OTV-5 (X-37B) - Falcon 9 - Kennedy LC-39A - 07.09.2017, 14:00 UTC

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John Kraus‏ @johnkrausphotos 10 мин. назад

Florida's #SpaceCoast: #HurricaneIrma preparation, surfing, and #SpaceX #Falcon9 rocket launches and landings.

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[Александр Репной]

Первая ступень ракеты Falcon 9 успешно приземлилась

 Подробности читайте на УНИАН: https://www.unian.net/science/2121494-pervaya-stupen-raketyi-falcon-9-uspeshno-prizemlilas.html

[Александр Репной]

Интересно, это тот OTV, что в последний раз был на орбите или его брат полетел (второй)?

[Max Andriyahov]

Теперь надо очень быстро затащить ступень в ангар, пока ураганом не сдуло. Успеют за сутки?

[tnt22]

Boeing X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle

Boeing

Опубликовано: 7 сент. 2017 г.

Watch the video to learn more about the Boeing-built X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV).

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Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 10 мин. назад

That works as confirmation!

Boeing Defense‏Подлинная учетная запись @BoeingDefense 9 мин. назад

#Boeing-built X-37B OTV-5 mission successfully launches for @usairforce @AFSpace on @SpaceX Falcon 9. More #X37B > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-7VNf7DCY8 ...

[tnt22]

Spaceflight Now‏ @SpaceflightNow 17 мин. назад

Here's a zoomed-in view of the Falcon 9 rocket firing off pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center this morning: https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/09/07/video-falcon-9-fires-away-from-pad-39a/ ...

Video

Video: Falcon 9 fires away from pad 39A

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Gen. Jay Raymond‏ @AFSpaceCC 28 мин. назад

"Congratulations @45thSpaceWing and @SpaceX on a successful launch (and landing!) of the Falcon 9 rocket carrying OTV-5 into orbit"

[tnt22]

http://spaceflight101.com/x-37b-otv-5/spacex-falcon-9-launches-fifth-x-37b-mission/

Fifth X-37B Mission Sent into Orbit by Falcon 9 Rocket, 1st Stage Lands at Cape Canaveral
September 7, 2017

A SpaceX Falcon 9 blasted into partly cloudy skies over Cape Canaveral on Thursday, carrying into orbit the U.S. Air Force's X-37B winged space plane on a mostly classified mission to test out new technologies in space and perform a range of experiments out of public view as part of the program's fifth flight.

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Photo: SpaceX

The looming arrival of Hurricane Irma created some pressure on getting Falcon 9 off the ground on time to move the X-37B out of harm's way by sending it into orbit prior to the storm trekking over Florida if current forecast models hold true. The Kennedy Space Center and neighboring Cape Canaveral Air Force Station were placed under Hurricane Condition, initiating preparations of equipment and facilities for the potential arrival of Irma – only giving SpaceX opportunities on Thursday before Falcon 9 would have needed to take shelter inside the hangar at Launch Complex 39A.


First Stage Landing – Photo: SpaceX Webcast

Luckily, local weather cooperated and Falcon 9 was able to move through a smooth countdown on Thursday leading up to blastoff at 14:00 UTC, 10 a.m. local time. Climbing out from the former Saturn V and Space Shuttle Launch Pad, the 70-meter tall Falcon 9 swung to the north east – burning its nine Merlin 1D main engines for just shy of two and a half minutes before the MVac-powered second stage fired up to deliver the five-metric-ton X-37B into a classified orbit.

While the second stage headed into orbit without the public watching, the first stage booster performed a rocket-powered U-turn to accelerate back toward Cape Canaveral. A burn at re-entry decelerated the 47-meter tall first stage and a half-minute burn of the center engine slowed the booster for a gentle touchdown on four fold-out landing legs. Standing tall at the Cape's Landing Zone-1 after mastering SpaceX's seventh land-based return, Booster #1040 will be secured and moved to safety as swiftly as possible prior to Irma's arrival – currently expected Sunday night.


