Dienstag, 28. April 2015 - 09:40

Raumfahrt - Start von SpaceX-Falcon 9 Rakete mit TurkmenÄlem52E/MonacoSat Satelliten

25.04.2015

SpaceX is scheduled for an evening launch Monday to send a communications satellite into orbit for Turkmenistan from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The Falcon 9 rocket is set to launch with the TurkmenÄlem52E/MonacoSat Monday at 6:14 p.m. EDT. The communication satellite is designed to last more than 15 years and will cover Europe, Central Asia and most of Africa. This will be the first national telecommunications satellite for Turkmenistan.

Falcon 9 first stage landing burn and touchdown on Just Read the Instructions

Watch Falcon 9 first stage landing burn and touchdown on Just Read the Instructions barge in the Atlantic Ocean.

SpaceX will not attempt to land part of the rocket booster on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean. On April 14 SpaceX successfully landed a rocket booster, but landed too hard and was not reusable. The company’s strategy is to reuse its rockets to lower the cost of launches.

The next booster landing attempt will be in two months, according to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

Quelle: Orlando Sentinel

Clouds in the forecast for Monday’s Falcon 9 launch

SpaceX’s mission patch for the Falcon 9 launch with TurkmenAlem52E/MonacoSat. Credit: SpaceX

Forecasters will be watching clouds and rain showers during the countdown before Monday’s launch of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying Turkmenistan’s first communications satellite.

The 22-story rocket is set to lift off from Cape Canaveral during a 90-minute launch window opening at 6:14 p.m. EDT (2214 GMT) Monday.

The official weather outlook issued Friday by the U.S. Air Force’s 45th Weather Squadron calls for a 60 percent chance of favorable conditions during Monday’s launch window. Forecasters said their chief concerns are with thick clouds and cumulus clouds that could violate launch weather rules.

The Air Force weather team predicts isolated rain showers, scattered to broken clouds, and northwest winds at 10 to 15 mph.

The forecast worsens Tuesday, when a weather system is expected to generate widespread storms in Central Florida. There is just a 30 percent probability of good weather Tuesday, according to the Air Force.

The flight will be the Falcon 9’s fifth launch of more than a dozen planned this year, and if the rocket blasts off Monday, it will come just 13 days after SpaceX’s last mission from the same launch pad.

The achievement would best SpaceX’s turnaround time of 14 days, which came between two launches last year.

SpaceX technicians rolled the two-stage Falcon 9 rocket into the hangar at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad hours after another Falcon 9 went up April 14 with a Dragon supply ship for the International Space Station.

Workers mechanically and electrically connected the two-stage rocket, completed final testing, and transferred the booster to the launch pad about 600 feet north of the horizontal assembly hangar for a customary prelaunch engine hotfire test Wednesday.

The first stage’s nine Merlin 1D engines fired for a few seconds as computers checked numerous parameters to verify the kerosene-fueled powerplants are ready for launch. The rocket remained affixed to the launch pad during the firing.

Ground teams returned the rocket to the hangar to receive the TurkmenAlem52E satellite, which was fueled with in-space maneuvering propellant and enclosed inside the Falcon 9’s 17-foot diameter nose cone in a nearby SpaceX payload processing facility.

Assembled in France by Thales Alenia Space, the spacecraft will be handed over to the government of Turkmenistan after launch to become the country’s first communications satellite.

The Falcon 9 will place the five-ton satellite into an elliptical transfer orbit, then the spacecraft will raise its altitude to 22,300 miles and slide into an operational position in geosynchronous orbit at 52 degrees east longitude.

The operating post will give the satellite coverage over Europe, Central Asia and Africa for its 15-year mission, according to Thales Alenia Space.

Monaco has rights to the 52 degrees east slot to be occupied by the Turkmen satellite. In exchange for permitting the spacecraft to reside there, Monaco’s government secured the use of 12 Ku-band transponders on the satellite.

Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES signed an agreement with Space Systems International Monaco, an entity licensed by Monaco’s government, to commercialize the 12 Ku-band transponders.

The hefty payload and high-altitude destination for Monday’s mission will prevent SpaceX from attempting a recovery of the Falcon 9’s first stage booster.

Quelle: SN

Update: 27.04.2015

Mission Live Updates

26Apr2015 8:45:27 EDT

Static Fire Test was successful

The static fire test, performed during last week, was successful clearing the way for a launch attempt tomorrow. The static fire test ignites the 9 Merlin engines of the first stage, building them up to full power before cutting off. This proves the functionality of the engines for the launch.

26Apr2015 8:38:59 EDT

L-2 Days Weather Briefing

The 45th Weather Squadron have released the L-2 day weather forecast for the period covering the launch window. Currently they are predicting a 60% chance of favourable weather with the main concerns being Cumulus Clouds and the Thick Cloud Rules.

Should there be an issue preventing launch on Monday then the weather will deteriorate to just 30% chance of acceptable conditions for launch. The launch commit criteria rules violated are the Thick Cloud and Disturbed Weather.