Falcon 9 successfully launched a pair of Galileo navigation satellites into orbit on April 27, in a launch that was unusual from several angles.

Falcon 9 lifted off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A with Galileo satellites GM25 and FM27 at 20:34. The European Union Space Agency, or EUSPA, the EU body responsible for Galileo operations, confirmed that the satellites were in orbit and became operational hours later.

The launch occurred with a degree of secrecy usually reserved for classified national security launches. SpaceX did not provide launch video following stage separation and paused the webcast after it was confirmed that the payload fairing had separated. The company informed the customer of more information regarding the task.

It is unclear what the reason for the increased secrecy is. Previous launches of Galileo satellites aboard Ariane and Soyuz rockets from French Guiana had greater coverage, as did Falcon 9 launches of America’s Galileo counterpart, the Global Positioning System.

Neither the European Commission nor the European Space Agency announced the launch in advance. European officials carefully avoided mentioning how the satellites were launched in their statements after the successful launch.

“2 new Galileo satellites were successfully launched last night,” EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said on social media on April 28.

The statement came closest to explaining why the satellites were launched from Falcon 9. the decommissioning of the Ariane 5, the loss of access to the Soyuz rocket after Russia invaded Ukraine more than two years ago, and delays in the implementation of the Soyuz rocket. Ariane 6 left Europe without its own means to launch the Galileo satellites. ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher described this situation as a “launch vehicle crisis”.

In November 2023, Breton said the European Commission had finalized an agreement with SpaceX for two Falcon 9 launches, each carrying two Galileo satellites, scheduled for 2024. According to him, the value of this contract was 180 million euros ($193 million).

The launch was the second European Enterprise mission to fly Falcon 9 amid the ongoing launcher crisis, following the launch of ESA’s Euclid Space Telescope in July 2023. Another pair of Galileo satellites will be launched on Falcon 9 later this year, along with separate Falcon 9 launches by ESA’s EarthCARE science mission and the Hera asteroid mission.

This launch was SpaceX’s 20th launch^_-M This launch vehicle’s flight matches the reuse mark set by another launch vehicle that launched a series of Starlink satellites earlier this month. The launch vehicle has previously launched missions ranging from a GPS satellite and Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 lunar lander to 13 sets of Starlink satellites.

The launch was also the last mission of this launch vehicle designed by B1060. SpaceX said the extra performance required to put Galileo satellites into medium-Earth orbit meant the launch vehicle could not be recovered. This breaks a streak of 146 Falcon 9 launches with launch vehicle landings dating back to November 2022, when SpaceX has conducted back-to-back Falcon 9 launches with geostationary satellites using launch vehicles.

“We are working to qualify our Falcon booster and fairing fleet to support 40 missions each,” the company said after the launch, noting that the launch was the 200th to use previously flown payload fairings.