{"id":14274,"date":"2017-10-12T19:30:57","date_gmt":"2017-10-12T11:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacex-launches-its-15th-mission-of-the-year\/"},"modified":"2017-10-12T19:30:57","modified_gmt":"2017-10-12T11:30:57","slug":"spacex-launches-its-15th-mission-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacex-launches-its-15th-mission-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX launches its 15th mission of the year"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Maintaining a brisk flight rate three days after its last launch, SpaceX sent a Falcon 9 booster powered by a reused first stage into orbit Wednesday evening from Florida with an Airbus-built communications satellite for SES and EchoStar.<\/p>\n

The successful launch placed the 5.7-ton (5.2-metric ton) satellite in a \u201csupersynchronous\u201d orbit arcing thousands of miles above Earth, and the Falcon 9\u2019s first stage returned to landing on a football field-sized barge holding position around 200 miles (300 kilometers) east of Cape Canaveral.<\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s mission was the 15th Falcon 9 flight of the year, and the second in three days, coming on the heels of a launch Monday from California\u2019s Central Coast.<\/p>\n

Owned by SES, the payload carried into orbit Wednesday from the Kennedy Space Center will broadcast television programming, relay video for cable outlets, and support data services over the Americas during a mission expected to last at least 15 years.<\/p>\n

Luxembourg-based SES and Colorado-headquartered EchoStar Corp. will share the satellite\u2019s communications capacity in a \u201ccondosat\u201d arrangement announced in 2014. SES calls its portion of the spacecraft SES 11, and EchoStar named the mission EchoStar 105.<\/p>\n

The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from pad 39A at the Florida spaceport at 6:53 p.m. EDT (2253 GMT) Wednesday after a textbook countdown, climbed into a clear evening sky just before sunset and turned on an easterly heading as it soared into the stratosphere.<\/p>\n

Nine Merlin 1D engines generated 1.7 million pounds of window-rattling thrust as the Falcon 9 rocket departed the Kennedy Space Center, chugging a super-chilled, densified mixture of RP-1 kerosene and liquid oxygen.<\/p>\n

The first stage\u2019s nine main engines shut down around two-and-a-half minutes after liftoff. Moments later, the 14-story booster dropped away from the Falcon 9\u2019s second stage, then flipped around to fly tail first, setting up for a scorching re-entry from an altitude of 74 miles (119 kilometers).<\/p>\n

Grid fins unfurled from the cigar-shaped booster to help guide it back to Earth, and three of the first stage engines reignited for an entry burn, followed by a final braking maneuver with one of the Merlin engines as it approached SpaceX\u2019s drone ship, dubbed \u201cOf Course I Still Love You.\u201d<\/p>\n

Four landing legs made of carbon fiber and aluminum honeycomb extended just before the rocket touched down on the floating barge in rough seas, notching the 18th intact recovery of a Falcon 9 first stage booster in 23 tries.<\/p>\n

The landing at sea completed a seemingly flawless re-flight for the first stage booster, which logged its first mission in February sending a Dragon supply ship on a trajectory toward the International Space Station, then returned to Cape Canaveral for recovery.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The Falcon 9 rocket\u2019s first stage booster landed on a drone ship downrange in the Atlantic Ocean. Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Going into Wednesday\u2019s flight, SES had experience launching a satellite on a previously-flown Falcon 9 booster. The global satellite operator put one of its payloads on the first Falcon 9 launch with a reused first stage March 30, making history and going far in demonstrating SpaceX\u2019s concept for reusing rocket hardware, a capability the company says will slash the cost of spaceflight.<\/p>\n

Another reused booster launched June 23 with the BulgariaSat 1 communications satellite, and the SES 11\/EchoStar 105 spacecraft launched Wednesday was the third payload to fly on a previously-launched Falcon 9.<\/p>\n

A camera affixed to the Falcon 9\u2019s upper stage continued streaming live views from space as a vacuum-rated Merlin engine ignited two times to propel the SES 11\/EchoStar 105 satellite into orbit.<\/p>\n

The spacecraft deployed from the launcher around 36 minutes into the mission as it flew off the east coast of Africa. Ground controllers received the first signals from the SES 11\/EchoStar 105 satellite a few minutes later, and engineers confirmed it was operating normally.<\/p>\n

Publicly-available U.S. military tracking data indicated the satellite was released in an elliptical transfer orbit ranging in altitude between 195 miles (314 kilometers) and 25,181 miles (40,526 kilometers). The military\u2019s space surveillance network reported the satellite was orbiting at a tilt of 27.9 degrees to the equator.<\/p>\n

Over the next couple of weeks, the spacecraft\u2019s own liquid-fueled engine will conduct three apogee burns and one perigee burn at the high and low points of its orbit, eventually settling in a circular geostationary orbit 22,300 miles (35,800 kilometers) directly over the equator.<\/p>\n

