SpaceX rocket carries 114 satellites in first launch of 2023

Jan. 3 (UPI) -- SpaceX's first rocket launch of 2023 blasted off Tuesday morning, sending more than 100 satellites into space that will provide various services for agriculture, maritime monitoring and radio scrutiny.

The Falcon 9 launched the Transporter-6 rideshare mission from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at about 9:56 a.m., EST.

The first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket safely returned to Earth and landed after boosting the second stage into space.

SpaceX said the flight carried 114 satellite payloads "including CubeSats, microsats, picosats and orbital transfer vehicles carrying spacecraft to be deployed at a later time."

The launch on behalf of EOSDA will contain seven agriculture satellites to work with a constellation.

"This launch brings new game-changing possibilities of satellite technologies to the agricultural industry," EOSDA CEO Artiom Anisimov said. "EOSDA will now work with proprietary datasets to provide even deeper and more accurate insights for its customers and partners."

The newly launched agricultural satellite is designed to examine 386,000 miles daily using 11 bands of light. Such a probe will allow farmers to better customize their care for the crops, to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, energy consumption and water usage, along with other benefits.

When the entire constellation is working in conjunction with each other by 2025, they will be able to examine 4.6 million square miles every day, about a third more than the equivalent area of the United States. The seven satellites have a goal to reach 100% of countries "with the largest areas of farmlands and forestlands," EOSDA said.

SpaceX's Transporter missions consist of space "dedicated rideshares" that allow dozens of small satellites to be taken into space on a single Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceX conducted its largest "rideshare" flight on Jan. 24, 2021, when its Falcon 9 released 143 satellites into space.

The past SpaceX rideshare payloads have ranged in size from picosatellites of less than a kilogram -- measuring only a few centimeters on each side -- to microsatellites massing around 200 pounds.

The launch date for the Transporter 6 was originally set for October 2022 but eventually fell to Tuesday. The space company said there are three additional Transporter missions scheduled for 2023, one for each quarter.