{"id":18906,"date":"2017-06-24T00:22:58","date_gmt":"2017-06-23T16:22:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacex-leads-off-its-rocket-doubleheader-with-falcon-9-re-launch-and-re-landing\/"},"modified":"2017-06-24T00:22:58","modified_gmt":"2017-06-23T16:22:58","slug":"spacex-leads-off-its-rocket-doubleheader-with-falcon-9-re-launch-and-re-landing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacex-leads-off-its-rocket-doubleheader-with-falcon-9-re-launch-and-re-landing\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX leads off its rocket doubleheader with Falcon 9 re-launch and re-landing"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_342821\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-342821\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-342821\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/170623-spacex-2-630x445.jpg\" alt=\"SpaceX Falcon 9 launch\" width=\"630\" height=\"445\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/170623-spacex-2-630x445.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/170623-spacex-2-768x542.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/170623-spacex-2.jpg 884w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-342821\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from its Florida launch pad, sending the BulgariaSat-1 satellite into space. (SpaceX via YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For the second time ever, SpaceX has sent a telecommunications satellite into orbit on a previously flown Falcon 9 rocket&nbsp;\u2013 but today\u2019s launch of BulgariaSat-1 is notable for other reasons as well.<\/p>\n<p>The first-stage booster landed successful at sea after liftoff, marking the first time the same rocket has made successful touchdowns off America\u2019s East Coast as well as the West Coast.<\/p>\n<p>And if the schedule holds, yet another SpaceX launch will take place two days from now, to put 10 more satellites into orbit for the Iridium NEXT telecom constellation.<\/p>\n<p>The two launch pads are a continent away from each other: BulgariaSat-1 went up from Launch Complex 39A at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, while Sunday\u2019s Iridium NEXT liftoff is set for Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, the summer weekend doubleheader is a one-two punch for SpaceX\u2019s launch teams, for its mission control operation in Hawthorne, Calif., and for the company\u2019s legions of fans.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"SpaceX Falcon 9 BulgariaSat-1 launch &amp; landing, 23 June 2017\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/j12dheDuXT0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The closely timed schedule wasn\u2019t originally planned that way: The launch of the first Bulgarian satellite designed for geostationary orbit had been scheduled for June 19, while Iridium\u2019s mission was set for liftoff on June 29.<\/p>\n<p>But the Iridium launch was moved up to take advantage of an opening in Vandenberg\u2019s range availability, while the BulgariaSat-1 mission was postponed to give SpaceX extra time to replace a suspect fairing valve on the Falcon 9.<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s countdown was delayed by an hour to run additional ground checks, but the two-stage Falcon 9 rocket made a trouble-free liftoff at 3:10 p.m. ET (12:10 p.m. PT), in the middle of a two-hour launch window.<\/p>\n<p>The first-stage booster was used previously to launch the first 10 Iridium NEXT satellites from Vandenberg back in January. After landing on a ship in the Pacific, the booster was recovered, refurbished and reused, as part of SpaceX\u2019s long-running campaign to reduce the cost of access to space through rocket reusability.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX\u2019s first reused booster helped put the SES-10 telecom satellite into geostationary transfer orbit&nbsp;in March. Eventually, the company aims to get recovered boosters ready for reflight within 24 hours.<\/p>\n<p>After launch and stage separation, today\u2019s Falcon 9 booster relit its engines and guided itself down for a landing on an autonomous drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. The ship is christened \u201cOf Course I Still Love You,\u201d in a tribute to the sentient starships of Iain M. Banks\u2019 science-fiction novels.<\/p>\n<p>Before launch, SpaceX\u2019s billionaire founder, Elon Musk, said the prospects for recovery were dim due to the stresses of atmospheric re-entry. \u201cGood chance rocket booster doesn\u2019t make it back,\u201d he tweeted.<\/p>\n<p>But when all was said and done, the booster stood tall on the drone ship as more than 65,000 users watched via the YouTube video stream.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_342825\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-342825\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-342825\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/170623-spacex-landing-630x361.jpg\" alt=\"Falcon 9 landing\" width=\"630\" height=\"361\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/170623-spacex-landing-630x361.