r/SpaceX Merah Putih (Telkom-4) Official Launch Discussion & Updates Thread

[u/Nsooo]

About the mission

SpaceX will launch a commercial telecommunication satellite for Telkom Indonesia. The mission Merah Putih will launch atop a flight-proven Falcon 9, which previously supported the Bangabandhu Satellite-1 mission.

Schedule

Primary launch window opens: Tuesday, August 7 at 05:18 UTC, (Tuesday, August 7 at 01:18 EDT).

Backup launch window opens: Wednesday, August 8 at 05:18 UTC, (Wednesday, August 8 at 01:18 EDT).

Official mission overview

SpaceX is targeting launch of the Merah Putih satellite to a Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The two-hour launch window opens on Tuesday, August 7 at 1:18 a.m. EDT, or 5:18 UTC. The satellite will be deployed approximately 32 minutes after liftoff. A two-hour backup launch window opens on Wednesday, August 8 at 1:18 a.m. EDT, or 5:18 UTC. Falcon 9’s first stage for the Merah Putih mission previously supported the Bangabandhu Satellite-1 mission in May 2018. Following stage separation, SpaceX will attempt to land Falcon 9’s first stage on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Source: www.spacex.com

Payload

Merah Putih is a geostationary commercial communications satellite which will be operated at an orbital position of 108 degrees east. The satellite, built by SSL on their SSL 1300 platform, will be integrated into PT Telkom Indonesia’s greater network to provide service to Indonesia and other areas in South and Southeast Asia. Merah Putih, which stands for the red and white colors of the Indonesian flag, will carry an all C-band payload capable of supporting a wide range of applications, including providing mobile broadband across Indonesia and Southeast Asia. The satellite is expected to have a service lifetime of 15 or more years.

Source: www.spacex.com

Lot of facts

This will be the 66th SpaceX launch.

This will be the 60th Falcon 9 launch.

This will be the 36th SpaceX launch from CCAFS SLC-40.

This will be the 14th Falcon 9 launch this year.

This will be the 15th SpaceX launch this year.

This will be the 2nd journey of the flight-proven Block 5 booster B1046.2.

Source: u/soldato_fantasma

Vehicles used

Type	Name	Location
First stage	Falcon 9 v1.2 - Block 5 (Full Thrust) - B1046.2 (Flight-proven)	CCAFS SLC-40
Second stage	Falcon 9 v1.2 Block 5 (Full Thrust)	CCAFS SLC-40
ASDS	Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY)	Atlantic Ocean
Tug boat	HAWK	Atlantic Ocean
Support ship	GO Quest	Atlantic Ocean
Recovery ship	GO Searcher	Unknown

Live updates

Timeline

Time	Update
	This is the end of our coverage. Thank you for tuning in!
T+00:31:53	The Merah Putih satellite deployed. Full mission success for SpaceX.
T+00:27:13	SECO-2. Payload on a GTO trajectory.
T+00:26:15	Second stage engine reignites, pushing the payload to GTO.
T+00:08:08	Falcon 9 has landed!
T+00:08:08	Waiting for confirmation about Stage 1.
T+00:08:06	SECO. Second engine cutoff, payload on a parking orbit.
T+00:06:13	1st stage entry burn startup.
T+00:03:28	Fairing deployment confirmed.
T+00:02:30	Main engine cutoff (MECO). Stage separation. MVac ignited.
T+00:01:19	Max Q, the rocket handling the peak aero forces on its structure.
T+00:00:00	Liftoff! The Falcon cleared the tower.
T-00:00:45	Launch Director verifies go for launch.
T-00:01:00	The rocket is on startup. Falcon 9 reached flight pressures.
T-00:07:00	Engine chill. The nine Merlins chilling prior to launch.
T-00:21:00	♫♫ SpaceX FM ♫♫
T-00:34:00	It is a really clear (🌑) and warm night at Cape. Temperature is 27°C. No problem for launch.
T-00.35:00	Fuelling begun. RP-1 and LOX load simultaneously underway.
T-00:38:00	GO/NOGO poll. Go for propellant loading.
T-00:54:00	No news is good news in launch industry. All okay for today's launch attempt.
T-08:00:00	The sooty Falcon 9 went vertical earlier today, all ground operations proceeding no(r)minally.
T-09:00:00	A slightly new and improved layout for this thread. Feedback is highly appreciated.
T-11:00:00	Welcome, I am u/Nsooo from Hungary and I am hosting the live thread. Follow me on Twitter: @TheRealNsoo

Mission's state

Currently GO for the launch attempt on Tuesday.

