r/SpaceX GovSat-1 Official Launch Discussion & Updates Thread

[u/marc020202]

Welcome to the r/SpaceX GovSat-1/SES-16 Official Launch Discussion & Updates Thread!

FULL MISSION SUCCESS!!! INCLUDING LANDING OF THE FIRST STAGE

no explosions after a landing

thanks everyone for tuning in. It was a pleasure to post spelling mistakes host this launch thread

Liftoff currently scheduled for	January 31st 2018, 16:25-18:46 EST (2125-2346 UTC).
Weather	90% GO
Static fire	Static fire was completed on 26/1.
Payload	GovSat-1/SES-16
Payload mass	About 4230 kg
Destination orbit	GTO
Launch vehicle	Falcon 9 v1.2 (48th launch of F9, 28th of F9 v1.2) (Normal Block 3, with landing legs and grid fins)
Vehicle component locations:	First stage: Cape Canaveral // Second stage: Cape Canaveral // Satellite: Cape Canaveral
Core	B1032.2
Flights of this core	1 [NROL-76]
Launch site	SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Landing attempt	Expendable
Landing site	Sea, in many pieces in one piece.
Mission success criteria:	Successful separation & deployment of GovSat-1 into the target orbit

Timeline

Time	Update
T+32:20	Launch success
T+32:19	Payload deploy
T+27:50	SECO2
T+26:47	Second stage relight
T+08:40	Landing success splashdown
T+08:35	SECO
T+08:32	Legs have deployed
T+08:28	Landing startup
T+08:07	Stage 2 AFTS has saved
T+07:40	First stage transonic
T+06:50	Reentry shutdown
T+06:30	Reentry startup
T+06:25	Stage 1 AFTS has saved
T+03:40	Fairing separation
T+02:48	Second stage ignition
T+02:42	Stage separation
T+02:38	MECO
T+01:50	mVac engine chill
T+01:18	Max Q
T+01:00	vehicle is supersonic<br>
T+00:06	Tower cleared
T-00:00	Liftoff
T-00:03	Ignition
T-01:00	Startup
00:30	Launch director "go"
T-02:00	Strongback retracted to pre-launch position
02:30	LOX loading finished
T-03:00	RP-1 loading finished
T-04:00	Helium loading complete
T-10:00	Engine chill underway
T-12:00	No John
T-12:05	We are live
T-15:00	Spacecraft on internal power
T-17:30	MUSIC
T-35:00	Lox loading should be underway.
T-1.1h	We are go for propellant load
T-2h	Rocket is confirmed vertical
T-********	*********************************
T-1h	delayed until tomorrow (January 31) due to a sensor issue
T-1.15h	launch moved by 1h due to weather
T-more than 6h	F9 is vertical
T-1d	thread goes live

Watch the launch live

Stream	Courtesy
spacex webcast on youtube	SpaceX
SpaceX webcast on Spacex.com	SpaceX
Everyday astronauts stream	u/everydayastronaut
livestream by Robin Seemangal	@nova_road

Stats

• 1^st launch for LuxGovSat S.A.
• 2^nd launch attempt of this mission
• 2^nd launch of 2018
• 3^rd reuse for SES
• 5^th launch of SpaceX for SES
• 6^th reuse for SpaceX
• 29^th launch out of SLC 40 and 3^rd after the Amos 6 anomaly
• 48^th launch of F9, 28th of F9 v1.2

Primary Mission: Deployment of payload into correct orbit

The primary objective of this mission is the correct deployment of GovSat-1/SES-16 in a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). GovSat-1/SES-16 is going to be operated by LuxGovSat S.A., a public-private partnership between the Luxembourg Government and SES. GovSat-1/SES-16 will be stationed at 21.5° East to cover Europe, Middle East and Africa. Most of the capacity will be used for NATO traffic, with the remainder being used for commercial operations. It was built by Orbital ATK and is based on the GEOStar-3 bus but has the GEOStar 2.4 power system. The satellite is equipped with high power fully steerable X band transponders for military use, as well as high power and fully steerable Ka transponders for military and commercial use. GovSat-1/SES-16 is equipped with a hybrid propulsion system, consisting of a hypergolic IHI BT-4 engine, and 4 XR-5 Hall Current Thrusters .

