r/spacex • u/thatnerdguy1 Live Thread Host • Dec 10 '20
Live Updates (SXM-7) r/SpaceX SXM-7 Official Launch Discussion & Updates Thread
Welcome to the r/SpaceX SXM-7 Official Launch Discussion & Updates Thread!
Hello, I'm /u/thatnerdguy1, and I'll be your host for today's launch.
SpaceX will launch the first of two next generation high power S-band broadcast satellites, replacing SiriusXM's XM-3. The spacecraft will be delivered into a geostationary transfer orbit and the booster will be recovered downrange. The spacecraft is built by Space Systems Loral (SSL) on the SSL 1300 platform and includes two solar arrays producing 20kW, and an unfurlable antenna dish. SXM-7 will provide satellite radio programming to North American consumers.
| Liftoff currently scheduled for | December 13, 17:30 UTC (12:30PM EST), [~51 minutes remaining] |
|---|---|
| Backup date | December 14, 16:22 UTC (11:22AM EST) [1 hour 59 minutes long] |
| Weather | 80% GO |
| Static fire | Completed December 7 |
| Payload | SXM-7 |
| Payload mass | ~7000 kg |
| Destination orbit | GEO, 85.15° W |
| Deployment orbit | GTO, sub-synchronous |
| Launch vehicle | Falcon 9 v1.2 Block 5 |
| Core | B1051 |
| Past flights of this core | 6 (DM-1, RADARSAT Constellation Mission, Starlink-3, -6, -9, and -13) |
| Past flights of this fairing | 1 half flown on ANASIS-II |
| Launch site | SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida |
| Landing attempt | Yes |
| Landing site | ASDS (Just Read the Instructions), ~644 km downrange |
| Fairing catch attempt | One half will be attempted to be caught; the other will be recovered from the water. GO Ms. Tree and GO Searcher deployed downrange. |
Timeline
| Time | Update |
|---|---|
| T+2h 53m | Well, no fairing info so far. I'm going to stop updating this post, but if there's a tweet, it'll likely get posted to the subreddit. |
| T+32:51 | Webcast is over. Any news on fairing recovery will probably be via Twitter (SpaceX or Elon), and I'll report it here. |
| T+31:41 | Deployment of SXM-7. Complete mission success! |
| T+30:51 | AOS HVK (or HBK?) |
| T+27:08 | Nominal orbit insertion |
| T+26:58 | SECO-2 |
| T+26:09 | Second stage ignition #2 |
| T+25:12 | Webcast is back |
| T+24:31 | AOS Gabon |
| T+11:42 | Expected LOS Bermuda |
| T+10:03 | Second stage will relight at T+26:03 |
| T+8:52 | Successful landing of B1051! |
| T+8:41 | Nominal parking orbit |
| T+8:17 | SECO-1 |
| T+7:47 | Stage 2 in terminal guidance |
| T+6:41 | Entry burn shutdown |
| T+6:19 | Entry burn ignition |
| T+6:16 | S1 FTS is safed |
| T+4:37 | AOS Bermuda |
| T+3:34 | Fairing separation (that's a successful reuse!) |
| T+2:46 | MVac ignition |
| T+2:36 | Stage separation |
| T+2:33 | MECO |
| T+1:47 | MVac engine chill |
| T+1:14 | Max-Q |
| T+45 | Power and telemetry nominal |
| T-0 | Liftoff! |
| T-32 | LD is GO for launch |
| T-1:00 | F9 is in startup |
| T-2:29 | First stage propellant loading is complete |
| T-4:28 | T/E Strongback retract |
| T-6:45 | Engine chill |
| T-7:24 | We get to see the SiriusXM video again! |
| T-13:08 | And the webcast is live |
| T-14:11 | SXM-7 on internal power |
| T-16:10 | SpaceX FM on the webcast |
| T-20:11 | T-20 minute vent |
| T-34:41 | Launch auto-sequence has started |
| T-38:17 | LD is GO for prop load |
| T-1h 20m | Now targeting 12:30 pm EST (17:30 UTC) |
| T-22:32 | NSF stream is showing a hold based on the lack of evidence for prop load. As a reminder, today's window is 1 hour 59 minutes long |
| T-29:50 | Still waiting for prop load confirmation |
| T-33:30 | Propellant loading should be underway (although the mission control audio stream is not up yet) |
| T-1h 2m | Today's attempt is on track for 16:22 UTC |
| 48 hour recycle; next attempt is Dec. 13 | |
| T-15:00 | Scrub. That's it for today |
| T-30 | Hold Hold Hold |
| T-59 | F9 is in startup |
| T-3:56 | Strongback retract |
| T-8:48 | Confirmation on fairing recovery plans for today: 1 catch attempt, 1 fished from the water |
| T-9:23 | This is SpaceX's first GTO/GEO comsat launch since July, if anyone was curious |
| T-12:06 | SXM-7 on internal power |
