{"id":13405,"date":"2019-01-11T19:01:33","date_gmt":"2019-01-11T11:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/launch-timeline-for-spacexs-eighth-mission-for-iridium-2\/"},"modified":"2019-01-11T19:01:33","modified_gmt":"2019-01-11T11:01:33","slug":"launch-timeline-for-spacexs-eighth-mission-for-iridium-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/launch-timeline-for-spacexs-eighth-mission-for-iridium-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Launch timeline for SpaceX\u2019s eighth mission for Iridium"},"content":{"rendered":"

Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket\u2019s ascent to orbit with the another set of 10 next-generation satellites for Iridium\u2019s voice and data relay fleet.<\/p>\n

The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket will lift off Friday at 7:31 a.m. PST (10:31 a.m. EST; 1531 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.<\/p>\n

Data source: SpaceX<\/p>\n

T-0:00:00: Liftoff<\/b><\/p>\n

\"After
After the rocket\u2019s nine Merlin 1D engines pass an automated health check, the Falcon 9 is released from Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:01:01: Max-Q<\/b><\/p>\n

\"The
The Falcon 9 rocket reaches Max Q, the point of maximum aerodynamic pressure. The first stage\u2019s nine Merlin 1D engines produce about 1.7 million pounds of thrust.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:02:27: MECO<\/b><\/p>\n

\"The
The Falcon 9\u2019s nine Merlin 1D engines shut down.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:02:30: Stage 1 Separation<\/b><\/p>\n

\"The
The Falcon 9\u2019s first stage separates from the second stage moments after MECO.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:02:38: Stage 2 Ignition<\/b><\/p>\n

\"The
The second stage Merlin 1D vacuum engine ignites for an approximately 6-minute burn to inject the Iridium Next satellites into a parking orbit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:03:13: Fairing Jettison<\/b><\/p>\n

\"The
The 5.2-meter (17.1-foot) diameter payload fairing jettisons once the Falcon 9 rocket ascends through the dense lower atmosphere. The 43-foot-tall fairing is made of two clamshell-like halves composed of carbon fiber with an aluminum honeycomb core. The fairing halves will deploy parafoils for a controlled descent into the Pacific Ocean.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:03:13: Stage 1 Boost-back Burn<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"
A subset of the Falcon 9\u2019s engines ignited to help the rocket reverse course and target a landing on SpaceX\u2019s drone ship \u201cJust Read the Instructions\u201d offshore Vandenberg Air Force Base.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:05:30: Stage 1 Entry Burn<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"
A subset of the first stage\u2019s Merlin 1D engines ignite for an entry burn to slow down for landing. A final landing burn will occur just before touchdown.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:07:14: Stage 1 Landing<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"
The Falcon 9 rocket\u2019s first stage booster touches down on SpaceX\u2019s drone ship in the Pacific Ocean.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:08:46: SECO 1<\/b><\/p>\n

\"The
The Merlin 1D vacuum engine turns off after placing the Iridium satellites in a temporary parking orbit, beginning at 43-minute coast in space.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:51:48: Stage 2 Restart<\/b><\/p>\n

\"The
The Falcon 9\u2019s second stage engine ignites again for a 9-second burn to circularize its orbit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:51:51: SECO 2<\/b><\/p>\n

\"The
The Merlin 1D vacuum engine shuts down after reaching a target orbit about 388 miles (625 kilometers) high with an inclination of 86 degrees.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:56:52: Begin Iridium Deployments<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"
The 1,896-pound (860-kilogram) Iridium Next satellites begin deploying from their two-tier dispenser on the Falcon 9 rocket\u2019s second stage, separating at intervals of approximately every 90 seconds.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+1:11:52: End Iridium Deployments<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"
The last of the 10 Iridium Next satellites will separate from the rocket.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket\u2019s ascent to orbit with the another set of 10 next-generation satellites for Iridium\u2019s voice and data relay fleet. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket will lift off Friday at 7:31 a.m. PST (10:31 a.m. EST; 1531 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2776,291,479,530,2193,25,2206,554],"class_list":["post-13405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-aireon","tag-commercial-space","tag-falcon-9","tag-iridium","tag-iridium-next","tag-launch","tag-launch-timeline","tag-northrop-grumman"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13405"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13405\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}