10.12.2020
Also on the schedule this week is a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, currently slated to take flight from nearby Launch Complex 40 during a two-hour window that opens at 11:20 a.m. Friday. Its mission to launch a SiriusXM satellite for space-based radio will include a drone ship landing in the Atlantic.
Launch Friday, Dec. 11
- Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9
- Mission: SiriusXM satellite
- Launch Time: 11:20 a.m.
- Launch Window: To 1:20 p.m.
- Launch Complex: 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
- Landing: Drone ship
- Weather: 80% "go"
Quelle: Florida Today
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SpaceX Prepares Record-Breaking Falcon 9 for 25th Launch of 2020
In readiness for its next launch, B1051 and a sparkling-new upper stage were trundled out of the Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF) on Monday and were put through a customary Static Fire Test of the nine Merlin 1D+ first-stage engines. “Static Fire Test complete,” SpaceX tweeted shortly thereafter. “Targeting Falcon 9 launch of SXM-7 for @SIRIUSXM from SLC-40 in Florida on Friday, 11 December.”
Weighing around 15,000 pounds (7,000 kg), SXM-7 is provided by the New York-headquartered SiriusXM Holdings, Inc., and will support its Digital Audio Radio Service (DARS). Contracts to build the satellite (and its twin, SXM-8, targeted for launch next year), were signed with Space Systems/Loral (SS/L)—now a subsidiary of Maxar Technologies—back in July 2016.
Both are based upon the SSL-1300 “bus” and will generate more than 20 kilowatts of electrical power and carry a large unfurlable S-band antenna reflector, capable of broadcasting to radios without the need for large dishes on the ground. When it enters operational service, SXM-7 will replace an earlier satellite, XM-3, which is now approaching the end of its lifetime, having been put into orbit way back in March 2005.
“SiriusXM provides an unparalleled variety of audio entertainment for radio listeners in North America,” said John Celli, then-president of SSL at the time of the July 2016 contract award. “We have a long history of working with SiriusXM to develop some of the world’s most advanced satellites, which broadcast to cars and radios for the home, office, and mobile devices. We are honored to be selected to build two additional satellites that will reinforce and augment the fleet’s capability.”
SXM-7 arrived at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in mid-October, where it underwent functional testing and fueling, ahead of encapsulation aboard the Falcon 9. “SXM-7 will deliver the highest power density of any commercial satellite on-orbit,” noted Maxar, “sending more than 8,000 watts of content to the Continental U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, increasing the quality of signal for SiriusXM subscribers.”
Weather conditions for Friday’s morning’s opening launch attempt are expected to be 80-percent favorable, tempered by a risk of violating the Cumulus Cloud Rule.
Quelle: AS
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Update: 11.12.2020
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Startabbruch von SpaceX Falcon9 bei T 0.30
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Quelle: SpaceX
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Update: 12.12.2020
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SpaceX scrubs SiriusXM launch, targets weekend turnaround
Computers controlling a Falcon 9 rocket aborted a launch attempt Friday afternoon, setting up SpaceX teams for a 48-hour turnaround at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Just 30 seconds before its 12:55 p.m. liftoff – within the window of flight computers performing final checks – launch engineers called a hold in the countdown at Launch Complex 40. SpaceX did not specify exactly what caused the abort aside from "ground systems," but a rapidly closing liftoff window meant teams didn't have enough time to troubleshoot the issue.
Falcon 9's next launch attempt is slated for no earlier than Sunday around the same time, though SpaceX could push further depending on the severity of the setback.
The 230-foot rocket is topped with a payload for SiriusXM, the satellite-based audio broadcaster that currently operates a fleet of five spacecraft in orbit. SpaceX's mission is labeled SXM-7 and will replace the more than 10-year-old SXM-5.
A Space Force-issued weather forecast for the re-targeted window is expected Saturday morning.
Had Falcon 9 flown on time, it would have marked less than 24 hours between the last Cape mission: the Thursday night flight of a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket from nearby Launch Complex 37. Those kinds of quick turnarounds were common during the Gemini and Apollo programs of the 1960s, but generally haven't been seen since.
Quelle: Florida Today
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Update: 13.12.2020
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Launch: SpaceX Falcon 9 mit SiriusXM satellite
Quelle: SpaceX