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: December 5, 2024
Flights: 12
Landings Attempted: 12
Landings Successful: 12
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: 428 Failures: 12 Pending: 113

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 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…

SpaceNews

Falcon 9 launches ESA’s EarthCARE mission

A Falcon 9 successfully launched an Earth science mission for Europe and Japan May 28 as part of the European Space Agency’s ongoing, if temporary, reliance on SpaceX for space access.

Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Space Launch Complex 4E


Falcon 9
Success
3 days, 4 hours ago
Starlink Group 12-5
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.


Simorgh
Success
5 days, 6 hours ago
Fakhr-1 & Saman-1
Imam Khomeini Spaceport - Semnan Space Center, Islamic Republic of Iran

Fakhr-1 is a 3U size cubesat to test locally produced spacecraft components, a communication payload and launch vehicle's multi-payload carrying capa…


Vega-C
Success
5 days, 12 hours ago
Sentinel-1C
Ariane Launch Area 1 (ELV) - Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

Sentinel-1C carries an advanced radar technology to provide an all-weather, day-and-night supply of imagery of Earth’s surface. It is a replacement s…


Falcon 9
Success
5 days, 17 hours ago
Sirius SXM-9
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

SXM-9 is the 10th high-powered, digital, audio radio satellite built by Maxar (SSL) for SiriusXM. The SXM-9 satellite will be based on Maxar’s proven…


PSLV-XL
Success
5 days, 22 hours ago
Proba-3
Satish Dhawan Space Centre First Launch Pad - Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India

Proba-3 (Project for On-Board Autonomy 3) is the first close formation flying mission for the European Space Agency (ESA). It consists of two indepen…


Long March 6A
Success
6 days, 4 hours ago
G60 Polar Group 03
Launch Complex 9A - Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

18 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites with Ku, Q and V band payloads for the G60 constellation operated by Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technolo…


Falcon 9
Success
6 days, 6 hours ago
Starlink Group 9-14
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 20 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Soyuz 2.1b
Success
6 days, 15 hours ago
Kosmos 2580 (Lotos-S1 #9)
43/4 (43R) - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

Note: Payload identity uncertain. Multiple other military payloads that are not identified may be on board. Lotos-S1 spacecraft is a part of the L…


Falcon 9
Success
6 days, 23 hours ago
Starlink Group 6-70
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Kuaizhou
Success
1 week ago
Haishao-1
Mobile Launcher Pad - Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Synthetic-aperture radar Earth observation satellite from the Chinese Academy of Sciences to observe dynamics properties of oceans.