(NET) Before 7:08 PM EDT (23:08 UTC) on Aug. 4, the airline’s proven Falcon 9 rocket will fly to SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral as part of the company’s 34th launch in 2022. It will be launched from the Space Force Station LC-40 platform. .
The mission, which will carry South Korea’s Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) spacecraft, will be SpaceX’s first direct-to-moon launch and could make South Korea one of the few countries to successfully orbit a planetary body other than Earth. increase.
SpaceX has appointed a former Falcon Heavy booster B1052 for its first lunar launch. After debuting in April 2019 and supporting another Falcon Heavy launch in June, the original ‘side booster’ would last months or years for each payload contracted to launch the most powerful operational rocket. It was not used for almost 1,000 days due to delays. Eventually, SpaceX abandoned the wait and switched the car to his Falcon 9 booster, the Falcon 9B1052 debuting on his January 31st, 2022.
Technically, KPLO is not the first payload SpaceX has helped launch to the moon. That distinction is held by Israel’s Beresheet lunar rover, which launched its Engagement his payload aboard the Falcon 9 geostationary communications spacecraft in 2019. The spacecraft landed unsuccessfully, but entered a stable orbit around the Moon before things got any worse.
Instead of launching satellites as transfer payloads into Earth orbit, KPLO (also known as Danuri) will be the only spacecraft aboard Falcon 9, a SpaceX rocket that will send the orbiter directly into a type of lunar injection (TLI) path known as lunar orbital travel. Although the BLT is much slower than other TLI orbits, it trades speed for exceptional efficiency, making Falcon 9 easier to launch and requiring less fuel to enter orbit, ultimately making it an orbiter. takes longer to orbit the moon.
If all goes according to plan, the KPLO, which weighs about 1,500 pounds at takeoff, will complete several orbit correction burns before finally entering lunar orbit in mid-December. The spacecraft is equipped with many cameras, network experiments and some scientific instruments, and the main purpose of the spacecraft is to explore debris-free areas for future Korean lunar landers.
The unnamed follow-up mission will be more domestic as South Korea intends to launch its own Nouri missiles. Nouri successfully reached orbit on her second launch attempt in June 2022 after an unsuccessful first orbital launch attempt in October 2021.
KPLO is one of them. Up to 6 launches Planned for August 4 around the world, including two China missions, a ULA launch on the US East Coast, a Rocket Lab mission from New Zealand, and Blue Origin’s newest subtropical tourism launch. Barring delays, KPLO will be the last launch of the day. SpaceX’s official webcast could start around 6:55 PM ET (22:50 UTC).
