NROL-76 – Falcon 9 – Кеннеди LC-39A – 01.05.2017 11:15 UTC

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Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 1 ч. назад

The naughty "out of family" sensor that scrubbed the SpaceX Falcon 9 NROL-76 launch was a TOTO (Temperature Ox Tank Outlet) sensor.

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NRO‏Подлинная учетная запись @NatReconOfc 29 мин. назад

Today's #NROL76 launch delayed until tomorrow. Window opens at 7:00 a.m. EDT.

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Прогноз погоды на завтра L-1
Falcon 9 L-1 Launch Forecast
 

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С FNSF
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=42639.msg1672675#msg1672675

Chris Bergin

Per L2 naughty "out of family" sensor that scrubbed the SpaceX Falcon 9 NROL-76 launch was a TOTO (Temperature Ox Tank Outlet) sensor. They had redundancy, but didn't want to risk losing another one, so the "abundance of caution" was as presented. Important to note, as some people see SpaceX as a bit "gung ho", they are as cautious as required, as proven.

24 hours is the current plan, but the access (depending which TOTO sensor on the first stage) for R&R will determine turnaround.

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@CwG_NSF 37 мин. назад

For those wondering, predicted 22kt winds tomorrow are within acceptable limits. #Falcon9 wind limit for launch is 30kts. #SpaceX #NROL76

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https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/04/30/spacex-launch-scrubbed-in-final-minute-of-countdown/

SpaceX launch scrubbed in final minute of countdown
 April 30, 2017 Stephen Clark

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A view of the Falcon 9 rocket at launch pad 39A just before Sunday's launch attempt was scrubbed. Credit: SpaceX

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SpaceX scrubbed an attempt to launch a commercial Falcon 9 rocket Sunday less than a minute before liftoff, blaming a sensor issue on the vehicle's first stage and pushing back the company's first national security mission for the U.S. government at least 24 hours.

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The Falcon 9 launch director called a hold at T-minus 52 seconds as the countdown ticked toward a planned blastoff fr om NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:15 a.m. EDT (1115 GMT) Sunday, immediately ordering the launch team to ready for another try Monday.

"Hold hold hold! This is the launch director calling a hold on the countdown net. We have an issue with the TOTO sensor on the first stage. Launch conductor, please put us into a 24-hour recycle," the launch director said.

"Copy, launch abort is running," the launch conductor replied on SpaceX's countdown loop.

No details on the nature of the instrumentation problem were provided by SpaceX.

"The team was looking into a sensor issue on the first stage that was a bit out of family with what we were expecting, and out of an abundance of caution, we have decided to scrub today's launch," said John Federspiel, a mechanical design engineer who provided commentary on Sunday's countdown during SpaceX's live webcast.

SpaceX's backup launch opportunity, already reserved on the U.S. Air Force's Eastern Range, opens at 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT) Monday. The launch window extends for two hours.

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Weather conditions should be favorable for a launch Monday, with Air Force meteorologists calling for a 70 percent chance the weather will meet the Falcon 9's flight rules.

"The southeasterly low-level winds will become stronger through the day today as a frontal boundary moves into the Gulf Coast states," the Air Force weather team wrote in an updated forecast issued Sunday morning. "By Monday morning, the front will make its way into the Florida Panhandle, adding the potential for upper-level cloudiness over the spaceport.

"The main weather concerns for a Monday morning attempt will be liftoff winds and thick layer clouds associated with instability ahead of the frontal boundary. Maximum upper-level winds will be from the northwest at 50 knots near 45,000 feet," forecasters wrote.

The launch will mark the 33rd flight of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, and the company's first mission dedicated to the National Reconnaissance Office, a U.S. government agency responsible for developing and operating clandestine intelligence-gathering satellites.

Most NRO missions over the last decade have flown into space aboard Atlas 5 and Delta 4 rockets provided by United Launch Alliance, SpaceX's chief competitor in the domestic launch market.

But more NRO and Air Force satellites could soon launch on SpaceX rockets. The Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center, responsible for military launch procurement, plans to hold competitions between ULA and SpaceX for the rights to send future sensitive national security payloads into orbit.

The competitions have already started, with SpaceX winning two contracts to deploy GPS navigation spacecraft for the Air Force. At least six top secret NRO satellite missions are up for grabs by SpaceX and ULA over the next couple of years.

The launch contract for this mission, codenamed NROL-76, was arranged differently.

An NRO spokesperson said Sunday that a commercial company, Ball Aerospace, booked the launch with SpaceX as part of a "delivery in orbit" contract with the NRO. Delivery in orbit typically describes an arrangement wh ere a spacecraft manufacturer — in this case, Boulder, Colorado-based Ball Aerospace — is in charge of all satellite preparations, the launch and in-orbit testing, before handing over control of the payload to the end user once it is operational in space.

The satellite's purpose have not been disclosed.

