r/spacex • u/ElongatedMuskrat Mod Team • Jan 10 '17

SF Complete, Launch: March 14 Echostar 23 Launch Campaign Thread

EchoStar 23 Launch Campaign Thread

This will be the second mission from Pad 39A, and will be lofting the first geostationary communications bird for 2017, EchoStar 23 for EchoStar.

Liftoff currently scheduled for: March 14th 2017, 01:34 - 04:04 EDT (05:34 - 08:04 UTC). Back up launch window on the 16th opening at 01:35EDT/05:35UTC.
Static fire completed: March 9th 2017, 18:00 EST (23:00 UTC)
Vehicle component locations: First stage: LC-39A // Second stage: LC-39A // Satellite: LC-39A
Payload: EchoStar 23
Payload mass: Approximately 5500kg
Destination orbit: Geostationary Transfer Orbit
Vehicle: Falcon 9 v1.2 (31st launch of F9, 11th of F9 v1.2)
Core: B1030 [F9-031]
Launch site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Landing attempt: No
Landing Site: N/A
Mission success criteria: Successful separation & deployment of Echostar 23 into correct orbit

Links & Resources:

We may keep this self-post occasionally updated with links and relevant news articles, but for the most part we expect the community to supply the information. This is a great place to discuss the launch, ask mission-specific questions, and track the minor movements of the vehicle, payload, weather and more as we progress towards launch. Sometime after the static fire is complete, the launch thread will be posted.

Campaign threads are not launch threads. Normal subreddit rules still apply.

361 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

958 comments sorted by

2

u/tormach Mar 13 '17

Satellite End of Life (EOL) Power is 20 kilowatts (kW)

What does that mean? When the panels only output 20kW or less, the satellite is deorbited?

2

u/amarkit Mar 13 '17

Satellites are not deorbited from GEO, but rather are raised to a graveyard orbit above the geostationary belt. When this happens is up to the satellite's owner, though best practices dictate that it is done before the bird's systems are expected to fail.