ESA’s EarthCARE mission is ready for lift-off! EarthCARE is a groundbreaking satellite mission designed to unravel the mysteries of Earth’s clouds and aeroso...

Livestream on X


SpaceX

SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company was founded in 2002 to revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets.

EarthCARE

Circle Image

Overview

Destination: Sun-Synchronous Orbit
Mission: Earth Science

Sun-Synchronous Orbit Space Launch Complex 4E Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
B1081 - Landing Zone 4

EarthCARE (Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer) is a joint mission of ESA and JAXA. The main goal of the mission is the observation and characterization of clouds and aerosols as well as measuring the reflected solar radiation and the infrared radiation emitted from Earth's surface and atmosphere.

Telemetry

Launch trajectory and telemetry simulations provided by Flight Club - a rocket launch simulator and orbital trajectory visualiser for all things space!

Updates

Cosmic_Penguin • May 28, 2024, 11:15 p.m.

Satellite signal acquisition confirmed.


Cosmic_Penguin • May 28, 2024, 10:33 p.m.

Spacecraft separation.


Cosmic_Penguin • May 28, 2024, 10:20 p.m.

Liftoff.


Cosmic_Penguin • May 17, 2024, 10:01 a.m.

Added launch date and time.


Cosmic_Penguin • Oct. 28, 2023, 12:27 a.m.

NET May 2024.


Falcon 9

Family:
Configuration: Block 5

Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The Block 5 variant is the fifth major interval aimed at improving upon the ability for rapid reusability.

See Details
Specifications
  • Minimum Stage
    1
  • Max Stage
    2
  • Length
    70.0 m
  • Diameter
    3.65 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    5.2 m
  • Launch Mass
    549.0 T
  • Thrust
    7607.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Falcon 9
  • Family
  • Variant
    Block 5
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    Falcon 9 Block 5
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
    $52000000
  • Low Earth Orbit
    22800.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
    8300.0 kg
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity

Booster Info


B1081

Status: Active


Type: Core
Flight Proven: Yes
First Flight: August 26, 2023
Last Flight: March 15, 2025
Flights: 13
Landings Attempted: 13
Landings Successful: 13
Previous B1081 Flights

Landing Information

B1081 has landed at LZ-4 after its 7th flight.

Result: Successful Return to Launch Site landing at Landing Zone 4.

SpaceX

SpaceX

(SpX)

CEO: Elon Musk Founded: 2002 Successes: 484 Failures: 14 Pending: 118

Agency Type:

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. SpaceX operates from many pads, on the East Coast of the US they operate from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and historic LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. They also operate from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, usually for polar launches. Another launch site is being developed at Boca Chica, Texas.

INFO WIKI

Related News

ESA

EarthCARE goes live with data now available to all

With ESA’s EarthCARE satellite and four measuring instruments all working extremely well and fully commissioned, the mission’s ‘first level’ data stream is now freely available.

ESA

EarthCARE profiles atmospheric particles in detail

Launched in May, ESA’s EarthCARE satellite has been making waves, with the first images from three of its scientific instruments already delivered. Now, the spotlight is firmly on the atmospheric lidar, the most advanced of the satellite’s…

ESA

EarthCARE’s multispectral imager puts clouds into context

Launched less than two months ago, ESA’s EarthCARE satellite has already returned images from two of its four instruments. Now, it has also delivered the first images from its multispectral imager, showcasing various types of clouds and cl…

ESA

A first: EarthCARE reveals inner secrets of clouds

Less than a month after it was launched, ESA’s EarthCARE satellite has returned the first image from one of its instruments – an image that, for the first time from space, unveils the internal structure and dynamics of clouds.

NASASpaceflight

SpaceX has launched the EarthCARE climate research satellite for ESA and JAXA

The joint European-Japanese EarthCARE satellite has begun its mission to improve our understanding of Earth’s climate Tuesday, with a launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space F…

Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Space Launch Complex 4E


Falcon 9
In Flight
1 hour, 32 minutes ago
Starlink Group 12-23
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 23 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Long March 3
Success
11 hours, 48 minutes ago
Tianlian 2-05
Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) - Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Tianlian is a Chinese data tracking and relay communications geostationary satellite series. The TL 2 (Tian Lian 2) satellites represent the second g…


Falcon 9
Success
3 days, 1 hour ago
Starlink Group 6-74
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 28 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Long March 2
Success
3 days, 18 hours ago
Shenzhou 20
Launch Area 4 (SLS-1 / 921) - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Ninth crewed flight to the Chinese space station.


Falcon 9
Success
6 days, 2 hours ago
Bandwagon 3 (Dedicated Mid-Inclination Rideshare)
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Dedicated rideshare flight to a mid-inclination orbit with dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers.


Falcon 9
Success
6 days, 19 hours ago
Dragon CRS-2 SpX-32
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

32nd commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station operated by SpaceX. The flight will be conducted under the second Commer…


Falcon 9
Success
1 week ago
NROL-145
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Tenth batch of satellites for a reconnaissance satellite constellation built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman for the National Reconnaissance Office to…


Long March 6A
Success
1 week, 2 days ago
Shiyan 27 01-06
Launch Complex 9A - Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

A group of 6 Chinese satellites reported to be for "space environment probing and other related technological testing". Actual usage not known.


Minotaur IV
Success
1 week, 4 days ago
NROL-174
Space Launch Complex 8 - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Classified payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.


New Shepard
Success
1 week, 6 days ago
NS-31
West Texas Suborbital Launch Site/ Corn Ranch - Corn Ranch, Van Horn, TX, USA

NS-31 is the 11th crewed flight for the New Shepard program and the 31st in its history.