Форум Новости Космонавтики

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/68672.jpg)CONAE‏ @CONAE_Oficial (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial) 15 июл. (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial/status/1018629096501403648)

SAOCOM 1A LISTO PARA SU PRÓXIMO DESPLIEGUE EN EL ESPACIO! Hoy se cerró por última vez la antena radar SAR y se acondicionó para campaña de lanzamiento, terminadas las pruebas del satélite SAOCOM 1A de la CONAE desarrollado con INVAP, VENG, CNEA, GEMA, STI y empresas nacionales

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/166695.jpg)
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/166696.jpg)

ЦитироватьКА SAOCOM 1A ГОТОВ К ЗАПУСКУ В КОСМИЧЕСКОЕ ПРОСТРАНСТВО! Радарная антенна САР была закрыта в последний раз и была подготовлена к пусковой кампании после завершения испытаний в Национальной комиссии Аргентины по космической деятельности (CONAE) спутника SAOCOM 1A, разработанного совместно с компаниями INVAP, VENG, CNEA, GEMA, STI и прочими национальными компаниями.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/67521.jpg)Stephen Clark‏ @StephenClark1 (https://twitter.com/StephenClark1) 21 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/StephenClark1/status/1021929719145660421)

Argentina's long-delayed SAOCOM 1A radar observation satellite preps for shipment to Vandenberg for launch NET September.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/68672.jpg)CONAE‏ @CONAE_Oficial (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial) 7 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial/status/1021835522157826050)

SAOCOM 1A PREPARÅNDOSE PARA VIAJAR. El satélite de observación de la CONAE ingresó al contenedor para la última prueba de verificación en @invapargentina (https://twitter.com/invapargentina) /CEATSA antes de su traslado a EE.UU. para la campaña de lanzamiento. En pocas semanas, SAOCOM 1A nos mirará desde el espacio!

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/166387.jpg)
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/166388.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185874.jpg)Michael Baylor‏ @nextspaceflight (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight) 12 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1022554614778933248)

Confirmed: SAOCOM-1A will be the first RTLS at Vandenberg!

14 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1022555283980050432)

And yes, I know the tweet doesn't say anything about an RTLS. We already know that is happening on the next mission. What this confirms is that SAOCOM-1A is the payload on an upcoming Vandy mission scheduled to launch in a few weeks.

12 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1022555675535204352)

Based on the FCC filings, this mission is NET Early September.

ЦитироватьSpaceX readies its California landing pad for September rocket recovery debut

By Eric Ralph (https://www.teslarati.com/author/eric-ralph/)
Posted on July 26, 2018

Just as SpaceX successfully debuted Falcon 9 Block 5 at their California launch pad and returned drone ship Just Read The Instructions (JRTI) to rocket recovery duty after a nine-month leave, the company's next West Coast mission is already aligning for an early-September launch.

The mission, SAOCOM-1A, will feature yet another inaugural event – the first use of a West Coast landing pad less than a mile fr om SpaceX's Vandenberg launch pad.

Спойлер

For the last two and a half years, SpaceX's Florida launch sites (Pad 40 and Pad 39A) have also been privy to a unique secondary facility known as Landing Zone-1, located a few miles away from both pads inside the boundaries of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS). In fact, although a number of attempts were made to recover a Falcon 9 booster aboard drone ship Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY) in 2015, the first successful Falcon 9 booster landing happened to occur at LZ-1, followed four months later by the first successful recovery by sea.

[свернуть]

WHY LAND ON LAND, WHY LAND AT SEA?

Спойлер

The primary draw of an equivalent land-based pad is both simple and massive: while SpaceX's autonomous drone ship vessels are complex, comparatively easy to damage, and extremely expensive to both operate and maintain, a concrete circle on land has relatively tiny fixed and variable costs, does not have to concern itself with volatile ocean conditions, and does not require a fleet of tugboats and service vessels to operate. Rough estimates place the cost of taking a drone ship, tugboat, and crew transport vessel hundreds of miles off the coast on missions that can last 7-14 days anywhere from $500,000 to $2 million or more, depending on how you tabulate costs. Either way, the drone ship fleet will always be more complex and more expensive than simple concrete pads on land.

One problem with land-based landing zones is that returning rockets to their launch sites is very fuel-intensive, requiring propellant margins at booster stage separation that dramatically reduce the payload that can be placed into low Earth orbit (LEO), let alone higher-energy missions to geostationary orbit. As such, without massive performance improvements, drone ships like JRTI and OCISLY will be irreplaceable for as long as Falcon 9 and Heavy are flying – SpaceX simply cannot recover rockets during the geostationary launches that comprise a huge portion of their manifest unless they have those vessels.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/134878.jpg) (https://www.teslarati.com/lz1-and-1035-digital-globe/)
 
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/134890.jpg) (https://www.teslarati.com/what-happen-elon-musk-tesla-space-journey-mars/lz2-with-falcon-heavy-boosters-elon-musk/)
If OCISLY is indeed tasked with catching another extra toasty Falcon later this week, fingers crossed that the vessel (and rocket!) make it through unscathed. (Elon Musk)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/134891.jpg) (https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-new-drone-ship-a-shortfall-of-gravitas/ocisly-and-roomba-123117-johnabc123-2/)
The drone ship Of Course I Still Love You spotted in Port Canaveral, FL last December. (Instagram /u/ johnabc123)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/135005.jpg) (https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-vafb-rocket-landing-pad-debut-september-recovery/jrti-off-to-catch-a-rocket-072218-pauline-acalinc/)
West Coast drone ship Just Read The Instructions headed out to sea to catch a Block 5 booster on July 22. It succeeded. (Pauline Acalin)
 
This brings us to another conundrum. SpaceX's Florida launch facilities support heavy commercial geostationary satellite launches as much as or more than any other type of payload in a given year of launches, meaning that the company's now-doubled landing pad at LZ-1 is only used every once and awhile for Cargo Dragon launches and other miscellaneous and rare launches that leave enough margin in Falcon 9. SpaceX's Vandenberg pad, on the other hand, is effectively bound to launching satellites into polar orbits (orbiting over Earth's poles versus around the equator) – safety regulations prevent large rockets from launching over populated areas like the entire continental U.S., as an example for California launches.

Equatorial launches from East to West are much less efficient than their opposite, as Earth's own rotation (West to East) provides rockets an appreciable performance boost. The point is that SpaceX's Vandenberg launches are for fairly particular payloads, usually LEO communications satellites and imaging satellites that thrive in polar orbits, wh ere one or a handful of satellites can observe almost anywhere on Earth over the course of a normal 24-hour. Those satellites also happen to be lightweight more often than not, meaning that many of the booster recoveries on drone ship JRTI (https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-falcon-9-landing-iridium-fairing-catch/) could instead return to launch site (RTLS) for a dramatically simpler and cheaper recovery.

[свернуть]

ENTER BLOCK 5

Спойлер

A West Coast LZ is even more intriguing and important with respect to the recent debut of Falcon 9 Block 5 at Vandenberg (https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-pacific-recovery-fleet-block-5-debut/) and the fact that all future launches. Even compared to SpaceX's Florida LZ-1, the company's Western pad is incredibly close to the launch pad. By landing less than a mile from SpaceX's VAFB integration and refurbishment facilities (and launch pad), recovery and refurbishment operations should be more effortless than any before it.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/135004.jpg) (https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-falcon-9-landing-iridium-fairing-catch/iridium-7-b1048-vertical-2-pauline-acalin-5c/)
SpaceX's yet-unused Californian Landing Zone, seen ahead of Falcon 9 Block 5's Iridium-7 debut. (Pauline Acalin)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/135000.jpg) (https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-falcon-9-landing-iridium-fairing-catch/iridium-7-b1048-recovery-spacex-1/)
And finally, a successful Block 5 booster landing on the West Coast! (SpaceX)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/135002.jpg) (https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-vafb-rocket-landing-pad-debut-september-recovery/iridium-7-b1048-vertical-2-pauline-acalin-3/)
SpaceX's Vandenberg launch pad (right) and landing zone (left) ahead of the pad's first Falcon 9 Block 5 launch, Iridium-7. (Pauline Acalin)

While the company's VAFB launch pad is a bit older than its Eastern cousins and requires at least 3-5 weeks between launches for repairs and refurbishment, that relaxed schedule may be unbeatable for proving out the Block 5 upgrade's true rapid reusability, as well as its ability to far more than two orbital missions per booster lifespan. SAOCOM-1A, one of two Argentinian Earth observations scheduled for launch with SpaceX, will begin that new era for SpaceX's Vandenberg operations, including a landing pad debut (https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-falcon-9-block-5-telstar-iridium-launch-landing/) permit officially granted by the FCC in the last few weeks. The Falcon 9 booster that launches that mission is bound to have a storied future ahead of itself.

[свернуть]

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186030.jpg)Ministerio Ciencia‏Подлинная учетная запись @Min_Ciencia (https://twitter.com/Min_Ciencia) 5 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/Min_Ciencia/status/1024301141163696130)

Este es el #SAOCOM (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SAOCOM?src=hash) de @conae_oficial (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial) que hoy temprano salía de @invapargentina (https://twitter.com/invapargentina) hacia el aeropuerto. Lo despide parte del equipo que trabajó en él con mucha emoción.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186030.jpg)Ministerio Ciencia‏Подлинная учетная запись @Min_Ciencia (https://twitter.com/Min_Ciencia) 4 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/Min_Ciencia/status/1024312459774124032)

El Antonov 124 es este avión que ves en el video. Parte mañana 1 de agosto a las 7.30 de la mañana llevando al #SAOCOM (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SAOCOM?src=hash) a California, a la Base Vanderberg, donde se ultimarán detalles previo a su lanzamiento en unas semanas.