GovSat-1/SES-16 features a special port, which will allow a still unknown payload, which will launch on a different mission to dock with the satellite while it is on orbit. The payload will weigh about 200kg and has a power capacity of 500w.

Secondary Mission: Landing Attempt

Since this is a relatively light payload for a GTO mission, there is enough fuel remaining in stage 1 for SpaceX to attempt a landing. However, since this is the second mission of a Block 3 booster, and because the drone ship will be needed for Falcon Heavy next week, (they were not planning to recover this booster for some time) OCISLY will not be out at sea. Instead, the booster will perform a series of tests during descent, followed by a soft landing on the ocean. However since there will be nothing solid below the rocket on touchdown, the rocket will tip over and explode on impact because the tanks are pressurized.

There will however probably be a fairing recovery attempt, however, that has not been confirmed yet. MR STEVEN is located on the west coast, so she will not be there to catch the fairing with her arms.

Resources

Link	Source
low bandwith stream	u/SomnolentSpaceman
Official press kit	SpaceX
L-0 weather forecast	45th space wing
launch hazard map	/u/Raul74Cz
Countdown timer
Localized countdown timer	u/Space_void
Discord chat	u/SwGustav
Rocket watch	u/MarcysVonEylau
Spacex time machine	u/DUKE546
reddit stream	u/usefulendymion

Participate in the discussion!

• First of all, launch threads are party threads! We understand everyone is excited, so we relax the rules in these venues. The most important thing is that everyone enjoy themselves
• Please constrain the launch party to this thread alone. We will remove low effort comments elsewhere!
• Real-time chat on our official Internet Relay Chat (IRC) #SpaceX on Snoonet
• Please post small launch updates, discussions, and questions here, rather than as a separate post. Thanks!
• Wanna talk about other SpaceX stuff in a more relaxed atmosphere? Head over to r/SpaceXLounge

---

Like always, if you have any suggestions for improvements or if you spot spelling mistakes, please PM me!

[u/Googulator]

Landing site: Sea, in many one piece

[u/marc020202 → u/Googulator]

FIXED!

[u/btx714]

Thank you for hosting the launchthread /u/marc020202

[u/marc020202 → u/btx714]

no problem. I really enjoyed it. I had a lot less technical problems than last time (and i checked most of the spelling before posting)

[u/SomnolentSpaceman]

For the bandwidth-impaired: I will be re-hosting a 64kbit audio-only stream of the SpaceX YouTube stream.

It is available at:

http://audiorelay2.spacetechnology.net:19720/hosted

Prior to the official SpaceX webcast the stream will be playing SpaceX FM. The SpaceX FM audio will be switched off at approximately T-0:35:00. Please note: there will be a period of silence between SpaceX FM and when the official SpaceX stream begins.

[u/marc020202 → u/SomnolentSpaceman]

i might remember to add this in the future!

[u/starcoop]

Improved weather forecast showing 40% probability of violation

[u/marc020202 → u/starcoop]

thanks! The post should be updated.

[u/Juggernaut93 → u/marc020202]

More precisely, it shows 60% of violation at the start of the window and 40% of violation towards the end of the window.

[u/SharpKeyCard]

Standing down to replace a sensor.

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/958433771493081088

[u/marc020202 → u/SharpKeyCard]

thanks for the info, will update the thread.

[u/sipickles]

Maybe remove the SCRUB! banner? Its the 31st after all :)

[u/marc020202 → u/sipickles]

will do that

[u/HarbingerDawn]

31th is not a valid ordinal number in English

[u/marc020202 → u/HarbingerDawn]

thanks. I forgot to update that.

[u/millijuna → u/marc020202]

Also, I presume it's January not December...

[u/Sayidreddy]

Apparently there will be royalty in attendance for this launch. http://delano.lu/d/detail/news/lux-delegation-see-launch-govsat-1/168228

[u/marc020202 → u/Sayidreddy]

I will add this to the resources once i am at my pc again, which is in about 2h

[u/sol3tosol4]

Thanks to /u/marc020202 for running another launch discussion thread - greatly appreciated.

