{"id":14020,"date":"2018-01-31T00:08:55","date_gmt":"2018-01-30T16:08:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/falcon-9-launch-timeline-with-govsat-1\/"},"modified":"2018-01-31T00:08:55","modified_gmt":"2018-01-30T16:08:55","slug":"falcon-9-launch-timeline-with-govsat-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/falcon-9-launch-timeline-with-govsat-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Falcon 9 launch timeline with GovSat 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the GovSat 1 communications satellite into orbit around 32 minutes later.<\/p>\n

The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket is poised for launch from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 4:25 p.m. EST (2125 GMT) Tuesday at the opening of a 141-minute launch window.<\/p>\n

Perched atop the rocket is the GovSat 1 communications satellite, a spacecraft manufactured by Orbital ATK for a public-private joint venture named LuxGovSat founded by SES and the government of Luxembourg. GovSat 1\u2019s military-grade X-band and Ka-band communications payload will support defense and security missions by Luxembourg and its NATO allies across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and adjacent waters.<\/p>\n

The Falcon 9 rocket will fly with a reused first stage booster recovered after a launch May 1, 2017, with the National Reconnaissance Office\u2019s classified NROL-76 payload. SpaceX does not plan to recover the Falcon 9\u2019s first stage on the GovSat 1 mission.<\/p>\n

The timeline below outlines the launch sequence for the Falcon 9 flight with GovSat 1.<\/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 40.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:01:10: 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+0:01:18: Max Q<\/b><\/p>\n

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

T+0:02:38: MECO<\/b><\/p>\n

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

T+0:02:40: 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+0:02:41: 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 GovSat 1 into a preliminary parking orbit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:03:44: 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+0:08:35: 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 GovSat 1 begin a coast phase scheduled to last more than 18 minutes before the second stage Merlin vacuum engine reignites.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:26:40: Second Ignition of Second Stage<\/b><\/p>\n

\"The
The Falcon 9\u2019s second stage Merlin engine restarts to propel the GovSat 1 communications satellite into a supersynchronous transfer orbit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:27:48: SECO 2<\/b><\/p>\n

\"The
The Merlin engine shuts down after a short burn to put the GovSat 1 satellite in the proper orbit for deployment.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:32:19: GovSat 1 Separation<\/b><\/p>\n

\"The
The GovSat 1 satellite separates from the Falcon 9 rocket in a supersynchronous transfer 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 Tuesday, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the GovSat 1 communications satellite into orbit around 32 minutes later. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket is poised for launch from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 4:25 p.m. […]<\/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":[291,1736,479,1696,3039,3040,25,2206],"class_list":["post-14020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-commercial-space","tag-complex-40","tag-falcon-9","tag-geostar-3","tag-govsat","tag-govsat-1","tag-launch","tag-launch-timeline"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14020"}],"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=14020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14020\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}