SpaceXFalcon 9 Block 5Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Spaceflight SSO-A
Launched
December 3, 2018
Image: SpaceX
Summary
Spaceflight SSO-A launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 from Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA on December 3, 2018. It was SpaceX's 71st launch, 19th this year and humanity's 5,807th orbital launch attempt. It was the 8th Falcon 9 Block 5 flight. Booster B1046 flew for the 3rd time and landed at Just Read the Instructions. The payload was bound for Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO). MinXSS 2, one of 65 catalogued objects, reached a 581 × 597 km orbit inclined 97.8°. 65 objects from this launch are catalogued, all of them payloads.
- Watch
- Vehicle
- Falcon 9 Block 5 · SpaceX
- Booster
- B1046 · flight 3 · Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship at Just Read the Instructions · landed156/157 landed here · 118 days after its previous flight, Merah Putih (Telkom-4)
- Mission
- Dedicated Rideshare · Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO)
- Milestone
- 8th Falcon 9 Block 5 flightSpaceX's 71st launch19th this yearhumanity's 5,807th orbital launch attempt101st orbital launch attempt this year
Webcast
Flight preview
Orbit: as tracked
MinXSS 2 · NORAD 43758 · 2018-099 · Space-Track · tracking 1 of 65 objects
Show the numbers for orbit elements
- Object
- TBA - TO BE ASSIGNED
- Object ID
- 2018-099A
- Epoch
- 2018-12-03 20:04:58 UTC
- Mean motion
- 14.95206661 rev/day
- Eccentricity
- 0.0011096
- Inclination
- 97.7687°
- Ascending node
- 46.9887°
- Arg. of perigee
- 259.0294°
- Mean anomaly
- 200.0657°
- Element set
- 999
- Rev at epoch
- 1
- B*
- 0
Perigee, apogee and period are Kepler figures from the catalogued mean elements, not a propagated state. Published orbit: SSO. Ascent drawn from padside's representative profile. Booster return drawn from padside's representative arc.
Catalogued objects
65 catalogued: 65 payloads; 41 still in orbit
- MinXSS 2 · NORAD 43758 · in orbit
- SIRION Pathfinder 2 · NORAD 43759 · in orbit
- Sherpa LFF · NORAD 43760 · re-entered December 6, 2024
- STPSat-5 · NORAD 43762 · in orbit
- Sherpa UFF · NORAD 43763 · in orbit
- Kodiak · NORAD 43764 · re-entered August 4, 2026
- Hawk A · NORAD 43765 · in orbit
- SPAWAR-CAL-O · NORAD 43766 · in orbit
- CORVUS BC4 · NORAD 43767 · in orbit
- AISTECHSAT 2 · NORAD 43768 · in orbit
- Flock 3s-1 · NORAD 43769 · re-entered June 19, 2025
- AMSAT-OSCAR-95 · NORAD 43770 · in orbit
Show 53 more payloads
- RANGE B · NORAD 43772 · re-entered July 2, 2026
- RANGE A · NORAD 43773 · in orbit
- Hiber 2 · NORAD 43774 · re-entered January 31, 2026
- SPAWAR-CAL-R · NORAD 43776 · in orbit
- ENOCH · NORAD 43777 · re-entered December 21, 2021
- SPAWAR-CAL-OR · NORAD 43778 · in orbit
- RAAF M1 · NORAD 43779 · in orbit
- MOVE-IIa · NORAD 43780 · re-entered July 18, 2025
- VESTA · NORAD 43781 · re-entered January 8, 2026
- SNUSAT 2 · NORAD 43782 · in orbit
- KazSTSat · NORAD 43783 · in orbit
- SNUGLITE · NORAD 43784 · in orbit
- OrbWeaver 2 · NORAD 43785 · re-entered October 6, 2024
- ITASAT-1 · NORAD 43786 · in orbit
- KazSciSat 1 · NORAD 43787 · re-entered July 19, 2025
- Flock 3s-3 · NORAD 43788 · re-entered December 13, 2025
- IRVINE02 · NORAD 43789 · re-entered February 16, 2026
- Eaglet 1 · NORAD 43790 · in orbit
- Denali · NORAD 43791 · re-entered January 25, 2023
- ESEO · NORAD 43792 · in orbit
- CSIM-FD · NORAD 43793 · re-entered August 9, 2025
- Hawk B · NORAD 43794 · in orbit
- OrbWeaver 1 · NORAD 43795 · re-entered September 9, 2024
- Aurora Insight Alpha · NORAD 43796 · in orbit
- SkySat C12 · NORAD 43797 · in orbit
- Kiwi · NORAD 43798 · in orbit
- Hawk C · NORAD 43799 · in orbit
- ICEYE-X2 · NORAD 43800 · in orbit
- SkySat C13 · NORAD 43802 · re-entered June 21, 2026
- Jordan-OSCAR-97 · NORAD 43803 · in orbit
- Suomi-100 · NORAD 43804 · in orbit
- Al-Farabi 2 · NORAD 43805 · re-entered May 7, 2026
- Eu:CROPIS · NORAD 43807 · in orbit
- Yukon · NORAD 43808 · in orbit
- Centauri 1 · NORAD 43809 · in orbit
- NEXTSat 1 · NORAD 43811 · in orbit
- Global-2 · NORAD 43812 · in orbit
- BRIO · NORAD 43813 · re-entered July 15, 2025
- PW-Sat2 · NORAD 43814 · re-entered February 23, 2021
- FalconSat 6 · NORAD 43815 · in orbit
- SpaceBEE 7 · NORAD 43816 · re-entered March 8, 2026
- SpaceBEE 5 · NORAD 43817 · re-entered February 27, 2024
- SpaceBEE 6 · NORAD 43818 · re-entered January 14, 2025
- eXCITe · NORAD 43819 · in orbit
- SeaHawk 1 · NORAD 43820 · in orbit
- Flock 3s-2 · NORAD 43821 · re-entered September 3, 2025
- WeissSat 1 · in orbit
- Orbital Reflector · in orbit
- Vusat-OSCAR-96 · in orbit
- K2SAT · re-entered February 21, 2025
- KNACKSAT · in orbit
- Audacy Zero · in orbit
- VisionCube · in orbit
Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org
About this launch
Dedicated rideshare launching payloads into sun-synchronous orbit. Payloads include ORS-6, EU:CROPIS, STPSat-5, BlackSky Global-1 to -4, HawkEye Pathfinder 1-3, Iceye, NEXTSat-1, 2 SkySats, Centauri II, and a Flock of Doves.
Pad
Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
81st launch from Space Launch Complex 4E, 6th this year · 683rd from Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
303 launches from this pad · 919 from Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
56 days after the previous launch from this pad
Questions
When did Spaceflight SSO-A launch?
Spaceflight SSO-A launched on December 3, 2018. The time is known to the hour, not the minute.
Where can I watch Spaceflight SSO-A?
Coverage: Spaceflight SSO-A: SmallSat Express. Watch the replay
What rocket launched Spaceflight SSO-A?
Falcon 9 Block 5, flown by SpaceX. Falcon 9 Block 5 spec sheet
Where did Spaceflight SSO-A launch from?
Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA.
Did the booster land?
Booster B1046 flew for the 3rd time and landed at Just Read the Instructions.
What orbit did Spaceflight SSO-A reach?
MinXSS 2, one of 65 catalogued objects, reached a 581 × 597 km orbit inclined 97.8°.
How many satellites did Spaceflight SSO-A launch?
65 payloads from this launch are catalogued, 41 of them still in orbit (Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org).