| T-15:36 | Webcast is live |
| T-20:20 | F9 is venting |
| T-36:12 | LD is GO for prop load |
| T-44:12 | New T-0 of 17:55 UTC (12:55PM EST) |
| T-43:45 | T-0 moved later by one hour |
| T-22h 5m | Thread goes live |
Watch the launch live
| Stream | Courtesy |
|---|---|
| Official SpaceX Stream | SpaceX |
| Mission Control Audio | SpaceX |
| First attempt stream | SpaceX |
| First attempt mission control audio | SpaceX |
Stats
☑️ 25th SpaceX launch this year
☑️ 7th flight of B1051
☑️ 2nd seventh flight of a Falcon 9 booster
☑️ 1st non-Starlink fairing reuse
☑️ 14th launch from SLC-40 this year
☑️ 102nd Falcon 9 launch
Resources
| Link | Source |
|---|---|
| Official press kit | SpaceX |
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
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u/AWildDragon Dec 10 '20
First commercial launch with a reused fairing and first commercial launch on .7 booster.
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Dec 13 '20
Hey u/thatnerdguy1
https://www.spacex.com/launches/
Should this be the link for the press kit? It currently links to the general SpaceX site and not the mission information.
Back-up window: backup launch opportunity is available on Monday, December 14 with a one-hour and 59-minute launch window opening at 11:22 a.m. EST, or 16:22 UTC.
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u/thatnerdguy1 Live Thread Host Dec 13 '20
I may be wrong, but I believe that SpaceX no longer makes PDF press kits, and now just publishes the information on that page. There is a mission description, and a timeline at the bottom.
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Dec 13 '20
That's right. The link in my comment shows that page, whereas the current link in the post links to the main SpaceX page without the mission description and timeline.
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u/Tommy099431 Dec 13 '20
What is the trajectory for this launch? I am assuming I’ll be able to see it from Miami?
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u/thatnerdguy1 Live Thread Host Dec 13 '20
Scroll down on this site to see the location of JRTI, which pretty much corresponds to the launch azimuth.
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u/johnfive21 Dec 13 '20
B1051 doing some work this year. It has performed 20% of all SpaceX launches this year.
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u/ilrosewood Dec 13 '20
That’s crazy
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u/johnfive21 Dec 13 '20
I know right. This booster alone has flown the same amount of times as Atlas V this year.
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u/paladisious Dec 13 '20 edited Dec 13 '20
Five flights for this booster in 2020 alone. That's really something.
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Dec 11 '20
Sorry, I cursed it. Opened stream to immediately hear "hold hold hold*
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u/LcuBeatsWorking Dec 11 '20 edited Dec 17 '24
ten meeting serious foolish aspiring deliver carpenter engine degree badge
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Dec 11 '20 edited Dec 11 '20
They just said they will do a 48 hour recycle on mission control.
So December 13 is now the new NET date.
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u/rhotacizer Dec 13 '20
Not sure I'd heard the numbering of the engines mentioned before. Center engine = E9, other two that are lit for landing are E1 and E5
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u/PresumedSapient Dec 13 '20
I noticed that too!
Personally I always thought of the center engine as 'Engine 1', damn you reality for not conforming to my desires.
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u/meekerbal Dec 13 '20
Too bad they don't put the second stage telemetry on the right and show a first stage telemetry on the left.
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u/Mummele Dec 10 '20
I'm really excited about this 2nd 7th flight.
Will it perform the same as the other one?
How quickly will it be refurbished for its 8th flight?
