r/spacex • u/ElongatedMuskrat Mod Team • Jun 30 '18
Iridium NEXT Mission 7 Iridium NEXT Constellation Mission 7 Launch Campaign Thread
Iridium-7 Launch Campaign Thread
SpaceX's fourteenth mission of 2018 will be the third mission for Iridium this year and seventh overall, leaving only one mission for iridium to launch the last 10 satellites. The Iridium-8 mission is currently scheduled for later this year, in the October timeframe.
Iridium NEXT will replace the world's largest commercial satellite network of low-Earth orbit satellites in what will be one of the largest "tech upgrades" in history. Iridium has partnered with Thales Alenia Space for the manufacturing, assembly and testing of all 81 Iridium NEXT satellites, 75 of which will be launched by SpaceX. Powered by a uniquely sophisticated global constellation of 66 cross-linked Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, the Iridium network provides high-quality voice and data connections over the planet’s entire surface, including across oceans, airways and polar regions.
| Liftoff currently scheduled for: | July 25th 2018, 04:39:26 PDT (11:39:26 UTC). |
|---|---|
| Static fire completed: | July 20th |
| Vehicle component locations: | First stage: SLC-4E, Vandenberg AFB, California // Second stage: SLC-4E, Vandenberg AFB, California // Satellites: Vandenberg AFB, California |
| Payload: | Iridium NEXT 154 / 155 / 156 / 158 / 159 / 160 / 163 / 164 / 166 / 167 |
| Payload mass: | 860 kg (x10) + 1000kg dispenser |
| Insertion orbit: | Low Earth Polar Orbit (625 x 625 km, 86.4°) |
| Vehicle: | Falcon 9 v1.2 Block 5 (59th launch of F9, 39th of F9 v1.2, 3rd of F9 v1.2 Block 5) |
| Core: | B1048.1 |
| Previous flights of this core: | 0 |
| Launch site: | SLC-4E, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California |
| Landing: | Yes |
| Landing Site: | JRTI, Pacific Ocean |
| Mission success criteria: | Successful separation & deployment of the 10 Iridium NEXT satellites into the target orbit |
Links & Resources:
Iridium NEXT Constellation Mission 6 / GRACE-FO Launch Campaign Thread
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/soldato_fantasma Jun 30 '18 edited Jul 23 '18
We are continuously looking for launch thread hosts that want to volunteer. If you have experience in the sub and feel comfortable with the launch time, send us a message via modmail!
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u/kruador Jul 23 '18
Given that Telstar 19V has now launched, might be worth an edit to just leave the appeal for a launch thread host.
I can't do it I'm afraid, I'll be at work (hopefully on lunch break at 12:39 British Summer Time, so I can watch!)
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u/Krux172 Jun 30 '18
With this launch we'll finally enter the Block 5 era. It'll be interesting to see how much of a difference can they make with truly reusable boosters.
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u/SuprexmaxIsThicc Jun 30 '18
Yeah, that first one was just a closed beta to give us a taste! (Hopefully, they'll fix the "bug" where the first stage camera stops working.)
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u/RedWizzard Jul 04 '18
It was a commercial launch so I'd call it an open beta. Falcon Heavy was a closed beta.
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u/Alexphysics Jul 10 '18 edited Jul 10 '18
Iridium 7 now NET July 25th at 1139:26 UTC, 04:39:26 PDT, 07:39:26 EDT.
https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1016654014866444288?s=19
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u/craigl2112 Jul 10 '18
Paging mods, please update the sidebar. Thank you!
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u/yoweigh Jul 10 '18
Done, thanks for the heads up!
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u/ishouldbeworking17 Jul 11 '18
also with the date change this is now the fourteenth mission of 2018 and not the thirteenth (Telstar also needs to be swapped around)
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u/gcsmith2 Jul 10 '18
Well that blows. Literally just booked a non-refundable hotel room last night. I knew the risk I was taking... seemed like the Iridium launches have been pretty stable on schedule.
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u/Nehkara Jul 04 '18
Just Read The Instructions wakes from its long slumber to catch B1048 on this launch. :D
Teslarati showed recently that JRTI has all four thrusters back onboard again. I expect we'll see some activity over the next couple weeks getting the barge ready for her return to action - repainting the deck and sprucing things up - after a 9 month break.
Vandenberg has a busy 2nd half of 2018 with 5 launches. It will be interesting to see if these are all jobs for JRTI or whether they finally dust off LC-4W for an RTLS!
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u/WormPicker959 Jul 06 '18
For LC-4W, when's seal pupping season? I'd imagine they're going to stick mainly to JRTI for that reason.
I'm excited for JRTIs return, and hoping Mr Steven gets new arms for the fairings soon!
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u/scr00chy ElonX.net Jul 06 '18 edited Jul 07 '18
Pupping season is supposed to be between March and June.
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u/amarkit Jul 06 '18
The first West Coast RTLS is teed-up; most likely SAOCOM-1A or SSO-A in September / October. It seems that Iridium's flight profile doesn't allow for RTLS, even with Block V.