Video (https://twitter.com/i/videos/tweet/1024312459774124032) (0:19)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/68672.jpg)CONAE‏ @CONAE_Oficial (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial) 4 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial/status/1024319186816983041)

El satélite SAOCOM 1A de la CONAE ya está en el aeropuerto de Bariloche y lo están cargando en el avion de transporte mas grande del mundo, el Antonov 124. Despidiendo emocionados nuestro satélite de observación! CONAE, INVAP, VENG, CNEA, GEMA, STI, SADE, DTA, SUR, Ascentio

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186028.jpg)Leandro Biderman‏ @LBTaikonauta (https://twitter.com/LBTaikonauta) 49 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/LBTaikonauta/status/1024366394396295169)

SAOCOM 1A leaves tomorrow for Vandenberg to be launched on @SpaceX (https://twitter.com/SpaceX) Falcon 9 (first RTLS on West Coast!)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186030.jpg)Ministerio Ciencia‏Подлинная учетная запись @Min_Ciencia (https://twitter.com/Min_Ciencia) 15 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/Min_Ciencia/status/1024401842283925504)

Estas imágenes son de la carga del #SAOCOM (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SAOCOM?src=hash) en el avión que lo transportará a California. Pesa unas 3 toneladas y mide 4,5 metros de alto por 1,5 metros de diámetro. La antena radar (Radar de Apertura Sintética o SAR) desplegable tiene 10 metros de largo por 3,5 metros de ancho.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/167087.jpg)

Спойлер

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/167090.jpg)
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/167089.jpg)
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/167088.jpg)

[свернуть]

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/68672.jpg)CONAE‏ @CONAE_Oficial (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial) 1 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial/status/1024617789175291905)

LISTOS PARA VOLAR CON EL SAOCOM 1A! El equipo de ingenieros que acompañan al satélite argentino SAOCOM 1A en su vuelo desde Bariloche a California, esta mañana al abordar el Antonov. Está cerca el lanzamiento! Bravo equipo! CONAE, INVAP, VENG, CNEA, GEMA, STI, DTA, ASCENTIO, SUR

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/167161.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186030.jpg)Ministerio Ciencia‏Подлинная учетная запись @Min_Ciencia (https://twitter.com/Min_Ciencia) 36 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/Min_Ciencia/status/1024627563539431424)

Salió el #SAOCOM (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SAOCOM?src=hash) de @CONAE_Oficial (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial) a bordo del avión Antonov que lo lleva hacia California para su lanzamiento. Este es el video del despegue hace una hora aproximadamente.

Video (https://twitter.com/i/videos/tweet/1024627563539431424) (0:26)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186040.jpg)Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight) 8 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1024710704434171904)

ARTICLE: SAOCOM 1A ships to Vandenberg as Falcon 9 prepares for the first west coast RTLS -

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/08/saocom-1a-ships-vandenberg-falcon-9-first-west-coast-rtls/ ... (https://t.co/7nrTeuXxtp)

by Michael Baylor (@nextspaceflight (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight))

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/167182.jpg)

Спойлер

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/167189.jpg)
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/167191.jpg)
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/167239.jpg)

[свернуть]

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185874.jpg)Michael Baylor‏ @nextspaceflight (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight) 18 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1024716164121812992)

Here's B1048 prior to the Iridium-7 launch. During SAOCOM 1A, the same first stage will land on the SLC-4W landing zone directly adjacent to the launch pad.

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/08/saocom-1a-ships-vandenberg-falcon-9-first-west-coast-rtls/ ... (https://t.co/CiaDXGDzmT)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/167261.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186300.jpg)INVAP‏ @invapargentina (https://twitter.com/invapargentina) 1 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/invapargentina/status/1024728607636246532)

A punto de partir desde Chile y continuar su viaje, parte del equipo de @CONAE_Oficial (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial) e INVAP que está viajando ahora en el Antonov, llevando a #SAOCOM (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SAOCOM?src=hash) a su sitio de lanzamiento. @Min_Ciencia (https://twitter.com/Min_Ciencia)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/167285.jpg)

ЦитироватьAPRIL 16, 2009

SPACEX SIGNS ARGENTINA'S SPACE AGENCY FOR TWO FALCON 9 LAUNCHES

ЦитироватьPair of SAOCOM Earth Observation Satellites to Launch between 2012 & 2013
Hawthorne, California – April 16, 2009 – Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX (http://www.spacex.com/)) has signed an agreement with CONAE, Argentina's National Commission on Space Activity, for two launches aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 (http://www.spacex.com/falcon9) medium-to-heavy lift vehicle. The flights will send the SAOCOM 1A and 1B Earth observation satellites into sun-synchronous orbits, where they will provide imagery for natural resources monitoring, as well as emergency and disaster management.
The identical SAOCOM satellites each carry an L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) instrument. Among other civil applications, the main purpose of the constellation is the measurement of the soil moisture over the Pampa Húmeda in Argentina. The two SAOCOM satellites will join four X-band SAR COSMO-SkyMed satellites from the Italian Space Agency (ASI), creating the Italian-Argentine System of Satellites for Emergency Management (SIASGE) constellation. The first three of the ASI satellites were launched in 2007 and 2008 with the fourth expected to fly in 2010.
"SpaceX is excited to be CONAE's launch service provider for the SAOCOM 1A and 1B missions," said Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX. "The Falcon 9 launch vehicle has been designed to the highest level of reliability and performance; we look forward to helping ensure the success of the SAOCOM satellites."
The inaugural flight of Falcon 9 is scheduled for this year, with the first Dragon spacecraft scheduled to fly on a subsequent launch, both from SpaceX's launch facility at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

ЦитироватьI was about to post yesterday that one of the engineers of the satellite team told me after Iridium 7 that all was on track for September 5th but an engineer from the SAOCOM propulsion team has said on reddit today that this mission is now end of september  :(

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186300.jpg)INVAP‏ @invapargentina (https://twitter.com/invapargentina) 21 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/invapargentina/status/1024986252305735680)

Última parada antes de llegar a California con el Antonov. A las 12 de la noche aterrizaron en Cancún, pero mejor que te lo cuenten ellos @CONAE_Oficial (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186300.jpg)INVAP‏ @invapargentina (https://twitter.com/invapargentina) 6 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/invapargentina/status/1025108914323578880)

¡Aterrizaron! #SAOCOM (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SAOCOM?src=hash) ya está en la Base de Vandenberg, California. (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/125385.png)(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/125535.png)(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/125258.png)(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/125533.png) @CONAE_Oficial (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/167434.jpg)

Цитировать...
Vandenberg will thus be the focus of SpaceX's launch activities in September and October, hopefully supporting at least two missions. The first, SAOCOM-1A, is an Argentinian Earth observation satellite targeting a launch window in late September, reportedly delayed from September 5 to give SpaceX additional time to prepare Falcon 9. According to NASASpaceflight.com (https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/), SpaceX intends to refly Falcon 9 B1048 for this mission, giving the company just 6-8 weeks to refurbish the rocket and prepare it for the usual preflight static fire several days before launch. SAOCOM-1A will also likely mark the debut of SpaceX's West Coast rocket landing zone (https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-vafb-rocket-landing-pad-debut-september-recovery/), known as LZ-2.
...

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/68672.jpg)CONAE‏ @CONAE_Oficial (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial) 17 авг. (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial/status/1030514580710191105)

El satélite de observación SAOCOM1A llegó muy bien al sitio de lanzamiento en Vandenberg, California. El equipo de trabajo de CONAE, VENG, INVAP y CNEA, trabaja en la sala limpia de Spacex, preparándolo para el lanzamiento, previsto entre el 28 de septiembre y el 4 de octubre.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/167620.jpg)

Спойлер

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/167621.jpg)
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/167622.jpg)

[свернуть]

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186319.jpg)Pauline Acalin‏ @w00ki33 (https://twitter.com/w00ki33) 12 ч.12 часов назад (https://twitter.com/w00ki33/status/1032653431758934016)

I love this angle of B1048 returning to port on 7/27.(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/125323.png) This booster is scheduled to re-launch at the end of September for SAOCOM 1A and then return to launch site (RTLS) for the first West Coast land recovery!
#SpaceX (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpaceX?src=hash) #iridium7 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/iridium7?src=hash)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/168797.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186040.jpg)Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight) 38 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1037481721946619904)

SpaceX media accreditation for SAOCOM 1A mission (SLC-4E at Vandy): "A flight-proven Falcon 9 rocket will deliver SAOCOM 1A to LEO. The launch is targeted for no earlier than October."

Set to be the first West Coast RTLS!

Overview:
https://t.co/7nrTeuXxtp">https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/08/saocom-1a-ships-vandenberg-falcon-9-first-west-coast-rtls/ ... (//%3Cfont%20size=)

- by @nextspaceflight (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/169367.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/68672.jpg)CONAE‏ @CONAE_Oficial (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial) 2 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial/status/1040694505903738880)

Última foto del satélite argentino SAOCOM 1A en Tierra! Los equipos de la CONAE, VENG, @invapargentina (https://twitter.com/invapargentina) y @CNEAok (https://twitter.com/CNEAok) finalizaron la integración y encapsulado del SAOCOM 1A en la cofia del lanzador Falcon 9 de @SpaceX (https://twitter.com/SpaceX). El satélite está listo! Comienzan preparativos de lanzamiento!

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170015.jpg)

Спойлер

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170016.jpg)(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170017.jpg)(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170018.jpg)

[свернуть]

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29925.jpg)Michael Baylor‏ @nextspaceflight (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight) 11 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1043171226775183360)

Booking my flights today for SAOCOM 1A. I was almost certain that I would miss the first RTLS at Vandy, but against all odds it looks like I might be there. (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/125548.png)that the current schedule doesn't slip too much. B1048 (right) will land on the landing zone (left). I cannot wait!

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170177.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29925.jpg)Michael Baylor‏ @nextspaceflight (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight) 8 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1043621112771432448)

Two weeks from today, a SpaceX Falcon 9 will perform the first RTLS at Vandenberg after launching SAOCOM 1A . Liftoff is currently scheduled for October 6 at 19:22 local time (Oct. 7th at 2:22 UTC). The first stage booster will be flight-proven Block 5 B1048.2.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170313.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29925.jpg)Michael Baylor‏ @nextspaceflight (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight) 8 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1043623873571430402)

The first stage will Return to Launch Site (RTLS) on the landing zone at SLC-4W which is located only ~1,400 feet (420 meters) from the SLC-4E launch site. For comparison, LZ-1 is 5.7 miles (9.1 kilometers) from SLC-40.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29925.jpg)Michael Baylor‏ @nextspaceflight (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight) 37 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1044339286533984256)

The SpaceX landing zone at Vandenberg appears to be named "LZ-4" based on a filing with the FCC. If anyone knows who originally discovered this let me know (it wasn't me), and I will credit them. I cannot seem to find the person.

https://apps.fcc.gov/oetcf/els/reports/442_Print.cfm?mode=current&application_seq=86733&license_seq=87645 ... (https://t.co/tpAJVIdDkM)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/169407.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186040.jpg)Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight) 2 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1046385593880596480)

SpaceX Falcon 9 launch with SAOCOM 1A coming up at Vandenberg next weekend. Static Fire test is NET October 2. And yes, the paint is drying on the X on the Landing Pad for this first west coast RTLS (Return To Launch Site). The passenger:

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170929.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29925.jpg)Michael Baylor‏ @nextspaceflight (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight) 6 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1046554352733835264)

Here's a satellite image of SLC-4 from earlier today via @planetlabs (https://twitter.com/planetlabs). As @NASASpaceflight (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight) stated earlier, the paint is currently drying on LZ-4. Looks like #SpaceX (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpaceX?src=hash) painted it white like LZ-2 and not black like LZ-1, as the X is not showing up.

https://www.planet.com/stories/slc-4-tcgUIw0mg ... (https://t.co/jrMhLUfOuE)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170975.jpg)


6 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1046554845686190084)

Also, the TEL appears to be in the HIF for mating operations ahead of the static fire on October 2nd.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186319.jpg)Pauline Acalin‏ @w00ki33 (https://twitter.com/w00ki33) 28 сент. (https://twitter.com/w00ki33/status/1045784830594572288)

(Port of LA, 8/1) Getting super darn excited. Previously flown for Iridium-7, this beauty is set to launch again next week for SAOCOM 1A. First landing was aboard drone ship JRTI, the next will return to launch site.
#spacex (https://twitter.com/hashtag/spacex?src=hash) #falcon9 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/falcon9?src=hash)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170780.jpg)

ЦитироватьSpaceX paints "X" on Western Falcon 9 landing pad for rocket recovery debut

By Eric Ralph (https://www.teslarati.com/author/eric-ralph/)
Posted on September 30, 2018

According to NASASpaceflight.com, SpaceX has finished painting a fresh "X" on their newest Falcon 9 landing zone, located just a quarter of a mile fr om the company's SLC-4 Vandenberg Air Force Base launch facilities.

