SES 8 - Falcon 9 v1.1 - 03.12.2013 - Canaveral SLC-40

[Salo]

Что интересно: на сайтах SES, SpaceX и Orbital о предстоящем в понедельник пуске нет никакой информации.

[Salo]

[IMG] Elon Musk ‏@elonmusk 2 ч
 
Will be toughest mission to date. Requires coast + upper stage restart + going to 80,000 km altitude (~1/4 way to moon).

А зачем суперсинхрон со столь высоким апогеем?

[Старый]

А чего? Зажигать так зажигать - в две ступени на керосине на Луну!

[Salo]

Впрочем, апогейный импульс ему точно не потянуть, вот видимо в перигее и выкладываются по полной.

[Старый]

Резерв энергетики в данной ситуации дешевле потратить на уменьшение наклонения перигейным импульсом.

[Salo]

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=32990.msg1105331#msg1105331

StarryKnight пишет:
Lot's of good questions so far. I'll do my best to answer them as many as I can.

dsobin пишет:
We heard Elon say that the SpaceX contract with SES requires full expendable-style performance. Does this mean
that SES will be able to load more prop into its tanks? If some performance had been reserved for booster stage re-lights, would the SES-8 tanks have been only partly full? What would this do to spacecraft lifetime?

What other considerations go into this requirement as a contract consideration, as opposed to a technical necessity?

The injection orbit for SES-8 is called a super-synchronous GTO (GTO = Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit) which means that the apogee is above the GEO synchronous altitude of 35,786 km. (A satellite in a circular orbit at GEO altitude has an orbit period of 1 day, matching the Earth's rotation rate). A typical GTO (like you get off of Ariane, Land Launch, Sea Launch, and some other launchers) is an ellipse that has apogee at or near GEO altitude and perigee altitude of somewhers between a couple of hundred kilometers to a few thousand kilometers. It is then up to the satellite to use onboard thrusting to raise perigee up to GEO.

The super-synch GTO also has a fairly low perigee, but it's apogee is usually 10's of kilometers above GEO. This means the satellite's orbit has higher energy. So even though you have to now both raise perigee to GEO and lower apogee to GEO, there is still a fuel savings. For the SES-8 mission, most of the Falcon 9's performance will go into putting the spacecraft in an orbit over 80,000 km altitude at apogee. Some of the rocket's performance will also lower the orbit inclination from about 28 degrees (the lattitude of Cape Canaveral) to a little under 21 degrees, also reducing the amount of fuel that the satellite will require to get to its final orbital slot.

The SES-8 satellite's propellant tanks will be loaded as full as possible for the Falcon 9 to acheive the desired injection orbit. Again, since this is a high energy orbit, less proplellant will be required in the satellite than for a typical GTO to get the satellite to the desired orbit.

Kevin-rf - Yeah those drawings always bug me, too. The Earth is also always too big for a satellite being at GEO altitude. All I can say is artistic license does not reflect physical reality. (maybe I should add that saying to my signature   ).  However there are some satellites (e.g. Loral's FS-1300) which do deploy solar arrays very soon after launch and remain like that throughout the orbit raising period. But I don't know if the reflectors are deployed at that time or if they wait until the satellite gets to GEO.

LurkerSteve - 27 STAR-2's and no STAR-3's, yet. The STAR-3 will be fine on an F9. But the injection orbit won't be as high as the SES-8 or Thaicom-6 missions. It still may be able to reach super-synch, just not as high as 80,000+ km.

[Salo]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=676472099051640&set=a.264465986918922.69695.257596920939162&type=1&theater

What is SES-8's mission?

SES-8 will be co-located with NSS-6 at 95 degrees East to provide growth capacity over Asia and the Pacific region.

SES-8 will support the rapid growth of markets in South Asia and Indo-China through its high performance beams, as well provide expansion capacity for DTH applications and deliver SD and HD channels to the region.

