Starlink Launch

[Yazata]

Tuesday's launch was postponed because of weather and is now scheduled for this Friday (June 26) 4:18 PM EDT. A change is that now they are talking about 57 Starlinks instead of 58. Dunno what's up with that. Maybe one flaked out during preflight checks.

I don't think that they were originally going to do a static fire for B1051.5 prior to the Tuesday launch, but the delay gave them time to do one Wednesday at Pad 39A, the same pad Bob and Doug's Excellent Adventure launched from.

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1276146952279744512

And just to keep everyone confused, another Falcon 9 (B1060.1 I believe) performed a static fire today at Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral AFS next door, in preparation for launching a GPS satellite on Tuesday June 30. The satellite's manufacturer Lockheed Martin is calling this launch 'We'd be Lost Without You'. If the date holds, it will be the first time that SpaceX got off four launches in one month. They have done three several times, but never 4. What's more, people at Cape Canaveral are commenting on the fact that there haven't been two static fires within 24 hours in recent memory.

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1276165251290017792

[Yazata]

Here's Michael Baylor's page on B1051. If it sounds familiar, it should. It first flew Demo-1 that delivered Little Earth and Ripley to the Space Station. Then it flew those Canadian Radarsats from Vandenberg. Then it flew two Starlink missions for SpaceX. Now it's up for its fifth time at bat and hopes to land on OCISLY out in the Atlantic.

https://www.nextspaceflight.com/launches/reuse/42

https://www.nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/2574

[Yazata]

The Starlink launch didn't go last Friday. Reason is that they detected a tiny LOX leak in the four-times-flown b1051. While it isn't enough to endanger the mission, they wanted time to investigate it. Given the proximity of the GPS satellite launch below, they decided to push the Starlinks back to later.

Don't dispair! SpaceX has another attraction for your viewing pleasure! The Global Positioning System satellite is set to go today at 3:55 PM EDT (12:55 PDT, 19:55 UDT) 

https://twitter.com/LockheedMartin/statu...8597123074

NSF story here

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2020/06/...satellite/

Military PR blurb here

https://www.losangeles.af.mil/News/Artic...-9-launch/

SpaceX livestream will be here

https://www.spacex.com/launches/

Lockheed Martin (the satellite manufacturer) will have a livestream here

https://lockheedmartin.com/en-us/product...0013261872

SpaceX plans to try to land b1060.1 on JRTI out in the Atlantic. I don't know why they don't land on OCISLY, which was already out there for the postponed Starlink mission, but OCISLY is returning to Port Canaveral and JRTI sailed to replace it. Speculation is that JRTI has improved systems and station-keeping ability since it just came off an extensive refit, and given that b1060 is a new booster, they might want to assign it to the better ASDS.

A new and possibly improved octagrabber is aboard JRTI as well. It's the large low Roomba-like robot that slides underneath under a newly landed rocket and reaches up to stabilize it. (I think that Gwynne Shotwell was the first to publicly call it "octagrabber".) All this happens while the humans are all standing off at a safe distance on an accompanying support ship. (Nobody wants to be aboard a landing barge when a huge rocket comes down on it. Too dangerous. So there's lots of autonomy built into the station-keeping and the octagrabber.)

Note: The new octagrabber was made by SpaceX and not by a contractor. It was constructed at the Cocoa Florida location that once was the east coast Starship manufacturing site. (The Mk.2 tank section still stands there like a lawn ornament.) So that's what Cocoa is up to these days, making support gear for SpaceX Cape Canaveral operations.

Edit: Another live-stream about to roll out here

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/8fZVoc9MWFU

[Yazata]

Launch went great

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1278058567149314050

Landing on JRTI successful

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1278060937312792576

Satellite is in a parking orbit. Awaiting another second stage burn to get into intended orbit.

Edit: Second burn appears to have gone well.

Edit: Satellite deployed

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1278081295608766464

[Yazata]

It looks like Wednesday July 8 is going to be a SpaceX double-header.

Not only are they planning to conduct a static fire of SN5 at Boca Chica on the 8th, they also plan to launch B1051.5 and its Starlinks on the 8th too.

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1278765952935419904

[Yazata]

Starlink launch is still on for Wednesday. 11:59 AM EDT

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1280624175590240256

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/KU6KogxG5BE

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/9neSOveEOws

[Yazata]

Standing down because of weather (lightening in particular).

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1280891612088823808

From Mission Control audio: "Launch abort has started. Proceed to Section 60 for scrub procedures."

Edit: The USSF 45th weather squadron at Cape Canaveral has issued a weather assessment for Friday July 10, for the Starlink launch. Unclear if this means that they plan to try again on Friday, or whether they are just looking into the possibility.

Edit 2: Not so fast. There was briefly a NOTMAR (Notice to Mariners, the ocean equivalent of a NOTAM) for Friday, but it's been canceled and replaced with one for Saturday July 11. (The backup day on the weather forecast below.)

[Image: EcbYOlZXgAMIBiP?format=png]

[Yazata]

They are going to try again on Saturday July 11 at 10:54 AM EDT, 7:54 AM PDT.

Information and a livestream will be here

https://www.spacex.com/launches/

The recovery ships have left Morehead City NC, near the booster recovery area. 

https://twitter.com/SpaceXFleet/status/1...1840238593

Finn Falgout, the tug assigned to OCISLY has a sense of humor. It's reported its destination as HELLANDBACK. (It's not that bad, Finn.)

https://twitter.com/SpaceXFleet/status/1...8611346432

[Yazata]

Today's Starlink launch has been postponed again, due to an unstated technical issue. No new launch date has been provided.

Speculation is that they are having problems with the four-times-flown Falcon rocket, B1051. This is the rocket that earlier flew the unmanned Demo-1 mission that delivered Ripley and Little Earth to the Space Station. (Little Earth is still there.)

If the problem is with B1051 after just 4 flights, then the original goal of flying Falcon 9's ten times without a major overhaul might be ambitious. They have only tried two 5th flights before this, one got its payload to a good orbit but blew an engine and couldn't land again, the other was fully successful. So maybe the limit for Falcon 9's is around five flights without need for the major overhaul. I wonder if any of them will make it to the desired ten.

[Yazata]

B 1051.5 is set to finally launch its Starlinks tonight at 1:12 AM EDT Friday (10:12 PM PDT Thursday, 5:12 UTC Friday) This launch was delayed several times by weather, by technical difficulties and by conflicts with DM-2.

B 1051 flew the DM-1 mission that delivered Little Earth to the Space Station (Little Earth recently returned with Bob and Doug), then launched those Canadian Radarsats from Vandenberg, then flew two Starlink missions. Now it's back for its fifth flight. They've only attempted fifth flights twice. Both reached orbit and deployed their satellites, but one of the boosters blew one its nine Merlin engines doing it and was unable to land. The other booster attempting its fifth flight stuck its landing. They will try to recover this one on OCISLY.

Live stream will be here --

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/KU6KogxG5BE

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/azZqFC8Uvlo