12.09.2024

SpaceX launch recap: Live updates from BlueBird mission Thursday morning from Cape Canaveral

Thursday, Sept. 12, liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral on the AST SpaceMobile BlueBird 1-5 mission.

Original story: Will a cloudy, gloomy forecast postpone SpaceX's plan to launch AST SpaceMobile's first five BlueBird communications satellites into low-Earth orbit Thursday morning — and generate Central Florida sonic booms?

Welcome to FLORIDA TODAY Space Team live coverage of this morning's SpaceX BlueBird 1-5 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Stay tuned. SpaceX is targeting 4:52 a.m. EDT to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

However, the Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron only forecasts 30% odds of "go for launch" weather because of a stalled front across the region. The list of meteorological concerns includes cumulus clouds, thick cloud layers, surface electric fields and low-to-moderate risk of solar activity.

Expect sonic booms with this mission: After soaring skyward along a northeasterly trajectory, the Falcon 9 first-stage booster will return for landing at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Update 5:08 a.m.: Next, the Falcon 9 upper stage will accelerate to about 17,000 mph before deploying the five satellites. SpaceX's upcoming timeline, listed in minutes and seconds after launch:

• 53:57: BlueBird 1 deploys.
• 55:32: BlueBird 2 deploys.
• 58:37: BlueBird 3 deploys.
• 1:02:22: BlueBird 4 deploys.
• 1:07:53: BlueBird 5 deploys.

Boom! SpaceX Falcon 9 booster lands

Update 4:59 a.m.: The Falcon 9 first-stage booster just landed back at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, wrapping up its 13th mission.

Liftoff!

Update 4:52 a.m.: SpaceX has just launched the Falcon 9 carrying five BlueBird satellites from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

SpaceX launch webcast begins

Update 4:44 a.m.: SpaceX's launch webcast hosted on X (formerly Twitter) is now posted here.

Liftoff is scheduled in eight minutes from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

SpaceX booster to spark sonic booms

Update 4:38 a.m.: This morning's mission marks the Falcon 9 first-stage booster’s 13th flight, SpaceX reported.

The booster previously launched Crew-6, O3b mPOWER, USSF-124 and nine Starlink missions.

Following stage separation, crews expect the booster return to Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station 7 minutes, 32 seconds after liftoff.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 booster descends for landing in early August at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.  

CRAIG BAILEY/FLORIDA TODAY

SpaceX launch prep underway in Brevard

Update 4:30 a.m.: Brevard County Emergency Management officials have activated the agency's launch operations support team ahead of SpaceX’s upcoming Falcon 9 launch.

SpaceX Falcon 9 fueling underway

Update 4:20 a.m.: Visual cues indicate Falcon 9 fueling procedures are underway at Launch Complex 40.

That means this morning's BlueBird 1-5 countdown is now locked in to lift off at 4:52 a.m. without any delays, or else the launch must be postponed.

Rainfall, cloud cover surrounding Cape Canaveral

Update 4 a.m.: This National Weather Service radar loop from the Melbourne Orlando International Airport station shows rain and clouds shrouding the Cape Canaveral vicinity.

SpaceX launch targeted for 4:52 a.m.

Update 3:50 a.m.: SpaceX will target 4:52 a.m. for liftoff — but the situation remains fluid in light of the weather, said Dave Mosher, AST SpaceMobile head of content.

Update 3:40 a.m.: The AST SpaceMobile BlueBird 1-5 mission webcast is now posted above.

Still no target launch time from SpaceX

Update 3:28 a.m.: In unusual fashion, SpaceX officials still have not publicly announced a target liftoff time fewer than 90 minutes before the launch window opens.

The four-hour BlueBird 1-5 launch window will open at 4:52 a.m. Meanwhile, rain continues falling to the south and north of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Quelle: Florida Today

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SpaceX launches 5 giant BlueBird smartphone satellites for AST SpaceMobile, lands rocket

 

The launch of AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird 1-5 mission occurred early Thursday (Sept. 12) in a major leap for the smartphone broadband provider.

 

AST SpaceMobile's first five commercial satellites have reached orbit.

The huge spacecraft, called BlueBirds, lifted off today (Sept. 12) at 4:52 a.m. EDT (0852 GMT) atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The Falcon 9's first stage returned to Earth about 7.5 minutes later, making a vertical touchdown at Cape Canaveral's Landing Zone 1. It was the 13th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description.

 

The Falcon 9's upper stage carried the BlueBird satellites into low Earth orbit as planned and successfully deployed them over a 14-minute stretch beginning about 54 minutes after liftoff.

Each BlueBird sports a communications antenna that covers 693 square feet (64 square meters) when unfolded — the largest such array ever deployed by a commercial spacecraft. 

 

 

 

The five 3,300-pound (1,500 kilograms) BlueBirds tie that record, actually. It was set by AST SpaceMobile's BlueWalker 3, a prototype that launched to orbit aboard a Falcon 9 in September 2022. But the BlueBirds are operational satellites, the founding members of a commercial constellation designed to beam service directly to cell phones.

"This is a pivotal moment for AST SpaceMobile as we bring our vision to enhance cellular connectivity globally, with the support of our strategic partners and the unwavering commitment of our team," Abel Avellan, the founder, chairman and CEO of the Texas-based company, said in a a prelaunch statement.

AST SpaceMobile's constellation could eventually include 168 satellites. And some of them will be considerably bigger than the BlueBirds that went up today. Indeed, the company has already started production on 17 "Block 2" BlueBird satellites, which will feature 2,400-square-foot (223 square meters) communications arrays, according to SpaceNews.

"We're just getting started," Avellan said during a livestream of the AST SpaceMobile launch of the newer BlueBird design. "Our next generation of satellites will be three and a half times larger." 

Such news doubtless makes many astronomers and dark-sky advocates nervous. BlueWalker 3 is one of the brightest objects in the night sky, after all; one astrophysicist described its launch as "a big shift in the constellation satellite issue" that "should give us all reason to pause."

Interestingly, SpaceX and AST SpaceMobile are competitors in the satellite-internet space; Elon Musk's company has built a giant and ever-growing broadband network in LEO called Starlink.

SpaceX has launched 7,001 Starlink satellites to date, more than 100 of them capable of beaming serving directly to smart phones. 

Quelle: SC