At 7:18 pm last night, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launched Argentina’s SAOCOM-1B satellite into polar orbit, a flight path quite different from most vehicles launched from the East Coast of the U.S. which normally head eastward. The polar path runs mostly north to south over the Earth’s poles. This is the first time in 50 years that a rocket launched from Florida has taken this path.
Considered to be the most important achievement in Argentina’s space history, SAOCOM-1B is the result of collaboration among the National Space Activities Commission (CONAE), the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA), the state-run high-tech company INVAP, and the National University of La Plata, among others. It is also part of the Italo-Argentine Satellite System (Siasge), along with four other satellites of the Italian Space Agency’s COSMO-SkyMed Constellation. There is extensive international cooperation on the project as several nations are involved in satellite tracking and communication.