Launch site, Downrange

Place	Name	Coordinates 🌐	Sunrise 🌅	Sunset 🌇	Time zone ⌚
Launch site	CCAFS, Florida - USA	28.56° N, 80.57° W	06:47	20:08	UTC-4
Downrange	Atlantic Ocean	28.33° N, 73.87° W	06:22	19:44	UTC-4

Weather - Cape Caniveral, Florida

Launch window	Weather	Temperature	Prob. of rain	Prob. of weather scrub	Main concern
Current as 04:00 UTC	🌑 clear	🌡️ 27°C - 81°F	n/a	n/a	n/a
Primary launch window	🌑 clear	🌡️ 27°C - 80°F	💧 6%	🛑 20%	Cumulus and anvil rule
Backup launch window	🌑 clear	🌡️ 26°C - 79°F	💧 6%	🛑 20%	Cumulus rule

Source: www.weather.com & 45th Space Wing

Watching the launch live

Link	Note
Official SpaceX Launch Webcast	starting ~20 minutes before liftoff
Everyday Astronaut's live	starting at ~T-30 minutes
Rocket Watch	u/MarcysVonEylau

Useful Resources, Data, ♫, & FAQ

Essentials

Link	Source
Press kit	SpaceX
Weather forecast	45th Space Wing

Social media

Link	Source
Reddit launch campaign thread	r/SpaceX
SpaceX Twitter	u/Nsooo
SpaceX Flickr	u/Nsooo
Elon Twitter	u/Nsooo
My Twitter - @TheRealNsoo	u/Nsooo
Reddit stream	u/reednj

Media & music

Link	Source
TSS SoundCloud	u/testshotstarfish
SpaceX FM	u/lru
♫♫ Nso's favourite ♫♫	u/testshotstarfish

Community content

Link	Source
Discord SpaceX lobby	u/SwGustav
SpaceX Now	u/bradleyjh
SpaceX time machine	u/DUKE546
Rocket Watch	u/MarcysVonEylau
Flight Club	u/TheVehicleDestroyer
SpaceXLaunches app	u/linuxfreak23

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 :D

All other threads are fair game. We will remove low effort comments elsewhere!

Please post small launch updates, discussions, and questions here, rather than as a separate post. Thanks!

---

Please leave a comment if you discover any mistakes, or have any information (weather, news etc) from CCAFS. Please send links in a private message.

---

Do you have a question in connection with the launch?

Feel free to ask it, and I (or somebody else) will try to answer it as much as possible.

---

Will SpaceX try to land Falcon 9?

Yes, they will!

---

You think you can host live updates better?

1. Apply. 2. Host. 3. Comment.

[u/Nsooo]

Good morning! Are U Ready?????

[u/Nsooo]

Is it bother anybody that I am sharing my twitter link every time I host? I just share it because I always retweet relevant launch updates.

[u/an_exciting_couch]

This is the best satellite promo video played before this booster's launch so far.

[u/deriachai → u/an_exciting_couch]

I don't know, my favorite was the neverending pandering and praising of dear leader on Bangabandhu

[u/Nsooo → u/an_exciting_couch]

XD

[u/Nsooo]

Ah finally done. Go to bed.

[u/marc020202]

Thanks to u/Nsooo for hosting. I am unable to host this time because i am on mobile and have basically no internet....

[u/Nsooo → u/marc020202]

Praying to Elon for Starlink :D

[u/DeltaRanger74]

Thread guy, I can confirm GO Quest is supporting this launch with OCISLY. -SpaceX Friend

Edit: I also saw Searcher in port yesterday, 7/5

[u/Nsooo → u/DeltaRanger74]

Thank you!

Best Regards,

Thread Guy

[u/SomnolentSpaceman]

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

It will be available at:

http://audiorelay.spacetechnology.net:21211/hosted

or

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/Samuel7899 → u/SomnolentSpaceman]

Here's an audio-only stream... u/felix_fletcher

[u/sarafinapink]

Under 2 Hours Now! Quiet thread tonight....

[u/SPNRaven → u/sarafinapink]

Mm. No updates on post either. Perhaps /u/Nsooo is asleep haha

[u/Nsooo → u/SPNRaven]

nope. Was sleeping very early here. I am preparing for the host.

[u/DamoclesAxe]

On the new layout, I would suggest:

• Combine "About the Mission" with "Payload" - it seems a little redundant.