More on co-location: http://bit.ly/1aou4Lx
More on SES-8: http://www.ses.com/4629034/ses-8

[Salo]

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.677725285592988.1073741840.257596920939162&type=1

SES-8 Arrives at Cape Canaveral

Обновлено 2 часа назад

Check out these photos of #SES8 arriving at Cape Canaveral. The satellite will undergo final testing and launch preparation ahead of its big day.
 
 Learn more about SES-8 here: http://bit.ly/ses8fleet

[Петр Зайцев]

Только бы не забыли отстегнуть какой-нибудь транспортный хомуток.

[G.K.]

Петр Зайцев пишет:
Только бы не забыли отстегнуть какой-нибудь транспортный хомуток.

"не" лишнее

[anik]

Пресс-кит SpaceX к пуску: http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=32783.msg1123189#msg1123189

[Salo]

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=32783.0;attach=558496

Satellite Payloads
SES-8
The SES-8 mission will launch the SES-8 commercial telecommunications satellite, an Orbital Sciences GEOStar-2 spacecraft.  This hybrid Ku- and Ka-band spacecraft weighs 3,138 kg (6,918 lbs) at launch. This mission will be the first Falcon 9 launch to a geosynchronous transfer orbit, delivering the satellite to a 295 x 80,000 km orbit at 20.75 degrees inclination.
 
The satellite will provide communications coverage of the South Asia and Asia Pacific regions. Co-located with NSS-6 at SES's 95 degrees East orbital slot, its high performance beams will support rapidly growing markets in South Asia and Indo-China, as well as provide expansion capacity for direct-to-home (DTH), very small aperture terminal (VSAT) and government applications. The satellite is expected to provide 5 kilowatts of power to its payload of 33 Ku-band transponders.

SES Mission Timeline
Times and dates are subject to change
 
LAUNCH DAY
 
COUNTDOWN
Hour:Min    Events
- 13:30   Vehicle is powered on
- 3:50   Commence loading liquid oxygen (LOX)
- 3:40   Commence loading RP-1 (rocket grade kerosene)
- 3:15   LOX and RP-1 loading complete
- 0:06   Falcon 9 terminal count autosequence started
- 0:02   SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for launch
- 0:02   Range Control Officer (USAF) verifies range is go for launch
- 0:01   Command flight computer to begin final prelaunch checks. Turn on pad deck and Niagara wate
- 0:00:40    Pressurize propellant tanks
- 0:00:03    Engine controller commands engine ignition sequence to start
  0:00   Falcon 9 liftoff
 
LAUNCH
Hour:Min    Events
0:01   Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)
0:03   1st stage engine shutdown/main engine cutoff (MECO)
0:03   1st and 2nd stages separation
0:03   2nd stage engine start
0:04   Fairing separation
0:08   2nd stage engine cutoff-1 (SECO-1)
0:27   2nd stage engine restart 
0:28   2nd stage engine cutoff-2 (SECO-2)
0:33   SES-8 satellite deployed

[Salo]

Время в минутах для сокрытия секретной информации от китайцев? :{}

[Salo]

Здесь секретная информация несколько раскрывается (на заметку ФБР):

Launch Sequence
The launch sequence for Falcon 9 is a process of precision necessitated by the rocket's approximately one-hour launch window, dictated by the desired orbit for the satellite.  If the one-hour time window is missed, the mission will be attempted on the next day.
 
A little less than four hours before launch, the fueling process begins—liquid oxygen first, then RP-1 kerosene propellant. The plume coming off the vehicle during countdown is gaseous oxygen being vented from the tanks, which is why the liquid oxygen is topped off throughout the countdown.
 
Terminal countdown begins at T-10 minutes, at which point all systems are autonomous. The SpaceX Launch Director at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station gives a final go for launch at T-2 minutes and 30 seconds. At T-2 minutes, the Air Force Range Control Officer confirms the physical safety of the launch area and provides the final range status. One minute before liftoff, the launch pad's water deluge system,
dubbed "Niagara," is activated.  Fifty-three water nozzles set low on the launch pad provide a curtain of water flowing at 113,500 liters (30,000 gallons) per minute.
 