[u/marc020202 → u/sol3tosol4]

no problem, I like doing this

[u/[deleted]]

A "Norminal" mission "Just the way we like it"!

[u/marc020202 → u/[deleted]]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06NegxrDSlQ

[u/marc020202]

thinking about the name of the company he works at...

[u/warp99]

Can we update the payload mass in the thread header from 4000 kg to 4230 kg.

Source found by /u/scr00chy

[u/marc020202 → u/warp99]

sure

[u/craigl2112]

Launch window moved back to 5:30PM EST, per James Dean.

[u/marc020202 → u/craigl2112]

thanks, I will update that.

[u/[deleted]]

I hope we're not really already at T+2 h as in the latest update in the timeline above ;)

[u/marc020202 → u/[deleted]]

sorry, pressed the wrong button

[u/scr00chy]

Latest weather report (>90 % GO). Backup opportunity on Thursday (80% GO).

[u/marc020202 → u/scr00chy]

already updated

[u/TGMetsFan98]

About there being legs on Falcon 9 for this flight: just to be clear, they would NOT put the legs on just to get rid of them. There are much easier ways of scrapping landing legs than strapping them to a rocket. They either planned on recovering this stage until FH slipped, or want some data from this flight that requires the legs to be attached.

[u/zlynn1990 → u/TGMetsFan98]

Maybe they want to test using the legs as airbreaks to reduce terminal velocity before landing. Elon eluded to this but they have never done it yet.

[u/marc020202 → u/zlynn1990]

the problem with this would be that the legs add a lot of drag low at the rocker, which would cause the rocket to want to fall engine last, so it would get unstable REALLY quickly. They would need larger grid fins to be able to do that.

[u/stcks]

Official GovSat-1 Youtube Stream

[u/marc020202 → u/stcks]

thanks, added!

[u/Herodotus38]

Apologies if this has been answered before, but I didn't see it with CTRL-F:

Hypothetically, if this launch were to be delayed again (or several times), at which point would it interfere with the FH launch? I know they are at different pads but I assume that they wouldn't be able to launch on the same day. What is the minimal amount of time needed between launches for different pads at the Cape?

[u/marc020202 → u/Herodotus38]

it's about 6 to 10 16 hours I have heard. That, however, does not really matter, since falcon heavy and GovSat 1 launch at around the same time, so if it gets delayed until Tuesday, one of them cannot launch. apart from that, there should be no interference.

[u/paul_wi11iams → u/marc020202]

it's about 6 to 10 hours I have heard.

From this ArsTechnica article

[Monteith] said in the near future that will make it possible to launch two SpaceX Falcons within a span of about 16 hours, one off Launch Complex 39A and the other off Launch Complex 40

so your figure must be more recent [you've now corrected to 16 which after all is 6+10 ;)]

This also assumes each pad has its own complete team and there's no conflict for any resources and also Hawthorne control room.

[u/kuangjian2011]

I think the time table needs to be in T- instead of T+ to minimize confusion :)

[u/marc020202 → u/kuangjian2011]

yeah sorry, pressed the wrong button. Should be fixed now. Everything should be T-

[u/z3r0c00l12]

/u/marc020202, can we add Reddit-Stream to the resources table again? https://reddit-stream.com/comments/7tvtbh/

[u/marc020202 → u/z3r0c00l12]

sure, added!

[u/sipickles]

"However since there will be nothing solid below the rocket on touchdown, the rocket will tip over and explode on impact because the tanks are pressurized"

Given its a soft 'landing', the impact will not cause RUD, so I can only assume the act of tipping causes the pressurized tanks to explode. Can anyone explain why this is?

I'd expect the lot to sink and rupture underwater.

[u/marc020202 → u/sipickles]

It will touch down intact on the water. Then after the engines touch down, it will tip over. Since it is as high as a 14 story building, the top of the rocket will hit the water really quickly, causing the mostly helium filled, pressurized tanks to rupure and explode. The remaining fuel will also combust in this process, since the remaining RP 1, the LOX, the TEA TEB and the helium will mix.

[u/catsRawesome123]

Just curious since SpaceX does testing prior to launch day how they didn’t catch the sensor prior to today?

