After a record-setting month featuring 10 launches, SpaceX is gearing up for a busy February. One of the launches this month is the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) ocean science satellite, which flew aboard a Falcon 9 in a rare polar corridor launch from Florida.
PACE launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Thursday, Feb. 8, at 1:33 AM EST (06:33 UTC), during an instantaneous launch window. The flight was previously scheduled for Feb. 6 and then Feb. 7 but in both cases was delayed due to unfavorable weather conditions. Falcon 9 took a southbound trajectory to a Sun-synchronous polar orbit, which allows for the satellite to see a given spot on Earth at the same time every day.