Author Topic: SpaceX Falcon Heavy : Arabsat 6A : LC-39A : April 11, 2019 - DISCUSSION  (Read 301028 times)

Offline gongora

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DISCUSSION THREAD

NSF Threads for Arabsat 6A : Discussion / Updates (through April 10 scrub) / Updates (starting with April 11 attempt)

NSF Articles for Arabsat 6A :
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/?s=Falcon%2BHeavy

Master Launch Article:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2019/04/spacex-falcon-heavy-second-launch-arabsat-6a/ - By William Graham

Successfully launched April 11, 2019 at 18:36 EDT (22:36 UTC) on Falcon Heavy to GTO from LC-39A.  Side boosters 1052.1 and 1053.1 with center booster 1055.1.  Side boosters landed at LZ-1, center booster landed on ASDS but later fell over while being returned to port.  Part of the center booster remained on the ASDS and was returned.

Second flight of Falcon Heavy.  Payload mass 6465kg.



Being built in Denver by Lockheed Martin for Arabsat.  Based on the A2100 satellite bus.  Stationed at 30.5deg East.  Mass around 6000kg.  Has Ku and Ka band payload.  Chemical propulsion.


Arabsat
SpaceX Press Release
NEC Press Release

Arabsat 6A on Gunter's Space Page

ArabSat 6A CDR Completed May 31, 2016
Quote
DENVER, May 31, 2016 – Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), Arab Satellite Communications Organization and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) have successfully completed a comprehensive technical review of Arabsat 6A and Hellas-Sat-4/SaudiGeoSat-1, two satellites that will provide television, internet, telephone and secure communications, to customers in the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

To achieve this milestone, Lockheed Martin completed the Critical Design Review of the satellite and each subsystem, demonstrating the satellite design meets technical specifications and is ready for the next phase of production. With Critical Design Review complete and manufacturing underway, the Lockheed Martin team will now move further into the production process.

“Now that we’ve completed this intensive design review, we’re moving forward into the build, integration and test phase for Arabsat 6A and Hellas-Sat-4/SaudiGeoSat-1,” said Carl Marchetto, Lockheed Martin’s vice president and general manager of Commercial Space. “We’re already producing important components for the satellites including antenna reflectors, panels and the core structure, and are excited to continue manufacturing these important satellites.”

Arabsat 6A will be located at 30.5 degrees East and Hellas-Sat-4/SaudiGeoSat-1 will be located at 39 degrees East. Both satellites will be designed for a 15-year service life, and will be manufactured in Denver, Colorado. There are five modernized A2100 satellites currently under contract to Lockheed Martin and they are designed for a host of missions and customers around the globe.



Other SpaceX resources on NASASpaceflight:
   SpaceX News Articles (Recent)
   SpaceX News Articles from 2006 (Including numerous exclusive Elon interviews)
   SpaceX Dragon Articles
   SpaceX Missions Section (with Launch Manifest and info on past and future missions)

   L2 SpaceX Section
« Last Edit: 06/24/2019 09:01 pm by gongora »

Offline gongora

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FH Demo later this year (more long coast testing of second stage), then Arabsat 6A on second flight early next year, then STP-2

Offline IanThePineapple

Very interesting, I guess they wanted their first major customer to fly before a military test mission with smallsats

Offline iamlucky13

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6000 kg payload mass is well-within the claimed 8300 kg expendable GTO capacity of the F9. I find it interesting they chose to manifest this on a Heavy, but I guess SpaceX could consider it a worthwhile commercial demo.

And I assume the ultimate goal is for Falcon Heavy re-use to be cheaper than Falcon 9 expendable flights.

Offline envy887

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6000 kg payload mass is well-within the claimed 8300 kg expendable GTO capacity of the F9. I find it interesting they chose to manifest this on a Heavy, but I guess SpaceX could consider it a worthwhile commercial demo.

And I assume the ultimate goal is for Falcon Heavy re-use to be cheaper than Falcon 9 expendable flights.

Per calculations elsewhere on this forum, it's also well within FH capability for 3-core RTLS. Wonder if they will do that, or land the center core downrange again...

Very interesting, I guess they wanted their first major customer to fly before a military test mission with smallsats

Maybe the USAF wants two demos of FH before STP-2? I still don't think Arabsat 6A launching before STP-2 alleviates the requirement for a fairing on FH Demo, since they will want to test it before launching a commercial customer.
« Last Edit: 06/28/2017 12:08 pm by envy887 »

Offline Jcc

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Shotwell said they would land the center core downrange. Besides, where's the third landing pad?

Offline Herb Schaltegger

Shotwell said they would land the center core downrange. Besides, where's the third landing pad?

They're already building the second pad at LZ-1 and have announced plans for all 3. Plenty of time to clear land and pour concrete.
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Offline envy887

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Shotwell said they would land the center core downrange. Besides, where's the third landing pad?

