COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 (Falcon 9)
31 January 2022
Space Launch Complex 40
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
PAGE 1 of 2 of CSG-2 mission images

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 (CSG-2) mission to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 6:11 p.m. on 31 January 2022.

The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission previously supported the launch of Arabsat-6A and STP-2. After stage separation, Falcon 9 returned to Earth and landed on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. One half of the fairings supporting this mission previously supported Transporter-1, Transporter-2, and one Starlink mission, and the other half previously supported SAOCOM 1B, Transporter-2, and one Starlink mission.

COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation purpose is to monitor the Earth using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) for the sake of emergency prevention, strategy, scientific and commercial purposes; providing data on a global scale to support a variety of applications among which are risk management, cartography, forest & environment protection, natural resources exploration, land management, defense and security, maritime surveillance, food & agriculture management. The program financed, by the Italian Space Agency, Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Education, University and Research, is the first dual-use Earth Observation satellite system. Its satellites monitor the entire Earth from space, day and night, under any weather conditions, using high-resolution X-band radars.

LAUNCH
Shutdown of the first stage engines.
Separation of the first and second stages.
The first stage begins its boostback burn to head to Landing Zone 1 while the second stage continues on into orbit with the COSMO-SkyMed satellite. The interaction of the exhaust plumes from the first and second stages created quite a show while they were in close proximity to each other.
 
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