SpaceX has launched the Koreasat-5A communications satellite for South Korea\u2019s KT SAT on Monday, with a Falcon 9 lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center to carry the satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit. Launch occurred on time at 15:34 local time (19:34 UTC), at the opening of a two-hour, 24-minute window. Landing of the first stage was also successful, albeit resulting in a \u201ctoasty\u201d engine section.<\/p>\n
SpaceX Launch:<\/p>\n
Monday\u2019s launch \u2013 the sixteenth of the year for SpaceX \u2013 deployed KT SAT\u2019s Koreasat-5A spacecraft, which is also known as Mugungwha 5A. Replacing a faulty satellite in the South Korean operator\u2019s fleet, Koreasat-5A will begin a fifteen-year mission with its journey to orbit aboard Falcon 9.<\/p>\n
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The three-and-a-half-tonne (7,700 lb) KoreaSat-5A satellite was built by Thales Alenia Space and is based on the SpaceBus-4000B2 platform. Equipped with thirty-six Ku-band transponders, the satellite will support broadcasting and internet services in Korea, Southeast Asia and the Middle East from geostationary orbit at a longitude of 113 degrees East. Koreasat-5A is expected to operate for at least fifteen years.<\/p>\n
Koreasat-5A is one of two which KT SAT ordered from Thales in May 2014. The second satellite, Koreasat-7, was successfully deployed by an Ariane 5 rocket earlier this year. Koreasat-5A will replace the Koreasat-5 spacecraft, which was deployed in 2006, flying aboard a Zenit-3SL rocket from Sea Launch\u2019s Odyssey launch platform in the Pacific.<\/p>\n
Koreasat-5, another Thales-built satellite, was designed for a fifteen-year lifespan but is being replaced ahead of schedule because of a problem with its solar arrays. In 2013 the drive mechanism, which rotates the solar arrays to face the sun \u2013 maximising their exposure to sunlight \u2013 stopped operating correctly, reducing the satellite\u2019s available power.<\/p>\n
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Koreasat-5A will join the Koreasat-7 and Olleh 1 (or Koreasat-6) satellites in KT SAT\u2019s fleet. Formerly known as Korea Telecom, KT SAT\u2019s first satellite was Koreasat-1, deployed in August 1995 by a Delta II rocket. During its ascent to orbit, one of the Delta\u2019s nine solid rocket boosters failed to separate \u2013 one of only two blemishes on the Delta II\u2019s otherwise exemplary record \u2013 with the satellite attaining a lower orbit than had been planned.<\/p>\n
Koreasat-1, along with its sister craft Koreasat-2 and the later Koreasat-3, have since been sold to other operators and the original two satellites have been decommissioned. In addition to its own satellites, KT SAT has leased capacity on other spacecraft, including Asia Broadcast Satellite\u2019s ABS-2 satellite which it markets as Koreasat-8.<\/p>\n
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Monday\u2019s launch was the first that SpaceX has made for KT SAT, and involved a new-build Falcon 9 rocket, B1042.<\/p>\n
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Uniquely among rockets currently in service, Falcon 9 is partially reusable, with the first stage designed to make a controlled landing after completing its role in boosting the rocket\u2019s payload into orbit. After landing, stages can be reflown on subsequent launches.<\/p>\n
A two-stage rocket, Falcon 9 first flew in June 2010 and Monday\u2019s launch will mark its forty-fourth flight. Since its debut, Falcon 9 has completed 41 missions with complete success. The rocket has failed once \u2013 during June 2015\u2019s launch of the CRS-7 Dragon mission to resupply the International Space Station.<\/p>\n
The second launch that was not entirely successful was an early mission, which aimed to deploy the CRS-1 Dragon spacecraft and an Orbcomm communications satellite. A first stage engine failure left the rocket unable place the Orbcomm payload into a usable orbit, although Dragon was deployed successfully as planned. A Falcon 9 was also lost along with its payload during a ground test \u2013 a static fire a few days before the planned launch of the Amos 6 spacecraft \u2013 last September.<\/p>\n
The rocket that launched Koreasat-5A is a Falcon 9 v1.2, or Falcon 9 \u201cFull Thrust\u201d model, a revision of the original Falcon 9 which was introduced in 2015 to increase the rocket\u2019s performance \u2013 improving maximum payload capacity and making first stage recovery possible on a greater number of missions, including geosynchronous launches.<\/p>\n
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Falcon 9\u2019s first stage is powered by nine Merlin-1D engines, burning RP-1 kerosene propellant and liquid oxygen. These ignited three seconds before launch, with Falcon 9 lifting off when the launch countdown reached zero.<\/p>\n
Climbing away from the Kennedy Space Center, Falcon flew downrange on an easterly azimuth, passing through the point of maximum dynamic pressure \u2013 max-Q \u2013 seventy-six seconds into its flight.<\/p>\n
The first stage provides the initial kick to carry the rocket off of the ground and out of the atmosphere. It burned for two minutes and thirty-three seconds before reaching main engine cutoff (MECO), at which point its role in launching Koreasat-5A was complete.<\/p>\n
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Three seconds after MECO, Falcon underwent stage separation with Core 1042 separating and falling away from the second stage and payload to begin its return to Earth, deploying its grid fins shortly after separation.<\/p>\n
The second stage ignited its single Merlin-1D Vacuum (MVac) engine two seconds after staging, continuing the ascent towards orbit. About sixty-two seconds into the second stage burn the payload fairing separated from around Koreasat-5A at the nose of the rocket.<\/p>\n
