Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) Monday successfully launched six Orbcomm [ORBC] OG2 communication satellites at around 11:15 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
Orbcomm said Monday all six satellites have checked in and are sending telemetry after successful separation and insertion into proper orbit. The satellites were developed by
Sierra Nevada (SNC) while the payloads were made by Boeing [BA].
After an initial health check, the satellites will undergo extensive in-orbit testing to verify that all subsystems are functioning properly, according to Orbcomm. The satellites are expected to be providing full commercial machine-to-machine (M2M) messaging within the next 60 days.
The Orbcomm mission was rescheduled numerous times going back as early as April. A bad tracking radar at the Cape caused a delay to a higher-priority NASA Cargo Resupply Services (CRS) mission, which pushed back an originally-scheduled April 30 Orbcomm launch. A static test fire on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket was halted May 9, preventing an early May launch. Fluctuations in pressure on Falcon 9’s second stage caused a June 20 scrubbing, while weather delayed June 21 launch and concerns over an issue identified during pre-flight checkout pushed out a June 23 launch attempt.
SpaceX’s next two launches on its manifest are a pair of launches for Asiasat on Falcon 9 rockets. No dates were listed for the launches.