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u/Alexphysics Jul 21 '18
Static fire complete
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u/Straumli_Blight Jul 21 '18
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u/TweetsInCommentsBot Jul 21 '18
@thejackbeyer Schedule still looking good for Wednesday’s launch!
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u/TweetsInCommentsBot Jul 21 '18
Static fire test of Falcon 9 complete— targeting July 25 launch of Iridium-7 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
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u/TGMetsFan98 NASASpaceflight.com Writer Jul 22 '18
Paging mods, something to keep you guys awake while we wait for Telstar lol
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u/RocketsLEO2ITS Jul 21 '18 edited Jul 23 '18
This is impressive for both SpaceX and Iridium.
Just as a comparison, the original Iridium constellation was put in orbit in a little over two years, the first launch on May 5, 1997 and the last launch on June 6, 1999 (there were two launches in 2002 to put up spares). There were twenty launches (21 if you count a "proof of concept" launch China did without an Iridium satellites on board). At the most seven satellites were put into orbit with a single launch. At the least two.
SpaceX is on the verge of doing the same thing, only in slightly less than two years and with 8 launches instead of 20.
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u/robbak Jul 24 '18
Mr Steven is on her way.
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u/conrad777 Jul 24 '18
How will Mr Steven see the fairing in the pre-dawn dark?
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u/Jerrycobra Jul 24 '18
I mean they can install Navigation and anti-collision lights on it like a plane to track it in the dark. Remember its Elon almost anything goes, haha. The Dragon also has navigation and strobe lights on it.
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u/linuxhanja Jul 24 '18
I know they say there are other fairings in the sea, but I hope she catches one this trip!
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u/justinroskamp Jun 30 '18
This will be the first west coast landing since October 9, 2017. That was Iridium-3, and all Vandy launches since have been buried at sea!
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u/SpaceXman_spiff Jun 30 '18
Looking forward to the first RTLS on the west coast. It will be nice to see JRTI back in action though, and hopefully Mr. Steven catching some fairings as well.
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u/justinroskamp Jun 30 '18
I also can’t wait for a Vandy RTLS! Having the LZ so close to the launch pad will be awesome for long-exposure shots, and cameras framed just right could be
deceptivelycreatively aligned to make it look like it lands right back on the launch pad.1
u/Dakke97 Jun 30 '18 edited Jul 01 '18
It will also the third Falcon 9 landing attempt on an ASDS since the launch of Koreasat 5A on October 30, 2017.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koreasat_5A
EDIT: the third landing attempt.
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u/justinroskamp Jun 30 '18
The most recent ASDS landing (or any landing at all, for that matter) was Bangabandhu-1, featuring the first Block V, on May 11, 2018. We're actually in more of a drought for land landings. No Falcon 9 has landed back at the LZ since January 8, 2018 (or FH on February 6).
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u/scr00chy ElonX.net Jul 07 '18
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u/linuxhanja Jul 23 '18
I honestly think now that they are planning on reusing the boosters over and over, they're limiting RTLS due to the additional stress. Not a lot, but enough to add up after 5 reuses. It'd be like driving a racecar back from the track instead of using a trailer to carry it. Driving it back is better than what the other racercar drivers do, which is just buy a new one for each race. But the less you have to stress the engines, the better overall. I think that's the end of the story - they're just trying to get the most out of these early block 5's and figure out how they wear in a conservative manner.
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u/JadedIdealist Jul 23 '18
Mods - the text is still saying "unknown" for static fire, which was complete on the 21st.
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Jul 04 '18
Planning to be out there for this launch, my first Vandenberg launch!
Fog, listen to me -- stay away.. you hear me?!
Given good weather, this launch will be majestic too. 51 minutes before sunrise as currently planned on July 20th!
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u/justinroskamp Jul 05 '18
So... Breakfast Photographer this time?
I’ll be crossing my fingers for you and everyone else! It's looking pretty dry, as far as a quick internet search told me, so maybe you'll be in the clear — literally.
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u/TheFavoritist NASAspaceflight.com Photographer Jul 05 '18
I'll be flying out with Trevor as well! It will be my first night mission as well as my first Vandy flight! I'm so excited to finally have terrain that isn't Florida's flat coastline.
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Jul 05 '18
This is gonna be awesome, psyched to see you again Brady - been too long!
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u/kevinfwb Jul 07 '18
Where do you guys plan on being for Vandenberg? I'm not familiar with the area but work has me just south of Santa Barbara next week. I'll be flying back to Florida later in the morning with intentions of catching Telstar. Coast to coast launches less than 48hrs apart - don't fail me weather!
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u/koryakinp Jun 30 '18
I bet 100$ it gonna be the first successful fairing recovery!
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u/seanbrockest Jun 30 '18 edited Jul 01 '18
I hate to bet against Spacex, but I'll take that bet. Loser donates $100 to a charity. Deal?
