Zuma

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SpaceX Turns Two with Launch from Vandenberg on Tuesday

Posted by Chris Tobias on May 21, 2018
Posted in: Launches. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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…

First SpaceX Launch of the New Year Will Be Close to the Vest. But Then…

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

Zuma mission patch (Image: Ars Technica)

by Chris Tobias

After an impressive slate of achievements and historic firsts in 2017, SpaceX will kick off the new year with the launch of its still top-secret Zuma mission on January 5, 2018.  The clandestine government payload, which was to have launched on board a Falcon 9 November 15 of last year, was delayed due to a payload fairing issue.  That issue now appears to have been resolved, and a Falcon 9 is scheduled to take Zuma into the black this Friday, with a two-hour launch window opening at 8:00 PM EST.  At this time the weather is 90% GO for launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) in Florida.

Not much more has been revealed about this mission or its payload since we first previewed it back in November of 2017.  While it may seem unusual for anything that an Elon Musk-owned company does to have so little fanfare, it’s doubtful that we’ll have to get used to it.

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Falcon Heavy vertical on the launch pad last month.  (Photo:  John Kraus)

SpaceX is set to have a spectacular 2018, starting with the planned maiden launch of the Falcon Heavy, which could happen as early as late January.  The Falcon Heavy already caused quite a stir on social media when it briefly went vertical for fit checks at LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center at the end of last month, and Musk’s claim that its first payload would be his own Tesla Roadster has only added to the hype surrounding what will be the most powerful operational rocket in the world.  We’ll be discussing the Falcon Heavy and its inaugural launch in more detail in the near future.

But the SpaceX milestone that we’re most anticipating in 2018 is the launch of the very first Crew Dragon, which will finally take US astronauts back out to the black from American soil for the first time in seven years.  That launch should happen sometime late this summer or early in the fall, and when it does, we hope that the capsule will be named Serenity, after the Firefly-class transport ship in Joss Whedon’s TV series Firefly and its follow-up motion picture Serenity.

2018 marks our sixth year of lobbying SpaceX to name its first Crew Dragon Serenity, and if you’re a Browncoat (or if you just agree that it would be a good name), you can still help us bring our efforts to fruition.  All you really need to do is write a brief letter to SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk, along with company president Gwynne Shotwell, urging them to christen SpaceX’s first manned spaceship with that name.

In the meantime, you should be able to watch a live webcast of the Zuma launch at spacex.com and on SpaceX’s YouTube channel on January 5.  Coverage should begin approximately 20-30 minutes before liftoff.

On behalf of everyone here at Take Back the Sky, may your New Year be filled with peace, happiness, prosperity, and of course Serenity!

Peace, love and rockets…

SpaceX CRS-13 Dragon Launch to ISS Slated for December 12

Posted by Chris Tobias on December 10, 2017
Posted in: Launches. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

600px-SpaceX_CRS-13_Patchby Chris Tobias

SpaceX plans to launch its thirteenth resupply mission to the International Space Station from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral, Florida this Tuesday, December 12 at 11:46AM EST.  A Falcon 9 rocket will carry an unmanned Dragon capsule into the black loaded with supplies, equipment and science experiments, including NASA’s Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor (TSIS-1) as well as a fiber optic payload.  SpaceX will also attempt to recover the first stage of the Falcon 9 at the LZ-1 landing site at Cape Canaveral.

This is SpaceX’s first mission since indefinitely postponing the “Zuma” rocket launch that was to have taken place at LC-39A at Cape Canaveral last month.  SpaceX indicated that it had some concerns stemming from a payload fairing test for another customer (the “Zuma” mission is supposed to launch a clandestine payload for an unnamed government agency), and that it was standing down until engineers completed their analysis.  At this time that mission has yet to be rescheduled, but there are no such concerns for this launch.

According to SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk, Tuesday’s launch of the Dragon will also be the first time that both the orbital rocket and the capsule are being re-flown.  SpaceX has successfully reused Falcon 9 boosters on multiple occasions, and has already sent a reused Dragon capsule to the ISS, but this will be the first mission for which both the rocket and the capsule are flight proven.  SpaceX has made reusability a priority for several years now, both in an attempt to lower costs and in order to take a significant step toward the day when frequent, perhaps even daily, launches both to and beyond Low Earth Orbit are commonplace.

A crewed version of the Dragon space capsule is scheduled to make its first manned test flight in the latter half of the coming year as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, and as you probably well know by now, it’s this Crew Dragon that we hope will be named Serenity after the Firefly-class transport ship in Joss Whedon’s cult-classic space western TV series Firefly and motion picture Serenity.  (If you want to know how you can help us make that happen, visit our Take Action page.)

In the meantime, the unmanned, flight proven version of the Dragon will begin its journey to the ISS on Tuesday, and you can watch the mission unfold live online.  SpaceX’s webcast of the launch will go live at spacex.com and on the company’s YouTube channel approximately 20-30 minutes prior to liftoff.

Peace, love and rockets.

SpaceX Launch on November 15 Shrouded in Secrecy

Posted by Chris Tobias on November 14, 2017
Posted in: Launches. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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by Chris Tobias

If you thought SpaceX’s launch of the X-37B was the stuff of conspiracy theorists’ dreams, consider the upcoming launch from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on Wednesday, November 15.

The mission, dubbed “Falcon 9 Zuma,” has a projected liftoff time of 8:00pm EST and a launch window that stretches from 8:00pm to 10:00pm EST.  Following the launch, the Falcon 9’s first stage will attempt a landing at Landing Zone 1 (LZ1) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

That’s it.  That’s all we know.  No other information about the launch, the payload or the overall mission is available.  The rocket might as well have “TOP SECRET” painted on its side.

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