In work in one shape or another since late 2014, mainly due to a lack of a pressing need for the pad, it's looking increasingly likely that the West Coast landing zone (LZ) will be used for the first time on October 6th, shortly after a flight-proven Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket launches the Argentinian Earth-sensing satellite SAOCOM-1A.

Спойлер

Harkening back to a truly hilarious moment in SpaceX history, wh ere the company was forced to hire someone to kidnap a seal and make it listen to sonic booms before being allowed to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, SpaceX has been slowly preparing the pad's companion landing zone for several years. With construction effectively completed in early 2018, it may well have been able to catch its first Falcon 9 booster this summer were it not for a somewhat humorous environmental regulation preventing return-to-launch-site (RTLS) recoveries between March and June, pupping season for native harbor seals.

As reported by Chris Bergin of NASASpaceflight, SpaceX has finished painting its traditional "X" target on the California Landing Zone, essentially christening the slab of concrete for its first Falcon 9 landing. While mostly symbolic, it's likely that SpaceX has included a layer of radar-reflective paint like that used at its operational Florida LZs, meant to make the pads stick out like a sore thumb to the downward-facing radar altimeters used by Falcon 9 to fine-tune landing burns. Ultimately, this new landing zone should be even more of a boon for Falcon 9 reusability than those in Florida, thanks to the fact that it's barely 1400 feet away from the launch pad and booster hangar.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/218911.jpg) (https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-paints-x-on-western-falcon-9-landing-pad-for-rocket-recovery-debut/iridium-1-falcon-9-slc-4-hangar-spacex-3/)
A rare glimpse inside SpaceX's SLC-4 rocket integration hangar, January 2017. (SpaceX)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/218893.jpg) (https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-drone-ships-new-falcon-9-landings/slc-4e-lz-1-may-2018-pauline-acalin-pad-crop-c/)
SpaceX's West Coast landing zone is preparing for its debut, currently NET October 6th 2018. (Pauline Acalin/Teslarati)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/218906.png) (https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-paints-x-on-western-falcon-9-landing-pad-for-rocket-recovery-debut/elon-musk-vandenberg-seal-testing-talulah-riley-1/)
Elon Musk's famous seal tale from Vandenberg launch preparations, 2013. (Talulah Riley)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/218907.jpg) (https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-paints-x-on-western-falcon-9-landing-pad-for-rocket-recovery-debut/elon-musk-vandenberg-seal-testing-talulah-riley-2/)
Humans do some weird things... (Talulah Riley)
 
With the risk of frightening baby seal pups now behind them, the pad fully complete, and a Falcon 9 Block 5 launch with a lightweight payload just days away, the time is right for SpaceX's Californian RTLS debut. Static fire of the flight-proven rocket Block 5 booster, successfully recovered after launching Iridium-7 on July 25th, is scheduled for October 2nd, while launch is currently targeted at 7:22 pm PDT, October 6th/02:22 UTC, October 7th 2018.

[свернуть]

ЦитироватьSpaceX's Falcon 9 fairing catcher Mr Steven preps for October recovery attempt

By Eric Ralph (https://www.teslarati.com/author/eric-ralph/)
Posted on October 1, 2018

Following a 45-day armless hiatus, SpaceX fairing recovery vessel Mr Steven's four net-supporting arms have reappeared at its Berth 240 home, potentially giving SpaceX technicians enough time to install them for a fifth attempt at snagging a Falcon 9 fairing half.

That fifth Falcon fairing recovery attempt could occur as early as ~8 pm PDT, October 6th, roughly half an hour after SpaceX is scheduled to launch a flight-proven Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket with SAOCOM-1A, a 3000 kg (6600 lb) Earth observation satellite built for Argentinian space agency CONAE.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/218921.jpg)
All four of Mr Steven's fairing recovery arms returned to Berth 240 on October 1st. Of note, this shot shows off the bolted assembly that allows SpaceX to easily take apart, repair, and upgrade the arms. (Pauline Acalin)

Спойлер

SpaceX's most recent Vandenberg launch and fairing recovery attempt occurred on July 25th and successfully placed the sixth group of 10 Iridium NEXT communications satellites into orbit, after which Falcon 9 B1048 managed a safe landing aboard drone ship Just Read The Instructions (JRTI). JRTI returned to Port of San Pedro on July 28th and Block 5 booster B1048 has spent its subsequent ~70 days on dry land being refurbished for SAOCOM-1A, perhaps providing a taste of things to come for SpaceX launch operations.

Mr Steven, on the other hand, has been relegated to its Port of Los Angeles berth for the last month and a half, following the removal of his four arms, eight complementary booms, and large net. Presumably scheduled for upgrades after additional real-world testing, those arms and booms disappeared fr om Berth 240 around August 22nd and were spotted back beside Mr Steven on October 1st. Curiously, at least one arm had legible shipping manifest stickers applied, suggesting that the central arm structure, an entire arm, or even all four arms were shipped somewhere by air in interim.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/218896.jpg) (https://www.teslarati.com/mr-steven-berth-240-080318-pauline-acalin-26c/)
Mr Steven with arms, August 3rd. (Pauline Acalin)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/218898.jpg) (https://www.teslarati.com/berth-240-mr-steven-091818-pauline-acalin-7c/)
No arms, no problem. 09/18/18 (Pauline Acalin)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/218922.jpg) (https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-mr-steven-arm-reattachment-falcon-fairing-catch/mr-steven-arm-upgrade-take-2-100118-pauline-acalin-9c/)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/218925.jpg) (https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-mr-steven-arm-reattachment-falcon-fairing-catch/mr-steven-upgrade-arms-take-2-100118-pauline-acalin-3c/)
Once at the dock, SpaceX technicians reassembled arm components, presumably preparing to reinstall them on Mr Steven. (Pauline Acalin)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/218924.jpg) (https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-mr-steven-arm-reattachment-falcon-fairing-catch/mr-steven-upgrade-arms-take-2-100118-pauline-acalin-1c/)
(Pauline Acalin)
 
Thanks to a new structural design allowing each arm to be easily disassembled into half a dozen major subsections, air shipment is likely a breeze compared to nearly all other large pieces of SpaceX hardware. Wh ere or why they were shipped is unclear, although the expense of transporting ungainly and heavy items by air may indicate that schedule margins were too tight and the distance too far for road transport.

Mr Steven's eight shock-absorbing arm booms have yet to be spotted at or around Berth 240, but chances are looking good for the vessel to have his arms reattached in time to attempt a fairing catch shortly after SAOCOM-1A. Judging from photos of the recently returned arms, any obvious before and after differences are few and far between, meaning that any visible upgrades to the recovery mechanism will instead be found with the booms.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186319.jpg) Pauline Acalin‏ @w00ki33 (https://twitter.com/w00ki33)

It certainly appears that Mr Steven's net is capable of receiving a fairing half. Getting closer than ever. 8/13 #spaceX (https://twitter.com/hashtag/spaceX?src=hash) #mrsteven (https://twitter.com/hashtag/mrsteven?src=hash)

https://video.twimg.com/tweet_video/DklZDrvU8AEJXgP.mp4 (https://video.twimg.com/tweet_video/DklZDrvU8AEJXgP.mp4)

12:44 (https://twitter.com/w00ki33/status/1029453716187836416) - 14 авг. 2018 г.

Longer arm booms could perhaps increase the working area of Mr Steven's arms at the cost of dropping his net closer to the deck and late-July testing that involved placing an actual fairing on the net appeared to indicate that margin is available to lower his net further. We'll find out soon as the booms arrive and SpaceX technicians (hopefully) begin reinstalling the vessel's arms and net over the next several days.

[свернуть]

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186040.jpg)Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight) 14:04 (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1047230923677356032) - 2 окт. 2018 г.

Falcon 9 B1048.2 has come to life at Vandenberg. As always, it's for SpaceX to tweet confirmation - based how the test looked via what is known in the business as a Quick Look review. A deeper dive into the data feeds into the Launch Readiness Review (LRR) closer to launch.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/69029.jpg)SpaceX‏Подлинная учетная запись @SpaceX (https://twitter.com/SpaceX) 14:11 (https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1047232538106707968) - 2 окт. 2018 г.

Static fire test of Falcon 9 complete–targeting October 6 launch of SAOCOM 1A from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186040.jpg)Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight) 14:13 - 2 окт. 2018 г. (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1047233125993078790) - 2 окт. 2018 г.