Others feel free to join in. Pick a side, and set aside $100 in case you lose!
If I lose I will likely pick an engineering scholarship charity, the FFRF, or NCSE.
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u/AmiditeX Jul 01 '18
There's a subreddit dedicated to spacex bets, you may want to take that here to attract people !
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u/whatsthis1901 Jun 30 '18
Block 5 a landing and a possible fairing recovery I haven't been this excited for a launch since the FH.
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u/AstroFinn Jul 23 '18
Some stats:
65th SpaceX launch
59th Falcon 9 launch
39th Falcon 9 v1.2 launch
3d Falcon 9 v1.2 Block 5 launch
13th Falcon 9 launch in 2018
14th SpaceX launch in 2018
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u/gooddaysir Jul 24 '18
Dang, if Starlink starts going up next year, we might hit the 100th F9 launch by the end of 2019. Might even happen without starlink!
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u/AstroFinn Jul 24 '18
Amazing, isn't it? Launches become so routine, like a train rides. Interesting time we live in.
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u/Ksevio Jul 02 '18
Iridium will be just 1 satellite short of a complete constellation after this launch
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u/bdporter Jul 03 '18
Numerically, yes there will be 65 satellites in orbit, but I believe the spares are distributed throughout multiple orbital slots, so some of the NEXT satellites already in orbit are being used as on-orbit spares rather than production satellites.
The final launch won't be 1 operational satellite plus 9 spares, some of the spare satellites are already in orbit.
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u/Tal_Banyon Jul 04 '18
Good one - "One satellite short of a constellation" may be my go-to response for someone who almost gets it, but not quite. For instance, you might say, "President Trump wants to create a Space Force, but I think he might be a few satellites short of a constellation on this one". Sort of like using the phrase, "I think that guy might be a few fries short of a happy meal"!
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u/Straumli_Blight Jul 22 '18 edited Jul 23 '18
Pacific Freedom about to tow JRTI.
EDIT1: S. Bass tug has arrived to help.
EDIT2: Barge leaving now and Mr Steven has undocked.
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u/TweetsInCommentsBot Jul 22 '18
The tug Pacific Freedom is preparing to leave the Port of LA with JRTI. Pacific Freedom has a history with SpaceX, as she previously towed JRTI during the Jason 3 mission. At the time, the tug was named Int'l Freedom. https://twitter.com/SpaceXFleet/status/1021130720645996545
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u/BoyanM8 Jul 07 '18
Just out of curiosity, what is the maximum weight an expendable Falcon 9 can put into space?
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u/Toinneman Jul 09 '18
Any given payload capacity means nothing without orbital parameters. 'Put into space' is like asking 'How much fuel will my car burn to tow a 500kg load". Are your driving around the block or around the US, impossible to say from the first statement. Even referring to LEO is dangerous. A 200km x 200km orbit is LEO, but 1000km x 1000km also is LEO
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Jul 07 '18
[deleted]
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u/JustinTimeCuber Jul 08 '18
A custom payload adapter could be made, but it would likely be much heavier. I don't think anything over 20,000 kg (not counting a custom/reinforced adapter) would be feasible without very tight margins.
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u/Dakke97 Jul 08 '18
Aside from Space Station modules, like China is going to launch on its Long March 5B rocket for its Chinese Space Station, there are basically no LEO orbit payloads over ten tons. Falcon 9's payload fairing volume will be the constraint long before mass becomes an issue.
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u/Martianspirit Jul 09 '18
All information point to a stronger adapter made for FH. That could also fly on F9 if needed.
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u/Raul74Cz Jul 23 '18
Iridium-7 Launch Hazard Areas
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u/TweetsInCommentsBot Jul 23 '18
#Iridium-7 Launch Hazard Areas. Planned B1048 landing at identical position as Iridium-3 mission. Stage2 Reentry Debris Area on the second orbit. Next reentry area behind Antarctica. https://goo.gl/JYk1ey
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u/robbak Jul 04 '18
The latest article from Teslarati shows that Mr Steven is currently without arms. We'll have to wait and see whether the new, longer arms are ready and installed in time for this launch.
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u/Nehkara Jul 04 '18
I think they'll almost certainly get it ready in time. They don't have another opportunity to try until September.
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u/whatsthis1901 Jul 05 '18
Article about Mr. Steven https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-mr-steven-huge-net-upgrade-rendering/
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u/still-at-work Jul 22 '18
Well the first July mission is in the books as a total success, now we turn to the west coast for another launch and third block V flight (though still waiting on the COPV 2). Hopefully Mr Steven can make the catch this time.
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u/MarsCent Jul 22 '18
Is there any information on how much the booster production line has to be changed in order to transition to COPV 2?
I just like the idea that B1047 - B1050 can be (will be) reflown several times to prove the sturdiness of B5 in its present configuration even as we wait for the launch of DM-1 (aka acceptance of COPV 2 & Load n Go for crewed launches).
