Author Topic: SpaceX Falcon 9 : GovSat-1 (SES-16) : Jan 31. 2018 - Discussion  (Read 207817 times)

Will be interesting to see if they still soft land this one like they did for Iridium-4. (Did they? I remember hearing something about it)



Roll-out's happening soon it seems.
« Last Edit: 01/25/2018 07:59 pm by tvg98 »

Offline Herb Schaltegger

And static fire complete...

https://twitter.com/spacex/status/956941584259411968

Interesting to compare how quick and easy this F9 static fire campaign was compared to that of FH - just roll it out and fire it up the same day on the first try. I’m sure lots of folks hope flow for FH/LC-39A gets as smooth with time - or at least, smoother than it was the first time.
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Offline RocketLover0119

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hoping we get a pic of both FH and Govsat vertical at the same time
"The Starship has landed"

Offline vanoord

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And static fire complete...

https://twitter.com/spacex/status/956941584259411968

Interesting to compare how quick and easy this F9 static fire campaign was compared to that of FH - just roll it out and fire it up the same day on the first try. I’m sure lots of folks hope flow for FH/LC-39A gets as smooth with time - or at least, smoother than it was the first time.

Nice to see it done without fuss.

For all the excitement Falcon Heavy brings, SpaceX need a good run of issue-free launches for F9 and to get to a point where they're flying a common fleet of boosters (Block 5) and getting ever closer to launching humans.

Dispelling the (likely unfounded) doubt that has arisen since Zuma is going to be best achieved by going about their business, putting satellites into orbit.

Offline ChrisGebhardt

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And static fire complete...

https://twitter.com/spacex/status/956941584259411968

Interesting to compare how quick and easy this F9 static fire campaign was compared to that of FH - just roll it out and fire it up the same day on the first try. I’m sure lots of folks hope flow for FH/LC-39A gets as smooth with time - or at least, smoother than it was the first time.

Well... it was rolled out yesterday afternoon.  Which is standard timeline for rollout to engine firing.




Seems like it was around 7-8 seconds in duration. Very nice!

Offline Nehkara

I made a gfycat of this static fire.

https://gfycat.com/LongCheerfulFirebelliedtoad

Credit: US Launch Report

The Static Fire was 9.1 seconds long, +/- a tenth of a second.

That's really long for a static fire, isn't it?

I made a gfycat of this static fire.

https://gfycat.com/LongCheerfulFirebelliedtoad

Credit: US Launch Report

The Static Fire was 9.1 seconds long, +/- a tenth of a second.

That's really long for a static fire, isn't it?

Now possible because of the upgrades that were made to SLC-40.  :)

Offline Nehkara

I made a gfycat of this static fire.

https://gfycat.com/LongCheerfulFirebelliedtoad

Credit: US Launch Report

The Static Fire was 9.1 seconds long, +/- a tenth of a second.

That's really long for a static fire, isn't it?

Now possible because of the upgrades that were made to SLC-40.  :)

Awesome!

What are the benefits to SpaceX of doing a longer firing?  More data?

Offline abaddon

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Interesting to compare how quick and easy this F9 static fire campaign was compared to that of FH - just roll it out and fire it up the same day on the first try. I’m sure lots of folks hope flow for FH/LC-39A gets as smooth with time - or at least, smoother than it was the first time.
I don't know why anyone would expect the first FH static fire campaign to be anything but slow and deliberate.  There's no reason to think it is in any way indicative of how long future FH static fires will take.
« Last Edit: 01/26/2018 07:47 pm by abaddon »

Offline abaddon

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For all the excitement Falcon Heavy brings, SpaceX need a good run of issue-free launches for F9
They've had 19 in a row.  Obviously they need to keep it up, but that's a nice run of issue-free launches.

Offline Maestro19

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Quote from: Chris G static fire article
While SES-16’s weight compared to other SES satellites would likely allow SpaceX to recover the booster on the Of Course I Still Love You drone ship, SpaceX will likely use the expendable nature of this booster to test landing and atmospheric entry techniques while ditching the booster in the Atlantic in an effort to clear out the Block 3 Falcon 9 stock in favor of the currently operational Block 4s and soon-to-be-operational Block 5s.

