After a rare pad abort on December 21, SpaceX is once again preparing to launch four satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbit from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The company had to swap the first stage booster for another one before continuing with the mission.

The Falcon 9 rocket launch from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) is scheduled for Sunday, December 29, at 12 p.m. EST (0500 UTC). This is the start of an approximately 2.5 hour window.

Spaceflight Now will broadcast the mission live about an hour before launch.



Prior to the launch attempt, the 45th Weather Squadron predicted an 85 percent chance of favorable weather at launch. The only notable concern was the presence of cumulus clouds.

“Surface high pressure will continue to exert pressure off the northeast coast today. Although isolated

Showers are possible near the spaceport today, conditions should improve overnight during the primary launch window,” the launch weather officials wrote. “A cold front will move in from the northwest on Sunday, which will help increase humidity across the region.

“While the main line of showers and thunderstorms is expected to move out of the area before the backup launch window opens, isolated showers are expected just ahead of the front, which could impact the backup launch window.”

After the failed launch, SpaceX swapped the Falcon 9 first stage booster B1077 for B1083. The latter will launch for the seventh time, having previously supported Crew-8 for NASA; the Polaris Dawn commercial astronaut mission; the CRS-31 flight to the International Space Station and three Starlink missions.

SpaceX did not release any further information about the reason for the failed first launch attempt or the need to replace the boosters.

Almost 8.5 minutes after launch, B1083 will land on the SpaceX drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas”. If successful, this would be the 91st booster landing on ASOG and the 389th booster landing to date.

Small package, big mission

The four satellites aboard the FOTM mission are called MicroGEO satellites because they are each about the size of a washing machine. They were built at Astranis’ Pier 70 facilities in San Francisco, California and are designed to last approximately eight to ten years.

Two of the satellites, NuView Alpha and NuView Bravo, are designed for Anuvu’s aviation and maritime customers. The agreement between the two companies was announced back in July 2021 and will serve the territory in North America and the Caribbean.

“We want to expand our connectivity network in a way that is scalable and agile for our mobility customers,” Anuvu CEO Josh Marks said in a 2021 press release. “Astranis and its MicroGEO satellites provide Anuvu customers with decades of freedom Contracts or outdated legacy systems. Most importantly, they come to market quickly, have a service life of seven to 10 years, and can be controlled and updated from the ground, allowing our mobility customers to adapt their business model as new technologies are introduced.”

Anuvu ordered the two satellites to launch on Friday (originally scheduled for launch in “early 2023”), in addition to six more to be added in the future.



Also on board the FOTM launch is a bird named “AGILA,” the name of the national bird of the Philippines. This is the second satellite launched through a partnership with Orbits Corp. provides services to this country.

The launch of the first of these two satellites was originally planned for the first quarter of 2024, with a second to follow at a later date.

“The expansion of our Philippines program to include an additional Astranis MicroGEO satellite means Orbits Corp will be able to double the number of people it connects on the Philippines’ most remote islands,” wrote John Gedmark, founder and CEO of Astranis, November 2023 blog post. “Millions of people, many of whom live on less than $5,000 a year, will be able to connect to the Internet as a direct result.

“Orbits Corp estimates that this two-satellite program will create up to 10,000 direct and indirect jobs in the Philippines, accelerate economic growth and stimulate economic development in many of the smallest and most remote communities in the fast-growing country.”

GEO mobility

The final satellite to be launched aboard the FOTM mission is called “UtilitySat” and will initially be deployed to serve Astranis customer ISP Apco Networks in Mexico.

This is the first of two MicroGEO satellites sold to the company, which has the ability to “connect up to five million people,” Gedmark said in a 2023 blog post.

“Some of our employees at Astranis come from Mexico, some from small communities where connectivity is very poor or non-existent,” he said. “As they told us, and as we discovered through further research, the need for better connectivity in Mexico is obvious – more than 30 percent of the country today does not have internet access, and satellite is often the only way to get connected.” rural communities scattered across the rugged, mountainous terrain of Mexico’s 32 states.

“And the country itself is focused on improving the availability of satellite internet. Connectivity is a constitutional right in Mexico and the President has made connectivity a national priority.”

UtilitySat differs from the other three satellites in this mission in that it is designed to adjust its orbital position and support a different mission than the original one when launched.

“UtilitySat is the world’s first commercial multi-mission GEO satellite capable of conducting fully operational broadband connectivity missions in the Ka, Ku and Q/V bands,” Astranis wrote on its website. “UtilitySat is a fully maneuverable, on-board powered satellite and will conduct multiple such missions throughout its life in orbit – relocating or realigning every year, month or day to meet urgent customer needs.”

The company said it plans to launch “a fleet of UtilitySat satellites in the coming years.”

We are pleased to announce UtilitySat, the world’s first multi-mission geostationary satellite, which we will launch later this year.

This is a first of its kind. And a new product line – providing on-demand connectivity for disaster relief, bridge capacity and other operations.… pic.twitter.com/8tJS5fDPcE

— John Gedmark (@Gedmark) August 9, 2023