Showing posts with label GTO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GTO. Show all posts

Monday, October 2, 2017

Fall 2017 - a busy and exciting time for SpaceX


Sprinkled into the SpaceX launch manifest for this fall, and the first quarter of 2018, are two big milestones: the Falcon Heavy and Crew Dragon demos.

Also this month, SpaceX will once again have two back to back missing with the
SES 11/EchoStar 105 mission launching from Kennedy Space Center on the 7th, and the Iridium Next 21-30 mission launching from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the 9th.

Falcon 9 -SES 11/EchoStar 105
October 7, 2017 at 6:53 PM. EDT (2 hour window)
LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida

Falcon 9 - Iridium Next 21-30
October 9th, 2017 at 8:37 AM EDT (5:37 AM PDT)
SLC-4E, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California

SpaceX has 58 missions listed on its launch manifest. Of these 58, the following - which include 3 Falcon Heavy flights and the Crew Dragon Demo - have been announced:
Falcon 9 - Koreasat 5A
October 30, 2017 at 3:34 PM. EDT (window extends to 5:58 PM)
Cape Canaveral, Florida

Falcon 9 - Hispasat 30W-6
4th Quarter 2017
Cape Canaveral, Florida

Falcon Heavy Demo Flight
November 2017
LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida

Falcon 9 - Iridium Next 31-40
Late November 2017
SLC-4E, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California

Falcon 9 - SpaceX CRS 13
November 28 (launch time TBD)
Cape Canaveral, Florida

Falcon 9 - Bangabandhu 1
December 2017
Cape Canaveral, Florida

Falcon 9 - SES 16/GovSat 1
Late December 2017
Cape Canaveral, Florida

Falcon 9 - Iridium Next 41-50
January 2018
SLC-4E, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California

Falcon 9 - SpaceX CRS 14
February 9 (launch time TBD)
Cape Canaveral, Florida

Falcon Heavy - Arabsat 6A
Early 2018
LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida

Falcon 9 - TESS
Sometime after March 20, 2018
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida

Falcon 9 - Crew Dragon Demo 1
April, 2018
LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida

Falcon Heavy - STP-2
Sometime after April 30, 2018
LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida





Wednesday, March 15, 2017

SpaceX - EchoStar XXIII rescheduled to early tomorrow (March 16th) [Update - initial launch scrubbed due to high winds]

If you're on the East coast, you'll have to stay up a little while, but on the West coast the launch will be at 10:35 pm.

SpaceX - EchoStar XXIII (23) Mission PatchSpaceX is targeting the March 16th for the launch of the EchoStar XXIII mission which will place a EchoStar Corp. commercial communications satellite into Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO).

The launch will be the second from the historic Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  The launch window opens at 1:35 am ET (10:35 pm PT, 5:35 am UTC).

Due to the mission parameters - primarily the payload weight and the GTO insertion - SpaceX will not attempt a recovery of the Falcon 9 rocket.

Live coverage is available on the SpaceX webcast page or on the SpaceX YouTube channel.  Coverage starts 20 minutes before the launch.
Press Kit available on the SpaceX site here.

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

SpaceX launch scheduled for 10:29 AM ET today

SpaceX has scheduled the launch of the EUTELSAT/ABS mission today (June 15) at 10:29 AM ET from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. There is a 45 minute launch window.

This mission aims to place two commercial communications satellites into Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) using its latest Falcon 9 rocket configuration, which now has had several successful launches, as well as successful landings of its first stage. As with past GTO missions, the first stage will attempt to land on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship. The first stage landing is always a secondary mission with a lower probability of success. This is especially true of GTO missions the have a much higher first stage velocity.

The mission press kit is here, and the webcast can be viewed on the SpaceX webcast page or on YouTube.  Also, the "Technical Webcast" can be viewed on YouTube here (no link to the technical webcast was given on the SpaceX site - it had to be searched for).

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

UPDATE: SpaceX SES-9 mission scheduled now set for Friday March 4th at 6:35 PM EST

UPDATE: The SES-9 launch has been scrubbed several times due to a variety of different issues - ranging from a fuel loading issue, to weather conditions, to marine traffic in the 1st stage landing zone.   The launch is currently scheduled for the same launch window (starting at 6:35 PM EST) on Friday, March 4th.

SpaceX is taking another step towards returning to a normal launch schedule with the launch today of the SES-9 mission. The mission goal is to deploy an SES communications satellite into GTO (Geostationary Transfer Orbit).

There is a generous 90 minute launch window, with a backup window starting at 6:46 pm EST tomorrow (February 25).

Mission details are available in the SpaceX Press Kit, and will be webcast as usual here.

As this is a GTO mission, the first stage recovery attempt be to the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship. The nature of the mission does not allow for a return to the Cape Canaveral landing site, and a successful landing at sea has not yet been achieved, and is also not expected to succeed with this mission profile. However, every attempt provides more experience and data to allow SpaceX to eventually make drone ship landings a possibility for those missions where it is required.