SpaceX launches 30 satellites on Bandwagon-2 rideshare mission (video)

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Liftoff occurred at 6:34 a.m. ET on Saturday (Dec. 21).

SpaceX launched 30 satellites to orbit early Saturday morning (Dec. 21).

A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base on Saturday at 6:34 a.m. EDT (1134 GMT; 3:34 a.m. local California time), kicking off a rideshare mission SpaceX calls Bandwagon-2.

Thirty satellites went up on Bandwagon-2, including payloads for South Korea's Agency for Defense Development as well as "Arrow Science and Technology, Exolaunch, HawkEye 360, Maverick Space Systems, Sidus Space, Tomorrow Companies Inc., True Anomaly and Think Orbital," SpaceX wrote in a mission description.

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a black and white rocket launches into the night sky, the thrust from its engines casting light on the launch pad.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 30 payloads as part of the Bandwagon-2 mission launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Image credit: SpaceX via X)

SpaceX has launched one Bandwagon mission already — Bandwagon-1, which sent up 11 satellites this past April. The company also launches other rideshare missions with a series it calls "Transporter."

SpaceX has launched 11 Transporter missions to date. The first one, which flew in January 2021, lofted 143 satellites to orbit, a single-launch record that still stands.

Lit only by its only thrust, the first stage of a SpaceX rocket lands on its four deployed landing legs in the darkness of night.

The first stage from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket touches down at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Image credit: SpaceX via X)
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As to plan on Saturday, the Falcon 9's first stage returned to Earth about eight minutes after launch, landing vertically back at Vandenberg.

It was the 21st flight for this particular booster, according to the SpaceX mission description. That's just three away from the company's rocket-reuse record.

SpaceX did not give a timeline for the deployment of the 30 satellites.

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Mike Wall
Mike Wall
Senior Space Writer

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.