Three seconds before launch, the nine Merlin engines of the first stage ignite. The rocket computer commands the launch mount to release the vehicle for flight, and at T-0 Falcon 9 lifts off, putting out 1.3 million pounds of thrust.  

Flight
The vehicle will pass through the area of maximum aerodynamic pressure—max Q—approximately 80 seconds into flight. This is the point when mechanical stress on the rocket peaks due to a combination of the rocket's velocity and resistance created by the Earth's atmosphere. 
 
Approximately 178 seconds into flight, the first-stage engines are shut down, an event known as main-engine cutoff, or MECO. Five seconds after MECO, the first and second stages will separate. Seven seconds later, the second stage's single Merlin vacuum engine ignites to begin a 5 minute, 20 second burn that brings the satellite into a parking orbit. The fairing that protects the payload is deployed early in this burn. Eighteen minutes after injection into the parking orbit, the second stage will relight for just over one minute to carry the payload to its geosynchronous transfer orbit.
 
Satellite Deployment
Approximately five minutes after the second burn (at the 32 minute, 53 second mark after launch), the SES-8 satellite is deployed into orbit.

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/007/launchtimeline.html

Falcon 9 launch timeline
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: November 22, 2013

T-00:00    Liftoff
After the rocket's nine Merlin 1D engines pass an automated health check, the Falcon 9 is released from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

T+01:10    Mach 1
The Falcon 9 rocket passes the speed of sound. The first stage's nine Merlin 1D engines produce 1.3 million pounds of thrust at sea level, ramping up to 1.5 million pounds of thrust in vacuum.

T+01:18    Max Q
The Falcon 9 rocket reaches Max Q, the point of maximum aerodynamic pressure.

T+02:58    MECO
Moments after two of the Falcon 9's first stage engines shut down, the remaining seven Merlin 1D engines cut off at an altitude of about 90 kilometers, or 56 miles.

T+03:03    Stage 1 Separation
The Falcon 9's first stage separates from the second stage five seconds after MECO.

T+03:10    Stage 2 Ignition
The second stage Merlin 1D vacuum engine ignites for an approximately 5-minute, 20-second burn to inject the SES 8 satellite into a parking orbit.

T+04:XX    Fairing Jettison
The 5.2-meter (17.1-foot) diameter payload fairing jettisons once the Falcon 9 rocket ascends through the dense lower atmosphere. The 43-foot-tall fairing is made of two clamshell-like halves composed of carbon fiber with an aluminum honeycomb core.

In a break with previous practice, SpaceX has not disclosed the exact time of fairing separation for this mission.

T+08:30    SECO 1
The second stage Merlin 1D vacuum engine shuts down after reaching orbit.

T+27:XX    Stage 2 Restart
The second stage Merlin 1D vacuum engine re-ignites for a brief burn lasting just over one minute to inject SES 8 into the planned supersynchronous transfer orbit.

T+28:XX    SECO 2
The second stage Merlin 1D vacuum engine shuts down. The upper stage next re-orients itself to deployment of the SES 8 payload.

T+32:53    SES 8 Separation
The 6,918-pound SES 8 broadcasting satellite is deployed from the Falcon 9 second stage in an orbit with a perigee of 183 miles, an apogee of 49,709 miles (295 km x 80,000 km) with an inclination of 20.75 degrees.

Data source: SpaceX

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/007/countdowntimeline.html

Falcon 9 countdown timeline
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: November 22, 2013

NOTE: All times approximate

T-minus 13 hours, 30 minutes    Power Vehicle
Launch controllers power up the Falcon 9 rocket for countdown operations.

T-minus 3 hours, 50 minutes    Begin LOX Loading
Liquid oxygen begins flowing into the Falcon 9 rocket's first and second stages.

T-minus 3 hours, 40 minutes    Begin RP-1 Loading
Highly-refined kerosene - a product called RP-1 - begins flowing into the Falcon 9 rocket's first and second stages.

T-minus 3 hours, 15 minutes    Fueling Complete
The Falcon 9's propellant tanks are full. Cryogenic liquid oxygen will continue to be replenished until the final minutes of the countdown.

