SES-12 - Falcon 9 - CCAFS SLC-40 - 04.06.2018 04:45 UTC

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06/03/2018 18:26 Stephen Clark

The Falcon 9 rocket slated to blast off with the SES 12 communications satellite early Monday has been lifted vertical at Cape Canaveral's Complex 40 launch pad.

The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) launcher is set for liftoff at 12:29 a.m. EDT (0429 GMT) Monday at the opening of a four-hour window.

The weather outlook predicts a 70 percent probability of acceptable weather conditions during Monday's predawn launch window, with the primary concern with gusty surface winds.

"On Sunday, a short wave trough will pull a weak surface boundary into the Southeast, tightening the pressure gradient over the Space Coast," forecasters from the U.S. Air Force's 45th Weather Squadron wrote. "Winds will become gusty out of the southwest as the front approaches northern Florida during the launch window. The primary weather concern is liftoff winds. Maximum upper-level winds will be from the west at 30 knots near 35,000 feet."

Forecasters called for a few clouds at 2,500 feet, scattered clouds at 25,000 feet, westerly winds of 20 to 25 mph, and a temperature of around 76 degrees Fahrenheit at launch time.

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SpaceX‏Подлинная учетная запись @SpaceX 3 ч. назад

Falcon 9 and SES-12 went vertical this morning on Pad 40 in Florida. Weather is 70% favorable for the four-hour launch window which opens on June 4 at 12:29 a.m. EDT, or 4:29 UTC. http://spacex.com/webcast 

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Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 28 мин. назад

#Falcon9 awaits launch tonight from SLC-40. Launch window is 00:29-04:29 EDT (0429-0829 UTC). This is a flight-proven Block 4 (X-37B launch) & Block 5 2nd stage -- the SECOND time this 4/5 configuration has flown. There will be NO first stage recovery tonight. #SpaceX #SES12

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SpaceX SES-12 Pre-Launch Press Conference

TESLARATI.com

Опубликовано: 31 мая 2018 г.

SES CTO & CEO speak about the spacecraft, mission, markets served, projected customer growth, and technical details on the satellite. May 31, 2018

(13:28 )

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Интересное фото - рули и ноги сняты...

http://www.spacex.com/sites/spacex/files/ses12_vertical.jpg

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Похоже, 1-ю ступень просто затопят, без опытов...

Michael Baylor‏ @nextspaceflight 22 мин. назад

No grid fins on the Falcon 9 which means SpaceX will not attempt a water landing test tonight. This aligns with GO Quest not heading out to collect data.

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TomCross‏ @_TomCross_ 2 ч. назад

Currently waiting on the press-bus for the storm to pass. After this, radar shows no more rain on the way and weather is go for launch tonight. @Teslarati #spacex #falcon9 #SES12

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TomCross‏ @_TomCross_ 31 мин. назад

Each of the flown Falcon 9 boosters have unique features. This is SES-12. – SpaceX

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https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/06/03/falcon-9-launch-timeline-with-ses-12/

Falcon 9 launch timeline with SES 12
June 3, 2018 | Stephen Clark

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Monday, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the SES 12 communications satellite into orbit around 32 minutes later.

The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket is poised for launch from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 12:29 a.m. EDT (0429 GMT) Monday at the opening of a four-hour launch window.

Спойлер

Perched atop the rocket is the SES 12 communications satellite, a spacecraft manufactured by Airbus Defense and Space and propelled by plasma thrusters, eliminating the need for large conventional liquid fuel tanks.

SES 12 weighs 11,867 pounds (5,383 kilograms) with its supply of xenon propellant for the electric thrusters, while a satellite with similar capability would weigh up to 10 metric tons if it carried the customary hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide propellants used by conventional spacecraft.

The weight savings allowed SES to fit SES 12 on a smaller, less expensive rocket, and permitted engineers to combine two communications missions into one spacecraft. SES 12 will provide direct-to-home television broadcasts, video and data relay services, and broadband connectivity across the Middle East, the Asia-Pacific, and Australia during its 15-year mission.

SES 12 will use its plasma jets to climb into a circular geostationary orbit more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over the equator after deployment from the Falcon 9 rocket in an elliptical transfer orbit.

The Falcon 9 rocket launching SES 12 will use a previously-flown "Block 4" version first stage refurbished after a September 2017 mission with the U.S. Air Force's X-37B spaceplane. The first stage will not be recovered on the SES 12 mission.

The newly-built upper stage includes upgrades introduced by SpaceX for the "Block 5" version of the Falcon 9 rocket.

The timeline below outlines the launch sequence for the Falcon 9 flight with SES 12.

Data source: SpaceX

T-0:00:00: Liftoff


After the rocket's nine Merlin engines pass an automated health check, hold-down clamps will release the Falcon 9 booster for liftoff from pad 40.

T+0:01:13: Mach 1


The Falcon 9 rocket reaches Mach 1, the speed of sound, as the nine Merlin 1D engines provide more than 1.7 million pounds of thrust.

T+0:01:21: Max Q


The Falcon 9 rocket reaches Max Q, the point of maximum aerodynamic pressure.

T+0:02:44: MECO


The Falcon 9's nine Merlin 1D engines shut down.

