Zuma – Falcon 9 – CCAFS LC-40 – 08.01.2018 01:00 UTC

[tnt22]

45th Space Wing‏ @45thSpaceWing 11 ч назад

Nov 15; window opens at 8 pm! A landing is planned at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station!

[tnt22]

Объявлена

Airspace Closure Area
 

[tnt22]

Объявлена

Launch Hazard Area
 

[Безумный Шляпник]

Наклонение-то - опять МКС-овское?

[tnt22]

Spaceflight Now‏ @SpaceflightNow 9 мин. назад

SpaceX has positioned its next Falcon 9 rocket on the launch pad in Florida for a test-firing today. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 is set for no earlier than Wednesday. https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/11/11/falcon-9-zuma-launch-preps/ ...

Upd ated: 11/11/2017 17:29

SpaceX is set to test-fire its next Falcon 9 rocket at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Saturday in preparation for the company's 17th launch of the year, a mission tentatively se t for liftoff Wednesday with a secretive payload named Zuma for the U.S. government.

The two-stage rocket is standing at launch pad 39A this morning without the payload on-board.

Спойлер

SpaceX's launch team plans to load super-chilled, densified kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants into the Falcon 9 rocket this evening, then ignite the booster's nine main engines for several seconds while hold-down restraints keep the vehicle on the ground.

The test window for the static fire is expected to open at 6 p.m. EST (2300 GMT).

The prelaunch static fire test is a customary step in all SpaceX launch campaigns.

Once the firing is completed, the rocket will be rolled back to SpaceX's hangar at pad 39A to meet Zuma, a mysterious payload for the U.S. government. Little is known about the mission, including which government agency is in charge of it. Northrop Grumman said last month it arranged for the payload's launch with SpaceX on behalf of the government.

Liftoff with Zuma is scheduled during a two-hour window Wednesday that opens at 8 p.m. EST (0100 GMT Thursday), but the final launch preparations will hinge on the outcome of today's static fire test.

Today's hotfire test comes less than two weeks after SpaceX's last launch from pad 39A on Oct. 30.

SpaceX plans to launch the following Falcon 9 flight from neighboring pad 40 in December, returning that launch complex to service for the first time since it was damaged in a rocket explosion last year.

Activity at pad 39A will focus on preparing for the first test flight of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket, which could occur before the end of the year.

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[tnt22]

Updated: 11/12/2017 01:46

Venting from the Falcon 9 indicates today's hot fire test of the nine Merlin engines is approaching.

11/12/2017 01:57

The strongback structure is moving to a position around 1.5 degrees from the Falcon 9 as the static fire test is a few minutes away.

[tnt22]

William Harwood‏ @cbs_spacenews 16 мин. назад

F9/Zuma: Falcon 9 hot-fire test as viewed from 3 miles away

[tnt22]

SpaceX‏Подлинная учетная запись @SpaceX 13 мин. назад

Static fire test of Falcon 9 complete—targeting November 15 launch of Zuma from Pad 39A in Florida.

[tnt22]

SpaceX static fires Zuma Falcon 9; engine test anomaly no issue for manifest

November 11, 2017 by Chris Gebhardt

[tnt22]

Video: Engines ignited for hold-down test on SpaceX's next Falcon 9 rocket

November 11, 2017 Stephen Clark

[tnt22]

https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/11/11/rocket-test-fired-for-launch-of-secretive-u-s-government-payload/

Rocket test-fired for launch of secretive U.S. government payload
November 11, 2017 Stephen Clark


The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket test-fired its nine Merlin 1D engines at 6 p.m. EST (2300 GMT) Saturday in a rare nighttime static fire test. Credit: William Harwood/CBS News

SpaceX moved closer to its next launch with a successful hold-down engine firing Saturday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, sailing through a readiness check for a planned liftoff Wednesday with a clandestine U.S. government payload named Zuma.

Throttling up to full power for a few seconds, the Merlin 1D engines ignited at 6 p.m. EST (2300 GMT) Saturday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The static fire test clears the way for final launch preparations ahead of the deployment of a clandestine U.S. government payload named Zuma in orbit Wednesday.

Спойлер

It will be SpaceX's 17th launch of the year, and the 45th flight of a Falcon 9 rocket since the commercial booster debuted in 2010.

SpaceX's launch team loaded super-chilled, densified kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants into the two-stage Falcon 9 rocket Saturday evening, then ignited the booster's nine main engines for several seconds while hold-down restraints keep the vehicle on the ground.

A plume of engine exhaust erupted from the north side of the launch pad, and SpaceX confirmed a good hold-down firing on Twitter a few minutes later.

The prelaunch static fire test is a customary step in all SpaceX launch campaigns.