Photo: U.S. Air Force (OTV-1)

The U.S. Air Force's X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) is an uncrewed re-usable space plane capable of carrying out extended missions in Low Earth Orbit before returning to Earth with its experimental payloads protected within the craft's payload bay. X-37B – developed by Boeing's Phantom Works division in cooperation with the Air Force – evolved from NASA and DARPA's X-37A project initiated in 1999 but abandoned after a series of glide flight tests in 2006. X-37A has been envisioned to be deployed by the Space Shuttle to carry out its own satellite servicing or scientific missions beyond the maximum mission duration of the Shuttle Orbiter.

Taking over the project from NASA, the U.S. Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office set out to create a multi-mission capable vehicle to satisfy the demand for responsive access to space for various experiments, testing of various emerging technologies and, possibly, space-based intelligence gathering.

The X-37B weighs around five metric tons at liftoff, standing 8.9 meters tall underneath the rocket's payload fairing with a wingspan of 4.5 meters. It offers a 2.1 by 1.2-meter payload pay that opens up once the craft arrives in orbit to deploy a power-generating solar array and expose whatever payloads are aboard the craft to the space environment.

>> X-37B Spacecraft Overview


Image: Boeing Phantom Works

All four previous X-37B missions rocketed into orbit atop Atlas V launch vehicles, the first began in April 2010 and lasted 224 days, serving as a shakedown mission to validate the spacecraft's design on an operational mission with much focus on the vehicle's autonomous landing on a runway at Vandenberg Air Force Base – the first fully autonomous runway landing carried out by an American spacecraft.

...


OTV-4 after Landing – Photo: U.S. Air Force

OTV-5 has the overall objective of advancing the X-37B to more fully support the growing space community, flying a series of payloads aboard the space plane including technology demonstrators. As with previous OTV flights, specific details on the craft's mission like its operating orbit, target mission duration or specifications on the payloads aboard the vehicle are kept secret by the Air Force. However, the Air Force stated that the OTV-5 mission would fly in a higher-inclined orbit than its predecessors to broaden the X-37B's flight environments.

One payload on the OTV-5 mission that was publicly acknowledged is the Air Force Research Laboratory Advanced Structurally Embedded Thermal Spreader that will test experimental electronics and oscillating heat pipe technologies over a long-duration space flight. Three oscillating heat pipes are part of the package to evaluate the technology for future applications in space as it could offer lighter and less expensive thermal control solutions for satellite missions. The goal of the OTV-5-mounted experiment will be to evaluate the technology's initial thermal performance and monitor it over an extended period to assess long-term degradation.


Photo: U.S. Air Force

The Air Force also said the OTV-5 mission hosts small satellite ride shares to demonstrate greater opportunities for rapid space access. It was not specified whether the ride share satellites were to be deployed from the X-37B itself or a deployer mounted on the Falcon 9 rocket's second stage.

It was not announced which of the two X-37B space vehicles was flying on the OTV-5 mission, but based on announcements made for the first three missions it is assumed that flights alternate between the two craft. This would mean OTV-5 is the third trip into space for the first X-37B spacecraft.

With only one day of launch opportunities, SpaceX aimed to make it count – wheeling the Falcon 9 out on Wednesday sitting on its Transporter, Erector, Launcher that was slightly modified to add a structural support for the X-37B when in a horizontal position as the craft is normally integrated in a vertical posture. Also, the TEL featured an additional purge supply, flowing purge gas into the tail end of the X-37B within the 5.2-meter diameter Falcon 9 payload fairing.


Photo: SpaceX

Thursday's launch period stretched from 13:50 through 18:55 UTC with several available windows within the broader launch period. SpaceX ran Falcon 9 through a smooth countdown – starting with Falcon 9 going vertical overnight for power-up and several hours of thorough launch vehicle and ground systems checks to clear the way for fueling. Controllers also had eyes on the cloud cover over the Cape and solar/geomagnetic activity, but luckily all remained within limits to permit an attempt near the opening of the window at 14 UTC.