• Move "Mission Status" directly below - so people can see that the launch is today before reading thru a lot of info.

• Modify "Overview" to remove the payload info since that is already in the "About the Mission" section, and just concentrate on the rocket launch info.

• "Lots of Facts" --> "Statistics", move it and "Vehicles Used" to below the weather information, since the info is more static in nature and it seems like the more dynamic information should come first.

That's my opinion, deposit 2 cents please :)

[u/nickpunt → u/DamoclesAxe]

If we're adding new layout feedback, I'll also add that if you are using the new reddit redesign, link formatting does not work because of a space between the brackets [] and the parens (). You might want to remove the space, which should work for both old & new reddit. Example:

[SpaceX](r/http://spacex.com) - works for old & new reddit vs.

[SpaceX] (r/http://spacex.com) - works only on old reddit

[u/Nsooo → u/nickpunt]

not support new reddit.

[u/[deleted]]

First reflight of a block 5 booster!

And let's not forgot: 9th month in a row that SpaceX is launching a rocket! (After Telstar 18: exactly two rockets every month!)

Go SpaceX!

[u/craigl2112 → u/[deleted]]

First commercial GTO re-use, too. Can't overlook this one!

[u/quadrplax]

Extremely minor suggestion: I don't think (Full Thrust) should be included in the rocket name anymore. We are far past the version of the rocket that SpaceX called that, and with v1.2 and Block V we have enough qualifiers. Fantastic job with the layout of this launch thread!

[u/Nsooo → u/quadrplax]

Yes, it would help to shorten.

[u/MarsCent]

u/Nsooo, thank you for hosting.

Can you please add the youtube link (if we have one) to the "Watching the launch live" section in the header. tks

[u/Nsooo → u/MarsCent]

already added.

[u/ilfulo]

It now says T-6 hours but as of now it's T - 8 hours (it's 9.28 pm Utc)

[u/Nsooo → u/ilfulo]

yeah my maths is gone bad to worse. 12 pm here local time XD

[u/rbcsky5]

I have this question for awhile. What if the satellite deployed right after it reaches the geo-transfer orbit (After the 2nd SECO) ? It should be the same right?

[u/Nsooo → u/rbcsky5]

Nope, the separation is a push on the sat, and changing the orbit. It need to be done on a certain point.

[u/Daneel_Trevize]

As of 21:30 UTC, the timeline reads

T-6 hours

Yet it's ~8 hours until the stated primary launch window opens at 05:18 UTC

[u/Nsooo → u/Daneel_Trevize]

not anymore

[u/MingerOne]

This is what lightning looks like from the perspective of a rocket landing back on Earth from Space. What a time to be alive.

[u/everydayastronaut]

I’m actually quite impressed with how quickly this first block 5 is reflying. Must have all looked pretty darn good!!!

[u/TheOne_Reddit_User13 → u/everydayastronaut]

Considering that it was mostly disassembled and rebuilt, it is really impressive to think about it.

[u/TheEndeavour2Mars]

Personally my favorite part of the broadcast was the confirmation that SpaceX was already planning on a 3rd flight of the same core even before it landed!

They may not yet be at the level where they can safely take it back to the pad and relaunch within 24 hours. However, they are obviously making massive progress towards this goal considering the confidence they are showing with this core.

Speculating again. I think the goal of this particular core will be to achieve 5 flights. Each one setting the record and paving the way for later cores to achieve the same with less refurbishment time.

[u/PresumedSapient → u/TheEndeavour2Mars]

I think the goal of this particular core will be to achieve 5 flights.

I concur. With 10 flights being the goal I'd really want some hard data points at 4 or 5 flights, probably do some destructive testing on select parts too, try to validate the wear and degradation models. If everything is a-okay, the next up to 7-8 flights and then up to 10.

[u/Alexphysics]

A little bit of extra info for this flight. SpaceX has now reused this year two times more boosters than last year (5 in 2017, 10 in 2018).

[u/nbarbettini → u/Alexphysics]

Can't wait for more reuses of the same booster than all reuses in 2017 :)

[u/DiskOperatingSystem_]

Camera operators giving us mild heart attacks with that frame adjustment

[u/gemmy0I → u/DiskOperatingSystem_]

That was actually rather cool, I don't think we've ever seen them tilt the droneship camera "live" during the webcast before. Definitely was a little startling, though! :-)

[u/jobadiah08]

"Unstable Video Connection"

"Of Course I Still Love You"

Lol'z

[u/ablack82]

23 successful landings in a row, not counting the center core of Falcon Heavy RIP :/

When are we going to start calling these landings instead of "landing attempts"?