The satellite\u2019s speed at that altitude will match the rate of Earth\u2019s rotation, and it will hover over an operating post at 105 degrees west longitude, entering commercial service by late November.<\/p>\n

SES will take charge of the satellite\u2019s 24 C-band transponders, and EchoStar will control 24 Ku-band transponders.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom our point-of-view, it\u2019s basically for the U.S. video neighborhood, and specifically for the delivery of HD and Ultra HD,\u201d said Martin Halliwell, chief technology officer, in an interview before the launch.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to utilize this for the development of Ultra HD, trying to encourage the usage and distribution of that. We\u2019re covering the whole of (the continental United States), plus Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean as well, so it has very good coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n

SES will primarily use the satellite to relay video programming for cable channels.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The SES 11\/EchoStar 105 satellite during ground testing. Credit: SES<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

EchoStar says it will employ the relay station\u2019s Ku-band instruments for video distribution and data services for media companies, corporate customers, and the U.S. government and military over the United States, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.<\/p>\n

The newest member of the SES and EchoStar fleets will replace the AMC 15 and AMC 18 satellites launched in 2004 and 2006.<\/p>\n

Halliwell has been one of SpaceX\u2019s most loyal proponents in the commercial satellite business.<\/p>\n

He said SES did not receive a significant financial discount from SpaceX in switching the SES 11\/EchoStar 105 launch to a reused booster, but the agreement did result in an earlier launch date.<\/p>\n

The roughly 11,500-pound (5,200-kilogram) satellite, built by Airbus Defense and Space, was originally supposed to launch about one year ago, according to Halliwell. But a Falcon 9 rocket explosion on a launch pad at Cape Canaveral in September 2016 grounded SpaceX missions more than four months, and re-shuffled the company\u2019s manifest.<\/p>\n

So SES jumped at the the availability of a recovered rocket in SpaceX\u2019s inventory to ensure its next satellite could launch as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk said earlier this year the company wants to recoup a $1 billion investment in making the Falcon 9 rocket\u2019s first stage recoverable and reusable, so prices will not drop significantly in the short-term. In future years, Musk said Falcon 9s could be landed and re-launched within 24 hours, cutting costs to little more than the price of propellant.<\/p>\n

Karim Michel Sabbagh, CEO of SES, is pushing for a 50 percent reduction in Falcon 9 prices, and he is not alone. A Falcon 9 launch currently sells for around $61 million commercially, according to SpaceX\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, we\u2019d love to see that,\u201d Halliwell said, sharing his personal prediction on future launch price movement. \u201cI would love to, but I think we\u2019re going to have about the sort of numbers that we\u2019ve got \u2026 Will demand increase? Will demand drive the pricing associated with it? I don\u2019t know. What does the cost need to be to be self-sustaining? I don\u2019t know the answer to any of this. Will it come down to $30 million? I don\u2019t think so.\u201d<\/p>\n

While many space industry officials and observers have called attention to the impact of reused rockets on launch prices, Halliwell said there is another, less discussed benefit: launch availability.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think, in the long term, they\u2019ve got so much hardware which is coming back, it has to help,\u201d he said. \u201cIt has to make the cadence improve, and the fact they\u2019ve got two (launch sites), and maybe in the future four \u2014 between pad 40, 39A, Vandenberg and Texas \u2014 wow, that should be good. For us, it gives us a better chance to get into space on time.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Halliwell, most satellites spend months in storage between the end of construction and shipment to their launch base. Such delays come with financial pitfalls for satellite owners, who have already paid for the spacecraft and launch services, but are not earning revenue with their new asset.<\/p>\n

SES is considering launching its next satellite \u2014 SES 16 developed in partnership with the government of Luxembourg \u2014 with a reused Falcon 9 booster in January.<\/p>\n

SpaceX plans approximately five more missions before the end of the year \u2014 four from Florida and one from California \u2014 potentially including the inaugural test flight of the company\u2019s huge Falcon Heavy rocket.<\/p>\n

Next on the company\u2019s manifest is the launch of the Koreasat 5A commercial communications satellite for direct-to-home television broadcasting in the Asia-Pacific region, and maritime relay services across Asia, the Middle East and the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n

The Koreasat 5A mission is set for liftoff no earlier than Oct. 30 from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center.<\/p>\n

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

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

Credit: SpaceX Maintaining a brisk flight rate three days after its last launch, SpaceX sent a Falcon 9 booster powered by a reused first stage into orbit Wednesday evening from Florida with an Airbus-built communications satellite for SES and EchoStar. The successful launch placed the 5.7-ton (5.2-metric ton) satellite in a \u201csupersynchronous\u201d orbit arcing thousands […]<\/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":[1657,291,3156,3157,2164,479,428,25],"class_list":["post-14274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-airbus-defense-and-space","tag-commercial-space","tag-echostar","tag-echostar-105","tag-eurostar-e3000","tag-falcon-9","tag-kennedy-space-center","tag-launch"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14274"}],"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=14274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14274\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}