Telstar 19 Vantage - Falcon 9 - Canaveral SLC-40 - 22.07.2018

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07/22/2018 08:17 Stephen Clark

T-minus 33 minutes. Here are some statistics on today's launch:

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• 58th launch of a Falcon 9 rocket since 2010
• 64th launch of Falcon rocket family since 2006
• 1st launch of Falcon 9 Vehicle No. 47
• 48th Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral
• 35th Falcon 9 launch from pad 40
• 1st SpaceX launch for Telesat
• 8th SSL-built satellite launched by SpaceX
• 19th Falcon 9 night launch
• 12th Falcon 9 launch of 2018
• 13th launch by SpaceX in 2018
• 12th launch overall from Cape Canaveral in 2018
• 2nd flight of a Falcon 9 Block 5 first stage
• 5th flight of a Falcon 9 Block 5 second stage
  

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07/22/2018 08:18 Stephen Clark

Liquid oxygen and kerosene flow rates into the Falcon 9's first stage are reported normal. Kerosene is flowing into both stages at this time, while liquid oxygen is only being pumped into the first stage.

Liquid oxygen loading into the second stage will begin at T-minus 16 minutes.

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Муззаставка

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Cowboy Dan‏ @CowboyDanPaasch 37 мин. назад

#SpaceXArmada: Night-time droneship landing attempt of #Telstar19V launch vehicle, shortly tonite in Atlantic. Tug HAWK movement could be drop & release of droneship OCISLY. GO Pursuit idles is prep for rocket fairy retrieval duty. #SpaceX

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Brady Kenniston‏ @TheFavoritist 5 мин. назад

Looks like we are seeing venting on Falcon 9.

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07/22/2018 08:25 Stephen Clark

Today's mission will be the second flight using SpaceX's upgraded Falcon 9 Block 5 first stage, the latest generation in a series of step-by-step enhancements intended to boost the launcher's performance, while introducing changes to allow the booster to be easier to recover and reuse.

SpaceX launched the first Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket May 11 with Bangladesh's first communications satellite. Officials heralded the successful debut as pivotal in allowing SpaceX to reduce the time and money needed to turn around a recovered booster for another mission.

The extra lift capability of the Falcon 9 Block 5 will allow the rocket to send the nearly 15,600-pound (7,075-kilogram) Telstar 19 VANTAGE satellite toward its operational perch in geostationary orbit more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over the equator.

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The flight plan calls for the Falcon 9's second stage to fire its engine twice, then deploy the Telstar 19 VANTAGE payload into an elliptical, egg-shaped transfer orbit with a low point a few hundred miles above Earth, and a high point ranging tens of thousands of miles in altitude.

The Falcon 9 Block 5 will give the communications satellite, owned by Ottawa-based Telesat, a high-altitude lift while its first stage still retains enough propellant to return to a SpaceX drone ship parked in the Atlantic Ocean a few hundred miles east of Cape Canaveral.

Hauling such a heavy satellite toward a high-altitude geostationary transfer orbit would have required earlier versions of the Falcon 9 to devote all of their first stage propellants toward the launch, leaving insufficient leftover fuel for descent maneuvers.

The Falcon 9's first stage reignites a subset of its engines to target landings at sea or on land, then extends four landing legs while using its center engine to brake for touchdown. The extra engine restarts require extra fuel, eating into the mass the Falcon 9 can send into orbit.

Manufactured by SSL, formerly known as Space Systems/Loral, in Palo Alto, California, the Telstar 19 VANTAGE satellite is the first of two SSL-built, Telesat-owned telecom craft set for launch on Falcon 9 rockets this summer. The Telstar 18 VANTAGE satellite is scheduled for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on another Falcon 9 flight no earlier than Aug. 17.

Telstar 19 VANTAGE will become the heaviest commercial communications satellite ever launched, eclipsing a record set by the TerreStar 1 telecom spacecraft, which weighed 15,234 pounds (6,910 kilograms) when it rode an Ariane 5 rocket into orbit July 2009.

Telstar 19 VANTAGE carries Ku-band and Ka-band payloads, with coverage extending from Northern Canada to South America for broadband connectivity. The new satellite will also provide airborne Internet services for aircraft traveling on trans-Atlantic routes between North America and Europe.

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Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 2 мин. назад

Stage 2 RP-1 (kerosene) fueling is complete. #SpaceX #Falcon9 #TelStar19V #Block5

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Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF сейчас

T-16mins and COUNTING. Stage 2 fueling of LOX (Liquid Oxygen) has now begun. #SpaceX #Falcon9 #TelStar19V #Block5

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Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 1 мин. назад

The Range is GREEN with no issues that would prevent launch. #SpaceX #Falcon9 #TelStar19V #Block5

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07/22/2018 08:44 Stephen Clark

The first stage's RP-1 kerosene tank has been filled and closed out for flight.

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Пуск!

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MECO

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