SpaceX Updates (Thread 9)

[DocM]

Oh, my....

 

 

 

Edited March 6, 2018 by DocM

[Blue-Vision]

Great launch today.  

 

I'll be in that area this weekend. I'll try to get some images of LC-40, LC-41, 39-A & B, LZ-1 & 2, and the Visitor's Center. I wanna see the VAB, that's my "candyland".  Hopefully they're running the Tours.

[DocM]

Incoming Run & Gun

 

March 29: IridiumNEXT #5 (Vandenberg SLC-4E)
April 2: CRS-14 (LC-40)
April 5: Bangabandhu-1 (LC-39A)
April 16: TESS (LC-40)
April 26: IridiumNEXT #6 (Vandenberg SLC-4E)
April 30: SES-12 (LC-40)

 

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-three-launches-week-six-launches-month/

Quote

... the next three weeks of March are likely to be relatively quiet. However, by all appearances, SpaceX is preparing for a frenetic end-of-month that could include three Falcon 9 launches from three separate SpaceX launch pads, all in a single week, and as many as six launches total between March 29 and April 30.

 

If successful, this series of missions would smash all of SpaceX’s past launch cadence records – six launches in little more than a single month, two reused flights in four days, three launches in one week, and two East coast launches in three days, not to mention the debut of Falcon 9 Block 5.

 

Edited March 8, 2018 by DocM

[Emn1ty]

4 hours ago, DocM said:

Incoming Run & Gun

 

March 29: IridiumNEXT #5 (Vandenberg SLC-4E)
April 2: CRS-14 (LC-40)
April 5: Bangabandhu-1 (LC-39A)
April 16: TESS (LC-40)
April 26: IridiumNEXT #6 (Vandenberg SLC-4E)
April 30: SES-12 (LC-40)

 

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-three-launches-week-six-launches-month/

That's a lot of launches. That's 1/3 of the launches from all of last year in 30 days.

[DocM]

Being spring in the US weather may intrude, but it's still a bitchin' cadence. 

 

April 5: Bangabandhu-1 (LC-39A)

 

Most likely the first F9 Block 5 launch. 

[DocM]

 

 

 

 

[Beittil]

Amazing =D

[DocM]

That video was put together by Jonathan Nolan's Westworld team; brother of Christopher Nolan, screenwriter for the Batman Begins/Dark Knight film series, the creator of HBO's Westworld, Person of Interest, etc.

[anthdci]

On 11/03/2018 at 12:36 AM, DocM said:

 

 

 

 

is that footage of the centre core coming down and missing the barge at 1.10?

[Skiver Veteran]

2 minutes ago, anthdci said:

is that footage of the centre core coming down and missing the barge at 1.10?

It is indeed, it actually doesn't look as spectacular as I was imagining. 

 

I learnt from this (probably common knowledge to all of you) that the core is always aimed at missing the ship and only in the final moments of it's decent (the third and last burn) it will gimbal the engine to manoeuvre to land if everything is on track. Otherwise, it misses, as it did in the clip, to prevent any unnecessary damage. Pretty obvious when you think about it but it's still pretty impressive. 

[DocM]

Yup. The diversion back to the landing spot shows how much control authority they have. 

 

The plan has been for BFR's booster to have even more control authority, landing back on the launch mount (a "cradle") using centering thrusters.

[DocM]

Ummmmm.....

 

 

 

SpaceXs most recent launch carried a secret military-funded experiment

A previously-undisclosed payload funded by a U.S. military research agency rode into orbit with a Spanish communications satellite on SpaceXs most recent Falcon 9 rocket launch March 6, officials said Friday.

The small spacecraft was fastened inside the Hispasat 30W-6 communications satellite, then ejected soon after the Falcon 9s primary payload deployed in orbit following liftoff from Cape Canaveral.

Officials from Space Systems/Loral and NovaWurks, two companies involved in the project, acknowledged the existence of the secret secondary satellite after publicly-available orbital data published by the U.S. military registered an unexpected object attributed to Tuesdays launch named PODSat.
>
However, as this is a DARPA project, we are not at liberty to discuss any specifics or details relative to the mission, except as approved by DARPA, Greer said.

NovaWurks developed what it calls the Hyper-Integrated Satlet, or HISat, architecture with funding from DARPAs Phoenix program, chartered to find lower-cost ways of building satellites and delivering them to space. Each HISat cell is a self-contained spacecraft, and engineers can connect multiple HISats to expand capability based on a missions specific requirements.
>
PODSat is the second mission to test out NovaWurks’ satlet concept in orbit. A third satlet demonstrator, incorporating 14 HISat cells, is scheduled for blastoff later this year on a rideshare mission arranged by Spaceflight Industries for launch on a Falcon 9 rocket.
>

[Blue-Vision]

Sometimes all of this is necessary. Not the first, definitely won't be the last, and everyone has done it on all sides who are capable of launching gear into space. /shrug

 

Interesting concept, though, from a technology standpoint.

[DocM]

The Iridium NEXT #6 Rideshare mission is NET  mid/late April. The Rideshare will carry 5 Iridium NEXT satellites and 2 satellites for the NASA/GFZ* GRACE-FO** mission.

* German Research Center for Geosciences

** Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On

[DocM]

Freudian slip?

 

 

 

[DocM]

More SpaceX money moves; ~$500 million in new private shares at ~$150-170/share, and Elon Musk is buying back $100 million of SpaceX shares. 

 

TechCrunch...

 

They also scored $290 million in USAF GPS-3 launches, and they have $12 billion in other upcoming launches.

[DocM]

Hello,

 

 

[DocM]

Here comes another Block 5.

 

B1047.1?

 

 

[TrevorLahey]

I don't know guys...  That was probably just a tunnel Elon is building. 

[Skiver Veteran]

New Space X 2018 Intro Reel

 

 

[DocM]

I love how clean the Crew Dragon interoor looks. Crew BFS should be a stunner. 

 

Falcon Heavy STP-2 (USAF) now NET June 13. 

Counts as a USAF EELV qualification mission.

A multi-satellite rideshare including LightSail, the six satellite COSMIC-2 weather research constellation, Demonstration and Science Experiments (DSX), NASAs GPIM (non-toxic thruster propellant test), the Orbital Test Bed for Surrey, NASA's Deep Space Atomic Clock, military and educational cubesats and several others totalling 25.

[Blue-Vision]

/me does the Mad Scientist giggle whilst furiously rubbing his hands together ....

 

 

[Blue-Vision]

Took a moment to size all of that up.

 

TWENTY-FIVE birds going up in ONE SHOT. Size it up for a moment yourselves, folks. TWENTY-FIVE.

 

If that doesn't put a tickle in your jibblies then I dunno what will.  

[DocM]

Guess what?

 

The upcoming Falcon 9 Sun Synch Express SSO-A launch for SpaceFlight Inc. will launch 120+ satellites at once. They're still filling the manifest for theit 20+ foot dispenser, which is topped by a SHERPA tug.

 

NET July.

[Blue-Vision]

Awww yeah.