SpaceX launches Bandwagon-2 rideshare mission on Falcon 9 rocket from California

Update 6:52 a.m. (1152 UTC): The Falcon 9 booster touched down at Landing Zone 4.

SpaceX launched its second, mid-inclination rideshare mission in the predawn hours of Saturday morning, this time launching it from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The mission came more than half a year after Bandwagon-1 lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in April. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at 3:34 a.m. PST (6:34 a.m. EST, 1134 UTC).

The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission, tail number B1071 in the SpaceX fleet, launched for its 21st time. It previously supported the launches of three missions for the National Reconnaissance Office, two Transporter rideshare missions and NASA’s SWOT payload.

A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1071 returned for a touchdown at Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4). This marked the 22nd booster landing at LZ-4 and the 386th booster landing to date.

There are 30 payloads flying onboard the Bandwagon-2 mission, including satellites for Sidus Space, Maverick Space Systems, Exolaunch and HawkEye 360.