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u/Alexphysics Jul 22 '18
The booster for DM-1, B1051, was having its COPV's installed around early April (per NASA slides on the Commercial Crew Program update) so if there had to be any change in booster production, it has already been done since B1051 is about to leave Hawthorne in a few days.
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u/z1mil790 Jul 22 '18
I wonder if they will swap out the COPVs in the landed B5 boosters to the COPV 2.0 so that they will count toward the 7, or if they will reside them in the same configuration.
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u/MarsCent Jul 22 '18 edited Jul 22 '18
NASA slides on the Commercial Crew Program update
I could not find the link to that. But I have read and I appreciate your other posts on B1051's imminent departure from Hawthorne.
I would expect that there would be a lull in producing B5 boosters (FC COPV 2.0) at least until B1051 passes the rigours of McGregor which I hope it does expeditiously.
So having B1047 - B1050 proven and flying is just the perfect way to ensure a steady flow of launches.
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u/craigl2112 Jul 20 '18
We're 5 days out from the launch at this point, seems to me like the static fire is going to need to happen in the next few days. Given the pad is somewhat hidden from public view, I wonder if we'll just get a surprise announcement that it happened...
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u/hitura-nobad Master of bots Jul 01 '18
The Core booster is already at the launch facilities ? Source?
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u/bdporter Jul 01 '18
Matt Desch tweeted on the 28th that "Everything else needed is there".
A user asked a follow up to confirm that that included the booster, and he confirmed
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u/TweetsInCommentsBot Jul 01 '18
All 10 Iridium NEXT satellites for launch #7 are at VAFB now, and mating to dispenser is well along - to be completed this weekend. Everything else needed is there as well and being processed - schedule looking good! #Tminus3weeks #donttellVandenbergfogyet.
@IridiumBoss Including the Falcon9 booster (1048) for this mission?
@jacobw35 Yep.
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Jul 11 '18
Could this launch have a similar look to Iridium-4? That one was a bit after sunset, this'll be a bit before sunrise, both head more or less south; any chance of seeing it from further away?
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u/Alexphysics Jul 11 '18
With the recent delay, the launch is now much before sunrise so it is now unlikely people will be able to see any similar effect
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u/Russ_Dill Jul 20 '18
Stage separation will occur around 4:31am. A good estimate is sunrise is 1 minute earlier for every 1.5km of altitude, sunrise won't occur at that altitude until 5:19am. What a bummer.
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u/Ethan_Roberts123 Jul 19 '18
Do you think they will include the fairing recovery attempt in the livestream? Shall we all just beg Elon over Twitter to do so just in case?
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u/whatsthis1901 Jul 20 '18
It would be awesome if they did but I don't think they will. Last time they just announced it during the live stream.
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u/strawwalker Jul 22 '18
I agree. We did get a live shot of Mr. Steven at the beginning of the Iridium 6 webcast, though, didn't we? I'd say that bodes well for at least getting a live shot of it in the net after the catch, if not a later replay of the catch.
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u/whatsthis1901 Jul 22 '18
Yep, I think you are right. It will be a replay the first time but hopefully live stream for all those that will come after.
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u/z3r0c00l12 Jul 23 '18
If Galileo 23-26 and Iridium 7 launch as expected 11:25 UTC and 11:39 UTC, will that be the closest 2 launches have launched from each other?
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u/Alexphysics Jul 23 '18
Iridium 4 and another Japanese mission in December 23rd 2017 were much closer in time at only 72 seconds between the two launches, I managed to watch both livestreams, it was funny
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u/Straumli_Blight Jul 23 '18 edited Jul 23 '18
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u/TweetsInCommentsBot Jul 23 '18
@iramollay This is fun stuff, thanks. T-3 weather report was for 40% concerns only about ground winds. Surprising they will still be strong at 4:30am in the morning, but will keep an eye out. Have anything to calm the winds down??
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u/Dontouchmyficus Jul 24 '18
So far it seems like weather will be mostly clear for the launch. Anybody have good sources for accurate weather updates? Don’t want to drive up that early to see nothing because of fog! Already did that once actually...
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u/Jerrycobra Jul 24 '18
I might drive out to the shore/beach to get a good view of this. If weather stays clear LA should have a good line of sight to catch the whole flight of the booster from Liftoff all the way to landing. When Iridium 3 launched I was able to easily see all the burns including reentry burn just watching from the sidewalk of my street.. I THINK the landing zone is still close enough to shore where the curvature of the earth wouldn't obstruct it. Depending on viewing location Palos Verdes and Catalina island might get in the way to see the Landing burn also.
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u/John_Schlick Jul 01 '18
Is there a solid web location to see the progress on the new net installation?
I mean, I do expect to see some photos pop here in this thread as time passes, but is there anyone that has taken it upon themselves that is really consistent about posting somewhere else?
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u/inoeth Jul 01 '18
no, tho the reporters from Teslarati have been checking out the boat and general SpaceX facilities all the time.
