Author Topic: SpaceX Falcon 9 : Iridium NEXT Flight 3 : Oct 9, 2017 - UPDATES  (Read 101800 times)

Offline wannamoonbase

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She was a beast there on the pad, snorting away with all that venting.  Very cool.  Maybe there'll be some proper photos released?

VAFB has great pre-launch video.  The snorts, venting, fog, it all so visceral.

Great launch of a  complicated mission.  Another booster to add to the inventory!

Bring on the next one. 
Wildly optimistic prediction, Superheavy recovery on IFT-4 or IFT-5

Offline SmallKing

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NORAD cataloged 10 sats

42955~42964/2017-061A~K: 612 x 627 km x 86.68 deg.
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Online FutureSpaceTourist

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SpaceX are being unusually slow in releasing launch photos, apart from the attached on their website

Offline cscott

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Woke my kid up to see this one.  Watched the sats deploy over breakfast. Great launch.

Offline vaporcobra

Some rough seas are apparently delaying crew from boarding JRTI.

Edit: I should clarify, as of ~24 hours ago.
« Last Edit: 10/11/2017 12:17 am by vaporcobra »

Offline vaporcobra

Found some clearer waters, and an owl that apparently made a horrible mistake and wound up 300 miles off the coast of CA :)

Edit: FWIW, another poster (an employee) said that we should "stay tuned for more pictures of the actual launch", so hopefully that means the lack of official photos is temporary!
« Last Edit: 10/11/2017 04:28 pm by vaporcobra »

Offline Chris Bergin

Third Set of Iridium® NEXT Satellites Arrive in Orbit and Provide Telemetry

MCLEAN, Va. – October 11, 2017 - Iridium Communications announced today that the third set of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites, launched Monday by SpaceX, are functioning nominally and have begun the testing and validation process. This batch of 10 satellites was launched out of Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, increasing the total number of Iridium NEXT satellites in space to 30.

“Since Monday’s success, all things are pointing positive,” said Scott Smith, chief operating officer at Iridium. “The team at the Satellite Network Operations Center (SNOC) is ready and has already been working around the clock since their deployment Monday.  Unlike previous launches, where some satellites were sent drifting to their operational orbital plane, all 10 satellites from this launch will go directly into operation once testing is completed. This phase of satellite maneuvers and testing is where the Iridium satellite network operations teams truly shine.”

Now, and for approximately the next 45 days, these newly launched satellites will undergo a series of testing and validation procedures, ensuring they are ready for integration with the operational constellation.  Once testing is completed, Iridium will also hand over control of Aireon’s Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast hosted payload, to the team at Aireon’s Hosted Payload Operations Center (HPOC), also in Leesburg, Va.

For more information about Iridium NEXT, please visit www.IridiumNEXT.com.

About Iridium Communications Inc.

Iridium is the only mobile voice and data satellite communications network that spans the entire globe. Iridium enables connections between people, organizations and assets to and from anywhere, in real time. Together with its ecosystem of partner companies, Iridium delivers an innovative and rich portfolio of reliable solutions for markets that require truly global communications. The company has a major development program underway for its next-generation network — Iridium NEXT. Iridium Communications Inc. is headquartered in McLean, Va., U.S.A., and its common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol IRDM. For more information about Iridium products, services and partner solutions, visit www.iridium.com.
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Offline Chris Bergin

Stunning full collection in L2 (Starts here: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=43935.msg1735616#msg1735616 - which is an amazing thread as it includes Chris G, Philip Sloss, Helo and Jay with his crazy telescope camera of launch day), but have to share a couple of these from NSF member Sam Sun. You all know Sam's photos are of the aerial variety. ;D

Falcon 9 B1041, riding on the SpaceX ASDS JRTI, sailing past Catalina Island.
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Online FutureSpaceTourist

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Some SpaceX launch photos (finally!)

Online FutureSpaceTourist

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More photos from SpaceX that I don’t think have been posted before

Online FutureSpaceTourist

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Quote
Recovered SpaceX booster rocket arrives at the Port of Los Angeles

By SANDY MAZZA | Daily Breeze
PUBLISHED: October 12, 2017

http://www.dailybreeze.com/2017/10/12/recovered-spacex-booster-rocket-arrives-at-the-port-of-los-angeles/

I observed 10 Iridium satellites in Japan(October 10, 2017 19:25 UT).

Online FutureSpaceTourist

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Some nice photos and great close-ups:

Quote
The #IridiumNEXT-3 booster back at port in San Pedro this morning from its Oct 9 launch and landing at Vandenberg AFB. #SpaceX

https://twitter.com/w00ki33/status/918588007191543809

Offline joesmith

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Ouch.... they are not burnt... ablative coating?

Offline guckyfan

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Ouch.... they are not burnt... ablative coating?

The hot ones were on the SES flight from Florida.

Offline vandersons

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Leg pistons are off acording to this Instagram post:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaPKMCuh6sE/

Online FutureSpaceTourist

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Quote
I just visited @JRTIDroneShip again here are some pics then the rest can be found on imgur: https://imgur.com/gallery/0yEis

https://twitter.com/slc4_lz2/status/919355184534339584

Online catdlr

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Iridium NEXT Powering New Capabilities


IridiumComm
Published on Oct 16, 2017



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Offline Ronsmytheiii

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Per this video, landing legs are off:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaZ6w7igY7G/

Offline Helodriver

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A quiet midnight visit to Iridium 3 shows her still standing in port on late friday night/early saturday morning 20/21 October. They are in no hurry to get her back to the shop. Looks like she was the backdrop for a SpaceX party over the weekend according to the sign.

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