Iridium NEXT

All posts tagged Iridium NEXT

SpaceX Plans Next Starlink Launch for March 15

Posted by Chris Tobias on March 14, 2020
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by Chris Tobias

With Dragon D-1 snuggled safely against the International Space Station following its arrival on March 9, SpaceX will now turn its attention to the launch of its next batch of Starlink satellites from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center on March 15.

f9_starlink1_patch-678x664_1A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to liftoff NET Sunday morning at 9:22 am EDT (1322 GMT) at Cape Canaveral in Florida carrying another 60 satellites that will be installed in SpaceX’s growing constellation of Starlink broadband internet satellites.  Tomorrow’s launch will be SpaceX’s sixth launch of the year and its sixth Starlink launch to date.

The Falcon 9 booster for this mission will become the first booster to launch five times.  This particular rocket is a veteran of previous Iridium NEXT and Starlink launches, as well as the launch of Israel’s Beresheet lunar lander and Indonesia’s Nusantara Satu satellite.

SpaceX will attempt to recover the Falcon 9’s first stage for a fifth time in the Atlantic Ocean aboard its drone ship Of Course I Still Love You.  The company also hopes to catch and recover the fairings from this mission aboard its “fairing catcher” ships, GO Ms. Tree and GO Ms. Chief.  

Those who wish to watch the launch live can tune in to SpaceX’s webcast of the mission approximately 20 minutes  before liftoff at spacex.com and on the company’s YouTube channel.

Peace, love and rockets…

SpaceX Iridium-8 Launch Fulfills NEXT Contract

Posted by Chris Tobias on January 8, 2019
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by Chris Tobias

The first SpaceX launch of the New Year is scheduled to take place (NET) Friday, January 11 at 10:31 AM EST (15:31 UTC).  SpaceX completed the static fire for the Iridium-8 mission at Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg AFB in California on January 6, and will launch 10 satellites of the Iridium NEXT constellation aboard a Falcon 9 from the same pad this weekend.

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(image courtesy AmericaSpace)

The relationship between SpaceX and Iridium traces back to 2010, when Iridium contracted Elon Musk’s private space company to launch its entire NEXT satellite constellation shortly after the very first successful flight of a Falcon 9.  It would be seven years before SpaceX would be able to start fulfilling that contract, but since the first of seven previous Iridium NEXT missions was completed in 2017, SpaceX has been able to launch and deploy each subsequent group of satellites every few months with little interruption.  This month’s launch will be the eighth and final launch of the Iridium NEXT constellation of satellites, and upon its completion, SpaceX will have launched a total of 75 satellites for Iridium in just two years.

The Falcon 9 for this mission will be a previously-flown booster that was launched and recovered in September of 2018 during the Telstar 18V mission.  This final group of ten Iridium NEXT satellites will be inserted into a Low Polar Orbit, and the first stage of the Falcon 9 will land once again, this time at sea aboard SpaceX’s Pacific drone barge Just Read the Instructions.

Those who wish to watch this milestone mission can tune into SpaceX’s live webcast at spacex.com and on the company’s YouTube channel.  Coverage will begin approximately 20 minutes before liftoff.

Peace, love and rockets…

Iridium-7 Next Up for SpaceX

Posted by Chris Tobias on July 23, 2018
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Iridium-7

(Image: America Space)

by Chris Tobias

Elon Musk and company are ready to send another Falcon 9 into the black this Wednesday, just days after SpaceX successfully completed the Telstar 19 mission.  This time the action will be on the West Coast.

On July 25, a Falcon 9 of the new Block 5 variant will launch from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.  The mission is Iridium-7, the latest in a series of what is expected to be a total of eight missions to put 75 Iridium NEXT satellites in orbit.  Once completed, the mission will bring the number of deployed satellites to 65.  Liftoff is scheduled for 7:39 am EDT (11:39 UTC).

The Iridium-7 mission will insert a constellation of 10 new satellites into Low Earth Orbit as part of Iridium Communications ongoing effort to overhaul its communications fleet.  The first stage of this particular Block 5 Falcon 9, which is making its maiden flight, will land on SpaceX’s drone recovery ship Just Read the Instructions in the Pacific Ocean.  The mission will mark SpaceX’s 14th flight of this calendar year.

As usual, live coverage of the launch will be available via SpaceX’s webcast, which should go live approximately 20 minutes before liftoff at spacex.com and on the company’s YouTube channel.

Peace, love and rockets…

SpaceX Turns Two with Launch from Vandenberg on Tuesday

Posted by Chris Tobias on May 21, 2018
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by Chris Tobias

SpaceX will make it a double when it launches its next Falcon 9 into the black from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg AFB in California on Tuesday, May 22.  The “Block 4” Falcon 9, which flew previously for that top-secret ZUMA mission back in November, will carry two satellite payloads into Low Earth Polar Orbit– Iridium-6 and GRACE-FO.

The instantaneous launch window will open at 3:47 EST (19:47 UTC).  The GRACE-FO satellites will deploy early in the mission (less than twelve minutes after liftoff).  The five Iridium NEXT satellites will deploy roughly an hour into the mission.

As the name suggests, Iridium-6 will be the sixth mission SpaceX has flown for Iridium as it replaces and upgrades the world’s largest commercial satellite network.  At the conclusion of this mission, SpaceX will have just two missions remaining for Iridium, after which it will have delivered a total of 75 new satellites into orbit– 66 operational satellites and nine on-orbit spares.  The ongoing Iridium NEXT mission is one of the largest “tech upgrades” in space history.

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Meanwhile, the NASA/German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) GRACE Follow-On (GRACE-FO) mission is intended to continue GRACE’s 15-year legacy of tracking the movement of Earth’s mass.  These twin satellites will allow the distribution of Earth’s mass to be mapped monthly and tracked over larger periods of time.  This will, in turn, provide valuable data about climate change, including changes in ice sheets and glaciers, water levels in large lakes and rivers as well as sea level, and various water and energy cycles.

Since the Falcon 9 being used for this mission is a “Block 4” model, it is unlikely that there will be a landing of the rocket’s first stage.  SpaceX will attempt to capture the fairings, however, and Mr. Steven, the company’s “spider-boat” that was designed especially for that purpose, is already at sea.

Those who would like to follow the mission’s progress can catch SpaceX’s live webcast, which will begin approximately 20 minutes before liftoff at spacex.com and on the company’s YouTube channel.

Peace, love and rockets…