With T-0 set, the automatic launch sequencer kicked in at T-1 hour to take Falcon 9 through the complex tanking sequence starting with loading the two-stage stack with around 155 metric tons of Rocket Propellant 1, chilled to -7°C. 360 metric tons of densified Liquid Oxygen chilled to -207°C were pumped into the first stage starting at T-35 minutes with the second stage following suit at T-20 minutes to reach flight level just inside T-2 minutes. Falcon 9 continued to be well behaved through its fast-paced final countdown sequence, going into motion at T-7 minutes with the chilldown of the nine Merlin 1D engines.

>> Falcon 9 FT Launch Vehicle


Photo: SpaceX

Falcon 9 switched its two stages to internal power, the Strongback moved back and was primed for a rapid kickback at T-0 and the triple-redundant flight control system was aligned for flight. The Autonomous Flight Termination System was armed and final approval for liftoff was voiced from the Eastern Range and Launch Director while Falcon 9 went into final tank pressurization.

Falcon 9 soared to life at T-3 seconds and blasted off when clocks hit zero with a thrust of nearly 700 metric-ton-force. The 20-story vehicle balanced in a vertical posture for the first seconds of flight, clearing the 106-meter tall tower at LC-39A before entering its pitch and roll maneuver to attain a north-easterly heading identified through Notices to Airmen and Mariners published prior to launch.


Second Stage Plume impinges on First Stage – Photo: SpaceX Webcast

Guzzling down 2,450 Kilograms of propellants per second, Falcon 9 went through the sound barrier around 73 seconds into the flight followed six seconds later by Maximum Dynamic Pressure for which the nine engines throttled back briefly to reduce stress on the ascending vehicle.

The first stage finished its role in the primary mission two minutes and 24 seconds into the flight, having boosted the vehicle to a speed of 1,660 meters per second. Stage separation occurred three seconds later at an altitude of 69 Kilometers with the first stage heading off on its return to Cape Canaveral while the second stage went into start-up mode for the boost into orbit.

The first stage wasted no time after staging as every second carried it further downrange from its landing site. Using its cold gas thrusters, the booster initiated a rapid flip maneuver to point its engines toward the direction of travel for the boost back maneuver – initially lighting only the center engine two minutes and 40 seconds into the flight to finish the flip followed by ignition of two outer engine five seconds later when the stage was level on the velocity vector.


Florida comes into view for the returning First Stage – Photo: SpaceX Webcast

Blasting the engines for 55 seconds allowed the first stage to reverse course toward Cape Canaveral. During three minutes of coasting outside the atmosphere, Stage 1 passed an apogee of 136 Kilometers before falling back toward Earth, accelerating in speed as it approached the dense layers of the atmosphere.

Cape Canaveral came into view from the booster's onboard camera as it reached a top speed of 1,291m/s at the start of the entry burn six minutes and 32 seconds into the flight. Using a staggered ignition & shutdown scheme, the entry burn lasted twenty seconds and slowed the vehicle by 745 meters per second – creating a fairly benign re-entry at a speed of Mach 2.2.

The booster relied on its four actuated grid fins during 50 seconds of atmospheric descent, fine-tuning its course toward LZ-1 as the booster crossed the sound barrier for the second time on Thursday. Ignition of the Center Engine on the landing burn occurred seven minutes and 44 seconds into the flight to slow the booster down for landing, deploying its four landing legs and coming to a gentle on-target touchdown approximately eight minutes and 13 seconds after launch.


Stage 1 just above the cloud deck – Photo: SpaceX Webcast

The successful landing of Block 4 Booster #1040 brought SpaceX's total to 16 successful recoveries out of 21 tries, involving 14 different boosters (two re-flown boosters were recovered). For landing on land, SpaceX is keeping a perfect 7/7 record and Thursday's landing was the 12th successful recovery in a row.