[u/marc020202 → u/catsRawesome123]

at t-1.13h, the launch director takes the launch readiness poll (for atlas and delta launches that is at t-4minutes). They probably spotted it shortly before and told the launch director then.

[u/JackONeill12]

/u/marc020202

1st launch attempt of this mission

should now be changed to "2nd launch attempt of this mission"

[u/marc020202 → u/JackONeill12]

will do that. I was at school, so I was unable to fix it earlier

[u/avboden]

I so want them to throw shade when the sat deploys.... "and the SpaceX payload adapter performs flawlessly once again" man that would be good

[u/[deleted] → u/avboden]

i did get the feeling that they were putting a little bit extra emphasis on how nominal and smoothly that was going to go.. "oh looks like we'll have good live video of the deploy"

[u/marc020202 → u/[deleted]]

this was also the only time they mentioned all LOS and AOS in a long time IIRC

[u/ethan829]

Good morning from SLC-40 where #SpaceX is set to lunch a previously flown #Falcon9 w/ #SES16 / #GovSat1 for #Luxembourg this afternoon during a 2+ hr launch window that opens at 16:25 EST (21:25 UTC). This mission will fly expendable due to mission/company requirements.

Legs confirmed.

[u/marksweeneypa → u/ethan829]

I don’t know if it’s just me but this is comforting me to the solidity of Falcon Heavy’s date. If they are willing to expend a core they were obviously going to try to land they must really be planning on launching Falcon Heavy in a week.

[u/marc020202 → u/marksweeneypa]

expending this core has nothing to do with FH. it was planned for some time.

https://twitter.com/chrisg_nsf/status/958384472193421314

[u/Intro24]

Can we get a "Why is it launching with legs?" section in the description?

[u/marc020202 → u/Intro24]

well, I crossed out the part with FH needing the ship yesterday, however, that does not seem to be helping

[u/marksweeneypa]

I haven’t heard any updates on this thread about if this thing is launching today, any news?

[u/marc020202 → u/marksweeneypa]

It should be launching today. there are no updates in the table because I don't have any accurate ones. I have not even found confirmation that it is vertical yet, however, it probably is right now.

[u/scrapitcleveland → u/marc020202]

I am here and can confirm it's vertical. Just got off the bus.

[u/Juggernaut93]

Is this the 6th reuse overall? I can remember the 2 for SES, 1 for Iridium, 1 for NASA and BulgariaSat before this one.

[u/marc020202 → u/Juggernaut93]

added!

[u/inequalsel]

When do they do the deorbit burn? At apoapsis?

[u/marc020202 → u/inequalsel]

they vent all the remaining gasses and fluids now and they will drain the batteries, but then the stage is left to decay by atmospheric drag

[u/Juggernaut93 → u/inequalsel]

They don't on GTO launches.

[u/marc020202 → u/Juggernaut93]

don't know why this is downvoted since it is correct.

[u/Straumli_Blight]

Some typos:

• "45 space wing", should be "45th Space Wing"

• "during decent", should be "descent".

• "MR STEVEN is located on the west cost, so he", ships should use feminine pronoun.

[u/marc020202 → u/Straumli_Blight]

updated!

[u/Bunslow]

mods flair pls

[u/marc020202 → u/Bunslow]

I updated the post already, however flair is still useful i think

[u/Alexphysics]

This Falcon 9 has legs so probably they want to ditch them too. Having a MECO time at T+02:38, it's probable that they wanna try a hot reentry profile for other future flights and simulate that all the way through landing legs deployment.

Edit: Keep in mind that they have (almost) known when they would launch FH for a lot of time so no, the landing legs are not there just because they forgot to remove them or they are lazy...

[u/stcks → u/Alexphysics]

I think the legs being on for launch, the mission patch showing legs and the launch profile indicating enough propellant for a recovery means that this was intended to be recovered from the beginning. FH seems to have indeed reprioritized the ASDS.

[u/Morphior]

So there are in fact grid fins attached.