And there you go! (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/125484.png)

Article:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/10/spacex-falcon-9-for-static-fire-saocom-1a-first-west-rtls/ ... (https://t.co/J0wiTRAlX8)

- by Ian Atkinson (@IanPineapple (https://twitter.com/IanPineapple))

Цитировать(https://scontent-arn2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-1/p50x50/14141726_10155247802079897_1176986817781108090_n.jpg?_nc_cat=106&oh=315ce065bc41e813fb4923e55d4cfc2a&oe=5C15290C) (https://www.facebook.com/30thSpaceWing/?ref=nf&hc_ref=ARRBEt9EncQojewsHRbnRUn35Nx_1Vr8uQshjDxwa9_KS0J6UtM1ln-nb_59BYkTKjs&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARATab3G6i29ELUXqoUhxt2JmI1gB8-X8gLo8DbFYNa1d89JKHTlJwijCMfKmd2uTtwDkYQlgpTdGrFcsiikHvsSUCz5rvw9pEzQ64Vk9e_nmPQCrF08aON7IDO3VHRjAR3zMahWup5QmVs-Y4naacAyId-i1hEidQmwCwrrVyryxf2FgtB7jf4&__tn__=%3C-R) 30th Space Wing (Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.) (https://www.facebook.com/30thSpaceWing/?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARC5IHm-JFATek7Xx2EdfCBH1pGB3_DcuIZXd6RVBdAgDJq7DdwpprOrIeeDSy6nJQkRiTcIzDSNmYWJAePB8fv2wmGUKk6UZFVnblOu9B4ATmTBFho1MTbMkzivT_sdhtPBvoZjvTyAE63PTFfL7AK0_-uR55Mn8Grm1-7cI1_DvEnZksoVI34&__xts__%5B1%5D=68.ARATab3G6i29ELUXqoUhxt2JmI1gB8-X8gLo8DbFYNa1d89JKHTlJwijCMfKmd2uTtwDkYQlgpTdGrFcsiikHvsSUCz5rvw9pEzQ64Vk9e_nmPQCrF08aON7IDO3VHRjAR3zMahWup5QmVs-Y4naacAyId-i1hEidQmwCwrrVyryxf2FgtB7jf4&hc_ref=ARRJpT9zHuwpyKdwViJbtXPbiEGF8vAIhuzCVB9VvVSmbUgVv585IqYzvk40fjWlgeA&fref=nf&__tn__=kC-R)
6 мин. (https://www.facebook.com/30thSpaceWing/photos/a.97094879896/10157472907334897/?type=3&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARATab3G6i29ELUXqoUhxt2JmI1gB8-X8gLo8DbFYNa1d89JKHTlJwijCMfKmd2uTtwDkYQlgpTdGrFcsiikHvsSUCz5rvw9pEzQ64Vk9e_nmPQCrF08aON7IDO3VHRjAR3zMahWup5QmVs-Y4naacAyId-i1hEidQmwCwrrVyryxf2FgtB7jf4&__tn__=-R) ·

DID YOU HEAR?! We are scheduled to support launch of the SAOCOM 1A satellite on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-4E on Saturday, Oct. 6, at 7:21 p.m. PDT.

SpaceX is attempting the secondary mission of landing the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket at Landing Zone 4. This will be SpaceX's first land landing attempt at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Local residents may see the first stage of the Falcon 9 returning to Vandenberg AFB. Residents from Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties may hear one or more sonic booms during the landing operation.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/184910.jpg)Brian Sandoval‏ @brianksphotos (https://twitter.com/brianksphotos) 19:56 (https://twitter.com/brianksphotos/status/1047319450570055681) - 2 окт. 2018 г.

Train passing through Space Launch Complex 4, home to @SpaceX (https://twitter.com/SpaceX)'s #falcon9 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/falcon9?src=hash) after today's static fire.
#saocom (https://twitter.com/hashtag/saocom?src=hash) #rtls (https://twitter.com/hashtag/rtls?src=hash) #spacex (https://twitter.com/hashtag/spacex?src=hash)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170680.jpg)

ЦитироватьSpaceX completes hotfire test, preps for first California rocket landing
October 2, 2018 (https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/10/) | Stephen Clark (https://spaceflightnow.com/author/stephen-clark/)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/145006.jpg)
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that will launch Saturday will reuse the first stage booster from a July 25 mission that carried 10 Iridium communications satellites into orbit. This photo shows the Falcon 9 rocket before the July 25 launch from California. Credit: SpaceX

A Falcon 9 rocket powered by a recycled first stage lit its main engines for a hold-down firing on a launch pad Tuesday at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, keeping pace with a scheduled liftoff Saturday night carrying a radar observation satellite for Argentina, a mission that will feature the first SpaceX booster landing on the West Coast.

SpaceX announced the completion of the static fire test in a tweet shortly after 2 p.m. PDT (5 p.m. PDT; 2100 GMT) Tuesday, confirming that the Falcon 9 launch is on track for Saturday at Vandenberg Air Force Base, a military-run spaceport on California's Central Coast northwest of Los Angeles.

Liftoff is scheduled for 7:21 p.m. PDT Saturday (10:21 p.m. EDT; 0221 GMT Sunday) from Space Launch Complex 4-West at Vandenberg with Argentina's SAOCOM 1A radar Earth-imaging satellite, according to a statement from the Air Force.

Спойлер

The SAOCOM 1A spacecraft will be installed on the Falcon 9 rocket later this week, after ground crews lower the launcher from its SLC-4W launch pad and return it to a nearby hangar. A photo shared on Twitter showed the Falcon 9 rocket and its strongback structure vertical at the launch pad Tuesday evening, as a freight train rolled along a railroad track nearby overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/184910.jpg)Brian Sandoval‏ @brianksphotos (https://twitter.com/brianksphotos)

Train passing through Space Launch Complex 4, home to @SpaceX (https://twitter.com/SpaceX)'s #falcon9 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/falcon9?src=hash) after today's static fire.
#saocom (https://twitter.com/hashtag/saocom?src=hash) #rtls (https://twitter.com/hashtag/rtls?src=hash) #spacex (https://twitter.com/hashtag/spacex?src=hash)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170680.jpg)

19:56 (https://twitter.com/brianksphotos/status/1047319450570055681) - 2 окт. 2018 г.

SAOCOM 1A arrived at the launch base in early August to begin final pre-flight preparations after riding an Antonov An-124 cargo plane from an airport near the satellite's factory in Bariloche, Argentina, to California, with stops in Cancun and a customs check in Los Angeles before landing on the runway at Vandenberg.

The satellite's purpose is to scan the Earth with an L-band steerable synthetic aperture radar, enabling all-weather imagery of the planet day and night. Radar imagers can see through clouds and are effective 24 hours a day, but optical cameras are hindered by clouds and darkness.

SAOCOM 1A is the first of two identical radar observation satellites developed by CONAE, Argentina's national space agency, and manufactured by a consortium of Argentine companies led by INVAP.

The new radar satellite will help measure soil moisture, and will watch for oil spills, floods, wildfires and other natural and human-caused disasters. The soil moisture data will provide scientists and agricultural planners information about the wetness of soil to a depth of more than 6 feet, or 2 meters, information that will help predict harvest yields, floods and droughts.

SAOCOM 1A is the first radar imaging satellite built in Argentina, and it will comprise part of a joint Argentine-Italian project to share complementary radar surveillance data between the SAOCOM satellites and Italy's Cosmo-SkyMed constellation.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/145078.jpg)
The SAOCOM 1A radar observation satellite was encapsulated inside the Falcon 9 rocket's payload fairing last month. Credit: CONAE

For the first time, SpaceX will attempt to bring the Falcon 9's first stage booster back to land at Vandenberg, following a return trajectory pioneered on missions launched from Cape Canaveral. On previous flights from California, SpaceX has recovered Falcon 9 first stages on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean.

The concrete landing zone at Vandenberg is similar in appearance to SpaceX's landing pads at Cape Canaveral. But the rocket's return point in California is much closer to SpaceX's launch pad than the landing zone in Florida.

SpaceX signaled earlier this year its intention to attempt the first rocket landing at Vandenberg, following lengthy environmental and safety reviews by the Air Force, the Federal Aviation Administration, NOAA, and state authorities. Regulators examined how the returns might affect wildlife and natural resources, including seals that could be spooked by sonic booms.

The Air Force said in a statement Tuesday that residents around Vandenberg Air Force Base may hear sonic booms as the rocket comes back to Earth for a propulsive landing.

"Local residents may see the first stage of the Falcon 9 returning to Vandenberg AFB, including multiple engine burns associated with the landing," the Air Force said in a statement. "During the landing attempt residents from Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties may hear one or more sonic booms.

SpaceX has named its landing pad at Vandenberg Landing Zone 4. It was formerly named Space Launch Complex 4-West, a sister pad to the SLC-4E launch facility now used by the Falcon 9 rocket.

The Air Force used SLC-4W for Titan 3B and Titan 2 rocket launches through 2003. The Air Force toppled the Titan 2's launch towers in 2014, and SpaceX leased the site from the military in 2015 to reconfigure the property into a landing pad. The SLC-4E pad was once the West Coast home of the Titan 4 rocket.

While SpaceX's landing zones at Cape Canaveral are several miles from the Falcon 9 rocket's launch pads, the landing zone at Vandenberg is just a quarter-mile — around 400 meters — from the Falcon 9's liftoff point at neighboring SLC-4E.

Onshore rocket landings are less expensive for SpaceX, and they save time for engineers inspecting and refurbishing the boosters for future missions. The deployment and return to port of a drone ship and its support vessels can take up to a week, assuming an on-time launch.

On missions with relatively light-mass payloads going into low-altitude orbits, the Falcon 9's first stage stage can reserve enough propellant for the engine burns required to steer it back to its launch base, rather than arcing downrange to a drone ship in the ocean.

Planet, which operates a fleet of more than 100 Earth-imaging satellites, released a pair of photos Monday taken from space showing changes at SpaceX's West Coast launch and landing sites between Sept. 20 and Sept. 30. The imagery shows the rocket's circular landing zone on the left — just inland from the Pacific Ocean — and the Falcon 9 launch pad on the right.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/145100.jpg)
One of the satellites in Planet's growing Earth-observing constellation took this picture of SLC-4E and Landing Zone 4 at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Credit: Planet

The first stage booster assigned to SAOCOM 1A previously flew July 25 on SpaceX's seventh launch of Iridium Next communications satellites, then landed on the company's offshore drone ship. Saturday night's flight will mark the 16th time SpaceX has reused one of its rocket boosters on an orbital mission.

SpaceX could also try again to catch part of the Falcon 9 rocket's nose shroud, an aerodynamic fairing the protects the SAOCOM 1A spacecraft during its climb into orbit. The company's net-equipped fairing-catcher, a high-speed boat named "Mr. Steven," may be dispatched into the Pacific Ocean to try and catch fairing as it descends into the Atlantic Ocean under a parafoil.

Like the reuse of the Falcon first stage, SpaceX aims to recover and re-fly fairings to further cut launch costs.

[свернуть]

ЦитироватьNAVAREA XII 416/2018 (18,19,83)

EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC.
CALIFORNIA.
HAWAII.
1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS, ROCKET LAUNCHING
   070151Z TO 070306Z OCT, ALTERNATE
   0151Z TO 0306Z DAILY 08 THRU 10 OCT
   IN AREA BOUND BY
   33-03N 121-07W, 32-37N 120-35W,
   31-46N 121-00W, 31-14N 121-41W,
   31-25N 122-16W, 32-20N 122-34W,
   33-07N 122-08W, 33-10N 121-24W.
2. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS, SPACE DEBRIS
   070407Z TO 070422Z OCT, ALTERNATE
   0407Z TO 0422Z DAILY 08 THRU 10 OCT
   IN AREA BOUND BY
   00-52S 152-42W, 00-20S 155-10W,
   07-06N 158-07W, 15-27N 156-51W,
   19-27N 153-30W, 18-43N 147-59W,
   14-23N 147-19W, 05-35N 149-07W.
3. CANCEL THIS MSG 100522Z OCT 18.