While the first stage was going through the motions for landing, the second stage was tasked with earning the money via delivering the X-37B to orbit. Ignition of the MVac engine of the second stage was confirmed shortly after staging and onboard footage from the first stage showed the 13-meter long payload fairing halves tumbling away from the upper stage after separating outside the dense atmosphere. It is unknown whether Thursday's mission featured a fairing recovery attempt.


Photo: SpaceX Webcast

The expectation for a Low Earth Orbit delivery by Falcon 9 would be for the second stage to reach its target orbit with a single burn, but no information on Thursday's flight profile was provided. The re-entry area of the second stage over the ocean between Australia and Antarctica points to a major inclination change to occur at some point during second stage flight as the initial heading of Falcon 9 pointed toward a 43-degree orbit and the entry zone is more indicative of a 60-70-degree orbit.

A possibility would be a fairly large dogleg maneuver during the second stage burn to satisfy OTV-5's requirement of a higher-inclination than its predecessors. The second stage re-entry zone is in effect from T+3 hours and 54 minutes, indicating a fairly long coast will be performed by the vehicle prior to disposal – possibly to deploy secondary payloads.

Successful OTV-5 deployment was confirmed by the Air Force later on Thursday and it is now up to the satellite tracking community to spot the craft in its classified orbit.

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[tnt22]

http://www.patrick.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1301663/45th-space-wing-launched-5th-orbital-test-vehicle-mission/

45th Space Wing launched 5th Orbital Test Vehicle Mission
By 45th Space Wing Public Affairs / Published September 07, 2017

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla. --
The 45th Space Wing successfully launched a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle at 10 a.m. on Sept. 7, 2017, from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A.

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At approximately eight minutes after the launch, SpaceX successfully landed the Falcon 9 first-stage booster at Landing Zone 1 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The Falcon 9 rocket carried into orbit an X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), marking the fifth space flight for the X-37B program and its first onboard a Falcon 9.

Brig. Gen. Wayne Monteith, 45th Space Wing commander thanked the entire OTV-5 mission team for their efforts in ensuring a successful launch.

"I'm incredibly proud of the 45th Space Wing's contributions to the X-37B program," Monteith said. "This marks the fifth successful launch of the OTV and its first onboard a Falcon 9.  A strong relationship with our mission partners, such as the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, is vital toward maintaining the Eastern Range as the World's Premiere Gateway to Space."

The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle is led by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office with its operations overseen by Air Force Space Command's 3rd Space Experimentation Squadron. The OTV is designed to demonstrate reusable spacecraft technologies for America's future in space and operate experiments, which can be returned to and examined on Earth.

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[tnt22]

Boeing Defense‏Подлинная учетная запись @BoeingDefense 3 мин. назад

Thank you, @USAirForce, @AFSpace, @45thSpaceWing and @SpaceX for a great partnership and launch! #X37B

[Farakh]

А когда последний раз Маск откладывал запуск?

[Apollo13]

Farakh пишет:
А когда последний раз Маск откладывал запуск?

В каком смысле? Если так чтобы началась трансляция и отменили, то Интелсат-35е. 

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=40544.0

А вообще всегда

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the U.S. military's X-37B, a spaceplane also called the Orbital Test Vehicle, on the program's fifth mission. The Falcon 9 rocket's first stage will return to landing at Cape Canaveral a few minutes after liftoff. Delayed from Aug. 28. [July 26]

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Spaceflight Now‏ @SpaceflightNow 56 мин. назад

Watch a wide-angle 4K video replay of this morning's Falcon 9 launch with the X-37B military spaceplane: https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/09/07/4k-video-wide-angle-view-of-falcon-9-launch/ ...