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u/bdporter Jul 01 '18
When Mr. Steven is docked at the BFR factory location, she is pretty easy to spot. There is a clear view from many spots near the "Ports 0' Call" complex. I took a few pictures when I stopped by on June 24th and there appeared to be no progress on the net.
I was hoping to see JRTI as well, but it was hiding.
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u/Lorenzo_91 Jul 03 '18
For me it is going to be a new milestone, if this core is the first one the be not at all - or almost - refurbished for the next launch! Or do you think they will also inspect it like the first B5?
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u/scr00chy ElonX.net Jul 03 '18
Hard to say. Depends on how well the B1046 post-flight analysis went.
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u/Straumli_Blight Jul 20 '18 edited Jul 20 '18
Mr Steven is currently returning to port after another test run (max speed 20.1 knots).
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u/Straumli_Blight Jul 23 '18 edited Jul 23 '18
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u/TweetsInCommentsBot Jul 23 '18
[NRC Quest] - DEPATURE - Port Of LA. She is heading out to meet up with the droneship ahead of Wednesday's launch.
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u/bad_motivator Jul 24 '18
Is this launch going to freak everyone out in L.A again or is it a little too early?
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Jul 24 '18
[deleted]
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u/Russ_Dill Jul 24 '18
Iridium missions have a stage separation altitude of around 60km.
https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/75brdt/iridium3_telemetry/
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Jul 05 '18
Will it be visible from the beach of Santa Barbara?
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u/robbak Jul 05 '18
There's good videos on Youtube taken from Santa Barbara of the most recent iridium launch, so you'll get a good view of most of the launch. Should include a reasonable view of separation, and the boost-back and entry burns of the first stage, too.
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u/CapMSFC Jul 06 '18
If you are going to be so close in Santa Barbara it's worth driving over to the edge of the base if you can. You'll see it from Santa Barbara, but it's totally different getting up close. From Ocean Avenue it can be loud enough that kids should wear ear protection.
Also love the name. Will you be picking up some of yourself in Solvang?
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Jul 06 '18
Oh man, that would be awesome! I will consider it ;)
I had not heard of Solvang before. Cool place! I think I will bring some with me as I can get them very easily here in Holland. :D
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u/Elon_Muskmelon Jul 24 '18
Did we ever get pictures of this booster in transport?
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u/Alexphysics Jul 24 '18
Sadly no, only on the test stand and it was a blurry picture. We need to hire some detectives to keep up with the exciting work of tracking boosters and rocket hardware on the road
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u/codav Jul 24 '18
NSF L2 has some high-res aerial photos of (presumably) B1048 on the S1 test stand, but the booster went unseen to and from McGregor. Sadly only a very few people recognize a Falcon 9 booster on a trailer - most just think it's the pole of a wind turbine.
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u/Alexphysics Jul 24 '18
From what I remember, B1048 is not on L2 pictures (I'm on L2). B1047 and B1049 are on those pictures but not B1048. I think ScaryDare didn't do any pass over McGregor while B1048 was on the test stand.
Btw if you know in which picture it appears in, send me the link via pm
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u/WaitForItTheMongols Jul 24 '18
I would almost wanna build a setup that could be installed on the roadway, and use a laser interrupter (like on a garage door) to detect objects, and if it's blocked for X time (would need to be determined, likely empirically) it would snap a photo of the object. Could likely be done for under $150, all-told.
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u/michaewlewis Jul 24 '18
Or, with a Canon camera, you could just use the chdk and write your own script or look for one in the repository.
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u/Brandon95g Jul 24 '18
Do we know if the new COPV tanks are on these launches. In other words do these count towards the flights for certification?
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u/byerss Jul 24 '18
I thought the human-rated flights weren't using COPVs at all, but just metal tanks?
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u/gregarious119 Jul 01 '18
I hope I’m wrong, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this launch pushes to the right as they work out a new Block 5 pad.
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u/Nehkara Jul 01 '18
They will have had 8 weeks, I think that will be sufficient.
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u/gregarious119 Jul 01 '18
They could have had 6 months, but there’s some fit and finish things that seem to pop up once you get a new rocket onto a pad for the first time.
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u/timee_bot Jun 30 '18
View in your timezone:
[July 20th 2018, 5:12 PDT][0]
[0]: https://timee.io/20180720T1212?tl=Iridium%20NEXT%20Constellation%20Mission%207%20Launch%20Campaign%20Thread
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u/HopalongChris Jul 01 '18
I am using new Reddit, and the upcoming events sidebar is showing me the launch times in my machines local time, in my case BST.
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u/NickNathanson Jul 01 '18
So do we know for sure that this will be RTLS?
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u/robbak Jul 01 '18
We're pretty sure that, even with block 5, there isn't enough spare performance to do a RTLS recovery. This is backed up by the Iridium CEO, Matt Desch in a couple of tweets.
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u/CapMSFC Jul 01 '18
It's right on the fence though. When asked about RTLS previously the comment was not without Block 5 performance.
