SpaceX's Rideshare Mission: Missing Satellites Raise Concerns
Three satellites from SpaceX's Transporter-9 mission, launched on November 11, have failed to deploy and their current location is unknown. Momentus, the in-space transportation company that supported the launch, confirmed the successful deployment of two satellites but stated that the remaining three likely failed to be released. The lost satellites include an Earth observation satellite for Poland's SatRev, another Earth observation satellite for South Korea's CONTECv, and a communication prototype satellite for Tucson startup Lunasonde. Lunasonde is now attempting to locate and communicate with its lost satellite, while Momentus is investigating the deployment failure.