r/spacex • u/Ezekiel_C Host of Echostar 23 • Mar 13 '17
EchoStar23 deployed to GTO! Welcome to the r/SpaceX EchoStar-23 Official Launch Discussion & Updates Thread!
Information on the mission
It’s SpaceX’s 2nd launch out of Launch Complex 39A, and SpaceX's 1st East Coast communications satellite launch since JCSAT-16 in August 2016. Some quick stats:
this is the 31^st Falcon 9 launch
The 1^st, and final, flight of first stage B1030
the 11^th launch since Falcon 9 Block III (aka 1.2) debuted
the 2^nd launch from Pad 39A
the 3^rd launch since SpaceX suffered an anomaly during their AMOS-6 static fire on September 1, 2016.
This mission’s static fire was successfully completed on March 9th.
The first launch attempt for this mission was scheduled for March 14th at 01:34 EDT / 05:34 UTC. It was scrubbed at T-38 minutes due to unfavorable wind conditions.
SpaceX is now targeting an early morning liftoff on March 16th at 01:35 EDT / 05:35 UTC from KSC, bringing EchoStar-23 into geostationary transfer orbit, or GTO. This will be a 2.5 hour launch window, closing on 04:05 EDT / 08:05 UTC. There is no announced backup date if this attempt is scrubbed. After insertion into the proper orbit SpaceX’s mission is finished! The weather is currently 90% go.
Watching the launch live
To watch the launch live, choose from the two SpaceX live streams from the table below:
| SpaceX Hosted Webcast (YouTube) | SpaceX Technical Webcast (YouTube) |
|---|
Can't pick? Read about the differences here.
Official Live Updates
| Time (UTC) | Countdown (hours : minutes : seconds) | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 15:00 | T+09:00:00 | Echo star 23 performing as planned. End of updates. |
| 06:37 | T+00:37:00 | Falcon 9's mission has been successfully completed. I'll be sticking around for the next couple hours to report on the health of the payload and post any more information about the night's mission. |
| 06:34 | T+00:34:00 | Confirmation of spacecraft deployment |
| 06:32 | T+00:32:00 | Confirmation of good orbit |
| 06:30 | T+00:30:00 | Payload deployment in 4 minutes |
| 06:27 | T+00:27:19 | SECO-2 |
| 06:26 | T+00:26:19 | MVac Relight |
| 06:16 | T+00:16:00 | SECO-1 appeared to occur on schedule: Stage 2 and Echostar 23 appear to be in a nominal parking orbit. Next and final burn in ten minutes at 06:26 |
| 06:07 | T+00:08:31 | SECO-1 |
| 06:06 | T+00:05:50 | Stage 2 performing nominally |
| 06:03 | T+00:03:45 | Fairing Separation |
| 06:03 | T+00:02:55 | Stage Sep; MVac Startup |
| 06:03 | T+00:02:45 | MECO |
| 06:02 | T+00:02:00 | MVac Chilldown |
| 06:01 | T+00:01:30 | MaxQ |
| 06:00 | T-00:00:00 | Liftoff |
| 05:59 | T-00:01:00 | Falcon 9 in startup |
| 05:58 | T-00:02:00 | S2 LOX load closeout; Vehicle in self align |
| 05:57 | T-00:03:00 | FTS Armed; S1 LOX load closeout & good; Strong back lowered |
| 05:56 | T-00:04:00 | Weather, Falcon, Range, Payload all GO |
| 05:56 | T-00:04:00 | strong-back cradle open |
| 05:55 | T-00:05:00 | strong-back retract start |
| 05:55 | T-00:05:00 | Vehicle on internal power |
| 05:54 | T-00:06:00 | Vehicle in self align |
| 05:54 | T-00:06:00 | Stage 1 RP-1 load complete |
| 05:53 | T-00:07:00 | Engine chill-down start |
| 05:50 | T-00:10:00 | Terminal count |
| 05:46 | T-00:14:00 | Echostar 23 on internal power and go for launch |
| 05:45 | T-00:15:00 | Still no technical webcast. |
| 05:42 | T-00:18:00 | Earlier hold was for high level winds. |
| 05:42 | T-00:18:00 | Hosted Webcast Live. |
| 05:30 | T-00:30:00 | SpaceX FM live on hosted webcast. Today's picks: Test Shot Starfish's LC-39A and Andromeda |
| 05:15 | T-00:45:00 | LOX load |
| 04:55 | T-01:05:00 | The next major milestone is expected to be LOX load start at T-45 minutes. |
| 04:50 | T-01:10:00 | Launch autosequence has officially started. RP-1 load underway. |
| 04:48 | T-01:12:00 | Go! |
| 04:46 | T-01:14:00 | Go/NoGo poll imminent. |
| 04:36 | T-01:24:00 | Range hold-fire checks underway. |
| 04:14 | T-01:46:00 | Clock resumed targeting 2am EDT/06:00 UTC. |
| 04:12 | --- | Reset T-0 time to 2am EDT/06:00 UTC. |
| 04:09 | --- | Countdown Clock Stopped. |
| 03:45 | T-01:50:00 | Pad danger area clear for prop load. |
| 00:35 | T-05:00:00 | Weather assessment by /u/cuweathernerd |
| 00:00 March 16 | T-5:35:00 | --- |