( 020924Z OCT 2018 )

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29925.jpg)Michael Baylor‏ @nextspaceflight (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight) 21 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1047556065104150528)

For planning purposes, the SpaceX SAOCOM 1A launch is now targeting NET October 7th local time at around 7:22 PM (October 8th at 2:22 UTC) from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Further slips remain possible.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/30273.jpg)Raul‏ @Raul74Cz (https://twitter.com/Raul74Cz) 5 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/Raul74Cz/status/1047565245324177409)

SAOCOM-1A Launch Hazard Area based on issued NOTMAR. Stage2 Reentry Debris Area south of Hawaii active on the second orbit (04:07 to 04:22 UTC). https://goo.gl/JYk1ey  (https://t.co/5vo6yRthAN)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170772.jpg)(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170773.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/69029.jpg)SpaceX‏Подлинная учетная запись @SpaceX (https://twitter.com/SpaceX) 5 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1047614884660240386)

Now targeting October 7 for launch of SAOCOM 1A. Rocket and payload are healthy; additional time will be used to complete pre-flight vehicle checkouts.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29925.jpg)Michael Baylor‏ @nextspaceflight (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight) 2 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1047662042562404352)

If #SpaceX (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpaceX?src=hash) cannot launch on Sunday, Thursday will be the next opportunity to launch #SAOCOM1A (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SAOCOM1A?src=hash).

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/68672.jpg)CONAE‏ @CONAE_Oficial (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial) 2 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial/status/1047661612189077505)

El lanzamiento del Satélite Argentino SAOCOM 1A cambia de fecha considerando el domingo 7 y el jueves 11 de octubre como fechas alternativas. Esta modificación fue solicitada por la empresa SpaceX para continuar con las pruebas que permitan asegurar un lanzamiento exitoso.

ЦитироватьNAVAREA XII 417/2018 (18,19,83) 

EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC.
CALIFORNIA.
HAWAII.
1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS, ROCKET LAUNCHING
   080151Z TO 080306Z OCT, ALTERNATE
   120151Z TO 120306Z OCT IN AREA BOUND BY
   33-03N 121-07W, 32-37N 120-35W,
   31-46N 121-00W, 31-14N 121-41W,
   31-25N 122-16W, 32-20N 122-34W,
   33-07N 122-08W, 33-10N 121-24W.
2. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS, SPACE DEBRIS
   080407Z TO 080422Z OCT, ALTERNATE
   120407Z TO 120422Z OCT IN AREA BOUND BY
   00-52S 152-42W, 00-20S 155-10W,
   07-06N 158-07W, 15-27N 156-51W,
   19-27N 153-30W, 18-43N 147-59W,
   14-23N 147-19W, 05-35N 149-07W.
3. CANCEL NAVAREA XII 416/18.
4. CANCEL THIS MSG 120522Z OCT 18.

( 032052Z OCT 2018 )

ЦитироватьCentral California residents may experience sonic boom
0th Space Wing Public Affairs / Published October 02, 2018

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --
Team Vandenberg is scheduled to support launch of the SAOCOM 1A satellite on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-4E on Sunday, Oct. 7, at 7:21 p.m. PDT.

SpaceX is attempting the secondary mission of landing the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket at Landing Zone 4, which was previously called SLC-4W, at Vandenberg Air Force Base. This will be SpaceX's first land landing attempt at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Local residents may see the first stage of the Falcon 9 returning to Vandenberg AFB, including multiple engine burns associated with the landing. During the landing attempt residents from Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties may hear one or more sonic booms. A sonic boom is the sound associated with the shock waves from an aircraft or vehicle traveling faster than the speed of sound. Sonic booms generate a sound similar to an explosion or a clap of thunder. The sonic boom experienced will depend on weather conditions and other factors.

Цитироватьна сайте SpaceX

spacex.com/webcast (http://www.spacex.com/webcast)

или

на ТыТрубе

youtube.com/watch?v= vr_C6LQ7mHc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=%20vr_C6LQ7mHc)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186343.jpg)Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF (https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF) 2 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF/status/1048931795784355844)

It's Launch Day! The #Falcon9 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/Falcon9?src=hash) is set to launch @ 19:21 PDT 0221 UTC from Vandenberg - 43 mins AFTER sunset. That should set up an AMAZING light show for the West Coast as the rocket launches & then attempts its first-ever Return To Launch Site landing at Vandy!
@SpaceX (https://twitter.com/SpaceX) #SAOCOM1A (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SAOCOM1A?src=hash)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/69029.jpg)SpaceX‏Подлинная учетная запись @SpaceX (https://twitter.com/SpaceX) 18 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1048700657681592320)

SpaceX's West Coast landing zone

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170451.jpg)
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170452.jpg)

ЦитироватьLive coverage: SpaceX prepares for launch and landing in California
October 7, 2018 (https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/10/) | Stephen Clark (https://spaceflightnow.com/author/stephen-clark/)

10/07/2018 07:37 Stephen Clark

SpaceX engineers at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California are preparing for the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket Sunday at 7:21 p.m. PDT (10:21 p.m. EDT; 0221 GMT Monday) with SAOCOM 1A, a radar observation satellite for Argentina. The mission will include the first landing attempt by a SpaceX booster at America's West Coast spaceport.

Спойлер

The Falcon 9 rocket will carry Argentina's SAOCOM 1A Earth observation satellite into orbit, the first of two radar reconnaissance spacecraft developed by Argentina and assigned to flights on SpaceX launchers.

For the first time, SpaceX will attempt to bring the Falcon 9's first stage booster back to land at Vandenberg, following a return trajectory pioneered on missions launched from Cape Canaveral. On previous flights from California, SpaceX has recovered Falcon 9 first stages on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean.

The concrete landing zone at Vandenberg is similar in appearance to SpaceX's landing pads at Cape Canaveral. But the rocket's return point in California is much closer to SpaceX's launch pad than the landing zone in Florida.

SpaceX signaled earlier this year its intention to attempt the first rocket landing at Vandenberg, following lengthy environmental and safety reviews by the Air Force, the Federal Aviation Administration, NOAA, and state authorities. Regulators examined how the returns might affect wildlife and natural resources, including seals that could be spooked by sonic booms.

The Air Force said in a statement Tuesday that residents around Vandenberg Air Force Base may hear sonic booms as the rocket comes back to Earth for a propulsive landing.

"Local residents may see the first stage of the Falcon 9 returning to Vandenberg AFB, including multiple engine burns associated with the landing," the Air Force said in a statement. "During the landing attempt residents from Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties may hear one or more sonic booms.

SpaceX has named its landing pad at Vandenberg Landing Zone 4. It was formerly named Space Launch Complex 4-West, a sister pad to the SLC-4E launch facility now used by the Falcon 9 rocket.

The first stage booster assigned to SAOCOM 1A previously flew July 25 on SpaceX's seventh launch of Iridium Next communications satellites, then landed on the company's offshore drone ship. Sunday night's flight will mark the 16th time SpaceX has reused one of its rocket boosters on an orbital mission.

The satellite's purpose is to scan the Earth with an L-band steerable synthetic aperture radar, enabling all-weather imagery of the planet day and night. Radar imagers can see through clouds and are effective 24 hours a day, but optical cameras are hindered by clouds and darkness.

SAOCOM 1A is the first of two identical radar observation satellites developed by CONAE, Argentina's national space agency, and manufactured by a consortium of Argentine companies led by INVAP.

The final phase of construction of the SAOCOM 1B satellite has started at INVAP's factory in Bariloche, Argentina. Its launch is planned on a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base some time between October and December of 2019, according to Laura Frulla, principal investigator for the SAOCOM mission at CONAE.

The new radar satellites will help measure soil moisture, and will watch for oil spills, floods, wildfires and other natural and human-caused disasters. The soil moisture data will provide scientists and agricultural planners information about the wetness of soil to a depth of more than 6 feet, or 2 meters, information that will help predict harvest yields, floods and droughts.

"The SAOCOM mission is mainly dedicated to soil moisture, but you can identify features in urban areas, too," Frulla said in an interview Saturday with Spaceflight Now. "The sensitivity of the instrument is quite good. We can have applications in agriculture, fishing, forestry, climate science, oceanography, natural resources, urban planning and geology.

"In the case of the environment, you can estimate biomass," Frulla said. "This is a good feature of using L-band. You can also have snow maps and water maps, and these give you some knowledge about the management of water, mainly for regions that don't have it."

SAOCOM 1A is the first radar imaging satellite built in Argentina, and it will comprise part of a joint Argentine-Italian project to share complementary radar surveillance data between the SAOCOM satellites and Italy's Cosmo-SkyMed constellation.

Frulla said the entire SAOCOM project, including two satellites, two launches and a ground station, cost around $600 million.

[свернуть]

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29925.jpg)Michael Baylor‏ @nextspaceflight (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight) 1 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1048954590182305794)

B1048, we meet again.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170495.jpg)


1 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1048960777929940993)

The SLC-4E launch pad is directly adjacent to the LZ-4 landing zone. #SpaceX (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpaceX?src=hash)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170507.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29925.jpg)Michael Baylor‏ @nextspaceflight (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight) 14 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1048972651476074496)

Perfect weather for remote setup. Fingers crossed for tonight. #SpaceX (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpaceX?src=hash)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170520.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/68672.jpg)CONAE‏ @CONAE_Oficial (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial) 1 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial/status/1048961041437270016)

CENTRO CONTROL DE MISION - EQUIPO A Comienza el trabajo ! Estamos en conteo y listos para el lanzammiento! Vamos #SAOCOM (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SAOCOM?src=hash) 1A (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/125535.png) Vamos (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/125258.png)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170503.jpg)
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170504.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29925.jpg)Michael Baylor‏ @nextspaceflight (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight) 16 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1049000007972450304)

Humans for scale. #SpaceX (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpaceX?src=hash)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170526.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/184850.jpg)Kerbal Space Academy‏ @KSpaceAcademy (https://twitter.com/KSpaceAcademy) 36 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/KSpaceAcademy/status/1048999190628454400)

Soon™ #SAOCOM1A (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SAOCOM1A?src=hash)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170527.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186300.jpg)INVAP‏ @invapargentina (https://twitter.com/invapargentina) 18 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/invapargentina/status/1049009355692171266)

Listos para el lanzamiento de #SAOCOM (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SAOCOM?src=hash) de @CONAE_Oficial (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial) en Vandenberg y en Córdoba. Vamos Argentina! (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/125409.png)(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/125385.png)(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/125385.png)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170530.jpg)

Спойлер

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170528.jpg)(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170529.jpg)

[свернуть]

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29925.jpg)Michael Baylor‏ @nextspaceflight (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight) 6 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1049037119971160064)

Mr. Steven remains at the Port of LA and will not attempt to recover a fairing half. No word on the reason.
#SpaceX (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpaceX?src=hash)

Цитировать10/08/2018 00:05 Stephen Clark

A shortened Falcon 9 countdown is now the norm with the introduction of SpaceX's upgraded "Block 5" version of the launch vehicle.

