Falcon 9 Block 5 | Pandora / Twilight rideshare mission

Falcon 9 Block 5

Jan 11, 1:44 PM UTC

Mission Elapsed Time

T-00:00:00

Booster History

B1097

Flight #5

Flight #5 · Last flown 2025-12-04

Total Flights: 9
Recovery Rate: 9/9 successful landings
This Landing: Landing successful· Return to Launch Site (RTLS)
Recovery Site: Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4)
Last Flight: Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 11-25 · 37-day turnaround

Landing Record

9 successful · 0 failed · 9 total

Mission Details

The Pandora small satellite was selected in 2021 as an inaugural mission in NASA’s Astrophysics Pioneers Program. It includes a 0.45-meter telescope that will improve our understanding of exoplanet atmospheres by disentangling exoplanet signals from their host stars, as well as studying host star variability with long-duration observations of 20 unique planets through visible-light photometry and near-infrared spectroscopy. Also launching on this launch are 39 other ride-share payloads under the "Falcon 9 Twilight mission" manifested by Exolaunch, including satellites from Spire Global and Kepler Communications.

Type: Astrophysics
Orbit: Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO)

Launch Site

Pad: Space Launch Complex 4E
Location: Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Country: 🇺🇸 USA