{"id":13784,"date":"2018-05-22T22:29:04","date_gmt":"2018-05-22T14:29:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/launch-timeline-for-falcon-9-mission-with-iridium-and-grace-follow-on\/"},"modified":"2018-05-22T22:29:04","modified_gmt":"2018-05-22T14:29:04","slug":"launch-timeline-for-falcon-9-mission-with-iridium-and-grace-follow-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/launch-timeline-for-falcon-9-mission-with-iridium-and-grace-follow-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Launch timeline for Falcon 9 mission with Iridium and GRACE-Follow On"},"content":{"rendered":"

Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket\u2019s ascent to orbit with five more Iridium Next communications satellite and the U.S.-German GRACE-Follow On climate research mission.<\/p>\n

The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket will lift off Friday at 12:47:58 p.m. PDT (3:47:58 p.m. EDT; 1947:58 GMT) Tuesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.<\/p>\n

SpaceX will not attempt to recover the first stage on Tuesday\u2019s mission.<\/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+0:01:19: 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+0:02:46: MECO<\/b><\/p>\n

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

T+0:02:49: 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+0:02:57: Stage 2 Ignition<\/b><\/p>\n

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

T+0:03:12: 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.<\/b><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:10:13: SECO 1<\/b><\/p>\n

\"The
The Merlin 1D vacuum engine turns off after placing the Iridium and GRACE-Follow On satellites into the first of two targeted orbits at an altitude of around 304 miles (490 kilometers) and an inclination of 89 degrees.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:11:33: GRACE-Follow On Separation<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"
The twin 1,323-pound (600-kilogram) GRACE-Follow On satellites separate in opposite directions from the Falcon 9 rocket\u2019s second stage.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:56:55: Stage 2 Restart<\/b><\/p>\n

\"The
The Falcon 9\u2019s second stage engine ignites again for an 8-second burn to raise its orbit to around 372 miles (600 kilometers) in altitude and adjust its inclination to better align with the Iridium satellite constellation orbiting at an angle of 86.4 degrees to the equator.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:57:03: SECO 2<\/b><\/p>\n

\"The
The Merlin 1D vacuum engine shuts down after its brief restart.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+1:05:48: Begin Iridium Deployments<\/b><\/p>\n

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

T+1:12:28: End Iridium Deployments<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"
The last of the five 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 five more Iridium Next communications satellite and the U.S.-German GRACE-Follow On climate research mission. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket will lift off Friday at 12:47:58 p.m. PDT (3:47:58 p.m. EDT; 1947:58 GMT) Tuesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. SpaceX will not […]<\/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":[1657,291,159,479,2957,2947,530,2193],"class_list":["post-13784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-airbus-defense-and-space","tag-commercial-space","tag-earth-observation","tag-falcon-9","tag-gfz","tag-grace-fo","tag-iridium","tag-iridium-next"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13784"}],"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=13784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13784\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}