The next step to prepare for Wednesday's launch will be the rollback of the Falcon 9 to SpaceX's hangar at pad 39A to meet Zuma, a mysterious payload for the U.S. government. Little is known about the mission, including which government agency is in charge of it. Northrop Grumman said last month it arranged for the payload's launch with SpaceX on behalf of the government.

Liftoff with Zuma is scheduled during a two-hour window Wednesday that opens at 8 p.m. EST (0100 GMT Thursday).

The Falcon 9's first stage booster will return to Landing Zone-1 at Cape Canaveral less than 10 minutes after liftoff, a maneuver that requires ample leftover fuel in the rocket after sending its payload toward orbit. The plan for a landing at Cape Canaveral, and not on an offshore ship, suggests the Zuma payload is likely heading for a relatively low-altitude orbit.

Saturday's hotfire test came less than two weeks after SpaceX's last launch from pad 39A on Oct. 30.

SpaceX plans to launch the following Falcon 9 flight from neighboring pad 40 in December, returning that launch complex to service for the first time since it was damaged in a rocket explosion last year.

Activity at pad 39A will focus on preparing for the first test flight of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket, which could occur before the end of the year.

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[tnt22]

NOTAM

YMMM

F3592/17 - US ROCKET SPLASHDOWN AREA
FLW RECEIVED FROM GOVERNMENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS WILL BE CONDUCTED SURFACE TO UNLIMITED FOR
ATMOSPHERIC RE-ENTRY AND SPLASHDOWN OF LAUNCH VEHICLE FALCON 9 ZUMA
AND PARTICIPATING SUPPORT AIRCRAFT WITHIN THE FOLLOWING AREA:
FROM 3027S 6451E TO 3044S 6703E TO 3810S 8243E TO 4722S 10839 TO
5030S 12439E TO 5155S 12603E TO 5332S 12505E TO 5424S 11601E TO 5334S
10127E TO 4746S 8205E TO 3958S 6931E TO 3156S 6323E TO BEGINNING. PRI
RE ENTRY 1711160300 0637. BACKUP RE ENTRY 171117 0300 0637. SFC - UNL, 1711160300
TO 1711160637 1711170300 TO 1711170637, 16 NOV 03:00 2017 UNTIL 17 NOV 06:37
2017. CREATED: 08 NOV 00:34 2017
 

[tnt22]

SPLASHDOWN AREA
 

[tnt22]

Качество, конечно, не очень...

SpaceX - ZUMA - Static Fire Test 11-11-2017

USLaunchReport

Опубликовано: 11 нояб. 2017 г.

Seemed like a long burn. To windy to film smoke plume.

(0:55)

[Безумный Шляпник]

tnt22 пишет:
SPLASHDOWN AREA

Даже и не МКС-овское наклонение. Больше.

[tnt22]

Прогноз погоды L-3

L-3 Forecast 15 Nov Launch.pdf

70% GO

[tnt22]

http://spaceflight101.com/falcon-9-completes-static-fire-ahead-of-zuma-launch/

Falcon 9 Checks Off Static Fire Test ahead of Ultra-Secretive Zuma Launch
November 12, 2017

SpaceX successfully conducted the Static Fire Test of the Falcon 9 rocket tasked with the ultra-secretive Zuma mission as early as Wednesday night from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. Code-named Zuma or 'Mission 1390', the launch only appeared on the manifest one month ago and very little information is available on its possible identity.

Спойлер

Photo: SpaceX (File Image)

The Zuma mission first showed up in documentation submitted by SpaceX to the Federal Communications Commission on October 13, providing a fairly large surprise since this mission came out of nowhere and was not previously identified on the SpaceX backlog. After the existence of the launch became known, journalists began shaking the tree and revealed the Zuma launch was procured by Northrop Grumman that also acts as the mission's prime contractor. It was also reported that Zuma would be targeting a Low Earth Orbit and Falcon 9 would attempt a land-based first stage recovery with landing in Cape Canaveral's Landing Zone-1.


Northrop Grumman's Eagle-3 Satellite Platform is a likely candidate for Zuma – Image: Northrop Grumman

The contracting pattern for this mission is similar to previous U.S. government missions in which the government agency managing the project hands responsibility for procuring the launch vehicle to the prime contractor. This was similar for the NROL-76 mission earlier this year for which Ball Aerospace acted as spacecraft prime contractor and launch vehicle procurement agent. However, the NRO denied being the owner of Zuma and the way the November 16 liftoff came to be was also unusual since missions are typically scheduled at least several months in advance.

The official reason for prioritizing the Zuma mission to become first in the queue of customers waiting for a SpaceX vehicle was given as a critical need by the customer of having the payload in orbit to later than November 30 to hit its revenue targets. Whether this reason is genuine or just cover for a classified requirement for having the satellite in orbit NLT than 11/30 is open for speculation.