4K video: Wide-angle view of Falcon 9 launch

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SpaceX‏Подлинная учетная запись @SpaceX 38 мин. назад

More photos from today's Falcon 9 launch and first stage landing → http://flickr.com/spacex 

[tnt22]

https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/09/07/spacex-beats-hurricane-with-smooth-launch-of-militarys-x-37b-spaceplane/

SpaceX beats hurricane with smooth launch of military's X-37B spaceplane
September 7, 2017 Stephen Clark

Succeeding on a one-shot launch attempt before Hurricane Irma shut down the Cape Canaveral spaceport, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket thundered into orbit Thursday with the U.S. Air Force's X-37B spaceplane, a reusable robotic mini-shuttle that could stay aloft for years with clandestine on-board experiments.

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Credit: SpaceX

Burning a super-chilled mixture of kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants, the 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 launcher ignited nine Merlin 1D engines and climbed away fr om launch pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) Thursday.

The Boeing-built X-37B spaceplane arrived in orbit shortly after liftoff to complete SpaceX's 13th mission of the year, a record busy year for the California-headquartered commercial launch operator.

Officials said it was likely the last chance for the Falcon 9 rocket to take off before ground crews would need to secure the vehicle for Hurricane Irma, a powerful Category 5 storm forecast to pass over or near Cape Canaveral as soon as Sunday.

After soaring through puffy cumulus clouds and pitching on a course northeast from the Florida spaceport on 1.7 million pounds of thrust, the Falcon 9's first stage engines turned off and the booster fell away from the rocket's second stage around two-and-a-half minutes into the flight.

The upper stage's single Merlin engine, fitted with a nozzle extension to more efficiently operate in the airless vacuum of space, ignited on time as the first stage pulsed cold gas nitrogen control jets to flip around to begin a guided descent back to a landing pad at Cape Canaveral.

Following guidelines set by the Air Force, SpaceX ended live commentary on the progress of the second stage's flight less than three minutes after liftoff. Video coverage of the booster's plunge back to Earth continued, and three of the first stage's Merlin 1D powerplants restarted high over the Atlantic Ocean for "boost-back" and "entry" burns to steer the rocket back toward land.

Four stabilizing grid fins also helped maneuver the 14-story booster as it encountered thicker air falling through the stratosphere.

The first stage's center engine fired once more as the booster made its final descent, and the Falcon 9 extended four landing legs for touchdown at Landing Zone 1, a flat concrete target on the Atlantic coastline around 9 miles (15 kilometers) south of launch pad 39A.

SpaceX intends to inspect, refurbish and reuse the first stage on a future launch. The company has now recovered one of its Falcon 9 boosters intact 16 times over the last two years, a capability officials say will reduce the cost of SpaceX's launches.


Credit: SpaceX

Meanwhile, the Falcon 9's upper stage apparently completed its orbit insertion and deployment maneuvers without trouble, and Air Force and Boeing officials called the launch a success.

The flight is the fifth time one of the Air Force's two X-37B spaceplanes, each about one-quarter the length of one of NASA's retired space shuttle orbiters, has rocketed into space. Four earlier missions rode United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rockets launched from Cape Canaveral.

Built by Boeing's Phantom Works division and managed by the Air Force's Rapid Capabilities Office, each spaceship has a wingspan of nearly 15 feet (4.5 meters) and a length of more than 29 feet (8.9 meters). The ship's wings fit snugly inside the 17-foot-diameter (5-meter) payload shrouds on the Falcon 9 and Atlas 5 rockets.

The X-37B, also called the Orbital Test Vehicle, weighs about 11,000 pounds (5 metric tons) and has typically orbited Earth at altitudes between 200 and 250 miles (320 to 400 kilometers).

No details about the X-37B's altitude or orbital parameters were released for this mission, but safety notices published for pilots and mariners ahead of the launch suggested the rocket would place the miniature windowless space shuttle into an orbit tilted between roughly 40 and 65 degrees to the equator.

The Air Force announced before the launch that the fifth X-37B flight, known as OTV-5, would go into a higher-inclination orbit than earlier X-37B flights. The four X-37B missions to date flew in orbits tilted between 38 and 43.5 degrees to the equator, but the next one will reach higher latitudes on each lap around Earth.