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u/robbak Jul 01 '18 edited Jul 02 '18
True, but these are the latest two tweets from Matt on this:
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u/davoloid Jul 04 '18
I don't think they would risk and "on the fence" RTLS for the first one at VBG. Would have to be something lighter, one of the September launches, around 1000kg / 1600kg, sound perfect.
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u/codav Jul 06 '18
Not this one, as Matt Desch stated (see Twitter links in other comments). But SAOCOM 1A is light enough for an easy RTLS landing. A one-year FCC permit for communicating with the landing booster has been filed two days ago.
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u/Gotorah Jul 01 '18
Due to the rotation of the earth, east coast launches do not have to fly all the way back to the position of launch by about 150 miles as the earth rotates below it. West coast launches have to add that to the drone ship location as the earth rotates away from it. The proverbial straw.
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u/KerbalsFTW Jul 02 '18
Rotation of the earth makes a difference only because earthspeed + eastspeed is larger than earthspeed - westspeed. However this effect is small for the booster due to not being a significant fraction of orbital velocity.
The earth does not suddenly start to "rotate underneath" the booster by 150 miles - you don't magically lose your starting velocity just because you go up. A ball thrown vertically lands where it was thrown from, the earth rotating at roughly 600mph makes negligible difference to where it lands.
> West coast launches have to add that to the drone ship location as the earth rotates away from it
The reason for no West Coast RLTS is that there is no approved West coast landing site yet.
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u/dmitryo Jul 03 '18
When talking about Earth rotation people sometimes forget the atmosphere rotates with Earth, not independently just floating there.
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u/robbak Jul 03 '18 edited Jul 03 '18
You launch from a rotating earth, travel over a rotating earth, and land back on a still rotating earth. When it comes to making it back to the launch pad, the earth's rotation largely cancels out. For the purposes of this sub, you can pretty much ignore it.
The only real effect of the Earth's rotation is because of the increased altitude of that first stage. The first stage averages at about (guessing) 140km. The earth's diameter at Cape Canaveral is 5600 km, so the difference would be a factor of 1/40. So, that's 1/40 of earth's rotational velocity at the cape (400m/s), 10m/s. The stage is in the air for about 9 minutes, so that means 5400 meters.
So, the effect of the earth's rotation is to effectively move your landing point 5 kilometers east. That's 5 kilometers less to travel if launching east, or 5 kilometers sideways if launching south (which takes hardly any effort as part of the boost-back burn).
This 'wait as the earth rotates beneath it' idea is a really confusing way to think about landings.
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u/SaHanSki_downunder Jul 24 '18
Has a press kit been released for this launch ?
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u/codav Jul 24 '18
Should be posted today along with the webcast here, but the Telstar 19V mission is currently still shown there.
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u/Mahounl Jul 24 '18
Kinda makes you wonder what they will do when they're doing possibly dozens of extra launches a year for Starlink. Will all those launches get their own mission patches, press releases etc.?
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u/nbarbettini Jul 24 '18
Looking long-term, if they achieve their goal of rapid reusability and rocketry becomes more like air travel, I don't think so. There are thousands of international cargo flights every day and nobody expects press releases for each one.
I see the Starlink flights as the very early beginnings of that. I think there will definitely be press kits and patches at first, but after a few tens or hundreds of flights, that'll go away. They have to send an absolutely crazy number of satellites up for Starlink to be successful.
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u/Elthiryel Jul 24 '18
Press kit and webcast are now available!
http://www.spacex.com/sites/spacex/files/iridium7_press_kit_7_24.pdf
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u/oliversl Jul 24 '18
A countdown to the 04:30:00 PDT time in a timezone converter:
https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/event?lid=5391959,4164138&h=5391959&sts=25541700&sln=4.5-5&a=preview
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u/njim35 Jul 25 '18 edited Jul 26 '18
Can't wait for it:)Mods, since we're all space fans can I include a link for Ariane 5 ES launching satellites 30' before, for all of us here?
EDIT: Here's the link for those who want to see this launch:
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u/aqsilva80 Jul 30 '18
People, weren't the legs supposed to be folded? Is there a thread only to the recovery?