Launch Area Closures issued for next-week's launch show Falcon 9 will be headed to the north east after blasting off from Florida, likely employing a very lofted trajectory similar to May's NROL-76 launch that dispatched a fairly light payload into a 400-Kilometer, 50° orbit. Lofted trajectories are the preferred method for RTLS recoveries since they keep the first stage closer to the coast but require a large excess in performance not possible on every mission.


Zuma Launch Hazard Area – Image: U.S. Air Force

The most likely spacecraft platform employed by Zuma appears to be Northrop's Eagle-3, the largest in the company's Eagle product line and the only that would justify launching on a Falcon 9 rocket. Eagle-3 has been designed for use in all orbital regimes and with a large payload capacity in excess of 1,175 Kilograms. The payload fitted on Zuma could range from an operational intelligence-gathering system (imagery, radar, electronic intelligence) to technology demonstrations in a USA-193-style mission.

It remains to be seen whether Zuma's potential identity can be constrained via amateur observations of orbital behavior or characteristic radio emissions. The geometry of its orbit to other spacecraft and ground sites that may be of interest could also be useful in assessing the satellite's mission.

The Zuma mission will be handled by a new Falcon 9 Block 4 launch vehicle using first stage B1043 that was re-assigned to the mission after being originally earmarked for the Dragon SpX-13 mission targeting a December liftoff on a previously flown Falcon 9 core after NASA engineering reviews cleared the use of 'flight-proven' boosters for CRS missions (management decision still to be confirmed).

Assembled inside the hangar at LC-39A in tight quarters with three Falcon Heavy cores already present, Falcon 9 was wheeled up the ramp on Saturday to take its vertical launch position ahead of the Static Fire Test. A firm part of every SpaceX launch campaign since the Falcon 1 days, the Static Fire Test is intended as a last end-to-end test of the assembled two-stage rocket and all ground support systems to ensure all are operating as advertised in an effort to avoid surprises on launch day.

To that end, the Static Fire includes a complete 70-minute propellant loading sequence to exercise both stages, including the second stage that is mostly a bystander in the hot fire test of the first stage. Loaded with over 500 metric tons of chilled Rocket Propellant 1 and sub-cooled Liquid Oxygen, Falcon 9 checked off its final preparatory steps in the last seven minutes of the count including chilldown of the engines, the transfer to battery power, retraction of the Strongback, pressurization of tanks and handoff to Falcon's computers.

F9/Zuma: Falcon 9 hot-fire test as viewed from 3 miles away pic.twitter.com/ZoJQ680qHe
— William Harwood (@cbs_spacenews) November 11, 2017

The nine Merlin 1D engines on the business end of the vehicle fired up at the opening of Saturday's test window at 6 p.m. local time, 23 UTC. The burn appeared to achieve its planned 3.5-second duration and Falcon 9 went through safing steps after shutdown while engineering teams completed a quick review to ensure the required performance parameters were captured before heading into de-tanking.


Four Cores inside the HIF – Photo: SpaceX (2016)

The obligatory Tweet from SpaceX confirmed the Static Fire was successful and delivered the data needed for in-depth reviews over the coming days, leading into the Launch Readiness Review.

Zuma is targeting liftoff during a two-hour window opening at 1:00 UTC on November 16; 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on the 15th.

After Zuma leaves the pad, Launch Complex 39A will enter the expected downtime for final outfitting of the pad and TEL for Falcon Heavy, an operation expected to take no more than three weeks based on work already completed in between Falcon 9 launches. This will enable Falcon Heavy to enter its first integration campaign that will be accompanied by fit checks and other verifications before the vehicle will roll out for the first time for dress rehearsals atop the pad.

Transitioning Falcon 9 operations back to Space Launch Complex 40, SpaceX is still targeting December 4 for the launch of the next Dragon mission to the International Space Station. Iridium has begun shipping its fourth batch of satellites out to Vandenberg Air Force Base in preparation for a December 22/23 liftoff atop a 'flight-proven' Falcon 9 rocket which will bring the total number of Falcon 9 missions in 2017 to 19.

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[tnt22]

Прогноз погоды L-2

15 Nov L-2 Falcon 9 Launch Forecast

70% GO

[tnt22]

Исправлена (от 2017-11-13 17:14:34 UTC)

Launch Hazard Area
 

[Pirat5]

M1390 ZUMA Launch Hazard Areas visualization based on issued NOTMAR/NOTAM, together with S2 Debris Area.

https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/7895bo/
Очень похожа на трассу CRS-12, отличается от трассы X-37 OTV-5