Military officials said launching the OTV-5 mission on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket would add to the program's flexibility, demonstrating the X-37B can fly on two different types of boosters.

Several firsts are planned for the OTV-5 mission.

"The fifth OTV mission continues to advance the X-37B's performance and flexibility as a space technology demonstrator and host platform for experimental payloads," the Air Force said in a press release. "This mission carries small satellite ride shares and will demonstrate greater opportunities for rapid space access and on-orbit testing of emerging space technologies.

Military officials have lauded the X-37B's ability to return experimental hardware back to Earth for inspection and reuse. The Air Force did not disclose whether the secondary payloads riding with the X-37B will deploy from the Falcon 9 rocket itself or from the spaceplane's cargo bay.

"Building upon the fourth mission and previous collaboration with experiment partners, this mission will host the Air Force Research Laboratory Advanced Structurally Embedded Thermal Spreader payload to test experimental electronics and oscillating heat pipe technologies in the long duration space environment," the statement said.

The thermal spreader experiment will test three oscillating heat pipes. The new heat pipe technology is lighter and less expensive than components used on most satellites to keep internal avionics temperatures within safe margins.

"The three primary science objectives are to measure the initial on-orbit thermal performance, to measure long duration thermal performance, and to assess any lifetime degradation," the Air Force Research Laboratory said in a fact sheet.


Artist's concept of the X-37B spaceplane in orbit. Credit: Boeing

The rest of the flight plan remains secret, along with the mission's planned duration.

The ship could stay aloft for months of years. A deployable solar panel generates electricity for the mini-shuttle, and it does not rely on hydraulics for its aerosurfaces, unlike NASA's space shuttles, which were limited to missions lasting several weeks.

The X-37B will glide back to Earth for a runway landing to conclude its mission, likely targeting a homecoming at the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center, wh ere the OTV-4 mission ended. Boeing houses and prepares the X-37B spaceplanes for launch inside former space shuttle hangars near the space center's huge Vehicle Assembly Building.

...

At least one more X-37B flight, OTV-6, is on the books for liftoff on an Atlas 5 rocket in 2019 on the so-called Air Force Space Command-7 launch.

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Meanwhile, SpaceX is gearing up for three more Falcon 9 launches in October.

A communications satellite for SES and EchoStar is scheduled to fly into geostationary orbit no earlier than Oct. 2 from pad 39A aboard a previously-flown Falcon 9 booster. The first stage has been readied for a second launch after a successful liftoff and landing in February.

The SES 11/EchoStar 105 spacecraft has been delivered to Cape Canaveral from its Airbus Defense and Space factory in Toulouse, France. An SES official said the launch date will depend on Hurricane Irma's impact on the Space Coast, and engineers are taking precautions to safely store the satellite during the storm.

Another Falcon 9 rocket is due for launch Oct. 4 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with the third batch of 10 next-generation voice and data relay satellites for Iridium.

A commercial South Korean television broadcast satellite named Koreasat 5A is third in line on SpaceX's launch manifest, with liftoff from Florida scheduled for mid-October. SpaceX has not announced if Koreasat 5A will blast off from pad 39A or pad 40, the company's other East Coast launch complex at Cape Canaveral still under repairs after a rocket explosion last year damaged the facility.

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[tnt22]

SpaceX - Loudest Landing - OTV-5 - X37B - 4K - 09-07-2017

USLaunchReport

Опубликовано: 7 сент. 2017 г.

Sonic boom echoed for several seconds. With Hurricane IRMA bearing down on Florida, will be amazed if OTV-5 Booster can withstand Hurricane Force winds in a vertical position. SpaceX has never gone horizontal in less than three days.

(1:55)

[АниКей]

Вошли снизу
SpaceX запустила убийцу российских спутников

 https://lenta.ru/articles/2017/09/08/x37b/

[АниКей]

[tnt22]

НОРАД каталогизировал 2 объекта запуска