{"id":14687,"date":"2017-04-26T00:31:12","date_gmt":"2017-04-25T16:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacex-completes-static-fire-test-for-sunday-launch-of-secret-satellite\/"},"modified":"2017-04-26T00:31:12","modified_gmt":"2017-04-25T16:31:12","slug":"spacex-completes-static-fire-test-for-sunday-launch-of-secret-satellite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacex-completes-static-fire-test-for-sunday-launch-of-secret-satellite\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX completes static fire test for Sunday launch of secret satellite"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/214726330?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0\" width=\"675\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Nine Merlin engines at the base of SpaceX\u2019s next Falcon 9 rocket fired up Tuesday on a launch pad in Florida, wringing out the booster and ground systems ahead of a planned liftoff Sunday with a top secret payload for the U.S. government\u2019s spy satellite agency.<\/p>\n<p>The computer-controlled countdown sequencer oversaw filling of the two-stage rocket \u2014 mounted on launch pad 39A without its satellite passenger \u2014 with densified, super-chilled kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>Vapors venting from the rocket were a sign the hotfire test was imminent. SpaceX officials do not publicize the company\u2019s prelaunch activities.<\/p>\n<p>The first stage\u2019s nine Merlin 1D engines ignited at 3:02 p.m. EDT (1902 GMT), sending a plume of exhaust out of the flame trench to the north of the launch pad. SpaceX confirmed the completion of the test on Twitter a few minutes later.<\/p>\n<p>The engines ramped up to full throttle \u2014 around 1.7 million pounds of thrust \u2014 for several seconds. After shutdown, the rocket was to be drained of its propellants, lowered horizontal and returned to SpaceX\u2019s hangar at the southern edge of pad 39A, where ground crews will connect the launcher to its satellite passenger.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, SpaceX engineers will analyze data from Tuesday\u2019s static fire test to ensure everything worked as advertised, and a launch readiness review is planned later this week to approve plans for this weekend\u2019s liftoff.<\/p>\n<p>Launch Sunday is scheduled during a two-hour period opening at 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT). The exact launch time has not been released.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_24244\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-24244\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-24244\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/C-SAL3-V0AAyL8a.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"380\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/C-SAL3-V0AAyL8a.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/C-SAL3-V0AAyL8a-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/C-SAL3-V0AAyL8a-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/C-SAL3-V0AAyL8a-678x381.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/C-SAL3-V0AAyL8a-30x17.jpg 30w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-24244\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket fired its nine Merlin 1D main engines Tuesday at launch pad 39A. Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The upcoming launch, the first by SpaceX since a successful mission with a resued first stage booster, will fly with an all-new Falcon 9 rocket. It will be the 33rd launch of a Falcon 9 rocket since 2010, and the fifth SpaceX flight this year.<\/p>\n<p>This will be SpaceX\u2019s first launch for the NRO, which typically puts its payloads on United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 and Delta 4 rockets.<\/p>\n<p>But the NRO awarded SpaceX a sole-source launch contract for this mission, and SpaceX will be eligible to compete with ULA for more NRO missions later this year.<\/p>\n<p>The identity of the NRO payload riding aboard the Falcon 9 rocket has not been disclosed. Its destination orbit and purpose are also secret.<\/p>\n<p>A hazard map released by the U.S. Air Force\u2019s 45th Space Wing indicates a security zone will be established to the northeast of Cape Canaveral on Sunday, a hint that the Falcon 9 rocket will likely head northeast from Florida\u2019s Space Coast.<\/p>\n<p>Such a trajectory would place the rocket\u2019s payload into a high-inclination orbit that could cover a swath of the planet from around 60 degrees north to 60 degrees south latitude.<\/p>\n<p>The NRO is believed to have communications satellites in high-inclination egg-shaped Molniya-type orbits \u2014 with low and high points ranging from a few hundred miles up to around 25,000 miles (40,000 kilometers) \u2014 to relay detailed images from low-altitude spy spacecraft to intelligence analysts in nearly real-time.<\/p>\n<p>Ted Molczan, a respected tracker of satellite movements, believes the mission is likely a follow-on to the NRO\u2019s series of relay satellites in Molniya orbits or an experimental payload bound for low Earth orbit.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX plans to land the Falcon 9 rocket\u2019s first stage at Cape Canaveral less than 10 minutes after Sunday\u2019s launch. It will be the fourth time the company has tried to recover a Falcon 9 booster on land \u2014 all successful.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX\u2019s other rocket landing attempts have targeted a mobile platform in the ocean downrange from the launch site, using a subset of the booster\u2019s Merlin engines to point to the landing site and slow down just before a vertical touchdown.<\/p>\n<p>The return-to-land descent profile requires more fuel than an ocean landing, suggesting the payload aboard Sunday\u2019s launch will either go to a low-altitude orbit or is very lightweight.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX previously said the company\u2019s webcast of the launch sequence will end shortly after liftoff, as is the case with NRO missions on United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 and Delta 4 rockets. But SpaceX\u2019s live video coverage is expected to continue through the first stage landing at Cape Canaveral.<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nine Merlin engines at the base of SpaceX\u2019s next Falcon 9 rocket fired up Tuesday on a launch pad in Florida, wringing out the booster and ground systems ahead of a planned liftoff Sunday with a top secret payload for the U.S. government\u2019s spy satellite agency. The computer-controlled countdown sequencer oversaw filling of the two-stage [&hellip;]<\/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":[291,479,428,1702,848,3302,311,316],"class_list":["post-14687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-commercial-space","tag-falcon-9","tag-kennedy-space-center","tag-launch-pad-39a","tag-national-reconnaissance-office","tag-nrol-76","tag-reusability","tag-spacex"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14687"}],"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=14687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14687\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}