Hazard notices released to pilots and sailors in the days leading up to the NROL-76 launch indicated the Falcon 9 rocket will head northeast from Cape Canaveral, a hint that the payload will go into a high-inclination orbit that passes over most of the world's population.

The altitude of the spaceraft's target orbit is also unknown.

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[Georgea]

Таки выброс кислорода был неслучаен...   

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Scott Tilley‏ @coastal8049 30 апр.

#NROL76 Falcon 9 2nd stage telemetry down-link frequencies 2232.5 and 2272.5MHz per FCC data. F9 user manual appears out of date.

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Scott Tilley‏ @coastal8049 22 ч. назад

#NROL76 suggested QRGs for search. 2nd stage 2232.5 & 2272.5, payload(s) 2242.5 and 2249.5MHz. Report curves, timings etc here for analysis

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stromgade‏ @stromgade 11 ч. назад
 
Apparently NROL-76 is a @BallAerospace satellite after all. So it could be an optical EO satellite, one of Ball's specialties

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Irene Klotz‏ @Free_Space 1 ч. назад

SpaceX launching NROL-76 to LEO, FAA launch license shows

http://www.space.com/36668-spy-satellite-orbit-spacex-launch-license.html

Secret US Spy Satellite Heading to Low-Earth Orbit, SpaceX Launch License Shows

By Irene Klotz, Space.com Contributor | April 30, 2017 07:24pm ET
 
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) isn't saying much about its new spy satellite, now scheduled to blast off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Monday (May 1), but it will be heading into low-Earth orbit, SpaceX's launch license shows.

The license was issued on Friday by the U.S Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation, which has oversight of the mission, including responsibility for public safety.

The NRO mission, called NROL-76, will launch sometime between 7 and 9 a.m. EDT (1100 and 1300 GMT) after a 24-hour delay due to a rocket sensor issue. Its Falcon 9 booster will be flying fr om Pad 39-A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center here, wh ere one of SpaceX's two Florida launch pads is located. ...

Aside from flying from a civilian government range, which triggered FAA's oversight of the mission, the NRO purchased the rocket ride from SpaceX through a contractor, Ball Aerospace, a satellite and instrument builder based in Boulder, Colo.

Terms of the NRO's Launch Services Integrator contract, were not disclosed, said NRO agency spokeswoman Karen Furgerson.

Ball Aerospace could not be reached for comment.

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...

Under terms of its launch license, SpaceX was required to buy $160 million worth of insurance to cover potential claims resulting from the flight of the Falcon 9 from Kennedy Space Center and $12 million to cover potential damages during preflight activities.

The FAA also required SpaceX to buy another $100 million of insurance to cover damage to government property from a launch accident and $63 million to cover government property damage claims during prelaunch activities, the launch license shows.

Editor's note: SpaceX's live webcast of the NROL-76 launch will begin Monday, May 1, at about 6:40 a.m. EDT (1040 GMT) for the 7 a.m. launch window opening. You can watch it directly from SpaceX here, or here at Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX.

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О трансляции SpaceX на ТыТрубе 2017-05-01

NROL-76 Launch Webcast
 
 
 SpaceX

Запланировано на 1 мая 2017 г.

Ссылки из #162 пока действительны

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Launch Hazard Area обновлена. Резервная дата и временное окно - TBD
 

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05/01/2017 06:09
SpaceX is gearing up for another launch attempt after a first stage sensor problem prevented liftoff Sunday.

The two-hour launch window opens at 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT), and there is a 70 percent chance of acceptable weather conditions. The primary concerns will be with ground winds and thick clouds.

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Spaceflight101 LIVE‏ @S101_Live 30 мин. назад

Countdown ops are underway for #Falcon9's second launch attempt with the classified #NROL76 satellite. http://bit.ly/2pNJcll

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Spaceflight101 LIVE‏ @S101_Live 31 мин. назад

#Falcon9 is counting down to a 11:00 UTC window opening. Weather is 70% GO.

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Spaceflight101 LIVE‏ @S101_Live 21 мин. назад

The launch of #NROL76 was not contracted directly through the NRO but by Ball Aerospace in what likely is a 'delivery in orbit' contract.

19 мин. назад

This would make Ball the manufacturer of #NROL76,narrowing its potential application given the company's previous missions in remote sensing

17 мин. назад

New license docs show #NROL76 is targeting a Low Earth Orbit, ruling out the option of a Molniya Orbit (also in agreement w/ flight profile)

16 мин. назад

This suggests #NROL76 will complete a demonstration of a new type of radar or optical sensor for future reconnaissance missions.

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Spaceflight101 LIVE‏ @S101_Live 2 мин. назад

Weather is expected to be best at the opening of the window. Clouds associated with a low pressure system are closing in from the north-west

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Spaceflight101 LIVE‏ @S101_Live 2 мин. назад

Ground winds are also expected to pick up as the sun rises. Currently with gusts to 22KT, #Falcon9 launch winds can be no higher than 30KT.