T-minus 13 minutes    Final Readiness Poll
The launch team is polled for their "go" or "no go" for entering the terminal countdown.

T-minus 10 minutes    Terminal Countdown Autosequence Start
The computer-controlled terminal countdown automatic sequence begins at T-minus 10 minutes.

T-minus 9 minutes    Begin Merlin Engine Chilldown
Pre-valves open to allow super-cold liquid oxygen to flow into the Falcon 9's nine first stage Merlin 1D engines to condition the engine turbopumps for ignition.

T-minus 6 minutes    Align Flight Computer/Internal Power
The Falcon 9's flight computer is aligned for flight, and the rocket is transitioned to internal power supplies.

T-minus 3 minutes    Terminate LOX Loading/FTS Internal Power
The liquid oxygen replenishment to the rocket's first and second stages ends and the system is readied for liftoff. And the rocket's flight termination system is switched to internal power.

T-minus 2 minutes    SpaceX Reports GO
The SpaceX launch director confirms the Falcon 9 is "go" for launch.

T-minus 2 minutes    Air Force Range Reports GO
The U.S. Air Force range safety officer verifies "go" for launch.

T-minus 1 minute    Flight Computer in Start-Up Mode
The Falcon 9 flight computer is commanded to start-up mode, and the launch pad's Niagara and deck water systems are activated.

T-minus 50 seconds    First Stage Steering Check
The thrust vector control, or gimbal, system on the first stage's Merlin 1D engines is checked for launch.

T-minus 40 seconds    Pressurize Propellant Tanks
The Falcon 9's first and second stage propellant tanks are pressurized for flight.

T-minus 3 seconds    Start Engine Ignition Sequence
The engine controller commands the Falcon 9's nine Merlin 1D first stage engines to ignite, followed by a computer health check to verify the engines are healthy before liftoff.

Data source: SpaceX

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/007/status.html

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2013
Technicians are in the final stages of readying a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for launch Monday on the launcher's first mission to geostationary transfer orbit with a commercial communications satellite for television broadcasters in India and Southeast Asia.

The 224-foot-tall rocket will be rolled to the launch pad and erected vertical ahead of Monday's launch, which is set for a 66-minute launch window opening at 5:37 p.m. EST (2237 GMT) from Cape Canaveral's Complex 40.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says the launch will be the Falcon 9's "toughest mission to date," according to a post on his Twitter account.

"Requires coast + upper stage restart + going to 80,000 km altitude (~1/4 way to moon)," Musk wrote on Twitter.

The 6,918-pound mass of the SES 8 communications satellite gives the Falcon 9 ample performance to boost the spacecraft into a high-altitude "supersynchronous" transfer orbit. The high orbit will help SES 8 save propellant when it uses an on-board propulsion system to circularize its orbit at an altitude of 22,300 miles over the equator.

The weather forecast for Monday calls for an 80 percent chance of acceptable conditions for launch.

"Winds weaken and become more easterly through the day on Monday, decreasing below liftoff constraints by the launch window opening," Air Force meteorologists wrote in a forecast summary Saturday. "There is a low lightning threat, but coastal showers could be in the area. The primary concerns for launch day are cumulus clouds and liftoff winds."

The outlook predicts scattered cloud layers at 3,000 feet and 20,000 feet with isolated showers in the area. Winds will be out of east at 15 knots with gusts to 22 knots, and the temperature is forecasted to be 69 degrees Fahrenheit.

The forecast worsens Tuesday, with just a 30 percent chance of good weather for launch.

[Space Alien]

The launch vehicle was rolled out to the pad when the SES viewing party visited around 10:00 PM EST.

 

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=33338.msg1123580#msg1123580

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/007/131124preview/#.UpLs1Sc2NeI

Falcon 9 rocket's commercial debut set for Monday
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: November 24, 2013
 
Ready to test the commercial mettle of the Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX engineers are preparing to loft a television broadcasting satellite into orbit from Cape Canaveral on Monday in a mission that could usher in a new paradigm in the global launch services industry.
 
