Falcon 9 • NAOS

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch OHB Italia’s NAOS (National Advanced Optical System) spacecraft on a rideshare mission alongside seven other satellites. NAOS is part of the Luxembourg government’s Directorate of Defense’s Luxembourg Earth Observation (LUXEOSys) program and will operate in a 450 km polar low Earth orbit. The satellite was originally scheduled to launch in the second half of 2023 on an Arianespace Vega-C rocket, but the Government of Luxembourg shifted the 382 million euro mission to the Falcon 9 because of the issues with Vega-C. The launch onboard Falcon 9 was then planned for sometime between October 2024 and January 2025. Alongside the main satellite is Dhruva Space’s LEAP-1; Planet’s Pelican-3 and Pelican-4; and Exolaunch’s Acadia-6, FFLY-1, FFLY-2, and FFLY-3. SpaceX will launch the mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster, tail number B1063, launching for a 27th time. A little less than eight minutes after liftoff, B1063 will target a landing back at Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4).