Bangabandhu-1

All posts tagged Bangabandhu-1

For SpaceX, Early August Will Have Its Ups and Downs– Literally

Posted by Chris Tobias on August 2, 2018
Posted in: Launches, Updates. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

by Chris Tobias

It’s been a busy summer for SpaceX, and this month will be no exception.  One might say the beginning of August will have its ups and downs for Elon Musk and company– quite literally– with the CRS-15 mission drawing to a close and the launch of yet another satellite.

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Image:  spacefacts.de

SpaceX’s Dragon will return to Earth this weekend after spending more than a month berthed at the International Space Station, signaling the end of the CRS-15 mission.  The capsule is scheduled for splashdown south of the Port of Los Angeles on Friday, August 3.  Should an alternative landing date be deemed necessary, Dragon’s return could be postponed until Sunday, August 5, with splashdown occuring in the same general area.  Once recovered, Dragon will be brought back to the Port of Los Angeles for the unloading of any time-sensitive cargo.  The remainder of Dragon’s cargo will be unloaded once the capsule has arrived at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

And on Tuesday, August 7, SpaceX plans to launch a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.  Falcon will be carrying the Merah Putih (Telkom-4) communications satellite, which will provide coverage to Indonesia and India.  Liftoff is scheduled for 1:19am, EDT (5:19 UTC).  The Falcon 9 that will be used for this upcoming mission previously flew for the Bangabandhu-1 mission.  The Merah Putih satellite will be placed in a Geostationary Transfer Orbit, and the Falcon 9’s first stage will be recovered once again, with a landing planned in the Atlantic Ocean on SpaceX’s drone ship Of Course I Still Love You.

Those who would like to watch the launch can tune in to spacex.com or the company’s YouTube channel.  SpaceX’s webcasts typically begin around 20 minutes before liftoff.

Peace, love and rockets…

A Firefly and Serenity Timeline

Posted by Chris Tobias on May 14, 2018
Posted in: Articles. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment
by Chris Tobias
In the wake of this weekend’s successful Bangabandhu-1 mission, which featured the successful launch and landing of the new Block 5 Falcon 9, SpaceX is taking a full eight days off between launches.  (Let that sink in for a minute.  We now have a private space company that’s basically launching once a week… but I digress.)  Since we have a little time before we have to discuss the specifics of the next mission, I figured I’d devote some space (yes, the pun is always intended) to a Browncoat-themed post.
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Take Back the Sky is not the only cause to which this Browncoat devotes his time and energy.  Since 2013, I have also been the organizer of the annual Can’t Stop the Serenity (CSTS) charity screenings of Serenity (and occasionally Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog) for the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  As a CSTS organizer, I have access to the global CSTS message boards at www.cantstoptheserenity.com, which really have a plethora of great information in their archives that any hardcore Browncoat would love to read through if he or she had the time.  In fact, it was on these very message boards that Jeff first proposed the idea of lobbying SpaceX to name its first Crew Dragon after Serenity.
Since only the organizers or co-organizers (think captains and first mates) of local CSTS events have access to the boards’ archives, I think it’s a shame that a lot of Browncoats will never have the chance to read some of the interesting things that are contained there.  So, seeing as how I’m an organizer who has that virtual all-access pass, I decided to share one of them with you.
The following is a chronological list of important dates in the history of Firefly and Serenity, presented in calendar format.  It appears almost exactly as it was originally posted on the global CSTS message boards, though I have made a few minor modifications for the sake of clarity and ease of reading.

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SpaceX Bangabandhu-1 Launch Set for May 10

Posted by Chris Tobias on May 9, 2018
Posted in: Launches. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
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Courtesy SpaceX Updates via Twitter

by Chris Tobias

On May 10, SpaceX is scheduled to launch the Bangabandhu-1 satellite to geostationary transfer orbit from Launch Complex 39-A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Bangabandhu-1 will be Bangladesh’s first geostationary communications satellite.  Its name means “friend of Bengal,” and it is named in honor of the founding father of the nation of Bangladesh.  It is designed to provide communications services to Bangladesh and surrounding countries for at least the next 15 years.

The Falcon 9 that will carry Bangabandhu-1 into the black is scheduled to liftoff at 16:12 EST (20:12 UTC) on Thursday.  The mission will also feature a landing of the Falcon 9’s first stage at sea aboard the SpaceX drone barge Of Course I Still Love You.

The highlight of the mission, however, will be the debut of the new “Block 5” variant of the Falcon 9.  The Block 5 features a number of design upgrades that are intended to improve the rocket’s efficiency and safety, while allowing SpaceX to refly each first stage booster as many as ten times or more.  (None of the previous Falcon 9 boosters have broken atmo more than twice.)

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SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk released this photo of the rollout of the Block 5 variant of the Falcon 9, which will launch on May 10.

SpaceX has indicated that the Block 5 will be the final variant of their workhorse Falcon 9.  The company will now concentrate on the development of its BFR, or “Big Falcon Rocket,” as well as the production of the Falcon Heavy (the rocket that we hope will soon carry US astronauts to the International Space Station aboard a Crew Dragon named Serenity), while its Block 5 fleet of Falcon 9 rockets handles SpaceX’s ambitious manifest of scheduled commercial satellite launches.

Those who want to see the new Falcon 9 Block 5 in action can watch Thursday’s launch online.  As is usually the case, SpaceX’s live coverage of the launch will begin on spacex.com and the company’s YouTube channel approximately 20 minutes prior to liftoff.

Peace, love and rockets…