Author Topic: SpaceX F9 : Iridium NEXT Flight 8 : Jan. 11, 2019 : Vandenberg - DISCUSSION (Read 48808 times)

gongora · « **on:** 08/03/2018 04:15 pm »

DISCUSSION THREAD for Flight 8 of the Iridium NEXT missions.

Flight 8 successfully launched on January 11, 2019 at 07:31am PST (1531 UTC) on Falcon 9 with booster 1049.2 (previously used for the Telstar 18V mission) from SLC-4 at Vandenberg. The first stage is landed successfully on the drone ship JRTI.

Flight 8 will launch into plane 3. One satellite will be drifted to plane 4.

NSF Threads for Iridium NEXT Flight 8: Discussion / Updates
NSF Articles for Iridium NEXT Flight 8:

See the Flight 1 Discussion Thread for more information and links to other Iridium Next threads and articles.

General information for Iridium flights 1-5 & 7-8
Payload Mass: 8600kg for 10 satellites + 1000kg for dispenser = 9600kg
Launch orbit: 625km, 86.66 degrees
Operational orbit: 778km, 86.4 degrees

81 Satellites will be built for Iridium NEXT, with 66 being needed for a fully operational constellation. All of the satellites will carry ADS-B aviation tracking hosted payloads for Aireon, and 60 of the satellites will carry AIS maritime tracking hosted payloads for exactEarth.

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

Jakusb · « **Reply #1 on:** 08/14/2018 10:42 am »

https://twitter.com/IridiumBoss/status/1028964871617105923

@IridiumBoss
Replying to @scr00chy
"Still trying to nail the date down (satellite completion is gating, not rocket availability), but definitely won't be in September."

ChrisGebhardt · « **Reply #2 on:** 08/30/2018 03:11 pm »

Now NET November due to satellite availability/readiness.

deruch · « **Reply #3 on:** 09/01/2018 02:11 pm »

Quote from: ChrisGebhardt on 08/30/2018 03:11 pm

Now NET November due to satellite availability/readiness.

From the CRS-16 thread:

Quote from: jbenton on 08/31/2018 02:28 am

Quote from: gongora on 08/02/2018 02:25 pm
Quote from: Mobius57 on 08/02/2018 07:29 am
I noticed the other day that we've never had a November launch
shhhhh...don't jinx it

Quote from: gongora on 08/31/2018 01:01 am
Quote
Iridium and NASA just learned that TechEdSat-8 has been added to the launch manifest for SpaceX-16, which is scheduled to be launched on December 1, 2018

I guess Mobius jinxed it.

Fingers crossed for Desch & Co. to come through with the clutch assist on breaking the SpaceX "November launch drought."

gongora · « **Reply #4 on:** 09/01/2018 02:43 pm »

There are other flights that I think are more likely to fly in November than Iridium.

Draggendrop · « **Reply #5 on:** 09/02/2018 04:42 am »

I don't mind it being a bit later in the year. This (sadly) will be the last time to see the now familiar dispenser in action, unless there is a possible future lift for replacements.

zubenelgenubi · « **Reply #6 on:** 10/13/2018 06:01 pm »

Adjustments coming for the WTR launch schedule at the end of the year?

Re: NROL-71:

Quote from: Newton_V on 10/13/2018 02:53 am

Looks like SpaceX gave up their launch slot. I believe this is moving a few days to the left.

Reference to a delay of the launch of Iridium Next Flight 8?

Quote from: Salo on 10/09/2018 07:54 pm

Scheduled:
Date - Satellite(s) - Rocket - Launch Site - Time (UTC)

2018
November 19 - Spaceflight SSO-A/SHERPA SSO : ORS 7A, ORS 7B,MinXSS 2, Audacy 0, Eu:CROPIS, BlackSky Global 2, STPSat-5, SkySat 14, SkySat 15, NEXTSat 1, Hawk 1, Hawk 2, Hawk 3, Fox 1C, KNACKSAT, Elysium-Star 2, JY1-Sat, KazSTSAT, KazSciSat, ROSE-1, ICEYE X2, CSIM-FD, Hiber 2, Orbital Reflector, PW-Sat 2, Hamilton 1, MOVE 2, Centauri 2, Eaglet 1, SpaceBEE 9, SpaceBEE 10, SpaceBEE 11, Flock-3s 1, Flock-3s 2, Flock-3s 3, AISTECHSAT 2, Al-Farabi 2, Astrocast 0.1, BeeSat 5, BeeSat 6, BeeSat 7, BeeSat 8, BlackHawk, BRIO, Capella 1, ESEO, eXCITe, Exseed, FalconSat 6, ICE-Cap, Irvine 02, ITASAT-1, K2SAT, Landmapper-BC 4 v2, ORS 1, RAAF M1, RANGE A, RANGE B, SeaHawk 1, SeeMe, SIRION Pathfinder 2, SNUGLITE, SNUSAT 2, Suomi-100, THEA, VESTA, VisionCube, WeissSat 1, ZACUBE 2 - Falcon 9 - Vandenberg SLC-4E

