{"id":386595,"date":"2026-01-04T03:02:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T03:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/386595\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T03:02:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T03:02:14","slug":"spacex-opens-2026-with-launch-of-cosmo-skymed-earth-observation-satellite-for-italy-spaceflight-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/386595\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX opens 2026 with launch of Cosmo-SkyMed Earth observation satellite for Italy \u2013 Spaceflight Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation Flight Model 3 satellite deploys from SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket on Jan. 2, 2026. Image: SpaceX via livestream<\/p>\n

SpaceX rang in the new year with a Falcon 9 rocket launch Friday evening from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.<\/p>\n

Aboard was a 1,700-kg (3,748 lb) Earth observation satellite with dual civilian and military use for the government of Italy. The Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation Flight Model 3 (CSG-FM3) satellite is the third out of four such satellites set to deploy into low Earth orbit.<\/p>\n

The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East at 6:09 p.m. PST (9:09 p.m. EST \/ 0209 UTC), flying on a southern trajectory upon departing the pad.<\/p>\n

\ufeff<\/p>\n

The launch was originally scheduled on Saturday, Dec. 27, but was scrubbed about 38 minutes prior to liftoff due to a hydraulic issue with the launch pad hold down clamps. A second launch attempt on December 28 was also cancelled as SpaceX said it needed more time to resolve the pad issue.<\/p>\n

With these delays and a pause in Starlink deliveries, the Cosmo-SkyMed mission was the first Falcon rocket flight in 16 days, the longest stretch without a SpaceX orbital launch in four years.<\/p>\n

SpaceX launched the mission using Falcon 9 booster tail number, 1081. This was its 21st flight after launching missions including Crew-7, PACE and TRACERS, all for NASA.<\/p>\n

Nearly 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1081 completed a touchdown at Landing Zone 4. This was the 31st landing at that site in total and the 554th Falcon booster landing to date.<\/p>\n

The CSG-FM3 satellite was deployed roughly 13 minutes after leaving the launch pad.<\/p>\n

\"\"An artist\u2019s rendering of the mission patch for the Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation Flight Model 3 mission. Graphic: SpaceX<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Cosmo-SkyMed program is one of the most outstanding examples of cooperation between Defense, the Italian Space Agency, and national industry,\u201d said Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto in translation of a post on the social media site X. \u201cIt is a model of public-private synergy that shows how innovation, research, and development can integrate with security and defense needs, generating strategic value for the Country.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the European Space Agency (ESA), the satellite designed for a five-year life span and will operate in a circular Sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 620 km (385 mi).<\/p>\n

It uses a synthetic aperture radar (SAR), operating in X-band, allowing it to capture images through clouds and in darkness. The satellite constellation receives funding both from the Italian Space Agency as well as the Ministry of Defense.<\/p>\n

Prior to the launch of the CSG-FM3 satellite, there were four operational satellites in the constellation: two first-generation and two second-generation spacecraft. These satellites were manufactured by Thales Alenia Space.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation Flight Model 3 spacecraft is pictured prior to being encapsulated within a pair of SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 payload fairings. Image: SpaceX<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation Flight Model 3 satellite deploys from SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket on Jan. 2, 2026.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386596,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[79,193],"class_list":["post-386595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}