File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket on the launch pad. Credit: SpaceX
 
 With a 6,918-pound communications satellite nestled in its nose, the Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off at 5:37 p.m. EST (2237 GMT) Monday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

Спойлер

The SES 8 spacecraft, built by Orbital Sciences Corp. and owned by SES of Luxembourg, will be deployed from the Falcon 9 upper stage about a half-hour later on a 15-year mission to broadcast high-definition television to homes in India, Vietnam, Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia.
The Falcon 9's first commercial satellite launch is sure to be widely-watched by rocket and satellite operators. Officials with SpaceX and SES say that is for good reason.
"Whether or not this launch is successful, I'm confident we will certainly make it on some subsequent launch," said Elon Musk, SpaceX's CEO and chief designer, in a meeting with reporters Sunday in Cocoa Beach, Fla. "I don't want to tempt fate, but I think it's going to have a pretty significant impact on the world launch market and on the launch industry because our prices are the most competitive of any in the world."
On its website, SpaceX advertises launch costs between $56 million and $77 million for a Falcon 9 flight. That is less than SpaceX's chief competitors, the Proton and Ariane 5 rockets, which run about $100 million and $200 million per launch.
Operated and sold by the European Arianespace launch provider, Ariane 5 rockets typically launch two satellites at a time, bringing its price-per-payload in line with the Russian Proton vehicle marketed by U.S.-based International Launch Services.
"In order for the other launch companies to compete, they, therefore, will have to improve their designs and really strive to have next-generation rocket technology," Musk said. "So I think SpaceX could be a powerful forcing function for the improvement of rocket technology, not just the stuff we do ourselves, but in that we will force other rocket companies to either develop new technology that's a lot better, or they have to exit the launch market."
SES is the world's No. 2 commercial satellite operator measured by fleet size, and the firm got a deal after agreeing to be on the first Falcon 9 launch to geostationary transfer orbit, according to Martin Halliwell, SES chief technical officer.
Halliwell would not disclose what SES paid for the flight, but he said the contract value was in the lower range of the price spectrum posted on SpaceX's website.
 
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk. Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News
 
 "This is really rocking the industry. Everybody has to look out," Halliwell said Sunday. "There are a lot of people who hope that SpaceX is going to fail. If you look towards the Ariane, if you looks towards Proton, for example, I think they are shaking in their shoes. I really do. Because if this is a success, the whole industry is going to be turned upside down. I don't mean this one particular launch, but if it now becomes the norm that this is the type of launch vehicle that is going to be provided, everybody is going to have to look to their cost space and they're going to have to change their attitude as the way to go forward."
Based in a Los Angeles suburb, SpaceX builds its rockets and engines side-by-side in a cavernous factory formerly used to build fuselages for Boeing 747 jumbo jets. Musk established the company in 2002 and has followed an ethos of vertical integration, with the vast majority of each Falcon 9 rocket built by SpaceX engineers.
Until now, SpaceX's success at undercutting the prices of its competitors in the commercial launch business has not been matched by execution, at least by launches into the types of orbits favored by communications satellite companies.
Six of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets have launched to date. Five of the rockets flew under the banner of a public-private partnership with NASA to develop the Dragon privately-owned cargo spacecraft to service the International Space Station, replacing some of the resupply capacity lost with the retirement of the space shuttle.
SpaceX is now making good on a $1.6 billion contract with NASA covering 12 operational cargo missions using Falcon 9 rockets and Dragon logistics carriers. Two of the flights are in the books, with the third resupply sortie set for launch Feb. 22.
But the launch of SES 8 could be SpaceX's most daunting yet.
Monday's launch will be the first time SpaceX has tried to put a satellite into a high-altitude orbit. The Falcon 9 is targeting a sweeping elliptical orbit arcing as high as 86,500 kilometers, or 53,748 miles, above Earth.
 