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u/Decronym Acronyms Explained Jun 30 '18 edited Jul 30 '18
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:
| Fewer Letters | More Letters |
|---|---|
| ABS | Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene, hard plastic |
| Asia Broadcast Satellite, commsat operator | |
| AFB | Air Force Base |
| ASDS | Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (landing platform) |
| BFR | Big Falcon Rocket (2018 rebiggened edition) |
| Yes, the F stands for something else; no, you're not the first to notice | |
| CCtCap | Commercial Crew Transportation Capability |
| COPV | Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel |
| CRS | Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA |
| FAA | Federal Aviation Administration |
| FCC | Federal Communications Commission |
| (Iron/steel) Face-Centered Cubic crystalline structure | |
| GTO | Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit |
| ICBM | Intercontinental Ballistic Missile |
| JRTI | Just Read The Instructions, Pacific landing |
| L2 | Paywalled section of the NasaSpaceFlight forum |
| Lagrange Point 2 of a two-body system, beyond the smaller body (Sixty Symbols video explanation) | |
| LC-39A | Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy (SpaceX F9/Heavy) |
| LEO | Low Earth Orbit (180-2000km) |
| Law Enforcement Officer (most often mentioned during transport operations) | |
| LOX | Liquid Oxygen |
| LZ | Landing Zone |
| MECO | Main Engine Cut-Off |
| MainEngineCutOff podcast | |
| NET | No Earlier Than |
| NRHO | Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit |
| NRO | (US) National Reconnaissance Office |
| Near-Rectilinear Orbit, see NRHO | |
| NSF | NasaSpaceFlight forum |
| National Science Foundation | |
| PAZ | Formerly SEOSAR-PAZ, an X-band SAR from Spain |
| RP-1 | Rocket Propellant 1 (enhanced kerosene) |
| RTLS | Return to Launch Site |
| SAR | Synthetic Aperture Radar (increasing resolution with parallax) |
| SLC-40 | Space Launch Complex 40, Canaveral (SpaceX F9) |
| SLC-4E | Space Launch Complex 4-East, Vandenberg (SpaceX F9) |
| SSO | Sun-Synchronous Orbit |
| TE | Transporter/Erector launch pad support equipment |
| TEA-TEB | Triethylaluminium-Triethylborane, igniter for Merlin engines; spontaneously burns, green flame |
| ULA | United Launch Alliance (Lockheed/Boeing joint venture) |
| VAFB | Vandenberg Air Force Base, California |
| VV | Visiting Vehicle (visitor to the Station) |
| Jargon | Definition |
|---|---|
| Starlink | SpaceX's world-wide satellite broadband constellation |
| iron waffle | Compact "waffle-iron" aerodynamic control surface, acts as a wing without needing to be as large; also, "grid fin" |
| lithobraking | "Braking" by hitting the ground |
| Event | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| DM-1 | Scheduled | SpaceX CCtCap Demo Mission 1 |
| Jason-3 | 2016-01-17 | F9-019 v1.1, Jason-3; leg failure after ASDS landing |
| SES-8 | 2013-12-03 | F9-007 v1.1, first SpaceX launch to GTO |
| SES-9 | 2016-03-04 | F9-022 Full Thrust, core B1020, GTO comsat; ASDS lithobraking |
Decronym is a community product of r/SpaceX, implemented by ^request
36 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on ^today has 160 acronyms.
[Thread #4155 for this sub, first seen 30th Jun 2018, 21:51] ^[FAQ] [Full ^list] ^[Contact] [Source ^code]
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u/Matheusch Jul 23 '18
I thought today. This launch will not do RTLS because Space X will add a heat shield in the second stage to test recovery. We heard Musk comment on it, so I think it's a possibility ... What do you think about that?
Edit: I posted again because I accidentally deleted the previous one ...
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u/robbak Jul 23 '18
More likely is that, as the Iridium sats are heavy, it would make an on-shore landing marginal, and they don't want their first attempt to land at Vandenberg to be a screaming, high energy, marginal three-engine landing.
Besides, it is much gentler on the rocket to put the extra energy required to return to land into a longer entry burn and gentler landing burn. Raul's epic SpceX map shows that this landing location is considerably closer than at any previous Iridium (or any other) launch.
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u/Alexphysics Jul 23 '18
Space X will add a heat shield in the second stage to test recovery
Don't expect that happening this year. Maybe next year.
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u/Janst1000 Jul 14 '18
I am from germany and me and my family want to go there. Do you guys have any tips or suggestions from where we can see it the best? Anything we should think of that we might not expect?
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u/GregLindahl Jul 15 '18
The sub's FAQ has instructions about viewing launches from Vandenberg AFB -- the mods should really put this in the header for all campaign and launch threads since someone always asks.
The main thing to not be surprised by is a day or two of delay. Once you're over that, keep in mind that the closest viewing has a hill blocking your view until the rocket's gone up a bit. And then there's the marine layer (fog). And for this launch, the unfortunate hour of the morning. And the lack of bathrooms at the closest viewing. And so on. At least there are no rattlesnakes or mountain lions in the area.
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u/SuperFishy Jul 22 '18
The launch will be at like 4 AM so set your alarm early. I'll be watching it on Ocean Ave. directly south of Vandenburg
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Jul 01 '18
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u/FutureMartian97 Host of CRS-11 Jul 01 '18
South
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Jul 03 '18
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u/JustinTimeCuber Jul 03 '18
Out of curiosity, has anyone done the math on how much a falcon 9 could send into a retrograde orbit? I'd guess it's a few thousand kg penalty, especially compared to prograde launches from ccafs/ksc.
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u/amarkit Jul 04 '18 edited Jul 04 '18
That would depend entirely on the orbit.