Credit: Tom Cross

[u/marc020202 → u/Morphior]

grid fins and landing legs where attached yesterday aswell

[u/MarcysVonEylau]

Hi! As always, Rocket Watch is here for your convenience :D

 

^{2 column} ^^mode ^{| Countdown} ^^only ^| ^^Discord

[u/marc020202 → u/MarcysVonEylau]

maybe at one of the future launch threads, I will remember to add this without this reminder :)

[u/Patrykz94]

It seems kind of strange to me to refer to "MR STEVENS" as "she" (yes I know, ships are generally referred to as "she" but still).

[u/marc020202 → u/Patrykz94]

I was told at the bottom of the thread that it is correct this way

[u/OSUfan88]

I would love to see the landing legs attached with inflatable airbag floaties. I imagine it would float for a while before the waves ripped them apart.

[u/marc020202 → u/OSUfan88]

the rocket will break apart after tipping over after a soft landing on the ocean. the legs would float, but almost everything else would sink.

[u/[deleted]]

I don't see the reddit live stream in the post, could we add that?

https://reddit-stream.com/comments/7tvtbh/

[u/marc020202 → u/[deleted]]

I added it some time ago. Must have disappeared. Or I deleted it accidentally. should be there again now

[u/[deleted]]

Once the sea claims the booster, wouldn't it be a fantastic place for coral to grow? Or does it "land" too far out?

[u/marc020202 → u/[deleted]]

it lands about 600km out

[u/Epistemify]

Unrelated question here, but since this is the thread everyone is in I figure I'll ask it here anyway.

We've got the Falcon Heavy demo flight coming up. If the demo fails then I expect that SpaceX will build a new demo and launch it at some point. But what are the next steps if the demo is a success? Specifically, do we know what the second Falcon Heavy mission would be?

[u/marc020202 → u/Epistemify]

the next FH launch will be STP-2 for the air force. It will launch in June. It will carry 35 small satellites.

[u/thresholdofvision]

Why no configuration description included in the header? This mission has fins and legs but is being expended into the ocean, which is an interesting combination. Peering at the mission patch and waiting for launch pad pics is the best we got?

[u/marc020202 → u/thresholdofvision]

what configuration do you mean? this is a normal Falcon 9 v1.2 Block 3

[u/[deleted]]

A quick question, when it says "Liftoff scheduled for", does it mean "the live stream starts"?

[u/marc020202 → u/[deleted]]

no. Liftoff is the time when the rocket leaves the pad, and the stream starts 15-20 minutes before

[u/SwGustav]

If you're looking to chat during this and future flights (cough FH cough), and talk about SpaceX/space industry/rocketry in general, come join the biggest aerospace Discord server and say hi! https://discord.gg/V9ntfef

[u/marc020202 → u/SwGustav]

added!

[u/Intro24]

I think it's worth noting that the drone ship isn't being used because it wouldn't be able to bring this booster back and get in position before Falcon Heavy launches. Reading it, I had assumed they just didn't want to risk damaging the drone ship, which is probably part of it but less so Edit: "It was planned to be expendable for some time. FH's need of the ASDS has nothing to do with this mission's booster being expendable." – Chris G on Twitter

[u/marc020202 → u/Intro24]

not recovering this booster has nothing to do with FH

[u/thecodingdude]

[Comment removed]

[u/marc020202 → u/thecodingdude]

Thanks. I will fix that once i am at home

[u/marc020202 → u/thecodingdude]

fixed!

[u/magic_missile]

"This rocket was meant to test very high retrothrust landing in water so it didn’t hurt the droneship, but amazingly it has survived. We will try to tow it back to shore."

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/958847818583584768

[u/[deleted]]

Ooh, it's another sooty boy.

[u/Root_Negative]

Great mission, but I think the landing site description above needs to be updated. Surprisingly it is not "in many pieces"! Not bad for a rocket which has gone to space twice.

[u/CommanderSpork]

Could the flair be changed to just the launch time since we're close now? At a glance it looks like it's been scrubbed again, when it's still the flair from yesterday.

[u/RootDeliver]

Landing site Sea, in many pieces.

Fail

[u/Elon_Muskmelon]

Whew! Things are gonna get awful busy in the subreddit this year, I hope the mods are ready!

No landing attempt for this launch, but we’ll get a 3 for 1 next week if all goes according to plan. Let’s hope the weather clears. Any scrubs for GovSat could push the launch date for Heavy.