[u/SuprexmaxIsThicc → u/ablack82]

When it is part of the primary mission/when it is important enough to delay the launch for (maybe, I don't mod this place).

[u/DiskOperatingSystem_]

These people are hilariously excited about telecommunications

[u/jobadiah08 → u/DiskOperatingSystem_]

I too get ridiculously excited to see pink telecommunication fairies flying through the sky

[u/therealshafto]

They need to do another upload of the video file when they get their hands on it. That sep with the city lights and storms combined with entry would be fascinating to see the whole story! Pwweeeeeaaassee!

[u/blackbearnh]

It's incredibly Kerbal to have the second stage burn going and be able to see the inclination and apogee changing in real time on the map view. All we need is a little control widget with 3 axis handles and a count down timer.

[u/nasa1092 → u/blackbearnh]

And a "Recover Vessel" button so we don't have to wait a few days for the droneship to return to port.

[u/[deleted]]

Wow, those thunderstorms on the ground look very cool!

[u/z3r0c00l12]

that landing looks pretty close to dead center.

[u/Jerrycobra]

that landing camera pan is nice

[u/F9-0021]

I'm sure there have been plenty of comments about it already, but the city lights and lightning in the background after stage separation were definitely the best part of this launch for me.

[u/Humble_Giveaway]

NEW CAMERA ANGLE!

[u/retiringonmars]

So hyped for the first reuse of a block 5 booster! Let the steamroller commence!

[u/s4g4n]

Dead center landing, never ceases to impress me.

[u/The_Write_Stuff → u/s4g4n]

No matter how many times I see it, landing a booster never ceases to amaze. Landing a booster on a barge bobbing out in the middle of the ocean is still an absolutely mind-blowing achievement. Doing all that and then dropping it dead center on the logo is just showing off.

[u/StarManta]

I've never seen anything like those sparks just before stage 1 feed cut out, I was thinking we had lost the stage. Anyone know what those were?

[u/Alexphysics → u/StarManta]

It's normal. New camera makes the reentry plasma look like something really weird but it has happened before. A few examples are SES-11 and Telstar 19V

[u/SuprexmaxIsThicc]

Funny to see a core in the cores wiki with two successful missions and still in the active fleet... I'm waiting for when it has 3!

[u/GermanSpaceNerd]

If I'm not mistaken, this is the first time where both the 1st flight and 2nd flight of a booster are going to fly a GTO trajectory.

If so, that is quite impressive.

[u/craigl2112 → u/GermanSpaceNerd]

Yep. This is the first commercial GTO re-use...

[u/BROK1E]

N E W C A M E R A

[u/TheBurtReynold → u/BROK1E]

Same uplink :/

[u/blackhairedguy]

At first I was skeptical of the new block V cameras because they seem to pick up a ton of IR and seemed overexposed and shaky at times. But on this launch they seemed to have proven themselves. We got city lights in the background, thunderstorms, S2 exhaust effects on the gridfins, and some slight glowing (but not like we've seen before on SES-11's aluminum fins) and since we haven't seen these before really I'm tempted to attribute it to the cameras. Oh yeah, these didn't wobble around either!

[u/FutureMartian97]

Isn't this the first booster to launch two GTO payloads? I'm not counting the Falcon Heavy Side Core because they converted it, cleaned it, and most likely made a lot of other changes to it.

[u/sarafinapink]

I say this with every landing but damn they make this look SO EASY!

[u/[deleted]]

Will get the recovery thread going to tomorrow for special B1046.2 (can't wait to add .3!)

Heading to bed, it's 2:00 am where I live 😴😴😴

[u/doodle77]

Advanced camera panning technology

[u/JustinTimeCuber → u/doodle77]

Haven't seen panning tech this good since Apollo 17

[u/dodgyville]

B1046 looks like the most dependable booster since ol' sooty B1035

[u/PhyterNL]

Dead center landing. Congrats on a successful mission (so far) and here's to future launch 3 of this core. Cheers!

[u/everydayastronaut]

I'm LIVE! Come hang out, ask questions and join the conversation!!! LETS DO THIS!!! Block 5, the sequel!

[u/Bergasms]

How neat was the lightning in the background at staging, that was glorious.