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/170623-spacex-landing-768x440.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/170623-spacex-landing.jpg 1214w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-342825\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Falcon 9\u2019s first-stage booster stands on its drone landing ship in the Atlantic. (SpaceX via YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Musk said the rocket had a rough ride but hinted that it could be fixed up:<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=b0yle&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=878334920141135872&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com%2F2017%2Fspacex-leads-off-rocket-doubleheader-launch-bulgariasat-1-satellite%2F&amp;sessionId=2b44894cede8158a2651a569cc155fd81f4766d3&amp;siteScreenName=geekwire&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"878334920141135872\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782802493746136587=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Rocket is extra toasty and hit the deck hard (used almost all of the emergency crush core), but otherwise good<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 23, 2017<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=b0yle&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-1&amp;features=eyJ0ZndfdGltZWxpbmVfbGlzdCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOltdLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2ZvbGxvd2VyX2NvdW50X3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9iYWNrZW5kIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19yZWZzcmNfc2Vzc2lvbiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZm9zbnJfc29mdF9pbnRlcnZlbnRpb25zX2VuYWJsZWQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib24iLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X21peGVkX21lZGlhXzE1ODk3Ijp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRyZWF0bWVudCIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3Nob3dfYmlyZHdhdGNoX3Bpdm90c19lbmFibGVkIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19kdXBsaWNhdGVfc2NyaWJlc190b19zZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdXNlX3Byb2ZpbGVfaW1hZ2Vfc2hhcGVfZW5hYmxlZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdmlkZW9faGxzX2R5bmFtaWNfbWFuaWZlc3RzXzE1MDgyIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRydWVfYml0cmF0ZSIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfbGVnYWN5X3RpbWVsaW5lX3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9mcm9udGVuZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9fQ%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=true&amp;id=878335496413265920&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com%2F2017%2Fspacex-leads-off-rocket-doubleheader-launch-bulgariasat-1-satellite%2F&amp;sessionId=2b44894cede8158a2651a569cc155fd81f4766d3&amp;siteScreenName=geekwire&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"878335496413265920\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\" data-lang=\"en\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782802493746136587=\"true\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">It\u2019s an aluminum honeycomb cartridge, so only a couple of hours to replace<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 23, 2017<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>BulgariaSat-1, which was built for the eastern European country by California-based SSL, is designed to provide direct-to-home television and data communications services over an area centered in the Balkans and stretching from western Europe to the Middle East, North Africa and the Caucasus. It\u2019s expected to be in operation for at least 15 years.<\/p>\n<p>Sunday\u2019s Iridium launch is set for 1:25 p.m. PT. It\u2019s due to deliver a second set of 10 satellites into low Earth orbit for Iridium\u2019s next-generation communications constellation.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX is hoping for a replay of January\u2019s successful Iridium NEXT launch, including another successful booster landing on the company\u2019s Pacific Ocean drone ship, \u201cJust Read the Instructions.\u201d (That name is another nod to Banks\u2019 starships.)<\/p>\n<p>Eight SpaceX launches in all are due to fill out the 70-satellite configuration in low Earth orbit, plus on-orbit spares. The Iridium NEXT network is scheduled to be completed in 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from its Florida launch pad, sending the BulgariaSat-1 satellite into space. (SpaceX via YouTube) For the second time ever, SpaceX has sent a telecommunications satellite into orbit on a previously flown Falcon 9 rocket&nbsp;\u2013 but today\u2019s launch of BulgariaSat-1 is notable for other reasons as well. The first-stage booster [&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":[4434,4727,316],"class_list":["post-18906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-falcon-launch","tag-rockets","tag-spacex"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18906"}],"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=18906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18906\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}