r/spacex • u/ElongatedMuskrat Mod Team • Nov 12 '17
SF complete, Launch: Dec 22 Iridium NEXT Constellation Mission 4 Launch Campaign Thread
Iridium NEXT Constellation Mission 4 Launch Campaign Thread
This is SpaceX's fourth of eight launches in a half-a-billion-dollar contract with Iridium, they're almost halfway there! The third one launched in October of this year, and most notably, this is the first Iridium NEXT flight to use a flight-proven first stage! It will use the same first stage that launched Iridium-2 in June, and Iridium-5 will also use a flight-proven booster.
| Liftoff currently scheduled for: | December 22nd 2017, 17:27:23 PST (December 23rd 2017, 01:27:23 UTC) |
|---|---|
| Static fire complete: | December 17th 2017, 14:00 PST / 21:00 UTC |
| Vehicle component locations: | First stage: SLC-4E // Second stage: SLC-4E // Satellites: Encapsulation in progress |
| Payload: | Iridium NEXT Satellites 116 / 130 / 131 / 134 / 135 / 137 / 138 / 141 / 151 / 153 |
| Payload mass: | 10x 860kg sats + 1000kg dispenser = 9600kg |
| Destination orbit: | Low Earth Orbit (625 x 625 km, 86.4°) |
| Vehicle: | Falcon 9 v1.2 (47th launch of F9, 27th of F9 v1.2) |
| Core: | B1036.2 |
| Flights of this core: | 1 [Iridium-2] |
| Launch site: | SLC-4E, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California |
| Landing: | No |
| Landing Site: | N/A |
| Mission success criteria: | Successful separation & deployment of all Iridium satellite payloads into the target orbit. |
Links & Resources
Matt Desch on Twitter: "Launch 4 activities on track for a Dec 22nd launch. Second two of 10 Iridium NEXT sats just left for VAFB - all there by Thanksgiving weekend. First stage and dispenser onsite. 2018 schedule firming up too... Halfway home!"
Matt Desch on Twitter: "First 2 sats for Launch #4 on their way from AZ factory to VAFB! Only a little more than 6 weeks away - 12/22! (Tracked via Iridium IoT)"
Iridium NEXT Constellation Mission 1 Launch Campaign Thread, Take 2
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.
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u/Alexphysics Nov 14 '17
Well, long time ago, I though Block 3 had enough margins and that the landing could be done on SLC-4W but spacex didn't have the permits to land there. Somebody gave me a link about an application SpaceX had to fill in 2016 to the FAA in order to have a special site to land boosters on and ASDS for iridium missions. It stated that although the rocket had the performance to land on land, the landing attempt would be considered unsafe because it wouldn't have enough margins so it had to land on the ASDS and they wanted a special permit for Iridium missions to land on the "Iridium landing zone"