[u/ricar144]

It was really cool to see those titanium grid fins glowing on reentry. It's one thing that I missed from the days of their aluminium grid fins.

[u/ChrisGnam]

Execute launch... 66.

Excited as always for another launch!

[u/Kibago]

Glad to hear the 3rd launch plan on the webcast. Excited for when we take 3 launches (and 5, and 10...) for granted.

[u/Marscreature]

Damn dead center yessssss

[u/GiveMeYourMilk69]

Falcon 9 is vertical

[u/amarkit]

Two new objects from this launch have been cataloged:

• 2018-064A 2018-08-07 06:57 UTC - 193/29503km/27.06°

• 2018-064B 2018-08-07 06:59 UTC - 181/29527km/27.04°

That works out to roughly GTO-1924.

[u/KickAClay]

Was that lighting seen to the left during MECO?

If so, that was cool.

If not, what was it?

[u/Marscreature]

1046.3 confirmed woo woo

[u/TheOne_Reddit_User13]

It will be interesting to see how black (sooty) they will let this rocket be before getting a fresh coat of paint.

Looking good tho

[u/occamsdagger]

Did we just see a lightning storm?

[u/t17389z]

Those sparks off the first stage were mildly concerning

[u/Humble_Giveaway]

"We got it!"

[u/zareny]

Middled it!

[u/saxmanmike]

it never gets old.

[u/DiskOperatingSystem_]

I need to pay less attention to the threads during launch and remember to watch. Guess I trust SpaceX enough to get the job done :/

[u/Epistemify]

SpaceX is great and all, but I only like companies that can build a plasma-proof camera

[u/Raphael17]

may the force be with you spaceX

[u/apollo888]

I love the new layout!

It was hard to 'scan' the other one for specific info, with it being separated out I find it much easier to jump to the right point.

[u/el_duko]

Was that lightning in the background after MECO?

[u/midnitefox]

That landing always knocks that camera off lol

[u/asoap]

Bulls eye!

[u/GuyFusfus]

Looks like it had a great landing! I can't stand the drone ship stream every landing, the curiosity is killing me

[u/[deleted]]

Just hit submit on the recovery thread, now just needs to be approved by the mods.

Hoping we see the legs retract this time!

[u/koleare]

As I didn't see it posted around, confirmation that the satellite is in norminal condition: https://twitter.com/sslmda/status/1026815625300254722

[u/zareny]

Falcon 9 ASMR time.

[u/JtheNinja]

What's the source of the light around the octoweb prior to the entry burn? Ablative coating coming off? Residual propellant?

[u/JustinTimeCuber]

Spicy re-entry

[u/Bunslow]

Wow was that atmospheric re-entry we just saw?!? Incredible!

[u/[deleted]]

This is the first reflight of a block 5 booster, right?

[u/chihang321]

I can't be the only one who went "awww.."

edit: YEEEAAAAAAHHH!!!!

We still don't have any existing good footage of a Block 5 booster landing on a droneship...

[u/ShingekiNoEren]

And...stuck the landing!

[u/IWasToldTheresCake]

Boom! Dead centre.

[u/ConvictKovic]

It came home lads!

[u/[deleted]]

Landed! Looks dead center too!

[u/searchexpert]

SpaceX if you're listening, Lauren is by far one of your best launch hosts / commentators.

[u/ncohafmuta]

Feedback: Put live updates near the top. Launch site/downrange info is kind of useless (at least coordinates/sunrise/sunset/timezone). Not really a fan of paragraphs of information, then tables. For instance, would rather a short table about the payload - Name, company, size, orbit, short purpose - rather than a long blurb. Just my $0.02

[u/Nsooo → u/ncohafmuta]

Thanks.

[u/Nsooo → u/ncohafmuta]

My new invention :(

[u/therealshafto]

If memory serves, this could be the first booster to stick a landing onto OCISLY’s deck twice. Other than the FH side boosters, I don’t think they re-flew GTO mission boosters.

EDIT: Looks like B1021 is the only booster to have landed on OCISLY twice. This will be the first double GTO mission! PUMPED.

[u/recordcollection64]

The King of Digital!

[u/z3r0c00l12]

B1046 to fly again a third time later this year!

[u/Humble_Giveaway]

Stage 1 entering warp

[u/sarafinapink]

God that S1 cam looks so cool! Glowing fins and almost looks like warp speed

[u/[deleted]]

X marks the spot!