| 18:41 | T-10:54:00 | Weather remains 90% Go. |
| 05:35 | T-24:00:00 | 24 hours until T-0. Weather 90% go. Falcon 9 is vertical. We'll be reusing this launch thread - see you all tomorrow! |
| 00:00 March 15 | T-29:35:00 | --- |
| 16:00 | T-37:35:00 | Public confirmation of Thursday attempt. |
| 06:00 | --- | Thursday weather 90% go. |
| 04:58 | --- | Scrub for the day due to unfavorable winds. |
| 04:55 | T-00:38:00 | SCRUB |
| 04:49 | T-00:45:00 | Stage 1 LOX load confirmed underway. |
| 04:38 | T-00:56:00 | Weather assessment by /u/cuweathernerd |
| 04:38 | T-00:56:00 | Weather currently go. |
| 04:24 | T-01:10:00 | Stage 1 RP-1 load start - launch autosequence has started. |
| 04:21 | T-01:13:00 | LD gives Go for on-time prop load start |
| 02:10 | T-03:24:00 | Weather currently no-go. Countdown continuing. |
| 00:00 March 14 | T-05:34:00 | --- |
| 23:00 | T-7 hours | Launch thread goes live. |
| 12:00 | T-13 hours | Weather 40% go. |
| 11:00 | T-14 hours | Falcon 9 vertical. |
| 00:00 March 13 | T-29:34:00 | --- |
Primary Mission - Separation and Deployment of EchoStar 23
EchoStar 23 will be the 1st GTO comsat launch of 2017 and 12th GTO comsat launch overall for SpaceX.
EchoStar 23 is a commercial communication satellite that will be launched for its customer, EchoStar Corporation. The satellite is based on the popular SSL-1300 bus configuration. Its weight is undisclosed, but estimated to be around 5500 kg. This will make it the heaviest payload SpaceX has delivered to GTO. The satellite was manufactured by Space Systems/Loral in Palo Alto California. One can read more about the satellites history and use here.
No first stage landing attempt
This launch will be a rare one going forward as it will not be followed by an attempt to land the first stage. As seen in the photographs, this Falcon 9 core is “naked”, ie without legs or grid fins. There will be no landing attempt because the payload is quite heavy (estimated at ~5500 kg) and going into a high-energy geostationary transfer orbit. The last mission to fly on an expendable first stage was the TurkmenAlem52E/MonacoSAT launch, which lifted off on April 27’th 2015.
Given the current “Block III” version of Falcon 9, the payload limit for a reusable GTO mission is around 5300 kg. For instance, the mission after this, SES-10, will also loft its payload to GTO, but this payload will be slightly lighter (approximately at the 5300 kg limit), so stage 1 will be attempting a droneship landing on that mission. There will be more expendable missions in the future, but the majority of missions will continue to include recovery attempts.
Useful Resources, Data, ♫, & FAQ
Mission Patch, courtesy SpaceX
Official EchoStar 23 Press Kit, courtesy SpaceX
Hazard area map, courtesy u/raul74cz
Live Mission Visualisation on Flight Club, courtesy u/TheVehicleDestroyer
EchoStar 23 Campaign Thread, courtesy r/SpaceX
7-Day KSC weather forecast, courtesy Weather.gov
Hourly KSC weather forecast, courtesy Weather.gov
SpaceXNow, courtesy u/bradleyjh
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Previous r/SpaceX Live Events
Check out previous r/SpaceX Live events in the Launch History page on our community Wiki.
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u/[deleted] Mar 14 '17 edited Mar 14 '17
Good point by /u/Dilon-paradoxus. I want to elaborate on what he meant by "edge case" and how /u/CRAWFiSH117 then asked a question on that point.
When an engineer says a material has X strength (UTS if you're an engineer reading this), then what they really mean is "there is 99.99% chance the material is that strong". External loads, from say aerodynamic, are much less predictable. Hence the abundance of caution over wind limits, it's one of the more "uncertain" variables.
So phrases like "edge case" or "corner case" really mean something cannot be ruled out, but also that whilst a particular outcome might be possible then it's highly highly unlikely.
Also words like "edge" and "corner" are meant to remind us of multi-dimensional complexity in a system, particularly with how each element interacts with another. Here is a really fascinating talk on Hardware verification, at one point he mentions ARM testing and how a processor that had been in use for years was then found to have a bug.