After power-up and initial checkouts of the Falcon 9 rocket at Space Launch Complex 4-East, SpaceX's launch conductor will electronically poll the launch team at T-minus 38 minutes -- 6:43 p.m. PDT (9:43 p.m. EDT; 0143 GMT) -- for a "go" to proceed into the automated countdown sequence.

Assuming all systems are go, refined, super-chilled RP-1 kerosene will begin flowing into both stages of the Falcon 9 rocket three minutes later at T-minus 35 minutes -- 6:46 p.m. PDT (9:46 p.m. EDT; 0146 GMT).

At the same time, cryogenic liquid oxygen will begin pumping int the Falcon 9's first stage. Liquid oxygen loading into the second stage will commence at T-minus 16 minutes.

At around the same time, the SAOCOM 1A spacecraft will be switched to internal battery power and configured for liftoff.

Chill down of the first stage's nine Merlin 1D engines will begin at T-minus 7 minutes, followed by the alignment of the Falcon 9's guidance system and retraction of the launch pad's strongback structure a few degrees from the vehicle in preparation for engine ignition.

In the final couple of minutes of the countdown, the Falcon 9 will switch to internal power and its propellant tanks will be pressurized, prior to the command to ignite its nine main engines at T-minus 3 seconds.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/69029.jpg)SpaceX‏Подлинная учетная запись @SpaceX (https://twitter.com/SpaceX) 4 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1049049534729310208)

Falcon 9 and SAOCOM 1A are vertical on SpaceX's launch pad at Vandenberg AFB. Following today's launch at 7:21 p.m. PDT, SpaceX will attempt to land Falcon 9's first stage on Landing Zone 4. Webcast starts ~15 minutes before liftoff → http://spacex.com/webcast  (https://t.co/gtC39uBC7z)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170521.jpg)

ЦитироватьPhotos: Falcon 9 rocket, landing pad ready for action at Vandenberg
October 7, 2018 (https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/10/) | Stephen Clark (https://spaceflightnow.com/author/stephen-clark/)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/145084.jpg)
The Falcon 9 rocket set to launch the SAOCOM 1A satellite stands on its launch pad Sunday. Credit: SpaceX

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was raised vertical at Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Sunday ahead of a planned liftoff with Argentina's SAOCOM 1A radar observation satellite, and the first landing of a SpaceX booster on the U.S. West Coast.

The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket was set for liftoff at 7:21:29 p.m. PDT Monday (10:21:29 p.m. EDT; 0221:29 GMT Tuesday) from the SLC-4E launch pad at Vandenberg. The Argentine-built SAOCOM 1A spacecraft, carrying a synthetic aperture radar imager for Earth observation, will ride the commercial launcher into orbit around 385 miles (620 kilometers) above Earth.

For the first time, SpaceX plans to return the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket to Vandenberg, a military facility located on California's Central Coast between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Спойлер

SpaceX has landed 11 rockets at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station following launches from Florida, and another 18 boosters have touched down intact on the company's ocean-going downrange drone ships. But none have returned to landings in California.

That is set to change with Sunday's launch after lengthy environmental reviews and final preparations of the concrete landing pad at Vandenberg, dubbed Landing Zone 4. The landing target sits on the site of a former Titan 2 launch pad, around a quarter-mile (400 meters) from the Falcon 9 launch pad at SLC-4E, a site previously used by Titan 4 rockets.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/145079.jpg)
Credit: SpaceX

The relatively light weight of the SAOCOM 1A spacecraft — around 6,600 pounds (3,000 kilograms) — combined with the payload's target orbit less than 400 miles above Earth allow the Falcon 9 to reserve sufficient propellant for the return to launch site landing maneuvers.

Less fuel reserve is needed to steer the first stage toward a drone ship downrange at sea.

SpaceX plans to inspect the stage for potential reuse on a future mission. Going into Sunday's launch, the booster already has one flight in its history — a July 25 launch with 10 Iridium communications satellites. The rocket landed on SpaceX's drone ship and returned to port in California for inspections and preparations for another launch.

These photos show the Falcon 9 rocket at the SLC-4E launch pad Sunday.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/145080.jpg)Credit: SpaceX(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/145108.jpg)
Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/145107.jpg)
Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/145105.jpg)
Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/145106.jpg)
Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/145103.jpg)
Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/145109.jpg)
Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/145104.jpg)
Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/145102.jpg)
Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News

[свернуть]

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/69029.jpg)SpaceX‏Подлинная учетная запись @SpaceX (https://twitter.com/SpaceX) 2 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1049107569547997185)

T-60 minutes until Falcon 9 launch of SAOCOM 1A. Launch webcast will go live about 15 minutes before liftoff → http://spacex.com/webcast  (https://t.co/gtC39uBC7z)

Цитировать10/08/2018 04:36 Stephen Clark

T-minus 45 minutes. Some statistics on today's launch:

[/li]
• 62nd launch of a Falcon 9 rocket since 2010
• 68th launch of Falcon rocket family since 2006
• 12th Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base
• 2nd launch of Falcon 9 Vehicle No. 48
• 2nd launch of an all-Block 5 version of the Falcon 9 from Vandenberg
• 1st launch for Argentina by SpaceX
• 23rd Falcon 9 night launch
• 16th Falcon 9 launch of 2018
• 17th launch by SpaceX in 2018
• 8th launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in 2018
• 6th flight of a Falcon 9 Block 5 first stage
• 9th flight of a Falcon 9 Block 5 second stage
• 36th attempt to land a Falcon 9 first stage
• 1st attempt to land a Falcon 9 first stage at Vandenberg AFB
  

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29920.jpg)D. Stamos/Helodriver‏ @SpacecoastPix (https://twitter.com/SpacecoastPix) 10 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/SpacecoastPix/status/1049109283940364288)

Sunset light illuminates the #Falcon9 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/Falcon9?src=hash) of #SpaceX (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpaceX?src=hash) less than on hour from launch @NASASpaceflight (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170546.jpg)

Цитировать10/08/2018 04:42 Stephen Clark

The U.S. Air Force's Western Range reports they are "go" for launch and landing of the Falcon 9 rocket at this time.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186343.jpg)Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF (https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF) 27 с. назад (https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF/status/1049113413916536832)

Go for propellant loading!
@SpaceX (https://twitter.com/SpaceX) #Falcon9 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/Falcon9?src=hash) #SAOCOM1A (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SAOCOM1A?src=hash) #VandyLanding (https://twitter.com/hashtag/VandyLanding?src=hash)

Цитировать10/08/2018 04:47 Stephen Clark

"Launch auto has started." The final countdown sequence has commenced, starting the first steps to begin pumping propellants into the 229-foot-tall Falcon 9 at Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 4-East.

RP-1 kerosene and liquid oxygen should now being pumped into the Falcon 9 rocket. The liquid oxygen is chilled to near minus 340 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 206 degrees Celsius).

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29920.jpg)D. Stamos/Helodriver‏ @SpacecoastPix (https://twitter.com/SpacecoastPix) 4 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/SpacecoastPix/status/1049113637015539712)

Elon Musk arrives at Vandenberg AFB for the launch of #SAOCOM1A (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SAOCOM1A?src=hash) @NASASpaceflight (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170547.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29925.jpg)Michael Baylor‏ @nextspaceflight (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight) 1 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1049114641341673473)

Prop load rates are nominal on both stages.
#SpaceX (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpaceX?src=hash)

Цитировать10/08/2018 04:54 Stephen Clark

The Falcon 9 rocket will deliver the SAOCOM 1A spacecraft to orbit around 10 minutes after liftoff, then deploy the satellite into a roughly 385-mile-high (620-kilometer) orbit at T+plus 12 minutes, 37 seconds.

The separation of the SAOCOM 1A radar observation satellite will kick off pre-programmed steps aboard the spacecraft to unfurl its solar panels and configure itself for early mission testing.

Later this month, SAOCOM 1A will deploy its L-band radar antenna, a critical step before the satellite can start collecting imagery.

Assuming that all goes according to plan, the satellite should begin collecting calibrated radar data for users by March 2019, according to Laura Frulla, SAOCOM 1A principal investigator at CONAE, the Argentine space agency.

Цитировать10/08/2018 04:56 Stephen Clark

Second stage cryogenic helium operations have started. The helium is used to pressurize the upper stage's propellant tanks.

Цитировать10/08/2018 05:02 Stephen Clark

The Falcon 9's second stage has been filled with RP-1 kerosene fuel. Fueling of the first stage continues, and liquid oxygen loading is still underway.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186040.jpg)Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight) 2 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1049117734414561280)

Falcon 9 says she's ready to rock and roll. https://www.twitch.tv/dasvaldez  (https://t.co/C7U0Jm7nc9)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170531.jpg)(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170533.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/69029.jpg)SpaceX‏Подлинная учетная запись @SpaceX (https://twitter.com/SpaceX) 34 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1049122755575078913)

Liftoff!

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170535.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/69029.jpg)SpaceX‏Подлинная учетная запись @SpaceX (https://twitter.com/SpaceX) 20 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1049126517928734720)

Successful deployment of SAOCOM 1A to low Earth orbit confirmed.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170545.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/69029.jpg)SpaceX‏Подлинная учетная запись @SpaceX (https://twitter.com/SpaceX) 14 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1049128432724918273)

Falcon 9 on Landing Zone 4 after delivering SAOCOM 1A to low Earth orbit, marking the 30th successful landing of a rocket booster.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170552.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186040.jpg)Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight) 37 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1049122765767421952)

LAUNCH! SpaceX Falcon 9 B1048.2 launches with SAOCOM 1A from Vandenberg SLC-4E.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170534.jpg)
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170536.jpg)
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170537.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/67516.jpg)Jonathan McDowell‏Подлинная учетная запись @planet4589 (https://twitter.com/planet4589) 26 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1049126177074499585)

SAOCOM-1A has separated from the second stage, congrats @SpaceX (https://twitter.com/SpaceX) and CONAE!

