Falcon9: SES-10 commsat

[DocM]

He'll likely talk about reusability and the new stage processing facilities at Port Canaveral. Once a stage ships to KSC it won't go back to McGregor, all work will be in the new facilities. They want to work down to a 2 week refurb.

 

McGregor->KSC->pad->launch->land->PortC->pad->launch->land....Etc.

[Blue-Vision]

Saving time and money ... dig it.

[DocM]

ASDS OCISLY has left port.

 

 

 

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

1 hour ago, DocM said:

ASDS OCISLY has left port.

 

 

 

 

Ah..Yes....The AtlantiX Landing Group.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DocM]

 

 

[Blue-Vision]

Soon as F9-23-2 lands successfully on OCISLY (once again!), SpaceX are gonna see a new & massive influx of Investors ... and another coffin nail in the OldSpace way of doing things.  

[DocM]

SES-10 static fire Livestream

 

http://original.livestream.com/spaceflightnow

 

Pushed to the 30th due to static fire slip

 

 

[DocM]

Big plume, long burn, doing data review.

 

[DocM]

 

[Blue-Vision]

How many refires does this make for F9-23-2 (this booster)? Three dozen?

[DocM]

Not that many as an assembly.  The landed stage with massive test-until-it-breaks burns is JCSAT-14.

 

This one: 1 proof test for each engine, a 3 minute stage fire at McGregor, a static fire, CRS-8 launch, reentry, landing, another long burn at McGregor, and this static fire.

[Blue-Vision]

Oh right, right. I remember now. They've been testing that one almost "at will". Thanks @DocM for setting me straight like usual.  

[DocM]

Yeah, we should take bets on how long JCSAT-14 lasts

 

That said, they'll probably stop at 10 since that was the planned design life for Block 3. 

 

If nothing else, that JCSAT-14 bird surviving a blistering hot reentry and all those long test fires shows just how tough a bird Falcon 9 is.

[DocM]

SES press briefing today. NSF's ChrisGebhardt reports,

 

Launch window was shortened to 1800 - 2030 EDT because FAA didn't want to close the airspace for 4 hours.

 

Tight timeline to make March 30; once F9 is vertical they need 13 hours for spacecraft checkouts. If they don't finish the launch slips to March 31. 

 

[DocM]

 Thursdays launch window opening is now 1827 Eastern.

[flyingskippy]

19 hours ago, DocM said:

Launch window was shortened to 1800 - 2030 EDT because FAA didn't want to close the airspace for 4 hours.

 

Does anyone know if this going to be the case for all missions now? It's not really cooperative for commercial space flight. Something the FAA has been tasked with fostering from the beginning. 

[DocM]

Maybe because it's prime time?

 

 

This bird needs a 13+ hour checkout after going vertical 

[flyingskippy]

Guess if she isn't vertical by 0630 tomorrow, we will know. 

[DocM]

Brady is a photographer who is there for the launch.

Edited March 29, 2017 by DocM

[DocM]

Last news was 1948E and they were into rollout ops.

 

Press kit
http://www.spacex.com/sites/spacex/files/finalses10presskit.pdf

 

Hosted

 

 

Technical

 

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

 

 

Live coverage: SpaceX aims for Thursday launch of previously-flown rocket

 

Quote

03/29/2017 23:55 
The Falcon 9 rocket has rolled out to launch pad 39A with the SES 10 satellite on-board, completing the trip to the pad surface just before midnight local time.

The next step will be to hoist the 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket vertical.

https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/03/24/ses-10-flight-preps/

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

SpaceX web site...

 

SES-10 MISSION

 

Quote

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will deliver SES-10, a commercial communications satellite for SES, to a Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO). SES is a world-leading satellite operator, providing reliable and secure satellite communications solutions across the globe.

 

SpaceX is targeting launch of SES-10 from historic Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The two and a half hour launch window opens on Thursday, March 30, at 6:27 p.m. EDT, or 10:27 p.m. UTC. The satellite will deploy approximately 32 minutes after launch. A backup launch window opens on Saturday, April 1, at 6:27 p.m. EDT, or 10:27 p.m. UTC.

(bolding mine)

 

http://www.spacex.com/webcast

 

Back-up date on April Fool's day......mmmmmm...not going for it....

[DocM]

Just before the SES-10 rollout a peek inside LC-39A's hangar: three rockets at once, prepping for a run 'n gun series of launches.

 

SES-10 in the center, flanked by the NROL-76 and INMARSAT-5 F4 cores.

 

Edited March 30, 2017 by DocM

[DocM]

 

[DocM]

Just a note,

 

This one will be a hot landing because of the payload mass & trajectory needs, so expect something like a 1-3-1 (engine) landing burn to conserve props. Definitely 50/50 for these hot shots.

IF it does land intact SES wants some part of it for their board room lobby, perhaps a grid fin or two, and there's another street corner on the other side of Hawthorne's main entrance. Displaying the first landed + the first re-flight sounds like a logical display set.