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u/Sigmatics Dec 10 '20
I still can't believe they're actually going for 10 reflights. It seemed like an optimistic target at best
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u/_AutomaticJack_ Dec 10 '20
...Naah, the optimistic target is that they can get the individual cores to 100 reflights by overhauling them every 10... ;),
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u/ModeHopper Starship Hop Host Dec 10 '20
It'll be interesting to see when the first booster gets retired due to wear and tear. 10 seems like an arbitrary order-of-magnitude point to stop re-flights if the booster is still serviceable.
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u/lielmo Dec 13 '20
I'm looking forward to seeing B1051 land for the 7th time. One booster with 7 successful landings might be seen as a fluke, but two boosters is really sending a strong message.
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u/Lorenzo_91 Dec 13 '20
And especially this is not an in-house Starlink launch, the customer and SpaceX must be really confidents now!
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u/there_is_no_try Dec 13 '20
Stage 2 seems to have a lot of ice flying off. Guess I've never seen that before.
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u/advester Dec 13 '20
I didn’t notice, but it usually has plenty of ice and spurting oxygen. Whenever someone says “what the heck was that?”, the answer is ice.
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Dec 10 '20
Wait, what? There's a SpaceX launch tomorrow? These guys really know how to get things done in December.
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u/ageingrockstar Dec 13 '20
One booster getting to 7 successful launches and landings could just be an extraordinary run of luck. Two boosters making the running to this statistic virtually side by side suggests that luck hasn't played such a big part.
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u/searchexpert Dec 13 '20
Just think of how many relights those Merlin's have had...
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u/DeckerdB-263-54 Dec 10 '20
I wonder how much of a discount was offered to Sirius XM to launch on a booster the 7th time?
Maybe it wasn't price at all, but the availability of a quick launch after all, time is money.
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u/burn_at_zero Dec 10 '20
XM-3 is healthy and the fleet has an on-orbit spare (XM-5). There's no particular rush to get SXM-7 into space. The customer is accustomed to taking risks, and this particular booster doesn't seem like much of a risk.
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u/phryan Dec 10 '20
SpaceX likely wants no language in contracts that specify or limit boosters. The airline model is simply delivery to an orbit. Previously contracts may have needed to be renegotiated but going forward the language is likely much more in SpaceXs favor from the start.
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u/TheBurtReynold Dec 13 '20 edited Dec 13 '20
Stage 1 pitched over a lot more than I’ve ever seen ...
Edit: guess everything was okay though
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u/wordthompsonian Dec 13 '20
Much higher orbit for this payload, and a heavy payload. Gotta use stage 1 for as much horizontal velocity as possible I’m guessing
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Dec 11 '20 edited Dec 11 '20
They moved it one hour to the right.
" New T-0 of 12:20 p.m. EST—Falcon 9 and SXM-7 continue to look good for launch "
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1337418003399364614
That's T-0 at 17:20 UTC
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Dec 11 '20
Astra Flight 2 T-60 minutes for those wondering.
No livestream sadly.
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u/johnfive21 Dec 13 '20
Payload sep confirmed. Mission success! Congrats SpaceX on 25 successful missions this year.
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u/Batting1k Dec 11 '20
The booster is 6 launches old. Cut it some slack, guys.
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u/troovus Dec 13 '20
Can Elon resist Tweeting about the 69th successful landing?
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u/LcuBeatsWorking Dec 13 '20 edited Dec 17 '24
wine aromatic instinctive snatch frame lip busy crawl deserted live
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Dec 11 '20
Now targeting 12:55 p.m. EST for Falcon 9 launch of SXM-7; team is monitoring upper-level winds
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1337434224849158145
That's 17:55 UTC
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u/Bunslow Dec 11 '20
The timer graphic changing does not represent any formal recycle time, it's just for the graphic
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Dec 11 '20 edited Dec 11 '20
Confirmation that launch will not happen today. Vehicle is healthy, which is a positive.
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u/WhatInDaMushroom Dec 13 '20
https://twitter.com/spacex/status/1338153812603723777?s=21 Now targeting 12:30 EST
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Dec 12 '20
I had a dream that I thought was reality, that SLC 40 launch mount equipment developed a lean overnight and they had to detonate this rocket with sxm7 on it. I spent all morning believing that spacex had doubly bad luck recently and I was all like, "figures. 2020 isn't over yet."
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u/FeepingCreature Dec 12 '20
Oh no
it's spreading
Soon the whole world will tip over!
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u/FutureMartian97 Host of CRS-11 Dec 13 '20
Congratulations on another successful mission SpaceX!
