Author Topic: LIVE: SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1 - ABS-3A/Eutelsat 115 West B - SLC-40 - March 1 2015  (Read 123008 times)

Offline ugordan

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Only if you deploy the sats in the prograde direction. Based on the released Vine video, at least the 2nd sat appears to have been deployed sideways-ish. Also, stage propellant blowdown during passivation probably has a bigger propulsive result than separation kick.

Offline kevin-rf

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FYI Jonathan McDowell just reported a third TLE has been released.

https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/572751669689233409
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Third object from Falcon9 launch, possibly the second stage rocket, tracked in 363 x 63109 km x 24.9 deg, just a little below the payloads
If you're happy and you know it,
It's your med's!

Offline SpaceXfan

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Great slice of news here.

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/03/spaceport-america-spacex-reusability-testing/

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Interestingly, that most recent mission resulted in impressive performance from the launch vehicle, with source information noting the upper stage shut down on reaching the “apogee maximum limit”, still with propellant available for additional performance, had it been required. The contracted minimum apogee was actually many thousands of miles less than what was actually achieved.

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Further confirmation of Falcon 9 performance:

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Peter B. de Selding (@pbdes)
13/05/2015 18:11

Eutelsat: Accuracy of March SpaceX launch of our Boeing all-elec telecom sat means it'll take just 7 months, not 8, to arrive at geo orbit.

https://twitter.com/pbdes/status/598536099892432896

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Here's a Space News article expanding on the earlier tweet:

http://spacenews.com/spacex-launch-positioned-eutelsat-abs-satellites-to-enter-service-sooner/

Edit: details from the article

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ABS-3A likely will be in geostationary position in late August, six months after launch.

[...]

Eutelsat 115 West B [...] is now expected to arrive at its destination in late September, at least a month earlier than expected.
« Last Edit: 05/14/2015 01:06 pm by FutureSpaceTourist »

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