Live coverage of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket countdown and launch from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Starlink 4-26 mission will launch SpaceX’s next batch of 53 Starlink broadband satellites.follow us twitter.
SFN live
SpaceX counts down the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket and 52 Starlink Internet satellites at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday. The commercial mission is scheduled to launch into low-Earth orbit at 10:14 PM EDT (0214 GMT), with Falcon 9’s first reusable stage targeting an offshore unmanned vessel landing.
The launch team missed the opportunity to launch at 6:57 PM EDT (2257 GMT) due to unfavorable winds at the top. According to the U.S. Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron, there is a 70% chance of favorable weather for Tuesday’s launch.
The Falcon 9 rocket is headed northeast of Kennedy Space Center and aims to carry a crammed broadband repeater station in orbit between 144 miles and 208 miles (232 x 338 kilometers). About 15 minutes after takeoff, 52 flatpack satellites will be deployed from the upper stage of the Falcon 9.
On Tuesday’s mission, assigned Starlink 4-26, SpaceX will launch 3,09 Starlink internet satellites. This includes prototypes and obsolete test units. Tuesday’s launch coincides with SpaceX’s 54th mission, which is primarily aimed at putting Starlink satellites into orbit.
Positioned in the firing chamber of the Kennedy Launch Control Center, the SpaceX launch team begins loading ultra-cold condensed kerosene and liquid oxygen thrusters into the 229-foot (70-meter) Falcon 9 into a 35-minute T-minus. .
Helium pressure also flows into the rocket during the final 30 minutes of the countdown. During his final seven minutes before takeoff, the Falcon 9 Merlin’s main engine is temperature-controlled for flight in a procedure called “chilldown.” The Falcon 9’s guidance and field safety systems will also be configured for launch.
After takeoff, the Falcon 9 rocket delivers 1.7 million pounds of thrust (produced by nine Merlin engines) and maneuvers across the Northeast Atlantic.
The missile exceeds the speed of sound in about one minute and shuts down its nine main engines two and a half minutes after takeoff. The booster launches from the Falcon 9’s upper stage, releasing pulses of cold gas-controlled thrusters and a titanium grille that unfurls his fins to help propel the vehicle back into the atmosphere.
After about eight-and-a-half minutes of takeoff, two brake burners slow the missile down as it lands on the “A Shortfall of Gravitas” drone at a distance of about 400 miles (650 kilometers).
On its third flight into space, it launches a flying booster for the Starlink 4-26 mission known as B1073. It debuted on an earlier Starlink launch in May and flew again on June 29 on the SES 22 commercial broadcast television satellite.
The first-stage landing of Tuesday’s mission will take place shortly after the Falcon 9’s second-stage engines shut down to deliver the Starlink satellite into orbit. Her 52nd spacecraft, built by SpaceX in Redmond, Washington, is scheduled to separate from the Falcon 9 rocket in a T+ period of 15 minutes and 24 seconds.
Holding rails launch from Starlink’s payload stack and allow flat-packed satellites to fly freely into orbit from the Falcon 9’s upper stage. The 52 spacecraft will activate and power their solar arrays through an automated start-up procedure and move into operational orbit using krypton-fueled ion engines.
The Falcon 9’s guidance computer is intended to deploy the satellite into an elliptical orbit with an orbital inclination of 53.2 degrees with respect to the equator. The satellite will use onboard thrust to do the rest, reaching a circular orbit 335 miles (540 kilometers) above Earth.
Starlink satellites fly in one of five orbital “shells” in different directions on SpaceX’s global internet. After reaching operational orbit, the satellite will enter commercial service and begin transmitting broadband signals to consumers. Consumers can purchase his Starlink service and connect to the network via ground stations provided by SpaceX.
rocket: Falcon 9 (B1073.3)
payload: 52 Starlink satellites (Starlink 4-26)
Launch location: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Lunch date: August 9, 2022
Launch time: 10:14:40 PM ET (02:14:40 GMT)
weather forecast: 70% chance of acceptable weather. Low risk of upper winds.Reduced risk of adverse conditions for enhanced recovery
Recovery from enhancement: Drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” east of Charleston, South Carolina
Azimuth Launch: northeast
Target Orbit: 144 miles x 208 miles (232 kilometers x 335 kilometers), 53.2 degree miles
Launch timeline:
- T+00:00: Takeoff
- T+01: 12: Maximum air pressure (Max-Q)
- T+02:26: Stage 1 of Main Engine Cutoff (MICO)
- T+02:30: Stage Separation
- T+02:36: Ignite the engine in the second stage
- T+02:41: Get rid of the tranquility
- T+06:45: Ignition of combustion entering first stage (three engines)
- T+07:06: The first stage enters the burning stop
- T+08:19: 1st stage burner ignition (single engine)
- T+08:43: Stage 2 engine shutdown (SECO 1)
- T+08:44: 1st segment landing
- T+15:24: Starlink satellite disconnect
Job statistics:
- 169th Falcon 9 launch since 2010
- 177th launch of the Falcon family since 2006
- Third Launch of Falcon 9 Booster B1073
- Falcon 9 146 launched from Florida’s Space Coast
- SpaceX53 launched from Platform 39A
- 147th overall release from board 39A
- Flight 111 of a repurposed Falcon 9 booster
- 54th Dedicated Falcon 9 Launch with Starlink Satellites
- 35th Falcon 9 launch in 2022
- 35th SpaceX launch in 2022
- 35th orbital launch attempt to launch from Cape Canaveral in 2022
Send an email to the author.
Follow Stephen Clarke on Twitter. embedding a tweet.