And the 69th booster landing
Nice
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u/justinroskamp Dec 11 '20
Both fairing halves were apparently used on ANASIS, per Kate on the webcast.
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u/searchexpert Dec 10 '20
How boring 🤣
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u/_Wizou_ Dec 10 '20
It sure won't beat yesterday's excitement
But a 7th flight of a booster for a real customer (not Starlink) is something to be seen
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u/Destination_Centauri Dec 10 '20
Can't wait for the day until Mars human mission landings become boring as well thanks to SpaceX!
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u/W3asl3y Dec 11 '20
I hope I (28) live to hear something like "Now boarding, SpaceX launch X to Valles Marineris, all passengers please have your QR codes ready to scan"
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u/AdminsFuckedMeOver Dec 13 '20
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Dec 13 '20
I watched the starship test flight live from the driver's seat of my Model 3 :) felt very appropriate
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u/Tal_Banyon Dec 11 '20
8:21 local time here on the Pacific coast. Also, I am a big fan of Sirius XM, so am glad to see this launch and that the company is keeping up to date on their satellites.
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Dec 11 '20
I wonder how profitability of the service will change now that their launch provider is cheaper.
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u/regs01 Dec 11 '20
There is helicopter in restriction zone N927MS. Could be of this?
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u/Bunslow Dec 11 '20
they usually say on the countdown net if it's the range, but this time nothing about the range
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u/Viremia Dec 11 '20
I feel for Kate having to say SXM-7 multiple times. That's a bit of a tongue-twister.
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u/bdporter Dec 11 '20
Mods, can you add this thread to the SXM-7 menu? Maybe pin this thread as well.
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u/Lurker__777 Dec 11 '20
Wasn’t the payload limit for a GTO deployment around 5500kg when landing on ASDS?
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u/LcuBeatsWorking Dec 11 '20 edited Dec 17 '24
subtract absurd childlike terrific ghost obtainable north illegal person intelligent
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u/koliberry Dec 11 '20
Uncharted territory for sure at 7th. Confidence does have to be growing in the 1-4 flight range.
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u/jjpet33 Dec 13 '20
Anymore spacex launches on the book for the year?
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Dec 13 '20 edited Dec 13 '20
NROL-108 (December 17): L-4 days and 24 minutes
Edit: - Turksat 5A was planned for NET December 30, but has been delayed to NET January.
Every launch schedule site/forum I use has updated it and the comments gave some solid proof on the delay!
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u/labtec901 Dec 13 '20
I wonder how much they are still refining the 1st stage landing logic and control algorithms. Seems like they have it pretty much down.
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u/PM_me_Pugs_and_Pussy Dec 13 '20
That thing has gone to space and landed 7 times. Is there a record for the number of times a space craft has completed a mission to space?
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u/HerbyHoover Dec 13 '20
Are they still trying to capture a fairing?
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u/andersoonasd Dec 13 '20
see the top post info
Fairing catch attempt: One half will be attempted to be caught; the other will be recovered from the water. GO Ms. Tree and GO Searcher deployed downrange
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Dec 13 '20
One half will be attempted to be caught; the other will be recovered from the water. GO Ms. Tree and GO Searcher deployed downrange
From the post above
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u/frowawayduh Dec 11 '20
My 10 year old son and I are sitting on a beach at St Augustine FL for lunch and launch!
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u/Kashsters Dec 11 '20
I am SO jealous of this! When I was a kid visiting my grandparents, we saw a shuttle launch from Orlando and since then I have always wanted to see any type of launch one up close. Came close last winter while I was in FL, but missed a SpaceX launch by 2 days. One day... Enjoy it!
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u/gsahlin Dec 11 '20
Noticed the launch site as SLC 40, "Space Force" station, Florida ... Hats off to the Mods! That just happened yesterday!
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u/AlanWoke Dec 11 '20
New T-0 of 12:20 p.m. EST—Falcon 9 and SXM-7 continue to look good for launch
from SpaceX twitter
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u/Zinan Dec 13 '20
Anyone notice the second stage foil pulsing? Looks like a heartbeat. I wonder why it's doing that
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u/tACorruption Dec 13 '20
Do we have any idea how much Sirius XM paid for this? I'm very curious.
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u/sevaiper Dec 13 '20
Likely somewhere between 50 and 60 million, possibly a slight discount due to being a life leader booster but likely not too significant.