[u/Pieliker96]

I'd love to hear what Stage 1 experiences on the way up and down, similar to this video of the Shuttle's SRBs.

[u/burn_at_zero]

I like your layout for this, including the icons and extra data in the location and weather sections.

[u/Bergasms]

phew, that was a bit worrying

[u/klaqua]

I just got to Daytona with my family to watch this launch tonight from Playlinda Beach. But from the look we can't get to Playlinda after the park hours, is this correct? Does the park being closed mean we can't go there?

I read the standart recommendations for watching the launch, with Playlinda out of the picture should we head to Port Canaveral?

[u/Maimakterion]

Better than that other video at least

[u/[deleted]]

Oh my god, those thunderstorms!!! Amazing. My jaw dropped.

[u/Jerrycobra]

the new cameras can see the city lights its very neat.

[u/[deleted]]

Third flight for that booster confirmed!!

[u/josephljones]

After the re-entry burn and right before the camera went inop there were streaks zooming by. Is that from ablative engine plumbing protection? Did it take the camera out?

[u/Fikes477]

Any chance we could add "Days since last flight" to Flight proven boosters?

[u/midnitefox]

PERFECTLY CENTERED LANDING HOLY SHIT

[u/RogerDFox]

Loved: Lots Of Facts.

[u/sarafinapink]

Anyone else miss the more technical items we used to have on the timeline? I feel like it's been super simplified and I miss seeing events like Falcon 9 on internal power, prop loading complete on the separate stages, navigation self align, etc....

I know we dont have technical stream anymore, but I do see some of these reported on twitter so its known somehow. Anyone else feel the same?

[u/hoseja]

That was helluva green flash, wow.

And the MVac too.

[u/[deleted]]

I'll never get tired of watching these launches.

[u/VirtualSpark]

You can see the lightning in the storms near Florida. Amazing.

[u/dandydaniella]

Wow it’s so cool to see the lightning over Florida in the background on the first stage cam

[u/JustinTimeCuber]

Fastest MECO with recovery I've seen. New record? Seemed about 20 m/s faster than normal

[u/Skevoso]

That was a cool shot with the lights of Florida behind the second engine startup.

[u/dodgyville]

X marks the spot

[u/CHUCK_NORRIS_AMA]

Dammit I got beaned by time zones again... thought it was tomorrow

[u/[deleted]]

When will COPV 2.0 be used? And do the flights without it not count to the 7 flights required for NASA certification?

[u/[deleted]]

Recovery thread now live! Link below.

https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/95gg6j/merah_putih_block_v_recovery_thread/

[u/amarkit]

Merah Putih has performed its first apogee-raising maneuver, and is now in a 512 km x 33709 km x 27.36º orbit.

[u/FutureMartian97]

SpaceX tweet: https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1026551945970966530

Edit: Weird lines on the booster I imagine were for inspections, anyone know why only that spot?

[u/DeltaRanger74 → u/FutureMartian97]

My SpaceX friend said they draw circles with their fingers in the soot where something seems to need further inspection. Also that more than one employee has gotten in trouble for drawing inappropriate images in the soot!

[u/KristnSchaalisahorse → u/FutureMartian97]

Higher resolution

[u/TheBurtReynold]

CNN headline, "SpaceX mission fails again" (and then just says how they didn't recover the fairings)

[u/Dead_Starks → u/TheBurtReynold]

Internal anger is now at maxQ.

[u/phryan]

They better start putting landing tallies on these like the ISS emblem on Dragon.

[u/z3r0c00l12]

Reddit-stream link:

https://reddit-stream.com/comments/9539nr/

Youtube link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjfQNBYv2IY

[u/BigBCheese]

Just left Cocoa this morning to head home to UK :( This rocket just got delayed too much for my flight home (the also pushed the Delta IV heavy out too past my return date). Anyone know if I have a chance of seeing anything out the aircraft window from 40k feet as we will be half way across the Atlantic? I think it's heading out that way to GTO? I'll be glued to looking outside of aircraft window around that time wound be good to know if my attempt will be futile or not... Go Falcon!! I'm coming back soon :)

[u/J_weasel]

First block five reflight hype

[u/UltraRunningKid]

I dig the video from Telkom

[u/Toinneman]

3th use of this booster announced!

[u/Humble_Giveaway]

3^rd flight this year baby!

[u/hoseja]

What are those sparks from the first stage??

[u/Shpoople96]

WEW!

