Falcon 9: Eutelsat & ABS dual-manifested commsats (mission thread)

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Grand Master

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Falcon 9: Eutelsat 117 West B & ABS 2A dual Boeing 702SP commsats

 

Date: mid-May, 2016 

 

Time: TBD

 

Window: TBD

 

Orbit: the previous F9 dual 702SP insertion was  Super-Synchronous 63,000x410 km at an inclination of 24.8°. This was so accurate the satellites arrived in their final orbits 1 month early.

 

Mass: the previous dual launch was 4,159 kg 

 

Hosted payloads: WAAS GPS augmentation module on Eutelsat

 

S1 recovery: ASDS Of Course I Still Love You

 

Boeing 702SP's use all electric propulsion, Hall effect ion thrusters, so they come in much lighter than liquid fueled commsats. 

 

Stacked Boeing 702SP's

boeing-702sp-1.jpg

 

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Grand Master

DocM

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At less than 4,300 kg, not much. 

 

Peter B. de Selding ‏@pbdes 
Eutelsat says SpaceX launch of its 117W B sat (w/ ABS-2A) in mid-June. This is 2d pair of Boeing all-elect sats riding together on Falcon 9.

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June 16 Falcon 9 • Eutelsat 117 West B & ABS 2A


Launch time: Approx. 1430 GMT (10:30 a.m. EDT)
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Eutelsat 117 West B and ABS 2A communications satellites. Eutelsat 117 West B will provide Latin America with video, data, government, and mobile services for Paris-based Eutelsat. ABS 2A will distribute direct-to-home television, mobile and maritime communications services across Russia, India, the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean region for Asia Broadcast Satellite of Bermuda and Hong Kong. Built by Boeing, the satellites will launch in a conjoined configuration and will use all-electric propulsion for orbit-raising. Delayed from 4th quarter 2015, March, April, May 3 and late May. [May 19]

https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/

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Grand Master

Draggendrop Veteran

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Anyone who has shrink wrapped a large boat, would know what a horror story to do that monster with the trailer. That is huge.

:D

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Unobscured Vision

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It'll be soooooo much easier to haul those F9's across the Gulf when Brownsville is up and running. Just cart 'em in across Highway 4 to Port Boca (when it's built :D), transfer to a barge n' two tugs for stability (and one more Escort for Security, probably Coast Guard), a week later it's passing Key West rounding the South Continental Marker. :yes: Easy peasy. Might cost a little more but it's faster.

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Unobscured Vision

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On 5/28/2016 at 1:46 AM, DocM said:

The cadence is really accelerating, and with LC-39A opening and  Vandenberg  later this summer F9 will be hoppin.

Yessir. :yes: Last I'd been reading there was some pad work being done at Vandy to support the FT-Series upgrades, and to future-proof those pads for FH. Any word on how that's been going?

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DocM

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Should be ready for after the Vandenberg range work finishes in August. They have 7 Iridium Next launches (10 birds each) and the Formosat/SHERPA launch (87 birds at once), all to SSO (sun synchronous orbits), so things will be busy.

 

One of these will carry the first 2 SpaceX/Google data contellation test satellites. There will be 4 more test birds, each set incrementing capabilities, then things get real. The plan appears to be no less than a space based internet backbone, including satellite-to-satellite routing.

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Unobscured Vision

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Yep, another high-speed return for the S1. The more often SpaceX does them the better the hardware will get at dealing with 'em. Pretty sure SpaceX has already made some changes to the 1.3 platform upgrades from the data collected so far. :yes: 

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Jim K Global Moderator

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Am I paying attention more now ... or does there seem to be a lot more launches so far this year (not just SpaceX but also our Russian friends).  Seems like a rocket is going up just about every week. :) Not that I'm complaining.  

 

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Unobscured Vision

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7 minutes ago, jjkusaf said:

Am I paying attention more now ... or does there seem to be a lot more launches so far this year (not just SpaceX but also our Russian friends).  Seems like a rocket is going up just about every week. :) Not that I'm complaining.  

 

Me either. Busier now then ever before. Nobody's sitting idle ... always prepping a launch nowadays. :D Love it.

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+John. Subscriber¹

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11 minutes ago, jjkusaf said:

Am I paying attention more now ... or does there seem to be a lot more launches so far this year (not just SpaceX but also our Russian friends).  Seems like a rocket is going up just about every week. :) Not that I'm complaining.  

 

Well in 2015 SpaceX launched 7 Missions. In 2016, they've launched 5 so far, and it's only June!

 

EDIT: In fairness 2015 would most likely have seen more launches, however the CRS-7 event pushed their progress back by ~6 months.

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DocM

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And that's mostly from one pad, LC-40, with 1 from Vandenberg before the range closed for reconfiguration. By the end of the year they'll have 3 pads firing and Boca Chica's construction starting. LC-39A's crew arm and white room goes up this summer too.

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As for non US launches, yes the cadence has really increased. Arianespace, ISRO and China are on a record pace and Russia is as busy as expected.

 

There is a lot of science being lifted as well, never a bad thing.

 

:D  

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DocM

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Static fire: today (Friday), late afternoon/early evening

 

Launch: still on for June 14

 

ASDS: OCISLY, Elsbeth III and the GO twins have left port

 

NOTAM


WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.
ROCKETS.
1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS 141428Z TO 141546Z JUN,
ALTERNATE 151424Z TO 151542Z JUN 
IN AREAS BOUND BY:
A. 28-34N 080-36W, 28-38N 080-35W, 
28-33N 079-32W, 28-30N 079-32W, 
28-30N 080-33W, 28-32N 080-35W.
B. 28-21N 075-43W, 28-21N 074-34W, 
27-59N 071-14W, 27-50N 071-14W, 
28-06N 074-37W, 28-16N 075-43W.
2. CANCEL THIS MSG 151642Z JUN 16.//

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DocM

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Static fire moved to Sunday.

 

Delayed by the Delta IV Heavy scrub. NROL didn't feel comfortable with their $billion bird being on the pad while another rocket was firing several miles away. 

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