Falcon 9 Block 5 | GRACE-C

GRACE-C (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment-Continuity) is a successor to the original GRACE and GRACE-FO missions, providing month-to-month changes of Earth's gravity field to track water movement and surface mass changes across the planet, monitoring variations in ice sheets, glaciers, underground water storage, soil moisture, and sea levels. GRACE-C consists of two identical satellites flying around 200 km apart at an orbit altitude of 500 km with an inclination of 89 degrees. Each satellite will measure approximately 3 x 2 x 1 meters and weigh around 600 kg. This launch will also carry ride-sharing small satellites via Exolaunch.

Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The Block 5 variant is the fifth major interval aimed at improving upon the ability for rapid reusability.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. SpaceX operates from many pads, on the East Coast of the US they operate from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and historic LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. They also operate from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, usually for polar launches. Another launch site is being developed at Boca Chica, Texas.

Payload and object details are usually published 1–2 days after launch.