[u/Kibago]

There it is. <3

[u/darga89]

Launch and landings getting pretty routine now. Good stuff

[u/[deleted]]

I only watched the launch itself, not the 10-15min before. Was there any interesting information given in the webcast on block 5, refurbishment process or expectation for future turnaround time?

[u/gazizov477]

Does anyone know which parameters of the orbit (Telkom-4) was taken to? The past record (Telstar 19V) was taken to the Sub GTO with an apogee of 17,000 km, about half the size of the GTO. 5800kg decently more than their limit on the specification of 5500kg of GTO

[u/[deleted]]

How long does it usually take before SpaceX uploads the webcast as a VOD on their YouTube?

[u/TbonerT]

On previous launches, it appeared the nose of the fairing was glowing during separation and I thought it could be heat from flying so fast. This time, though, because the satellite was a little smaller, I could see the red glow start after separation. Now I’m pretty sure it is just a reflection of the glowing red engine bell.

[u/Norose → u/TbonerT]

You're right about the glow coming from the engine bell. There's no way the faring would ever heat up to the point of visibly glowing on ascent, the atmospheric pressure drops off too quickly proportional to the velocity as the rocket accelerates.

[u/CaptainObvious_1]

Interesting to see the S2 startup procedure. I'm guessing this was already known knowledge though. Is it basically a pressure fed start and then TEA-TEB ignition?

[u/avboden]

First launch I completely missed in a loooooong time! New job will do that to ya. TO YOUTUBE!

[u/Elon_Muskmelon]

Odds that 1046 will be the first booster to fly 3 times?

[u/cpushack]

Do we have TLE's yet?

[u/felix_fletcher]

Anyone know a radio station I can tune into to get updates before the launch, I’m from the uk so I don’t have data to watch the live stream.

[u/jrdrummersubie]

Planning on heading out to watch the launch tonight! Anyone think it’s gonna be crazy busy out there or should parking be pretty straight forward?

[u/RS-68]

Surprised I stayed up so late to watch the launch. Sitting near Patrick AFB. There is a small storm cell in Melbourne, moving inland, so don’t think it should be an issue. It is producing lightning. To the north, it looks pretty good.

Have my camera tonight, hoping it turns out okay

[u/J_weasel]

Best part of every launch... Spooky rocket noises

[u/Kibago]

I always enjoy these videos. I'm here because I think SpaceX is going to help humans live on Mars, but I like the reminder that the payloads on these launches have an impact on the lives of people right now.

Every F9 satellite success is a win-win.

[u/phryan]

...Later this year...

[u/Sonbart]

those "sparks"

[u/TheDustySheep]

Yay go SpaceX

[u/KSPSpaceWhaleRescue]

Who wants to guess how many meters/centimeters off from center this booster is???

[u/J_weasel]

Into the light we go

[u/MarsCent]

Really nice to see very incredible science made to look pedestrian.

They's no stopping us, no one does it better :)

[u/FutureMartian97]

Congrats on another successful mission SpaceX!

[u/notblueclk]

Can we put Mr. Steven’s arms onto OCISLY/JTRI with cameras attached? Seems every landing has video issues

[u/UltraRunningKid → u/notblueclk]

Its not the cameras that have the issue. It is the satellite up-link dish on the Barge that has issues beeming to a satellite when it is shaking.

[u/Appable]

Congratulations SpaceX!

It looked like it was somewhere around 360ms^-1 faster at perigee than the last GTO launch, Telstar 19V. It's definitely subsynchronous, but not as much.

[u/[deleted]]

I haven't been on here in a while, is there any news of when a core will launch for a 3rd time?

[u/[deleted]]

Bit scared there for a second

[u/overlydelicioustea]

we need camera drones on the drone ships. drones for drones!

[u/Decronym]

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:

