SpaceX finally fires up Falcon 9 ahead of Starlink Mission
SpaceX finally fires up Falcon 9 ahead of Starlink Mission
After a three-month halt in orbital launches for SpaceX, the company has begun making a return to launch action, this time for a second dedicated Starlink Internet satellite mission. The Falcon 9 booster that will be used for this mission – estimated to be flight-proven core B1048.4 – was quickly static fired on the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral in Florida earlier today.
The next batch of Starlink satellites is slated to launch no earlier than Monday, November 11 at around 10 a.m. Eastern time (14:00 UTC). This will be SpaceX’s 11th launch of the year, the 9th flight of the Falcon 9 in 2019, and the 76th Falcon 9 mission (but 75th flight) in total.
Before the test occurred, SpaceX pad engineers rolled the launch vehicle – without the fairing and payload – out of the Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF) and to the pad: SLC-40. Once there, the rocket was lifted vertical and fueled up with super-chilled RP-1 (a high-grade form of kerosene) and densified liquid oxygen.
Following a full countdown, the nine Merlin 1D engines on the first stage briefly ignited, then shut off – signaling the end of the test.
After the short firing, SpaceX engineers and flight controllers will review the data from the test and thus determine whether or not to proceed with the pre-launch preparations.
The completion of the “quick look” review is followed shortly thereafter by an announcement on Twitter from SpaceX referring to the results of the test.
The fuel tanks of the rocket are then emptied, and the vehicle is rolled back into the HIF for payload integration.
This particular Falcon 9 rocket includes core 1048.4, which will become the first Falcon 9 booster to fly on 4 separate SpaceX missions. The booster previously supported the launches of Iridium NEXT-7 in July 2018, SAOCOM 1A in October 2018, and Nusantara Satu/Beresheet in February 2019.
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| Falcon 9 First Stage Core 1048 Landing at Landing Zone 4 in Vandenberg during the SAOCOM 11A Mission (Credit: SpaceX) |
For this mission, Core 1048 will be attempting a propulsive landing on one of SpaceX’s autonomous spaceport drone ships (nicknamed “Of Course I Still Love You”), which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean for recovery.
The payload for this mission will consist of a batch of 60 Starlink satellites, which are part of SpaceX’s new high-speed low Earth orbit satellite constellation. This is the first operational batch of Starlinks to be launched, following a successful launch of the first 60 test satellites to orbit on a Falcon 9 on May 23, 2019.
These particular satellites feature some slight design improvements compared to their previous iteration that in part were already planned and incorporated before the first batch of test satellites launched earlier this year. They also include updates to address issues SpaceX encountered with the first batch of Starlinks.
Each Starlink spacecraft features a flat, compact design, and is equipped with multiple high-throughput antennas, a single solar array, and Hall thrusters that are fueled by Krypton – thereby enabling SpaceX to provide low-latency, high-throughput Internet services to even the most remote parts of the globe.
Each individual satellite has a launch mass of 227 kilograms (500.5 pounds), making the total payload mass – not including the payload adapter or deployment mechanisms – add up to 13,620 kilograms (30,027 pounds). This matches the payload mass from the previous dedicated Starlink mission, which was the heaviest payload that SpaceX launched to date.
The Hall thrusters will allow each satellite to maintain/adjust its orbit, conduct debris avoidance maneuvers, and deorbit at the end of its operational lifespan in order to limit the amount of debris left behind.
This current round of Starlinks will mostly burn up in Earth’s atmosphere upon reentry, with only 5% of each satellite surviving. Subsequent generations of Starlinks will be entirely disposable, with 100% of the spacecraft being destroyed.
This batch of satellites will be launched as part of the first phase of SpaceX’s Starlink deployment plan, which will see 1,584 satellites placed in 550 kilometers (342 miles) orbits at 53 degrees inclination.
This means that it will take up to 24 Falcon 9 launches with 60 Starlink satellites to complete Phase 1 of Starlink deployment.
In addition to the Falcon 9 first stage, SpaceX plans to recover both halves of the rocket’s fairing, which protects the payloads from aerodynamic and heating stresses at launch. The company’s fleet of recovery ships – consisting of fairing catchers GO Ms. Tree and GO Ms. Chief – recently acquired the large nets that will assist in retrieving the falling fairings.
Ladies and gentlemen, both fairing recovery ships have nets! GO Ms. Chief and GO Ms. Tree are displaying their gear for all to see at the north dock this morning. There is still time for a few more DP trials before 4th quarter launches ramp up. #SpaceXFleet @SpaceX pic.twitter.com/EspUn390Mt— Julia (@julia_bergeron) October 22, 2019
Following this mission, SpaceX will prepare to launch their nineteenth contracted Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission to the International Space Station using the Cargo Dragon spacecraft. The mission is currently scheduled to launch no earlier than December 4th from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral in Florida.
Other missions on the short-term manifest for SpaceX include the JCSAT-18/Kacific-1 mission and the critical Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort test, which are both slated to fly from SLC-40 and LC-39A, respectively. JCSAT-18/Kacific-1 is slated to fly no earlier than December 15.
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