{"id":13511,"date":"2018-11-15T22:03:59","date_gmt":"2018-11-15T14:03:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/falcon-9-launch-timeline-with-eshail-2\/"},"modified":"2018-11-15T22:03:59","modified_gmt":"2018-11-15T14:03:59","slug":"falcon-9-launch-timeline-with-eshail-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/falcon-9-launch-timeline-with-eshail-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Falcon 9 launch timeline with Es\u2019hail 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Thursday, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the Es\u2019hail 2 communications satellite into orbit around 32 minutes later.<\/p>\n

The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket is poised for launch from pad 39A at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 3:46 p.m. EST Thursday (2046 GMT) at the opening of a 103-minute launch window.<\/p>\n

Perched atop the rocket is the Es\u2019hail 2 communications satellite, a spacecraft manufactured in Japan by Mitsubishi Electric Corp. for Es\u2019hailSat, Qatar\u2019s national satellite communications company.<\/p>\n

The satellite carries Ku-band and Ka-band transponders to beam broadband connections, television and other data relay services across the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.<\/p>\n

After deployment from the upper stage of the Falcon 9 rocket in an elliptical transfer orbit, Es\u2019hail 2 will use its on-board hydrazine-fueled engine and electric thrusters to boost itself into a circular geostationary orbit more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over the equator at 26 degrees east longitude.<\/p>\n

Es\u2019hail 2, based on Melco\u2019s DS2000 satellite bus, is designed for a 15-year mission.<\/p>\n

The Falcon 9 rocket launching Es\u2019hail 2 will fly in the upgraded \u201cBlock 5\u201d configuration, with a new second stage and a first stage previously flown on the Telstar 19 VANTAGE launch in July.<\/p>\n

The timeline below outlines the launch sequence for the Falcon 9 flight with Es\u2019hail 2.<\/p>\n

Data source: SpaceX<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

\"After
After the rocket\u2019s nine Merlin engines pass an automated health check, hold-down clamps will release the Falcon 9 booster for liftoff from pad 39A.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:00:59: Mach 1<\/b><\/p>\n

\"The
The Falcon 9 rocket reaches Mach 1, the speed of sound, as the nine Merlin 1D engines provide more than 1.7 million pounds of thrust.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:01:06: Max Q<\/b><\/p>\n

\"The
The Falcon 9 rocket reaches Max Q, the point of maximum aerodynamic pressure.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:02:35: MECO<\/b><\/p>\n

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

T+0:02:39: 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+0:02:46: First Ignition of Second Stage<\/b><\/p>\n

\"The
The second stage Merlin 1D vacuum engine ignites for a six-minute burn to put the rocket and Es\u2019hail 2 into a preliminary parking orbit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:03:47: 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.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:06:22: 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 on SpaceX\u2019s drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. A final landing burn will occur just before touchdown.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:08:07: SECO 1<\/b><\/p>\n

\"The
The second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket shuts down after reaching a preliminary low-altitude orbit. The upper stage and Es\u2019hail 2 begin a coast phase scheduled to last more than 18 minutes before the second stage Merlin vacuum engine reignites.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:08:16: Stage 1 Landing<\/b><\/p>\n

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

T+0:26:34: Second Ignition of Second Stage<\/b><\/p>\n

\"The
The Falcon 9\u2019s second stage Merlin engine restarts to propel the Es\u2019hail 2 communications satellite into an elliptical transfer orbit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:27:29: SECO 2<\/b><\/p>\n

\"The
The Merlin engine shuts down after a short burn to put the Es\u2019hail 2 satellite in the proper elliptical orbit for deployment.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:32:29: Es\u2019hail 2 Separation<\/b><\/p>\n

\"The
The Es\u2019hail 2 satellite separates from the Falcon 9 rocket into an elliptical transfer orbit, on the way to a perch in geostationary orbit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

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

SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Thursday, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the Es\u2019hail 2 communications satellite into orbit around 32 minutes later. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket is poised for launch from pad 39A at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 3:46 p.m. EST […]<\/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":[2412,291,2824,2825,479,377,428,25],"class_list":["post-13511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-amateur-radio","tag-commercial-space","tag-eshail-2","tag-eshailsat","tag-falcon-9","tag-japan","tag-kennedy-space-center","tag-launch"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13511"}],"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=13511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13511\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}