SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches SiriusXM radio broadcasting satellite

SpaceX launched another Falcon 9 rocket early Sunday from Cape Canaveral, with a high-power digital radio satellite for SiriusXM, marking SpaceX’s 18th Falcon 9 flight since Jan. 1, but just the third dedicated to external commercial customers in a year dominated by missions building out the company’s own Starlink internet network.

this one boosting the SiriusXM-8 radio satellite into orbit to relay entertainment programming to receivers in cars, boats, homes and offices.

It was the eighth Falcon 9 launch in the last 44 days. The busy stretch of SpaceX missions since Jan. 1 has been dominated by launches deploying the company’s own Starlink internet satellites.
So far this year, SpaceX is on a pace to break the annual record for the most orbital flights by any U.S. launch provider, but the SXM 8 mission was just SpaceX’s third flight of 2021 to devoted to deploying commercial payloads from other companies.

The Turkish Turksat 5A satellite launched Jan. 7 on SpaceX’s first mission of the year, and a Falcon 9 rideshare mission Jan. 24 carried 143 small satellites into orbit. Most of the 143 spacecraft came from commercial satellite operators.
Thirteen Falcon 9 missions this year have launched Starlink internet satellites as primary payloads. The missions completed the first stage of deployment of SpaceX’s global broadband network, giving the company more than 1,600 active satellites, more than any other operator.
#Spacex​​​ #Falcon9 ​​​​​#WorldToday