NET November - Iridium Next Flight 8 (x10) - Falcon 9 - Vandenberg SLC-4E

December 3 - NROL-71: KH-11 17 (Crystal 17, Block 5 #1) (TBD) - Delta IV-H [D-382] - Vandenberg SLC-6

gongora · « **Reply #7 on:** 10/13/2018 06:03 pm »

SSO-A has been lined up before Iridium for quite a while now. Iridium is NET December, I wouldn't be surprised if it slipped to January. They should have a quarterly earnings call at the end of the month, should get an update then.

Elthiryel · « **Reply #8 on:** 10/13/2018 09:17 pm »

I've decided to ask Matt Desch and here's the answer.

https://twitter.com/IridiumBoss/status/1051220004983791616

Chris Bergin · « **Reply #9 on:** 10/18/2018 02:51 pm »

https://twitter.com/IridiumBoss/status/1052934106135359488

envy887 · « **Reply #10 on:** 10/18/2018 02:58 pm »

Quote from: Chris Bergin on 10/18/2018 02:51 pm

https://twitter.com/IridiumBoss/status/1052934106135359488

Hey, that's listed as a new booster in the manifest. Is this the first public notice that it's a reflown booster? Is this going to be the first 3rd flight?

FutureSpaceTourist · « **Reply #11 on:** 10/18/2018 03:00 pm »

Confirmation of what's been the delay:

https://twitter.com/IridiumBoss/status/1052934694109614081

Mammutti · « **Reply #12 on:** 10/18/2018 03:08 pm »

This will be the second flight of the B1049 booster, which was used for Telstar 18 VANTAGE mission. And it will land on JRTI.

https://twitter.com/IridiumBoss/status/1052937230199738368
https://twitter.com/IridiumBoss/status/1052937679380389891
https://twitter.com/IridiumBoss/status/1052935215918837761

envy887 · « **Reply #13 on:** 10/18/2018 03:10 pm »

Telestar 18V from LC-40 on September 10, 2018. A Dec 30 launch would be 111 days later.

zubenelgenubi · « **Reply #14 on:** 10/23/2018 02:27 am »

New article
SpaceX lines up five launches to close out 2018, October 22, by Michael Baylor

Tomness · « **Reply #15 on:** 11/28/2018 12:53 am »

Hopefully they have enough room to process Iridium and Spaceflight SSO-A rockets and payloads concurrently so each slip doesnt effect the Iridium schedule.

FutureSpaceTourist · « **Reply #16 on:** 12/05/2018 08:05 pm »

https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1070416863656599559

Quote

Iridium-8 has slipped to 2019 according to Koenigsmann. He is also confident that they can fix the landing issue in time. #SpaceX

theinternetftw · « **Reply #17 on:** 12/06/2018 04:55 am »

Slipped to 2019, but still before DM-1 (at least nominally, it seems like). From the transcript:

Quote

Matt Haskell, The Aerospace Geek: Matt Haskell, for The Aerospace Geek. And my question is for Hans. You mentioned the implementation of corrections for Iridium. With that launch being farther away, is it a possibility that the implementation of corrections for DM-1 could cause a slip to the right?

Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceX: So I'm not sure I understand. Iridium comes still before Demo 1. Or pretty close, let's say it this way. But, regardless, whatever will be corrected on Iridium will also be corrected on Demo 1.

Chris Bergin · « **Reply #18 on:** 12/07/2018 03:36 pm »

NET Jan 7:

https://twitter.com/IridiumComm/status/1071076274477690880

jacqmans · « **Reply #19 on:** 12/08/2018 07:14 am »

SpaceX Opens Media Accreditation for Iridium-8 Mission

Media Contact: Eva Behrend

HAWTHORNE, Calif. – Dec. 7, 2018. Media accreditation is now open for SpaceX's Iridium-8 mission from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The launch is targeted for no earlier than January 7.

More details on the mission and pre-launch media activities will be made available closer to launch.