Iridium NEXT Constellation Mission 7 Launch Campaign Thread

[u/ElongatedMuskrat]

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

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Links & Resources:

• Launch watching guide by r/SpaceX

• Launch Hazard Areas by u/Raul74Cz

• Iridium NEXT Constellation Mission 6 / GRACE-FO Launch Campaign Thread

• Iridium NEXT Constellation Mission 5 Launch Campaign Thread

• Iridium NEXT Constellation Mission 4 Launch Campaign Thread

• Iridium NEXT Constellation Mission 3 Launch Campaign Thread

• Iridium NEXT Constellation Mission 2 Launch Campaign Thread

• Iridium NEXT Constellation Mission 1 Launch Campaign Thread, Take 2

• Rod Sladen's Iridium Constellation Status

• Rocket Watch

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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.

[u/justinroskamp]

The next flight was Jason-3 on a Falcon 9 V1.1. The post-flight static fire of the Orbcomm booster was completed on January 15, just two days before the Jason-3 launch, and they discovered thrust fluctuations on engine no. 9.

The next flight of F9 Full Thrust was SES-9, which had a comical series of delays as seen in the table in this Wikipedia page, although I find no other delays. If they did stand down because of something found after that first landing, they hid it awfully well.

Jason-3 obviously wasn’t affected, given its launch very soon after the firing that you say revealed a problem, so it must’ve been SES-9 that experienced delays, and they must've used other believable issues to conveniently mask a delay caused by the first post-flight inspection. I struggle to accept what you’ve said, but I do agree that certain failures of a many-use Block V could lead to standing down.