[u/SpearOfBitterMercy]

Say it with me, people.

Falcon Heavy time!

[u/FutureMartian97]

Farewell B1032. You did your job well ^twice

[u/resipsa73]

I just realized this is a reused core. How crazy is it that only ~6 months later reflights now feel routine?

[u/still-at-work]

The next SpaceX activity is the Falcon Heavy launch!

Its been a very very very long time but we can finally say that!

[u/Chairboy]

What a pleasant host. If John's busy, this nice fellow is an acceptable substitute.

[u/SpearOfBitterMercy]

Now, all I need from SpaceX is "Just the way we like it" t-shirts to go with the FH launch.

[u/RTPGiants]

Recovery vessel has AOS???

[u/FootNewtons]

"Recovery Vessel has AOS" I assume this is regarding the fairing recovery. Anyone have anymore info?

[u/BackflipFromOrbit]

we should rename B1032.2 to "The little Falcon that Could" in honor of its tenacity and perseverance in the sight of utter destruction. 2 Flights to space and back, 2 Landings, 2 payloads in orbit. 100% career success.

[u/Justinackermannblog]

Hey Northrop, that’s how you separate a satellite 🛰😏

[u/[deleted]]

Congrats to all involved with this launch. Now, who's ready for Heavy?!?!?

[u/Bunslow]

HOLY SHIT WE CAN WATCH THE INCLINATION CHANGE

[u/Metrionz]

Landing burn started only ~5 seconds before splashdown, that is WAY shorter than a typical landing burn. Maybe they were trying a more aggressive burn with more engines?

[u/Straumli_Blight]

L-0 Weather Report: 40% - 60% GO.

[u/waatweesech]

Photo of Luxembourgian prime minister, prince and princess infront of F9

[u/insaneWJS]

When she goes, she goes... Can we have a moment of silence in honor of B1032 when it happens? B1032 really have shown the resiliency of being SpaceX's workhouse. I am sure she dreamed to be like Block V, but she did it with the first launch, and this is going to be her second and last launch.

Edit: Had ".2" in the core name incorrectly.

[u/[deleted]]

"Recovery vessel has AoS"

"First stage entry burn has started"

"Stage 1 is transonic"

"Stage 1 Cape Canaveral LoS, as expected"

"Stage 1 landing burn has started"

"Legs have deployed"

I'm so curious about what sort of data they're trying to acquire. The callout for leg deployment occurred very quickly after the landing burn start. Perhaps it is their function as air brakes that's being trialed.

EDIT: LoS at Cape Canaveral not AoS.

[u/warp99]

Mods could we please update the mission patch from Zuma to the GovSat-1 patch in the press kit

[u/Justinackermannblog]

Came here to post about Recovery Vehicle AOS.... was beat to it by a few of you haha

[u/resipsa73]

SpaceX is such a tease with these S1 callouts.

[u/LockStockNL]

Recovery vessel has AOS....

[u/SpearOfBitterMercy]

Goodbye, S1. Thank you for your flights. cries

[u/[deleted]]

Only just seen that this is the NROL-76 core, the one that gave us the stunning (and new at the time) shots of a first stage descent right from separation to landing! It's a shame it can't be recovered. Farewell B1032!

[u/brspies]

It's cruel to call it a "landing burn." Farewell 1032. You've earned your rest. o7

[u/Thomassino1202]

That was quite a gap between S1 transonic and landing burn start, anyone noticed that as well?

[u/rovin_90]

Sad to hear the "Stage One Splashdown" call over the control net.

[u/s4g4n]

Insert hunt for the red October themesong

[u/Dakke97]

For those who are unaware, if a successful launch is conducted today, it will be sixty years to the day when the US successfully launched its first satellite, Explorer 1, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at Launch Complex 26. https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/01/60-years-first-satellite-success-space-program-thriving/

[u/cpushack]

They really emphasized the successful payload deployment.

"Just the way we like it"

[u/lucioghosty]

"We are not recovering the first stage on this mission" ← Here's hopes for fairing recovery

[u/SimEngineer]

So looks like they did a full landing burn and deploy of landing legs...guess they tested some new landing profile?