The second stage is expected to remain in orbit for a while for tests and reenter SE of Hawaii in a few hours

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186406.jpg)John Kraus‏ @johnkrausphotos (https://twitter.com/johnkrausphotos) 25 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/johnkrausphotos/status/1049127106473410560)

#SpaceX (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpaceX?src=hash)'s #Falcon9 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/Falcon9?src=hash) rocket launches #SAOCOM1A (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SAOCOM1A?src=hash) from Vandenberg Air Force Base this evening. Seen is the rocket's second stage heading toward orbit. Occurring shortly after sunset, portions of the rocket's flight were beautifully illuminated by the already-set sun.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170542.jpg)

ЦитироватьFalcon 9 launches SAOCOM 1A & Falcon 9 first stage landing at Vandenberg

SciNews (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjU6ZwoTQtKWfz1urL7XcbA)

Опубликовано: 7 окт. 2018 г.

ЦитироватьSAOCOM 1A deployment

SciNews (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjU6ZwoTQtKWfz1urL7XcbA)

Опубликовано: 7 окт. 2018 г.

ЦитироватьOn Sunday, October 7 at 7:21 p.m. PDT, SpaceX successfully launched the SAOCOM 1A satellite from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The satellite was deployed about 12 minutes after liftoff.

Following stage separation, Falcon 9's first stage returned to land at SpaceX's Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) at Vandenberg Air Force Base. This was SpaceX's first land landing on the West Coast. LZ-4 is built on the former site of Space Launch Complex 4W, from which Titan rockets were previously launched.

ЦитироватьOCTOBER 07, 2018

SAOCOM 1A MISSION

On Sunday, October 7 at 7:21 p.m. PDT, SpaceX successfully launched the SAOCOM 1A satellite from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The satellite was deployed about 12 minutes after liftoff.

Following stage separation, Falcon 9's first stage returned to land at SpaceX's Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) at Vandenberg Air Force Base. This was SpaceX's first land landing on the West Coast. LZ-4 is built on the former site of Space Launch Complex 4W, from which Titan rockets were previously launched.

ЦитироватьSAOCOM 1A Mission
Доступ по ссылке

SpaceX (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtI0Hodo5o5dUb67FeUjDeA)

Трансляция началась 71 минута назад

SpaceX is targeting Sunday, October 7 for the launch of the SAOCOM 1A satellite from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

ЦитироватьSpaceX запустила ракету Falcon 9 с аргентинским радиолокационным спутником
05:43 08.10.2018 (обновлено: 05:44 08.10.2018)

МОСКВА, 8 окт — РИА Новости. Ракета Falcon 9 стартовала с космодрома "Ванденберг" в Калифорнии с аргентинским радиолокационным спутником SAOCOM 1A...

Запуск с космодрома состоялся в 22:21 EDT (5.21 мск) в понедельник.
Эта миссия включает первую попытку компании SpaceX приземлить первую ступень ракеты обратно на космодром "Ванденберг". Во время предыдущих запусков из Калифорнии первая ступень опускалась на радиоуправляемые платформы в Тихом океане. Ранее SpaceX успешно возвращала первые ступени на космодром на мысе Канаверал во Флориде.
...

ЦитироватьПервая ступень ракеты Falcon 9 впервые вернулась на космодром в Калифорнии
05:46 08.10.2018 (обновлено: 05:47 08.10.2018)

МОСКВА, 8 окт — РИА Новости. Первая ступень ракеты Falcon 9 впервые вернулась на калифорнийский космодром...

Запуск ракеты Falcon 9 с космодрома "Ванденберг" в Калифорнии с аргентинским радиолокационным спутником SAOCOM 1A состоялся в 22:21 EDT (5.21 мск) в понедельник.

Первая ступень ракеты успешно вернулась на "Ванденберг" в 22.30 EDT (5.30 мск).

Эта миссия включала первую попытку компании SpaceX приземлить первую ступень ракеты обратно на "Ванденберг". Во время предыдущих запусков из Калифорнии первая ступень опускалась на радиоуправляемые платформы в Тихом океане. Ранее SpaceX успешно возвращала первые ступени на космодром на мысе Канаверал во Флориде.
Для нынешнего старта компания SpaceX использует новейшую и более мощную первую ступень Falcon 9 Block 5. По задумке разработчиков, Block 5 мощнее своей предшественницы и позволяет в более короткие сроки готовить первую ступень к повторному старту.

Ракета Falcon 9 доставит аргентинский спутник на орбиту.

Цитировать8 ОКТ, 05:32

SpaceX сообщила о выводе в космос аргентинского спутника и возвращении ступени ракеты

НЬЮ-ЙОРК, 8 октября. /ТАСС/. Американская компания SpaceX объявила в воскресенье об успешном выводе в космос аргентинского спутника SAOCOM-1A и о возвращении отработанной первой ступени ракеты-носителя Falcon 9 на землю. Трансляция запуска велась на сайте SpaceX.

Falcon 9 стартовала с базы ВВС США Ванденберг (штат Калифорния) в 22:21 по времени восточного побережья США (понедельник, 05:21 мск).

"Отделение второй ступени подтверждено. Это значит, что спутник выведен на околоземную орбиту и миссия завершена", - отметили в компании. Это произошло на 14-й минуте после старта. SpaceX рассчитывала уложиться приблизительно в 12 минут.

Спутник SAOCOM-1A принадлежит Аргентинскому космическому агентству и предназначается для радиолокационного наблюдения за Землей. Получаемая с этого аппарата информация будет использоваться службами спасения и метеорологами. Спутник пригоден для мониторинга состояния окружающей среды, в том числе для замера уровня влажности почвы в том или ином районе. В данной исследовательской программе также участвует космическое агентство Италии.

Первая ступень возвращена в 30-й раз

Спойлер

После пуска и отделения первая ступень носителя, выполняющая роль разгонного блока, совершила запланированную посадку на платформу Zone 4 базы ВВС США Ванденберг. "Falcon 9 стоит [вертикально] на Zone 4 после вывода спутника на околоземную орбиту. Это 30-е успешное приземление разгонного блока [этого типа]", - говорится в Twitter компании под руководством Илона Маска.

Она уточнила, что впервые возвращала первую ступень носителя на сухопутную платформу на базе Ванденберг.

SpaceX разработала технологию возвращения на землю первой ступени, оснащенной четырьмя раскладывающимися посадочными опорами для мягкого приземления. Спуск осуществляется с помощью торможения двигателей и парашюта. Повторное применение этой ступени позволяет удешевить будущие пуски.

Запуск SAOCOM-1A переносился по разным причинам дважды: 28 сентября и 6 октября.

[свернуть]

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186040.jpg)Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight) 54 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1049125896030998529)

S/C Sep for SAOCOM 1A, following launch by Falcon 9 B1048.2 - which successfully landed at LZ-4.

ARTICLE:

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/10/spacex-falcon-9-saocom-1a-launch-west-coast-landing/ ... (https://t.co/sRLnmErJnZ)

- by William Graham

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170538.jpg)

Спойлер

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170539.jpg)(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170540.jpg)(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170541.jpg)

[свернуть]

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185951.jpg)Sean Parker‏ @seanparkerphoto (https://twitter.com/seanparkerphoto) 8 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/seanparkerphoto/status/1049138508806336513)

Falcon 9 launch viewed from Joshua Tree National Park!
#falcon9 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/falcon9?src=hash) #rocketlaunch (https://twitter.com/hashtag/rocketlaunch?src=hash) #sonyalpha (https://twitter.com/hashtag/sonyalpha?src=hash)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170555.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/184910.jpg)Brian Sandoval‏ @brianksphotos (https://twitter.com/brianksphotos) 35 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/brianksphotos/status/1049133679220412417)

The #falcon (https://twitter.com/hashtag/falcon?src=hash) has landed!!!
#spacex (https://twitter.com/hashtag/spacex?src=hash) #rtls (https://twitter.com/hashtag/rtls?src=hash) #SAOCOM1A (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SAOCOM1A?src=hash) #vandenberg (https://twitter.com/hashtag/vandenberg?src=hash)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170554.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186092.jpg)Joaquin Baldwin‏Подлинная учетная запись @joabaldwin (https://twitter.com/joabaldwin) 54 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/joabaldwin/status/1049129723937222657)

THAT WAS AMAZING! The @SpaceX (https://twitter.com/SpaceX) launch from Vandenberg was incredible! I took one long photo, 9 minutes long, the stage 2 cloud was spiraling out of control, what a show!
#Falcon9 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/Falcon9?src=hash) #SpaceX (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpaceX?src=hash) #SAOCOM1A (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SAOCOM1A?src=hash) #SAOCOM (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SAOCOM?src=hash) #launchday (https://twitter.com/hashtag/launchday?src=hash)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170553.jpg)

ЦитироватьSpace X Rocket launch 2018

Hoag (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGgxfmojnl6VeLeQ2jAvCSA)

Опубликовано: 7 окт. 2018 г.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/32932.jpg)Scott Tilley‏ @coastal8049 (https://twitter.com/coastal8049) 5 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/coastal8049/status/1049149558133936129)

#SAOCOM1A (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SAOCOM1A?src=hash) confirmation of down-link signal on S-band.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170559.png)

Цитироватьtnt22 пишет:
Спуск осуществляется с помощью торможения двигателей и парашюта.

ЦитироватьАтяпа пишет:

Цитироватьtnt22 пишет:
Спуск осуществляется с помощью торможения двигателей и парашюта.

Откуда парашют?!

Цитировать"Отделение второй ступени подтверждено. Это значит, что спутник выведен на околоземную орбиту и миссия завершена", - отметили в компании.

ЦитироватьНедавно Илон Маск заявил (https://nplus1.ru/news/2018/04/16/upper-stage), что в будущем SpaceX протестирует посадку второй ступени после орбитального запуска с помощью надувного парашюта, благодаря чему Falcon 9 и Falcon Heavy могут стать полностью многоразовыми ракетами-носителями.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186406.jpg)John Kraus‏ @johnkrausphotos (https://twitter.com/johnkrausphotos) 3 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/johnkrausphotos/status/1049176153322184704)

Launch and landing from the SAME sound-activated camera! #SpaceX (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpaceX?src=hash)'s #Falcon9 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/Falcon9?src=hash) rocket launches #SAOCOM1A (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SAOCOM1A?src=hash) from Vandenberg and lands its first stage just 1,400ft away from the launchpad, enabling two images to be stacked to show launch and landing.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170558.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/67516.jpg)Jonathan McDowell‏Подлинная учетная запись @planet4589 (https://twitter.com/planet4589) 3 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1049167565904388096)

SAOCOM 1A confirmed in orbit, cataloged as 43641 in a 607 x 634 km x 97.9 deg orbit

ЦитироватьSpaceX Falcon 9 SAOCOM 1A
30th Space Wing Public Affairs
Oct. 7, 2018 | 0:55

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the SAOCOM 1A satellite launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. at 7:21 p.m. PDT. SpaceX completed the secondary mission of landing the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket at Landing Zone 4, which was previously called SLC-4W, at Vandenberg AFB. This was SpaceX's first land landing attempt at Vandenberg AFB.

