SpaceX launches low-cost "rideshare" mission putting 40 payloads in orbit

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket boosted 40 payloads into orbit Friday on the company's fourth "rideshare" mission, a relatively low-cost path to space for a variety of small satellites and sensors that otherwise might have to hitch rides with other providers on a space-available basis.

The largest and most expensive satellite on board the Falcon 9 was the German space agency's $330 million Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program, or EnMAP, remote sensing satellite mounted at the top of the payload dispenser.

Equipped with a telescope and two spectrometers, EnMAP is designed to record sunlight reflected from the surface across 242 different wavelengths, or colors. Analysis of the light will help scientists and policy makers better understand the health of targeted areas, from agriculture and forestry management to water quality.