On a Monday morning in January 2022, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted from Cape Canaveral carrying Italy's second-generation radar eye on the Earth, CSG-2, after more than a week of waiting on the weather and the sea. The satellite joins its sibling in a polar orbit, continuing a national effort to watch the planet through clouds and darkness, the tools that help people track floods, ground movement and changes on the land. It is a quiet step in a long human habit of looking outward and downward at once. The delays also remind us that even the most ambitious machines still answer to wind, water and th
SpaceX Launches Italian Cosmo-SkyMed Radar Satellite After Weather and Maritime Delays
A cruise ship sailed into restricted waters and could not leave in time.
Mark
So the launch finally happened. Why did it take so long?
Mimi
Weather first, over about a week. Then on Sunday, when a window opened, a cruise ship sat in restricted waters off the Florida coast and didn't clear out in time.
Mark
A cruise ship stopped a rocket?
Mimi
The area has to be clear for safety, so yes. They launched Monday at 6:11am EST instead.
Luke
Worth noting the report says the ship couldn't leave in time. It doesn't say why, so we shouldn't guess.
Mark
What is the satellite actually for?
Mimi
It's CSG-2, an Italian government radar satellite. It images Earth using synthetic aperture radar, and it joins CSG-1 in a 620km polar orbit to replace the original Cosmo-SkyMed system.
Luke
The source says what it observes with, not what it's used for. Nothing here describes specific applications.
Mark
And the rocket side?
Mimi
The first stage landed at Landing Zone 1 just under eight minutes after liftoff. That reuse is key to SpaceX's cost goals.
Luke
The 52-launch target is SpaceX's plan, and the article says the delays cast a shadow on it. That's the writer's framing. Nothing confirms the target is actually in danger.
Mark
So one week of delays against 31 launches last year.
Mimi
Right. It's a signal to watch, not a verdict.
O Pulso
- A string of storms and a wandering cruise ship forced repeated postponements, turning a routine launch into a week of waiting.
- A closing window on Sunday left the team scrambling, and the attempt slid into Monday with little room to spare.
- The Falcon 9 climbed clean, releasing CSG-2 into orbit about an hour later while its first stage touched down at Landing Zone 1.
- The satellite now completes Italy's pair in polar orbit, but SpaceX's ambitious goal of 52 launches in 2022 now faces its first real test of pace.
On a Monday morning in January 2022, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted from Cape Canaveral carrying Italy's second-generation radar eye on the Earth, CSG-2, after more than a week of waiting on the weather and the sea. The satellite joins its sibling in a polar orbit, continuing a national effort to watch the planet through clouds and darkness, the tools that help people track floods, ground movement and changes on the land. It is a quiet step in a long human habit of looking outward and downward at once. The delays also remind us that even the most ambitious machines still answer to wind, water and the schedules of strangers.
At 6:11 on Monday morning Eastern time, a Falcon 9 rose from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station with an Italian radar satellite aboard. In India, where the story was filed, it was already 4:41 on Tuesday. The launch was the end of a long wait, one that had stretched across more than a week of postponements.
SpaceX had first aimed for the week before, but bad weather kept pushing the date back, and the launch was rescheduled several times. A workable window opened on Sunday, only to close when a cruise ship drifted into restricted waters and could not clear the no-go zone in time. The attempt moved to Monday.
The payload, Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation FM2, or CSG-2, is a 2,200-kilogram satellite built by Thales Alenia Space. About an hour after liftoff, SpaceX confirmed it was in orbit. It will fly alongside CSG-1, launched in 2019, in a sun-synchronous polar orbit about 620 kilometers up. Together they are meant to replace the original Cosmo-SkyMed constellation, using synthetic aperture radar to observe the Earth.
The flight itself was smooth. Just under eight minutes after liftoff, the first stage returned to a soft landing at Landing Zone 1, as planned. Booster recovery is central to SpaceX's longer ambitions, including Mars and cheaper access to space.
The delays still matter. SpaceX has planned 52 launches for 2022, which would far exceed its record of 31 in 2021. The weather and the cruise ship were beyond its control, but they show how quickly a crowded calendar can slip, and how much the company's target will depend on steadier scheduling in the months ahead.
At 6:11 on Monday morning, Eastern time, a Falcon 9 rocket rose from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida carrying an Italian radar satellite. In India, where the story was filed, the clock read 4:41 on Tuesday. The launch came after a string of postponements that had stretched across more than a week.
SpaceX, the company founded by Elon Musk, had first aimed to send the satellite up the week before. Persistent bad weather kept pushing the date back, and the launch was rescheduled several times. A usable window finally opened on Sunday, but it closed for an unusual reason: a cruise ship had entered restricted waters off the Florida coast and could not clear the "no-go zone" in time. The attempt moved to Monday.
The payload was Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation FM2, known as CSG-2. It is a 2,200-kilogram satellite built by Thales Alenia Space. SpaceX posted a video confirming that it had been deployed into orbit about 60 minutes after liftoff.
CSG is an Italian government system made up of two satellites that observe Earth with synthetic aperture radar. The first, CSG-1, launched in December 2019 on a Soyuz rocket from French Guiana. It operates in a sun-synchronous polar orbit at an altitude of 620 kilometers, and CSG-2 will fly in that same orbit. With some improvements, the system is meant to replace the original Cosmo-SkyMed constellation, which was launched between 2007 and 2010.
The flight itself went smoothly. Just under eight minutes after liftoff, the Falcon 9's first stage returned for a soft landing at Landing Zone 1, the site chosen in advance. SpaceX also shared ground-camera footage of the stage separation. Recovering first-stage boosters is central to the company's longer-term aims of reaching Mars and making space exploration economical and feasible.
The delays matter because of the pace SpaceX has set for itself. The company has planned 52 launches in 2022. That would be its most in a single year, well above the record 31 it managed in 2021. The weather and the cruise ship were outside its control, but the reporting notes that the slips cast a shadow over the target and bring renewed attention to the need for better scheduling.
With CSG-2 in orbit, the Italian system now has the second of its two satellites in place. How well SpaceX holds to its calendar over the coming months will show whether 52 launches is within reach.
Citações Notáveis
Deployment of COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 confirmed.— SpaceX, via Twitter
Quer a matéria completa?
Leia o original em Gadgets 360 ↗
Science & Space