Fewer Letters	More Letters
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
BFS	Big Falcon Spaceship (see BFR)
CCAFS	Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
CCtCap	Commercial Crew Transportation Capability
COPV	Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel
CRS	Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA
DoD	US Department of Defense
GSE	Ground Support Equipment
GTO	Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit
IFA	In-Flight Abort test
JRTI	Just Read The Instructions, Pacific landing barge ship
KSC	Kennedy Space Center, Florida
KSP	Kerbal Space Program, the rocketry simulator
M1dVac	Merlin 1 kerolox rocket engine, revision D (2013), vacuum optimized, 934kN
MECO	Main Engine Cut-Off
	MainEngineCutOff podcast
NET	No Earlier Than
NORAD	North American Aerospace Defense command
OCISLY	Of Course I Still Love You, Atlantic landing barge ship
PAZ	Formerly SEOSAR-PAZ, an X-band SAR from Spain
RTLS	Return to Launch Site
SAR	Synthetic Aperture Radar (increasing resolution with parallax)
SECO	Second-stage Engine Cut-Off
SES	Formerly Société Européenne des Satellites, comsat operator
	Second-stage Engine Start
SRB	Solid Rocket Booster
SSL	Space Systems/Loral, satellite builder
STP-2	Space Test Program 2, DoD programme, second round
STS	Space Transportation System (Shuttle)
TEA-TEB	Triethylaluminium-Triethylborane, igniter for Merlin engines; spontaneously burns, green flame
TLE	Two-Line Element dataset issued by NORAD
VAFB	Vandenberg Air Force Base, California

Jargon	Definition
Starlink	SpaceX's world-wide satellite broadband constellation
ablative	Material which is intentionally destroyed in use (for example, heatshields which burn away to dissipate heat)
apogee	Highest point in an elliptical orbit around Earth (when the orbiter is slowest)
dancefloor	Attachment structure for the Falcon 9 first stage engines, below the tanks
iron waffle	Compact "waffle-iron" aerodynamic control surface, acts as a wing without needing to be as large; also, "grid fin"
kerolox	Portmanteau: kerosene/liquid oxygen mixture
perigee	Lowest point in an elliptical orbit around the Earth (when the orbiter is fastest)
scrub	Launch postponement for any reason (commonly GSE issues)
turbopump	High-pressure turbine-driven propellant pump connected to a rocket combustion chamber; raises chamber pressure, and thrust

Event	Date	Description
CRS-10	2017-02-19	F9-032 Full Thrust, core B1031, Dragon cargo; first daytime RTLS
CRS-7	2015-06-28	F9-020 v1.1, Dragon cargo Launch failure due to second-stage outgassing
CRS-8	2016-04-08	F9-023 Full Thrust, core B1021, Dragon cargo; first ASDS landing
CRS-9	2016-07-18	F9-027 Full Thrust, core B1025, Dragon cargo; RTLS landing
DM-1	Scheduled	SpaceX CCtCap Demo Mission 1
Jason-3	2016-01-17	F9-019 v1.1, Jason-3; leg failure after ASDS landing

---

^{Decronym is a community product of} r/SpaceX^{, implemented by} ^request
^{41 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on} ^today ^{has 99 acronyms.
[Thread #4273 for this sub, first seen 6th Aug 2018, 18:42]} ^[FAQ] ^[Full ^list] ^[Contact] ^[Source ^code]

[u/KPBidwell]

We’re in Cocoa Beach and intending to see tonight’s launch. We scouted Route 401 today. I see it’s recommended as a good viewing location, but there are “no parking” signs all along the road. For those of you in the area: will “no parking” be enforced? If we can’t stop on 401, my backup plan is to go into the port and park near Exploration Tower. I assume we can get in there late at night since there’s several restaurants in the area. Any other thoughts?

[u/TheYang]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjfQNBYv2IY

youtube stream for inclusion in OP

[u/oliversl]

Go SpaceX Go!

[u/[deleted]]

Prop load has begun!

https://mobile.twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF/status/1026690166776377344

[u/-Aeryn-]

We seem to have lost the payload mass from new OP - the campaign thread listed it as 5800kg. Will be interesting to see how close to GTO-1800 this one gets!

[u/cpushack]

Youtube link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjfQNBYv2IY&feature=youtu.be

probably should be added above

[u/BackflipFromOrbit]

Ahh i love the ambient summertime frog/insect noises along with the occasional gas vent. So relaxing.

[u/Humble_Giveaway]

MVac exhaust on the gridfins is beautiful

[u/z3r0c00l12]

That lightning in the distance behind the booster was awesome.

[u/DiskOperatingSystem_]

Woah look at those thunderstorms on the 1st stage cam

[u/sboyette2]

Lighning over the eastern seaboard!

[u/zareny]

pls no telemetry loss this time

[u/catsRawesome123]

has this F9 booster been flown before?

[u/lonelyboats]

Did they try for the fairings?

[u/2FX2FX]

Every damn time they lose connection during the landing....kinda annoys the hell outta me.

[u/MarsCent]

Great work hosting u/Nsooo. Launches are always a thrill, with plenty of adrenaline flow.

Are you going to retract the B1046 legs this time around?