SES 8 was prepared for launch inside SpaceX's processing hangar near the Falcon 9 launch pad. Credit: SES
 
 The "supersynchronous" transfer orbit puts SES 8 on the way toward its final circular orbit 22,300 miles over the equator. At that altitude, orbital mechanics dictates a satellite's velocity matches the rate of Earth's rotation. Such an orbit is ideal for communications satellites because it allows users on the ground keep antennas aimed at the same spot in the sky.
The liquid-fueled engine on SES 8 will handle the rest of the maneuvers to reach the 22,300-mile-high geostationary orbit, arriving there Dec. 6 for in-orbit testing of the craft's 24 transponders before entering service in January.
Monday's launch comes with new challenges for SpaceX, which has compiled a flight history of six successful Falcon 9 launches in six tries since 2010.
All of the Falcon 9's preceding missions have carried payloads to orbits no higher than 1,000 miles. Boosting SES 8 more than 80 times higher requires two burns of the launcher's second stage engine, and SpaceX's record there is mixed.
On a Sept. 29 test launch of SpaceX's next-generation Falcon 9 - sporting upgraded engines, stretched propellant tanks, a triply redundant avionics system and a bulbous payload shroud - the launcher released its passengers into polar orbit as designed after one burn of the rocket's upper stage.
Purely as a test objective, SpaceX programmed the upper stage Merlin 1D engine to re-ignite a few minutes later, but the engine's computer controller aborted the restart.
"We always knew there was some risk with the restart, so we made sure that on the first mission a restart was not necessary for orbit insertion," Musk said. "On this mission, a restart is necessary for orbit insertion, so there is a greater bar of difficulty for this mission."
Musk said engineers found the problem was in the plumbing that feeds igniter fluid into the engine's thrust chamber. Between the Falcon 9's two upper stage burns, the fluid lines froze.
"What appeared to be the case on the last mission was that the igniter lines froze due to impingement from the liquid oxygen bleed," Musk said. "There's a liquid oxygen chill that occurs during coast, and the igniter fluid freezes at a relatively high temperature. Obviously, what we've done to correct that is to insulate those lines and ensure the liquid oxygen bleed does not impinge on the lines."
 
The mission patch for the Falcon 9 launch of SES 8. Credit: SpaceX
 
 Halliwell said SES engineers were "embedded" with the SpaceX propulsion team over the last two months, tracing the cause of the engine issue and inspecting the repair work on the upper stage assigned to the launch of SES 8.
"It's given us a real feel-good factor," Halliwell said Sunday.
The launch Monday is the first flight of the improved Falcon 9, known as version 1.1, from Florida. The Sept. 29 mission lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
According to Halliwell, the mission's insurers signed off on the launch. "We have 100 percent insurance on this one," he told CBS News in an interview Friday.
SES 8 will be stationed next to the NSS 6 satellite at 95 degrees east, expanding television broadcast programming over South Asia and Indo-China, beaming TV channels into homes for Dish TV, IPM TV and AVG, three major pay TV operators in India, Thailand and Vietnam.
SES says the region is ripe for growth, and a low-cost launch vehicle helps make the business case for pursuing emerging markets.
"We chose SpaceX and we chose to be the first commercial user for SpaceX for a certain reason," Halliwell said. "We know as we go forward into these growth markets, it's absolutely critical that we have a cost-effective and efficient way to get to orbit. That's really what SpaceX brought us."
The fresh satellite will mark the 55th spacecraft to be launched for SES.
"There's still the potential, since it's a new rocket, for something to go wrong," Musk said Sunday. "With any orbital launch, because the passing grade is 100 percent, you can't issue a recall or software patch or something. It's all or nothing. There's always some risk associated with the flight not working, so we're very appreciative that SES would place a bet on SpaceX here."

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1

[свернуть]

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[Вал]

Musk пишет:
"This is really rocking the industry. Everybody has to look out," Halliwell said Sunday. "There are a lot of people who hope that SpaceX is going to fail. If you look towards the Ariane, if you looks towards Proton, for example, I think they are shaking in their shoes. I really do.

Ну каков, мерзавец, а! Нифига от скромности не помрет.