T+0:02:48: Stage 1 Separation


The Falcon 9's first stage separates from the second stage moments after MECO.

T+0:02:55: First Ignition of Second Stage


The second stage Merlin 1D vacuum engine ignites for a six-minute burn to put the rocket and SES 12 into a preliminary parking orbit.

T+0:03:27: 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.

T+0:08:25: SECO 1


The second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket shuts down after reaching a preliminary low-altitude orbit. The upper stage and SES 12 begin a coast phase scheduled to last nearly 18 minutes before the second stage Merlin vacuum engine reignites.

T+0:26:06: Second Ignition of Second Stage


The Falcon 9's second stage Merlin engine restarts to propel the SES 12 communications satellite into a supersynchronous transfer orbit.

T+0:27:13: SECO 2


The Merlin engine shuts down after a short burn to put the SES 12 satellite in the proper orbit for deployment.

T+0:32:51: SES 12 Separation


The SES 12 satellite separates from the Falcon 9 rocket in a geostationary transfer orbit with a perigee of 182 miles (294 kilometers) and a targeted apogee of around 36,357 miles (58,511 kilometers), with an apogee range plus or minus approximately 300 miles (500 kilometers).

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SES--12 Mission Overview

SES

Опубликовано: 3 июн. 2018 г.

SES-12: Elevating experiences across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East today.

(1:55)

[us2-star]

Русскоязычные трансляции:

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Upd ated: 06/04/2018 04:42 Stephen Clark

At this point in the Falcon 9 countdown, the launch team is conducting checks of the rocket ahead of the start of fueling, which is se t to begin at 11:19 p.m. EDT (0319 GMT).

Super-chilled, densified RP-1 fuel will be loaded into the two-stage Falcon 9 rocket first, followed by cryogenic liquid oxygen at 11:54 p.m. EDT (0354 GMT).

Liftoff is timed for 12:29 a.m. EDT (0429 GMT).

Спойлер

After liftoff, the rocket's nine Merlin 1D main engines will pivot their thrust to guide the Falcon 9 east from Cape Canaveral to place the SES 12 communications satellite into a supersynchronous transfer orbit stretching more than 36,000 miles (58,000 kilometers above Earth at its highest point.

Assembled by Airbus Defense and Space in Toulouse, France, the SES 12 satellite carries plasma thrusters for all its in-orbit maneuvers, eliminating the need for large conventional liquid propellant tanks.

SES 12 weighs 11,867 pounds (5,383 kilograms) with its supply of xenon propellant for the electric thrusters, while a satellite with similar capability would weigh up to 10 metric tons if it carried the customary hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide propellants used by conventional spacecraft.

The weight savings allowed SES to fit SES 12 on a smaller, less expensive rocket, and permitted engineers to combine two communications missions into one spacecraft. SES 12 will provide direct-to-home television broadcasts, video and data relay services, and broadband connectivity across the Middle East, the Asia-Pacific, and Australia during its 15-year mission.

"This is basically two satellites in one," said Martin Halliwell, SES' chief technology officer. "If we built this thing years ago, we would have actually built two satellites, but we had the opportunity with Airbus together to bring them into one common bus by using the electric orbit-raising capability."

SES 12 will use its plasma jets to climb into a circular geostationary orbit more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over the equator after deployment from the Falcon 9 rocket into an initial elliptical transfer orbit.

A small tank of conventional chemical propellant will help nudge the spacecraft out of its initial transfer orbit, but most of the orbit-raising maneuvers will use the plasma thrusters, Halliwell said.

SES 12 will slide into an operating post along the equator at 95 degrees eest longitude for its commercial telecom mission.

The Falcon 9 rocket launching SES 12 will use a previously-flown "Block 4" version first stage refurbished after a September 2017 mission with the U.S. Air Force's X-37B spaceplane. The first stage will not be recovered on the SES 12 mission.

The newly-built upper stage includes upgrades introduced by SpaceX for the "Block 5" version of the Falcon 9 rocket.

"We've actually stripped everything off the first stage, so there are no landing legs on-board," Halliwell said. "This is going straight into the ocean. The first stage is a Block 4 and the upper stage is a Block 5.

"We get a lot of performance from this vehicle," he said in a pre-launch briefing with reporters.

The drawback of using low-thrust plasma jets for orbit-raising is it takes months, instead of weeks, to maneuver a communications satellite into geostationary orbit. But the high-altitude orbit targeted by the Falcon 9 rocket's upper stage will save some of SES 12's own fuel supply, adding years to its expected operational lifetime.

"The good side of all this is it actually extends our life capability from 15 to 22 years, so that's enormous," Halliwell said. "Secondly, it allows us to get into (geostationary) orbit a little bit quicker, so we're going to save about 20 days on our orbit-raising. This allows us to come into service in late January or February of next year."

"This is the most powerful spacecraft that we've ever had built for us," Halliwell said. "The total output power is around about 16 kilowatts on the payload, 19 kilowatts overall. It's really, really big."

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William Harwood‏ @cbs_spacenews 1 мин. назад

F9/SES12: This will be the 56th launch of a Falcon 9, the 11th flight so far this year (including the Falcon Heavy's maiden flight) and SpaceX's fifth launch for SES

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