Did anyone else get that cognitive dissonance where the thoughts "of course boosters end up in the ocean" and "hey, stop littering!" start competing for headspace?

Offline Eerie

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Quote from: Chris G static fire article
While SES-16’s weight compared to other SES satellites would likely allow SpaceX to recover the booster on the Of Course I Still Love You drone ship, SpaceX will likely use the expendable nature of this booster to test landing and atmospheric entry techniques while ditching the booster in the Atlantic in an effort to clear out the Block 3 Falcon 9 stock in favor of the currently operational Block 4s and soon-to-be-operational Block 5s.

Did anyone else get that cognitive dissonance where the thoughts "of course boosters end up in the ocean" and "hey, stop littering!" start competing for headspace?

The amount of rocket boosters falling into the ocean is insignificant compared to all the other garbage we throw there.

Offline Jim

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Quote from: Chris G static fire article
While SES-16’s weight compared to other SES satellites would likely allow SpaceX to recover the booster on the Of Course I Still Love You drone ship, SpaceX will likely use the expendable nature of this booster to test landing and atmospheric entry techniques while ditching the booster in the Atlantic in an effort to clear out the Block 3 Falcon 9 stock in favor of the currently operational Block 4s and soon-to-be-operational Block 5s.

Did anyone else get that cognitive dissonance where the thoughts "of course boosters end up in the ocean" and "hey, stop littering!" start competing for headspace?

no, because it is insignificant

Offline alang

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Quote from: Chris G static fire article
While SES-16’s weight compared to other SES satellites would likely allow SpaceX to recover the booster on the Of Course I Still Love You drone ship, SpaceX will likely use the expendable nature of this booster to test landing and atmospheric entry techniques while ditching the booster in the Atlantic in an effort to clear out the Block 3 Falcon 9 stock in favor of the currently operational Block 4s and soon-to-be-operational Block 5s.

Did anyone else get that cognitive dissonance where the thoughts "of course boosters end up in the ocean" and "hey, stop littering!" start competing for headspace?

no, because it is insignificant

If I throw a coke can in then that's insignificant as well but I expect to be judged harshly for it.
In the case of aerospace, whether insignificant or not, there is a leadership aspect to throwing things in the ocean that shouldn't be dismissed out of hand.
You shouldn't expect non engineers to have reached your level of enlightenment and that can be a good thing as well as a bad thing.

Offline abaddon

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Seems like if there is an ecological discussion regarding the disposal of spent rocket bodies it should probably be in a dedicated thread somewhere else, not in the GovSat-1 thread.

Offline Herb Schaltegger

Interesting to compare how quick and easy this F9 static fire campaign was compared to that of FH - just roll it out and fire it up the same day on the first try. I’m sure lots of folks hope flow for FH/LC-39A gets as smooth with time - or at least, smoother than it was the first time.
I don't know why anyone would expect the first FH static fire campaign to be anything but slow and deliberate.  There's no reason to think it is in any way indicative of how long future FH static fires will take.

You're missing my point, which was quite the reverse; that is to say, operations with a relatively-mature system (F9 1.2) is already silky-smooth, even on a very recently rebuilt launch pad. They have that flow down cold, by all indications.

But the converse is also true - the first subcooled-LOX flows had their delays and issues too. That's where FH is by comparison. Seeing the two flows so close togeher on the calendar underscores the difference in maturity of the systems. That's all.

But the point remains - F9 even off a rebuilt launch pad is as close to "routine" as rocketry can get, I think.
« Last Edit: 01/27/2018 12:20 am by Herb Schaltegger »
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Offline Comga

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People are intentionally missing Maesro19’s point.
It’s not about littering the ocean.
It’s about recovery of first stages.
At least around here, we now expect it.
We don’t even bet where it will land on the barge or pad.
It’s a shift.
Maybe some think that SpaceX will give it up, or dissapear, but many like me expect the majority of big commercial launch first stages to recovered from here on out.
YMMV
What kind of wastrels would dump a perfectly good booster in the ocean after just one use?

Offline Orbiter

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B1032 appears to be sooty on this flight, per pictures posted on the update thread, if anyone was interested.
KSC Engineer, astronomer, rocket photographer.

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