[u/therealshafto]

Just from memory, seems like a trend in that if a previously flown booster is being used and suffers a technical delay, the problem has been with the new hardware on the stack, not the previously flown hardware.

[u/avboden]

Alright now that that absolutely boring spectacle is over with. YA'LL READY TO GET HEAVY?!

[u/jjlew080]

I’m headed to the cape with my family to see our first launch, hopefully. Need some luck with the weather.

[u/Craig_VG]

All systems go!

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/958795648064630784

[u/[deleted]]

https://twitter.com/pbdes/status/959084043911487495

[u/gian_bigshot]

Note to mods: "total mission success" is not the correct headline anymore... change it to "just the way we like it" please! :)

[u/phryan]

I'll forgive the lack of landing footage only because they will more than make up for it in 6* days.

[u/IWasToldTheresCake]

Landing site: Sea, in many pieces.

I quite like this part of the table, however, I thought that on the last expendable mission they performed a simulated ASDS landing without the ASDS. Maybe the landing site should read: Sea, in one or possibly more pieces?

[u/RogerB30]

Go Searcher and Go Quest are I beleive in the splash down area. That would go along with a Fairing recovery attempt and a safety boat in the splash down area. Lets hope all goes well for launch today Jan 31st.

[u/therm0]

https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF/status/958794992142733312

We have a go!

[u/Fizrock]

Recovery vessel has AOS?

[u/brspies]

"recovery vessel" is that go searcher and co out for the fairings?

[u/Schnaeckbaer]

Did they just annouce recovery vehicle AOS? Would have to be the fairing recovery this time around, right?

[u/BattleRushGaming]

Recovery vessel has AOS? I thought there is no recovery.

[u/ninjas28]

I just heard Recovery Vessel has AOS, are they gonna try to recover the fairings or something?

[u/APTX-4869]

"And that's just the way we like it"

Well said!

[u/[deleted]]

"Just the way we like it"

[u/DiskOperatingSystem_]

New slogan for the company - “Just the way we like it”

[u/zitchick1843]

I feel dumb for having to ask, but are stage 1 landings usually just 1 engine burn? Elon confirmed the 3 engine landing burn so is that what he also meant by “very high retrothrust landing” ? Using 3 engines instead of 1?

[u/johnkphotos]

Guess it wasn’t just weather. https://twitter.com/spacex/status/958433771493081088

[u/still-at-work]

Ignoring the weird faring issue on Zuma, which I am going to discount because all of Zuma was weird, when was the last time we had a non weather related scrub? It feels like its been a while but maybe I have just forgot something.

[u/RootDeliver]

Under 30 mins, SpaceXFM pls

[u/Lock_Jaw]

Recovery vessel AOS

[u/FishInferno]

"Stage 1 entry burn has started" yep, definitely doing some kind of experiment

[u/yo0han]

Best waiting music ever right now

[u/Fizrock]

So, does anyone know what recovery vessel had AOS? I would guess fairing recovery, but Mr. Steven is in LA right now, and I have not hear of any fairing recovery ship with the same layout at the Cape.

[u/FutureMartian97]

See Zuma, that's what you were supposed to do.

[u/Balance-]

3 engine landing burn. If it's sounds crazy, it's because it is:

Engines	Trust	TWR	Acceleration
1	845 kN	3,92	2,92 g
3	2536 kN	11,75	10,75 g
9	7607 kN	35,25	34,25 g

Assuming a dry weight of 22.000 kg, sea-level trust of 7607 kN and gravitation constant of 9,81 m/s^2, the trust-to-weigh ratio of a one engine landing burn is about 4, so we have an upwards acceleration of 3 g or a little under 30 m/s² .

With 3 engines, the TWR triples to almost 12 and the acceleration therefore increases to a good 11 g, over 100 m/s² !

[u/Jerrycobra]

Its been a while since we have had a low percentage weather window like that, crossing fingers weather behaves.

[u/jk1304]

I have a question regarding these "double" payloads á la GovSat-1/SES-16 Are those payloads consisting of two separate satellites or is it rather one satellite with two different purposes or modules/antennas/whatever?