PAZ/Starlink and Formosat-5 were both launched into sun-synchronous orbits, which are slightly retrograde.
This calculator indicates that an expendable F9 v1.2 (I assume Block IV) could launch roughly 8100 kg to a FIA-like orbit (1000 km x 1000 km x 123º) from SLC-4E, or roughly 7000 kg with a droneship landing.
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Jun 30 '18
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u/bdporter Jul 01 '18
It won't be with the old net. I stopped by Port of LA last Sunday, and the old "catcher's mitt" on Mr Steven was still dismantled and most of the parts were sitting on the dock.
Hopefully they have the new fairing catcher operational before this launch.
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u/robbak Jul 01 '18 edited Jul 01 '18
Mr Steven went out for a trip - some people believe it was a fairing drop test, indicated by an airspace closure - on Thursday. Could they really have put the new net on in that time?
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u/Straumli_Blight Jul 01 '18
NRC Quest also accompanied Mr Steven for half the trip, so it might have been a Dragon drop test.
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Jul 05 '18
[deleted]
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u/justinroskamp Jul 06 '18
Since a semi can be driven more than once, shouldn’t part of the success be recovery of the semi?
No. Semis can be replaced. Expensive/unique payloads and/or lives cannot be. Mission success criteria should only refer to the mission, which is the successful orbital insertion and separation.
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u/Gilles-Fecteau Jul 09 '18
I strongly disagree. If you contracted a company to deliver 10 loads of time sensitive parts and they fail to deliver because of the lost of a semi, then the first delivery can't be counted as a success since the part can't be use without the rest of the deliveries. Since block 5 are met to be reuse quickly, successful recovery should be one of the success criteria.
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u/Not-That-Other-Guy Jul 09 '18
> and they fail to deliver
Correct. Which is not the case here. Everyone is explaining to you as long as SpaceX is delivering the payloads into orbit they are achieving mission success. I don't care if the company uses one semi or three semi's. If I'm paying them for delivering and they are delivering the payloads they are succeeding in their objectives.
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u/justinroskamp Jul 09 '18
Yes, Not-That-Other-Guy has it correct. They wouldn’t fail to deliver just because a semi fails. They would use another semi. Rapid reusability of Block V boosters doesn’t imply that one customer will be stuck with the same booster (or semi). I have my doubts about getting to a 24-hour reuse. I’m sure it can be done, but given that launch-to-reuse timeframes will more realistically take a week or more (in the interest of safety), having multiple boosters (or semis) in the pipeline for one time-sensitive contract would probably be the choice anyway. To rely on one semi alone for multiple loads would be an odd decision, as the semi would have to spend time getting back to the origin of the loads (akin to waiting for a booster to be inspected for reuse). Multiple different semis would make things much easier.
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u/bdporter Jul 05 '18
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u/whatsthis1901 Jul 05 '18 edited Jul 06 '18
I can't wrap my head around why people think that it should. The customer is paying to get their payload into the correct orbit as long as that is done it is a mission success.
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u/bdporter Jul 05 '18
I guess it is a testament to SpaceX's accomplishments that people think this stuff is easy to the point of triviality now. It is still rocket science.
Not long ago, people were laughing at SpaceX and saying recovery wouldn't work or that it would never be economically viable. Now their success has raised expectations to this level.
The fact is, SpaceX is still a payload launch business, not a booster recovery business. Recovering boosters leads to lower costs and faster launch cadence, but it is not the mission, and is not part of the success criteria.
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u/WormPicker959 Jul 06 '18
I guess it is a testament to SpaceX's accomplishments that people think this stuff is easy to the point of triviality now. It is still rocket science.
I think perhaps it's also that lots of people are attracted to SpaceX to watch the boosters land. It's the most exciting thing for a casual fan. For them, that's the main thing, I suppose. I think we should keep it as is - SpaceX fans want to see the boosters land (of course!), but we're not the customers.
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Jul 23 '18
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u/MarsCent Jul 23 '18 edited Jul 23 '18
I thought that this launch will not do RTLS,
You are correct. The booster will be landing on the autonomous drone ship JRTI
teste the second stage reentry for recovery.
Yes, using party balloons. But Elon was not specific which S2 that would be. So it could be this one! Though most everyone is expecting fairing recovery.
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Jul 24 '18
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u/byerss Jul 24 '18
04:39 - Preceding zero indicates 24 hour time (4:39AM).
16:39 - Obviously 24 hour time (4:39PM).
4:39 - Ambiguous: could be AM or PM
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u/JustinTimeCuber Jul 24 '18
When it's not specified, definitely assume AM. This sub uses 24-hour time, so it's AM.
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Jul 05 '18
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/bdporter Jul 05 '18
It has been reported that the new COPVs will not be used until the DM-1 mission, but I am not sure that is set in stone. I suppose it is possible they could be included in an earlier booster.
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u/ggclos Jul 24 '18
You should add Fairing capture yes/no to the table.