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Mexico City’s Álvaro Obregón Puts MXÁO-1 Microsatellite Into Orbit on SpaceX Rideshare

Officials say imagery is now reaching a Santa Fe monitoring hub for local planning, risk management, research.

Overview

  • The Earth‑observation craft launched November 28 on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Transporter‑15 mission from Vandenberg as part of the commercial Smallsat Rideshare program.
  • Local authorities state this makes Álvaro Obregón the first subnational government in Mexico and Latin America to place such a device in space.
  • MXÁO‑1 flies in low Earth orbit at roughly 520–541 kilometers and carries a multispectral camera described at 1.5 meters per pixel with a three‑band infrared capability.
  • Data are being received and processed at the Centro de Monitoreo y Análisis in Santa Fe to support urban planning, environmental monitoring, mobility analysis, university research and startup formation.
  • The mission followed several prior attempts, including a scrub tied to a liquid‑oxygen alert, and officials report the satellite has begun transmitting.