ЦитироватьVandenberg launches SpaceX Falcon 9
30th Space Wing Public Affairs / Published October 08, 2018

Спойлер

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/143358.webp)(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/143361.webp)(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/143356.webp)(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/143360.webp)(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/143359.webp)(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/143364.webp)(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/143357.webp)

[свернуть]

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/143362.webp)(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/143363.webp)

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186225.jpg)Gen. Jay Raymond‏ @AFSpaceCC (https://twitter.com/AFSpaceCC) 6 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/AFSpaceCC/status/1049161446158979073)

Spectacular @SpaceX (https://twitter.com/SpaceX) launch and historic landing tonight from @30thSpaceWing (https://twitter.com/30thSpaceWing). Congrats to the commercial and @usairforce (https://twitter.com/usairforce) launch / range team! Well done!

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186228.jpg)Doug Ellison‏ @doug_ellison (https://twitter.com/doug_ellison) 10 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/doug_ellison/status/1049199452550979585)

And finally - a stack of all the images - you can see so much detail here https://dougellison.smugmug.com/Machines/Space-X-SAOCOM-1A/i-zbJzq8L ... (https://t.co/r6pHbPsqq5)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/170574.jpg)

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29925.jpg)Michael Baylor‏ @nextspaceflight (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight) 22 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1049357339428413441)

B1048 as seen from Surf Beach ~15 hours after landing. #SpaceX (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpaceX?src=hash) Unfortunately, the air was quite hazy.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/171111.jpg)


21 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1049357563349753856)

The lifting cap is definitely the new model with leg lifting capabilities.

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/68672.jpg)CONAE‏ @CONAE_Oficial (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial) 3 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial/status/1049419475077029893)

MISION #SAOCOM (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SAOCOM?src=hash) 1A (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/125535.png) 20:49:30 UTC se terminó de desplegar el panel X1. Todos los paneles desplegados. En el Centro de Control de Misión de la @CONAE_oficial (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial) y en todo el sistema científico tecnologico argentino se celebra este logro. Equipo a cargo del turno. Se festeja!

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/171129.jpg)

ЦитироватьTime lapse video: Elon Musk's SpaceX rocket lights up California sky

CGTN (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgrNz-aDmcr2uuto8_DL2jg)

Опубликовано: 9 окт. 2018 г.

SpaceX successfully launched and landed its Falcon 9, marking the 62nd flight of the vehicle. These time-lapse videos show the Falcon 9 creating a beautiful arch in the air.

ЦитироватьSpaceX SAOCOM 1A - Launching & Landing - 4K w/ onsite audio recording

Jay DeShetler (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxK2xRWY2jsE4vDmaMuopUg)

Опубликовано: 9 окт. 2018 г.

ЦитироватьSpaceX aces first rocket landing in California after launching Argentine satellite
October 8, 2018 (https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/10/) | Stephen Clark (https://spaceflightnow.com/author/stephen-clark/)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/145015.jpg)
A Falcon 9 rocket launched Sunday night from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, with Argentina's SAOCOM 1A radar observation satellite. Credit: SpaceX

A Falcon 9 rocket launching an Argentine Earth-observing satellite streaked across the skies of Southern California on Sunday night, then its booster stage returned to Vandenberg Air Force Base for an on-target landing, the first by SpaceX on the West Coast.

The commercial launcher lifted off from Vandenberg, a military base about 140 miles (225 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles, at 7:21:28 p.m. PDT Sunday (10:21:28 p.m. EDT; 0221:28 GMT Monday).

Climbing into a clear evening sky, the Falcon 9 pitched downrange south from Vandenberg, exceeded the speed of sound in about one minute, then shut down its nine Merlin main engines at around T+plus 2 minutes, 20 seconds.

Four seconds later, the first stage dropped away from the Falcon 9's second stage at an altitude of more than 250,000 feet — about 77 kilometers — then pulsed cold gas thrusters to flip around reignite three of its Merlin engines to reverse course and head back to Vandenberg Air Force Base.

The rocket's comet-like appearance in the skies over Southern California prompted countless social media posts, with spectators sharing imagery of a bulbous exhaust cloud created by Falcon 9's first and second stage engines. The engines on each stage were firing simultaneously as one part of the launcher headed into orbit over the Pacific Ocean, and the first stage steered back toward the coast.

Спойлер

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/145027.jpg)
Two parts of the Falcon 9 rocket, the first stage and second stage, make a comet-like appearance in the evening sky over Southern California. Credit: SpaceX

Three of the first stage engines reignited again after the "boost-back" burn to brake for landing, and the booster's center engine fired moments before touchdown at Landing Zone 4, located a quarter-mile (400 meters) from the Falcon 9's launch pad at Vandenberg.

The Falcon 9 settled back on its concrete landing pad, emblazoned with a stylized "X" in the center, less than eight minutes after liftoff.

"Vandenberg, LZ 4, the Falcon has landed," a member of SpaceX's launch team announced as the booster returned to Earth.

Meanwhile, the Falcon 9's second stage accelerated into orbit with the thrust from its single Merlin engine. The rocket's nose cone jettisoned once the rocket climbed above the boundary of space, and SpaceX did not attempt to recover the fairing on Sunday night's mission.

The rocket released Argentina's SAOCOM 1A radar observation satellite just shy of the 13-minute mark in the mission. U.S. military tracking data indicated SAOCOM 1A was orbiting around 385 miles above Earth, following a polar orbit track inclined 97.9 degrees to the equator, close to pre-flight targets.

The successful launch Sunday was SpaceX's 17th mission of the year, and SpaceX's fifth launch from Vandenberg in 2018.

With Sunday night's mission, SpaceX has recovered one of its first stage boosters 30 times, a tally which includes 18 landings on drone ships at sea, 11 returns to Cape Canaveral, and now one landing at at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/145011.jpg)
The first stage of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket returns to landing at Landing Zone 4 at Vandenberg, the former site of a Titan 2 launch pad. Credit: SpaceX

The launch of SAOCOM 1A also marked the 16th time SpaceX has reused a Falcon 9 booster. The first stage that launched and landed Sunday first flew July 25 on a previous flight from Vandenberg with 10 Iridium communications satellites.

The satellite's purpose is to scan the Earth with an L-band steerable synthetic aperture radar, enabling all-weather imagery of the planet day and night. Radar imagers can see through clouds and are effective 24 hours a day, but optical cameras are hindered by clouds and darkness.

SAOCOM 1A is the first of two identical radar observation satellites developed by CONAE, Argentina's national space agency.

The final phase of construction of the SAOCOM 1B satellite has started at INVAP's factory in Bariloche, Argentina. Its launch is planned on a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base some time between October and December of 2019, according to Laura Frulla, principal investigator for the SAOCOM mission at CONAE.

The new radar satellites will help measure soil moisture, and will watch for oil spills, floods, wildfires and other natural and human-caused disasters. The soil moisture data will provide scientists and agricultural planners information about the wetness of soil to a depth of more than 6 feet, or 2 meters, information that will help predict harvest yields, floods and droughts.

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/145075.jpg)
Members of the SAOCOM 1A team pose with the spacecraft during testing in Argentina. Credit: CONAE

"The SAOCOM mission is mainly dedicated to soil moisture, but you can identify features in urban areas, too," Frulla said in an interview Saturday with Spaceflight Now. "The sensitivity of the instrument is quite good. We can have applications in agriculture, fishing, forestry, climate science, oceanography, natural resources, urban planning and geology.

"In the case of the environment, you can estimate biomass," Frulla said. "This is a good feature of using L-band. You can also have snow maps and water maps, and these give you some knowledge about the management of water, mainly for regions that don't have it."

SAOCOM 1A is the first radar imaging satellite built in Argentina, and it will comprise part of a joint Argentine-Italian project to share complementary radar surveillance data between the SAOCOM satellites and Italy's Cosmo-SkyMed constellation.

Frulla said the entire SAOCOM project, including two satellites, two launches and a ground station, cost around $600 million.

"SAOCOM will be a partially commercial mission, that is to say if you want to have commercial use of the data, you have to pay," Frulla said. "We will give the data free to all institutions that are helping the government and for academic use around the world."

The SAOCOM satellites are manufactured by a consortium of Argentine companies led by INVAP. Parts of the SAOCOM radars were produced in Italy, according to Frulla.

SAOCOM 1A's radar has a best resolution of about 10 meters, or 33 feet.

The twin SAOCOM spacecraft will form a six-satellite constellation with Italy's Cosmo-Skymed satellites. The SAOCOM satellites will fly in roughly the same orbit as the four Cosmo-Skymed spacecraft, allowing Cosmo-Skymed X-band radars and SAOCOM L-band radars to observe the same location on Earth about 10 minutes apart, Frulla said.

The X-band and L-band radar bands resolve different features on Earth's surface, with the L-band capable of penetrating into the soil to sense moisture content.

"When SAOCOM acquires, 10 minutes later Cosmo-Skymed acquires," Frulla said. "So you have nearly simultaneous images of the same area, and you can see different aspects of the surface."

Frulla said one of the first tasks of the SAOCOM ground team is to deploy the new satellite's radar instrument, which was folded up during launch to fit inside the Falcon 9 nose shroud.

The radar imaging array will extend to a length of around 33 feet, or 10 meters, and a width of more than 11 feet, or 3.5 meters. The first images from SAOCOM 1A should be captured and downlinked around 20 days after launch, Frulla said.

After a series of calibrations and testing, SAOCOM 1A should be ready for operational service by March 2019, she said.

Frulla said the SAOCOM satellites are designed to operate for five-and-a-half or six years.

[свернуть]

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/68672.jpg)CONAE‏ @CONAE_Oficial (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial) 3 ч. назад (https://twitter.com/CONAE_Oficial/status/1049712832110088194)

MISION #SAOCOM (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SAOCOM?src=hash) 1A (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/125535.png)Festejamos que el satélite por primera vez alcanzó su actitud, es decir, la orientación casi igual a la que va a tener el resto de su vida en el espacio. En esta posición la antena mira a la tierra, preparándose para empezar a adquirir imágenes. #HayEquipo (https://twitter.com/hashtag/HayEquipo?src=hash)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/171171.jpg)

Спойлер

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/171172.jpg)(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/171173.jpg)(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/171174.jpg)

[свернуть]

ЦитироватьSpaceX SAOCOM 1A - Launching & Landing pads at SLC-4 comparison in sizes - 4K

Jay DeShetler (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxK2xRWY2jsE4vDmaMuopUg)

Опубликовано: 14 окт. 2018 г.

SpaceX SAOCOM 1A - Vandenberg SLC-4