Amid what was a potential salvo of orbital missions preparing to launch from the US East Coast, a SpaceX Falcon 9 cleaned up the fourth GPS III satellite for the US Space Force Takeoff was aborted two seconds to the 9:43 p.m. EDT Friday launch With only a 15 minute launch window, the launch was cleaned up due to lack of time to activate a recycle
The 45th Weather Squadron of the 45th Space Wing of the US Air Force at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida predicts a 50% chance of favorable weather conditions for the relief launch occasion on Saturday night
The mission will be launched from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida After the initial ascent, the Falcon 9’s first stage will attempt a propellant landing on Just Read the Instructions, l one of SpaceX’s autonomous space drones stationed in the Atlantic Ocean SpaceX’s pair of fairing salvage ships, GO Ms Chef and GO Ms Tree, are also positioned downstream
SpaceX’s recovery fleet has responded to several revamps to SpaceX’s launch schedule over the past few days The other drone ship, Of course I still love you, is also parked nearby pending the next mission. Starlink, currently scheduled for Saturday morning at the earliest
After the pre-launch static fire test, the launch of the GPS-III-SV04 was scheduled for September 29.The mission was first postponed to September 30 to improve launch and recovery conditions, then to October 2 due to scope conflict
The conflict may have been related to one or both of a United Launch Alliance Delta IV heavy rocket for the NROL-44 mission and a Northrop Grumman Antares rocket launching the Cygnus NG-14 mission to the international space station Northrop Grumman has delayed its launch until Friday night at the most due to a ground support equipment issue, and ULA is currently working to remedy an abortion in the dying seconds of its latest launch attempt. This cleared the eastern range for a pair of Falcon 9 missions, including GPS-III-SV04 and a Starlink mission
A pair of Falcon 9 rockets stand vertically on SpaceX’s two launch pads in Florida Left to right: B10621 for GPS-III-SV04 on SLC-40 and B10583 for the 13th Starlink mission at LC-39A – via SpaceX
The first stage of this mission is the B1062, a brand new Falcon 9 core The scene successfully completed a static fire test at SLC-40 on September 25 before this launch
Previous US Department of Defense missions including GPS-III-SV04 were required for the launch of new Falcon 9 boosters Now the US Air Force has approved the use of boosters reused on launches GPS-III-SV05 and SV06, the first SpaceX national security launches that will be allowed to use flight-proven stages The Department of Defense was the last major SpaceX customer to need new boosters before this approval, after NASA allowed Crew Dragon missions to run on reused Falcon 9s This shift in the US military could open the door to similar plans for other SpaceX national security missions
When SpaceX launched its first GPS III mission, the launch customer requested that the Falcon 9 fly in an expandable configuration, with no landing legs or grid fins After the successful launch, without any attempt to recover the first stage, SpaceX was approved to attempt to recover the first stage on future GPS launches. Falcon 9 B1060 was successfully recovered on boardJust read the instructions after launching the GPS-III-SV03
The same drone left Port Canaveral on September 26 to support the launch of the SV04 At launch, Just Read the Instructions will be parked 635 kilometers downstream, northeast of Cape Canaveral
Falcon 9 launches GPS-III-SV03 satellite in June 2020 Gray paint stripe of second stage is visible – via Nathan Barker for NSF / L2
During the launch of the GPS-III-SV03, the second stage of the Falcon 9 featured a stripe of gray paint.The dark strip, different from the usual completely white scene, improves the thermal conditions inside the thruster tanks during long duration missions, such as GPS launches in medium earth orbit This gray band was also tested during the CRS-18 Cargo Dragon mission The second stage of the GPS-III-SV04 launch, however, does not have the paint stripe, suggesting SpaceX was testing its effects on previous missions, rather than implementing it on all GPS launches
Falcon 9 will deploy the spacecraft to a transfer orbit of approximately 1,200 by 20,000 kilometers at an inclination of 55 degrees The satellite will then use its own propulsion to move in a circular orbit at an altitude of 20,200 kilometers This is the operational orbit where the GPS III satellites will carry out their missions
The GPS-III-SV04 spacecraft arrived or being prepared for launch at Cape Canaveral aboard a US Air Force C-17 cargo plane on July 14 The satellite was built by Lockheed Martin , based on the A2100M satellite bus Ten of the GPS III satellites have been ordered to date
GPS-III-SV04 satellite during encapsulation – via US Space Force Space and Missiles Systems Center
Each GPS III satellite carries a navigation payload supplied by L3Harris Technologies The Block III series of GPS navigation satellites replace the Block II series, allowing for more precise signals, increased resistance to interference and extended service life of spacecraft SV04 is the fourth GPS III satellite to be launched and the third to be launched on a Falcon 9, excluding a spacecraft which was launched during the last flight of the Delta IV Medium rocket
The Falcon 9 flight profile to medium Earth orbit will include two upper stage burns After the separation of the stages, when the first stage returns to Earth for landing, the second stage will perform the first burn in order to ‘Reach Orbit During this burn, the payload shroud is separated and the two halves will descend to the SpaceX salvage ships for a potential salvage attempt approximately 45 minutes after launch
After SECO-1, the end of the first upper stage burn, the stage and the GPS satellite will run for approximately 55 minutes Then the second upper stage burn will begin, lasting only 45 seconds After a phase of 25 minutes, the GPS-III-SV04 satellite is deployed
SpaceX, Falcon 9, United States Space Force, United Launch Alliance, Space launch, GPS Block III
News from the world – EN – SpaceX cleans up the fourth GPS III satellite launch – NASASpaceFlightcom
