SpaceX F9 : SES-10 with reuse of CRS-8 Booster SN/1021 : 2017-03-30 : DISCUSSION

[Galactic Penguin SST]

DISCUSSION Thread for the launch of SES-10 using Falcon 9R Booster S/N 1021 originally flown on the CRS-8 (F9-23) mission.

NSF Threads for SES-10 : Discussion / Updates / F9-23 Core Reuse / L2 January 2017 / L2 February 2017 / L2 March-April / ASDS / Party
NSF Articles for SES-10 :
   SES-10 static fire aims SpaceX for history books & first core stage re-flight
   SpaceX set for historic Falcon 9 re-flight with SES-10
   SpaceX opens new era for spaceflight with successful core stage reuse

Successful launch on March 30, 2017 at 1827 EDT (2227 UTC) from LC-39A at KSC.  First stage 1021-2 landed on ASDS.

SpaceX press kit for SES-10 mission is attached.

[Toulouse, 16/01/2017] - SES-10, the 10th Eurostar satellite built by Airbus Defence and Space for Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES, has left the Airbus cleanrooms in Toulouse, France, and has been shipped to Cape Canaveral for its forthcoming launch by SpaceX.

SES-10 is the 45th satellite based on the highly reliable Eurostar E3000 platform and the 10th to use electric propulsion for station-keeping. It will have a launch mass of 5,300 kg and spacecraft power of 13 kW.

SES-10 will be positioned at the 67 degrees West orbital position, pursuant to an agreement between the Andean Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) and SES. The satellite will provide SES with replacement and additional capacity for direct-to-home TV broadcasting, enterprise and mobility services to Central America and South America, Mexico and the Caribbean. It will carry a payload of 55 high-power Ku-band transponder equivalents.

SES Press Release (Aug. 30, 2016): SES-10 Launching to Orbit on SpaceX's Flight-Proven Falcon 9 Rocket



SES-10 at SES.com / SES-10 at Gunter's Space Page
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

[fatjohn1408]

Is this a new contract?
Or is this the SES flight that is on the manifest for 2015 with a F9 v1.1?
I wasn't aware of any satellite assigned to that flight so I would guess that this flight has been changed from F9 to FH.

http://www.spacex.com/missions

All other articles are running this as a flight on a F9 vehicle.
Could it be the F9 v1.1 with increased performance thanks to engine upgrade?
http://www.satnews.com/story.php?number=1041848497

[MikeAtkinson]

Press release http://www.cnbc.com/id/101430336

[skybum]

The press release pretty distinctly says "Falcon 9". Is there a source for the Falcon Heavy claim, other than the original tweet?

[Robotbeat]

Intelsat has a flight booked on a Falcon Heavy in 2017.

That ups the count to 4 Falcon Heavy missions on the manifest. 1 demo, 1 Air Force, 1 Intelsat, and now this SES.

[guckyfan]

http://www.ses.com/4233325/news/2014/17737688

SES say they fly on Falcon 9.

[Robotbeat]

http://www.ses.com/4233325/news/2014/17737688

SES say they fly on Falcon 9.

Actually, that makes sense. The spacecraft has electric thrusters (as well as chemical), so it can tolerate a lower altitude initial insertion to GTO and still get basically the same mass to GSO. The price difference between Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy is pretty big and Falcon 9 is proven, so it's worth a few months of thrusting and on-orbit checks.

This is going to be pretty common... Electric propulsion is now basically standard, so spacecraft operators will have significant leeway for negotiating a cheaper launch vehicle even if it doesn't have a high-energy upper stage.

[newpylong]

F9 not capable of 5 tons to GTO, so it has to be a FH.

[Robotbeat]

F9 not capable of 5 tons to GTO, so it has to be a FH.

"GTO" isn't a single orbit. SpaceX's Falcon 9 can get ~4.9t to GTO with 1800m/s "to go" to GSO. Perhaps it's like 1950m/s "to go" for this orbit.

That's only like 30kg of Xenon to get down to the 1800m/s "to go" orbit, and a couple weeks of ion-thruster orbit-boosting (depending on exactly how good their thrusters are).

[Danderman]

F9 not capable of 5 tons to GTO, so it has to be a FH.

The article says that the launch mass of the satellite will be 5 tons, which is 10% of the capability of FH. I suspect the bottom line is that Space News is wrong.

However, we should not discard a third possibility, that Elon is promising some enhanced variant of Falcon 9 to customers in a couple of years.

[Robotbeat]

The E3000 has 4 SPT-100 hall effect thrusters. They also have chemical thrusters. They can get to GSO from whatever orbit the Falcon 9 can put a 5 ton payload. This isn't actually a problem, you guys.

It takes just ~80kg of Xenon to get from 1900m/s "to go" to 1500 m/s "to go" and about a month and a half of thrusting. 1500m/s is the "standard" GTO trajectory. A month of extra thrusting time is well worth $20 million cheaper launch on a proven rocket.

[MikeAtkinson]

The press release says:

launch mass on Falcon 9 is expected to be about 5,300 kilograms

[Skyrocket]

With a mass of 5300 kg and electric propulsion the SES-10 is well inside the range for a Falcon-9 v1.1 launch. The F9 will drop it off in a sub-GTO and SES will rise the orbit by a combination of chemical and electric propulsion.

[TrueBlueWitt]

F9 not capable of 5 tons to GTO, so it has to be a FH.

The article says that the launch mass of the satellite will be 5 tons, which is 10% of the capability of FH. I suspect the bottom line is that Space News is wrong.

However, we should not discard a third possibility, that Elon is promising some enhanced variant of Falcon 9 to customers in a couple of years.

With all the reserve capacity, might this flight also be the first attempt to recover a 2nd Stage?

[Danderman]

Nope. You can bet that the payload will be filled to capacity, and the capacity will be matched with F9 performance.

[kevin-rf]

I think TrueBlueWitt ment if they use a Heavy instead.

[Danderman]

I think TrueBlueWitt ment if they use a Heavy instead.

I think TrueBlueWitt ment if they use a Heavy instead.

Actually, a GTO mission would be a worst case test of recovery of a second stage, since the thermal conditions would be extreme.

[TrueBlueWitt]

I think TrueBlueWitt ment if they use a Heavy instead.

Correct, I meant if it actually launches on F9H.

[TrueBlueWitt]

I think TrueBlueWitt ment if they use a Heavy instead.

I think TrueBlueWitt ment if they use a Heavy instead.

Actually, a GTO mission would be a worst case test of recovery of a second stage, since the thermal conditions would be extreme.

Wouldn't they have enough margin, given it's such a light load on a F9H, to propulsively brake to nearer LEO re-entry velocity prior to re-entry if they chose? 

[kevin-rf]

Stage has to live long enough, that means control the LOX boil off and keep the Kero from freezing during a very long soak. It's a tough nut for a squirrel with vision problems to crack.

De-orbit from GTO only requires a few Draco's.