I thought she said that about the demo, not Arabsat.

Offline deruch

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STP-2 is supposed to be a very complicated mission with multiple relights and orbital adjustments for different payloads.  So, maybe the schedule swap is to give them some more experience with the new vehicle?  Or, it could be that Arabsat-6A is for a commercial customer that has revenue on the line and SpaceX is trying to do their best for their clients by moving them up the line a little bit.
Shouldn't reality posts be in "Advanced concepts"?  --Nomadd

Offline vaporcobra

According to the USAF, Arabsat-6A may launch before STP-2, which now is NET April 30th, 2018. This would translate to a NET H2 2018, maybe Q1.
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/2017/20170721-lightsail-2-updates-prox-1-launch-dates.html
« Last Edit: 07/21/2017 01:45 pm by vaporcobra »

Offline gongora

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A Lockheed Martin press release for Hellas-Sat-4 (the satellite that seems to be just before Arabsat 6A in the build queue) says it's being readied for antenna and solar array attachment prior to entering environmental testing and will go to its launch site in the third quarter of 2018.  I'm guessing that means there's no way Arabsat 6A will launch in the first half of 2018.
« Last Edit: 11/30/2017 09:39 pm by gongora »

Offline IanThePineapple

A Lockheed Martin press release for Hellas-Sat-4 (the satellite that seems to be just before Arabsat 6A in the build queue) says it's being readied for antenna and solar array attachment prior to entering environmental testing and will go to its launch site in the third quarter of 2018.  I'm guessing that means there's no way Arabsat 6A will launch in the first half of 2018.

So probably the tail end of Q4 with the inevitable delays of construction and/or launch pad/vehicle readiness.

Offline envy887

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Hellas-Sat-4-/SaudiGeoSat-1 is booked on Ariane 5. Since payloads don't always go directly from testing to launch, isn't it plausible that Arabsat could launch first even if it's built later, depending on each provider's launch schedule?

Offline russianhalo117

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Hellas-Sat-4-/SaudiGeoSat-1 is booked on Ariane 5. Since payloads don't always go directly from testing to launch, isn't it plausible that Arabsat could launch first even if it's built later, depending on each provider's launch schedule?
only if the first LM-2100 bus has environmental testing issues or HS4/SGS1's co passenger gets delayed.

Offline vaporcobra

First TESS and now Arabsat-6A! These were posted on Flickr by LockMart, states that the satellite is headed to Sunnyvale, CA for "final testing".

Offline cscott

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Confirmed to have leap frogged STP-2:


STP-2 is scheduled for a window from April until June and Arabsat is confirmed to be second launching Falcon Heavy, according to NASA's budget released today (Page 537).


Offline vaporcobra

Confirmed to have leap frogged STP-2:
STP-2 is scheduled for a window from April until June and Arabsat is confirmed to be second launching Falcon Heavy, according to NASA's budget released today (Page 537).

And just to reiterate Craig's second point: those dates assumed a FH launch in Dec '17, so probably safe to push the estimates back ~2 months. May/June for Arabsat and Aug/Sept for STP-2, in other words.
« Last Edit: 02/14/2018 08:20 pm by vaporcobra »

Online Zardar

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Historically, (well over the last 18 months),  how fast can SpaceX manufacture newFirst Stages?

Given that the first F9 block 5 is expected "Real Soon", and that the first few Block5 cores will probably be needed for regular F9 flights, how soon, realistically, will SpaceX have the 3 Block 5 cores (with the special central core) ready  for the next FH launch, (supposedly due in Q2?)

Offline IanThePineapple

Historically, (well over the last 18 months),  how fast can SpaceX manufacture newFirst Stages?

Given that the first F9 block 5 is expected "Real Soon", and that the first few Block5 cores will probably be needed for regular F9 flights, how soon, realistically, will SpaceX have the 3 Block 5 cores (with the special central core) ready  for the next FH launch, (supposedly due in Q2?)

Last I heard was a bit less than a year to make a S1, but I bet that is far outdated. Block 5 is supposed to have features that make it easier to manufacture, so it will probably take less time than Block 4 and lower stages.

Offline AncientU

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Historically, (well over the last 18 months),  how fast can SpaceX manufacture newFirst Stages?

Given that the first F9 block 5 is expected "Real Soon", and that the first few Block5 cores will probably be needed for regular F9 flights, how soon, realistically, will SpaceX have the 3 Block 5 cores (with the special central core) ready  for the next FH launch, (supposedly due in Q2?)

A new core was fired at McGregor about every 3-4 weeks last year, so that is 12-16 cores or so.  EM said that next FH would be 3-4 months to build... which seems consistent with last year's rate.  This would give them 2-3 Block 5s first, then FH to launch around June.  Tight but doable.  We'll see.
"If we shared everything [we are working on] people would think we are insane!"
-- SpaceX friend of mlindner

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