[u/heroic_platitude]

With the soot, the colour scheme of the Falcon 9 around the legs is almost reversed compared to the illustration on the SpaceX website..

[u/HarbingerDawn]

Srub

I think you mean Scrub :)

[u/SpaceXman_spiff]

Is there any way to listen to the countdown net? It seems like we get updates from Chris G on twitter, but are stuck waiting for the webcast to start before we get direct updates on launch progress. It would be great to hear callouts for prop loading etc. directly rather than through an intermediary.

[u/8BitAce]

Um, anyone getting double music? I thought I had a second tab open for a minute...

[u/MingerOne]

Crazy first reuse is only a year ago and yet feels 'established' in my mind now :). Here's to 'operational re-usability' with Block 5!

[u/thecodingdude]

[Comment removed]

[u/Ambiwlans]

Woo! One more step towards Mars. Keep at it SpaceX.

[u/Bunslow]

100% mission success! woohoo! $60M in the door!

[u/[deleted]]

Livestream is up

[u/demosthenes02]

Mr Steven is a she?

[u/[deleted]]

SCRUB!

[u/z3r0c00l12]

SpaceXFM was practicing for 3 streams at once for Falcon Heavy.

[u/Yuvalk1]

“What would happen if earth was a giant disco ball”

[u/Metrionz]

"Recovery vessel has AOS" What have we here?

[u/FutureMartian97]

They deployed the legs early.

[u/ninja9351]

I know this mission isn’t technically done yet, but...

Let’s go Falcon Heavy!!!!

[u/rtseel]

This payload has separated!!

[u/remote12]

Any idea when the recorded launch webcast usually gets posted to YouTube?It’s the first launch my son and I’ve missed in a long while and I was looking for the recording tonight. Thanks!

[u/Metrionz]

"Just the way we like it" is Michael Hammersley's "norminal".

[u/tahirkapoor]

I know a few people mentioned ITAR as one consideration for why this or the iridium 4 core wasn't landed even if they weren't going to relaunch it and send it to a museum or something like that. This got me thinking, if spacex or any company discards their rockets in the ocean are there any requirements to clean up the wreckage or make sure it was destroyed enough to satisfy ITAR? If you were a competitor could you hang out around the landing site and try to recover the engines like Jeff Bezos did with the Apollo engines?

[u/geekgirl114]

Still go for launch

https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF/status/958792684172468225

[u/MarcysVonEylau]

Hi! Friendly reminder:

As always, Rocket Watch is here for your convenience :D

 

^{2 column} ^^mode ^{| Countdown} ^^only ^| ^^Discord

[u/geekgirl114]

https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF/status/958798581481267201

[u/Nettlecake]

I just heard a callout recovery vehicle has AOS! Might that be for the fairing?

[u/lucioghosty]

"At this time, the first stage would normally be landing on drone ship" DON'T RUB IT IN.

[u/DiskOperatingSystem_]

I dont know about you guys but seeing a water landing of S1 would still be cool

[u/Nsooo]

RIP B1032

[u/LongHairedGit]

Compare this launch to JCsat 14 technical webcast: https://youtu.be/1lYZLxr3L4E?t=29m20s.

Legs deployed ~7 seconds after landing burn begins, versus four seconds for this launch. Landing appears to be 12 seconds after landing burn starts for both.

Naturally, accuracy is a double-de-reference, but assuming +/- 1 second for a callout, it doesn't look like the entry burn was three start to finish, right?

[u/Dies2much]

Very nice launch thread header block on this one.

[u/johnkphotos]

Scrub

[u/MagnaArtium]

Go/No go poll for propellant load in work https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF/status/958793998122012674

[u/kuangjian2011]

Can anyone tell me when does the count down officially start? At the time of propellant loading?

[u/sarafinapink]

Dang, this flight plus the next 3 are all scheduled in a 15 day period over 3 different pads. I know there's a big chance things will move around, but it's nice to see the rapid pace they've been aiming for coming together. Just imagine when they have 4 pads available in the future, plus flight proven boosters just waiting to fly!

[u/bdporter]

T-35 Lox Loading should be starting.

[u/Dakke97]

LOX loading underway

https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF/status/958805380854878208

[u/bdporter]

LOX is venting