The second stage, making the first of two planned burns for Monday\u2019s ascent, fired its engine for five minutes and 58 seconds to establish an initial parking orbit. While this burn was ongoing, the first stage will complete its descent, culminating in a planned landing on the deck of Of Course I Still Love You, one of SpaceX\u2019s two Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ships (ASDS).<\/p>\n
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An ASDS is deployed for Falcon 9 launches which have sufficient fuel reserves to allow the first stage to attempt a landing, but not for it to perform a boostback maneuver to return to the launch site, which is the case for most geosynchronous missions. A large converted barge, the ASDS is positioned downrange to catch the stage as it descends back to Earth.<\/p>\n
Of Course I Still Love You was last used to recover the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket that launched SES-11 earlier this month. Despite recovering the core successfully, a fire broke out aboard the drone ship shortly after landing, damaging both the barge and the robotic \u201cOctaGrabber\u201d or \u201cRoomba\u201d that is designed to secure the first stage to the deck following touchdown. SpaceX was able to carry out repairs quickly to allow OCISLY to participate in Sunday\u2019s launch.<\/p>\n
During its descent, Core 1042 made two additional burns. The first, three minutes and 46 seconds after stage separation saw three engines ignite to slow the core as it begins to enter the denser regions of Earth\u2019s atmosphere, reducing heating that would cause damage during reentry.<\/p>\n
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The second burn began just in advance of landing, slowing Core 1042 to a soft touchdown aboard the drone ship. The landing came about eight minutes and 35 seconds mission elapsed time \u2013 just three seconds after the end of the second stage\u2019s first burn.<\/p>\n
The aft of the booster was observed to be on fire, although hoses on the drone ship will have put out the flames shortly after landing.<\/p>\n
Recovery of the first stage is a secondary objective of any Falcon 9 launch: the primary concern is always the successful deployment of the payload into its planned orbit. For Koreasat-5A, this is a geosynchronous transfer orbit.<\/p>\n
To complete insertion, the second stage made a second burn, beginning 26 minutes and 45 seconds after liftoff and lasting for 67 seconds. Spacecraft separation came seven minutes and 46 seconds after the conclusion of this second burn.<\/p>\n
Monday\u2019s launch was the sixteenth of the year for SpaceX and the Falcon 9, which has flown more times in 2017 than any other rocket worldwide. Up to four more Falcon 9 launches are planned before the end of the year \u2013 along with the Falcon Heavy\u2019s debut that is still targeting a date no earlier than December. Falcon\u2019s next launch will come on 15 November when it deploys the mysterious Zuma payload under contract from Northrop Grumman.<\/p>\n
Flight Proven for CRS status:<\/p>\n
Looking further ahead, at the beginning of December Falcon will return to at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with the launch of Dragon\u2019s CRS-13 resupply mission to the International Space Station \u2013 the first launch from SLC-40 since the pad was damaged last September.<\/p>\n
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According to L2 coverage of extensive reviews, NASA has internally cleared SpaceX to begin using flight-proven Falcon 9 vehicles to launch Dragon.<\/p>\n
While NASA\u2019s official stance remains one of no decision being made, information has pointed to CRS-13 being the first mission, re-using the first stage of the rocket that carried CRS-11 to orbit earlier this year. NASA has already approved the use of previously flown Dragon hardware on ISS resupply missions.<\/p>\n
The NASA review into flight proven boosters has been ongoing for months, involving a final review and approval process at NASA HQ to asscertain if flight proven boosters could be used on ISS resupply missions.<\/p>\n
Towards the end of December, SpaceX\u2019s last planned West Coast launch of the year will carry a further ten Iridium communications satellites into orbit: Falcon\u2019s fourth launch for Iridium in the last twelve months.<\/p>\n
This will use another flight-proven booster, which was used on one of the previous Iridium missions back in June. Spain\u2019s HispaSat 30W-6 communications satellite is slated to launch no earlier than December, while the Falcon Heavy\u2019s demonstration flight could also launch late in the year or slip into 2018.<\/p>\n
(Images via SpaceX and L2\/Chris Gebhardt for NASASpaceFlight.com \u2013 to join L2, click here)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SpaceX has launched the Koreasat-5A communications satellite for South Korea\u2019s KT SAT on Monday, with a Falcon 9 lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center to carry the satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit. Launch occurred on time at 15:34 local time (19:34 UTC), at the opening of a two-hour, 24-minute window. Landing of the first […]<\/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":[7841,3353,479,316],"class_list":["post-38663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-39a","tag-asds","tag-falcon-9","tag-spacex"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38663"}],"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=38663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38663\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}