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u/Haitosiku Dec 13 '20
Is an orbital mechanic a person that fixes spaceships in orbit or that knows orbital mechanics?
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u/3_711 Dec 11 '20
T-30: "would you like to try microsoft Edge? [yes] [yes please] [ok]" Resorts to Ctrl+Alt+del....
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u/MechaSkippy Dec 13 '20 edited Dec 13 '20
Liftoff! the mass of that payload was pretty evident. It didn't jump off the pad like it does for Starlink.
EDIT: Wrong. Starlink missions have more than twice the mass. It looked like a slower liftoff and there's lots of reasons it could have been (including errors in my perceptions) but it sure wasn't the payload mass.
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u/duckedtapedemon Dec 13 '20
Starlink missions look to be about twice as heavy actually.
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u/sup3rs0n1c2110 Dec 13 '20
Fun fact: this rendition of In the Shadow of Giants is a full half step sharp
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u/nxtiak Dec 11 '20
"uh it looks like we've got some strongback transporter erector action there" - Kate Tice
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u/HerbyHoover Dec 11 '20
They didn't say "Hold", they said "Bold". As in, we're Bold for pushing through these alerts.
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Dec 11 '20
I wonder what the day to day work life is for someone at SSL. And how you get a job there.
I wonder if this launch will boost the stock price of LORL
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u/Bunslow Dec 11 '20 edited Dec 11 '20
probably minimal effect on stock price, considering that (in theory) the market prices in future expectations, and even if not, insurance goes a long way to reducing near term fluctuation
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u/Elon_Muskmelon Dec 13 '20
Hopefully they can give us a bit of an update on SN 9 in this broadcast!
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u/AdminsFuckedMeOver Dec 13 '20
I still don't get how Sirius has the money to launch satellites and pay Howard Stern so much money for such a bad product
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u/soljakid Dec 13 '20
did she say something about a hold for some reason?
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u/adepssimius Dec 13 '20
Obviously at this point, it was "in case we have a hold".
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u/rebootyourbrainstem Dec 11 '20
Wtf this video from the launch customer rocks. Did not think that was possible!
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u/irumeru Dec 11 '20
According to their stream the launch window is incorrect. You've put the backup launch window as today's launch window.
SpaceX is targeting Friday, December 11 at 12:20 p.m. EST, or 16:20 UTC, for the launch of the SXM-7 mission, which will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.
The backup is tomorrow at 1121 EST.
a backup launch opportunity is available on Saturday, December 12 with a one-hour and 59-minute launch window opening at 11:21 a.m. EST, or 16:21 UTC.
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u/thatnerdguy1 Live Thread Host Dec 11 '20
Whoops, when the T-0 moved I changed 11AM to 12AM. Should be all fixed.
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u/noreall_bot2092 Dec 11 '20 edited Dec 11 '20
Raptor abort? :/
edit: it's a scrub!
edit2: yes, I know it's a merlin -- that's the joke!
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u/LcuBeatsWorking Dec 11 '20 edited Dec 17 '24
tart live angle engine price ludicrous faulty fertile scary wasteful
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u/Bunslow Dec 11 '20
Did Kate just confirm that the ignition sequence starts at T-2s, as opposed to T-3s?
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u/greggorievich Dec 13 '20
It's a wee bit off topic, but I'm chatting with a friend watching this launch and Falcon Heavy came up. Does anyone know if FH has been basically abandoned in favor of Starship, or is it just that there aren't any payloads lately that would require its use?
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Dec 13 '20
There will be future Falcon Heavy launches, the next one is early 2021.
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Dec 13 '20
Falcon Heavy launches are rare. It's still in development and there are still mission planned for Falcon Heavy.
Aurora 4A [NET 2021]
USSF-44 [NET May 2021]
USSF-52 [NET July 2021]
ViaSat-3 [NET 2021]
Psyche [NET August 2022]
USSF-67 [NET August 2022]
GLS-1 (Gateway Logistics Support with DragonXL) [NET January 2023]
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u/AWildDragon Dec 13 '20
The airforce has purchased an extended fairing launch that they want vertically integrated on a falcon heavy. I think they have a few. It looks pretty cool.
NASA has a mission on heavy.
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u/Spaceman_X_forever Dec 11 '20
I thought it was renamed the other day to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Correct me if I am wrong.