Tue Apr 22 03:20:00 UTC 2025: ## SpaceX Launches Third Rocket in 48 Hours, Successfully Lands Booster
**Cape Canaveral, FL –** SpaceX successfully launched its third Falcon 9 rocket in less than 48 hours on Monday night, carrying a diverse payload of satellites and a re-entry capsule to a mid-inclination orbit. The Bandwagon-3 mission lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at 8:48 p.m. EDT, marking the 245th orbital launch from that pad and SpaceX’s 300th total orbital flight from the complex.
The mission’s key payload was the fourth of five synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites for the South Korean military’s Korea 425 Project. These satellites, developed in a partnership between Hanwha Systems Corporation and Thales Alenia Space, provide high-performance surveillance capabilities. This launch brings the project closer to its 2025 completion deadline.
Bandwagon-3 also carried Tomorrow.io’s Tomorrow-S7 weather satellite, designed to observe temperature and humidity profiles, and Atmos Space Cargo’s Phoenix re-entry capsule. The Phoenix 1 mission, a first for a private European company, aims to gather data on its inflatable heat shield during atmospheric re-entry over the Atlantic Ocean. The altered trajectory, initially planned over the Indian Ocean, involved an air-to-air reconnaissance mission to track the capsule during plasma blackout.
The Falcon 9’s first stage booster, B1090, successfully landed at Landing Zone 2, marking its third successful return to Earth. This launch continues SpaceX’s rapid launch cadence and demonstrates the reusability of its Falcon 9 rocket. The fifth and final Korea 425 satellite may launch on the upcoming Bandwagon-4 mission.
First Piper 