SpaceX Falcon 9 : Hispasat 30W-6 (1F) : March 6, 2018 - DISCUSSION

[RocketLover0119]

have we had confirmation of a expendable booster or if a landing attempt will be made?

[gongora]

The FCC permits for this one are confusing, and SpaceX doesn't typically give out that information very far ahead of time.  Unless the satellite went on a diet I'm still assuming expendable.

[Skyrocket]

have we had confirmation of a expendable booster or if a landing attempt will be made?

With a launch mass of 6092 kg we can pretty well rule out recovery.

[envy887]

have we had confirmation of a expendable booster or if a landing attempt will be made?

With a launch mass of 6092 kg we can pretty well rule out recovery.

That could be on the hairy edge of what a Block 5 can do with downrange landing. Block 4 could to do it to subsync, but I think SpaceX is making up for delays by offering the best transfer orbit performance available which means expendable.

[Ronsmytheiii]

Here's another image:

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

Edit: Most Likely Hispasat 30 Core

[speedevil]

That could be on the hairy edge of what a Block 5 can do with downrange landing. Block 4 could to do it to subsync, but I think SpaceX is making up for delays by offering the best transfer orbit performance available which means expendable.

The landing burn is ~30s..
Neglecting additional braking due to drag, 3 engine landing may be 10s, for 20s less gravity losses - 200m/s.
Assuming the stage is 25 tons empty, and 275s ISP, this is approximately two tons extra fuel.
Just before SECO, if I've added up all my numbers right, the stack is 141 tons, that's another 40m/s or so from 2 tons of extra fuel.

If instead of going 1-3-1 on the reentry burn, it slams on with three, that may buy several m/s extra.

Still a penalty, but it's shrunk a bit.

[NX-0]

SpaceflightNow has a NET than 2/22

[Galactic Penguin SST]

SpaceflightNow has a NET than 2/22

Their launch schedule now shows February 25 at 05:35 UTC.

[Roy_H]

With PAZ now delayed, we're going to find out (although not for the first time) how well SpaceX coordinates launch work on both east and west pads at the same time!

Has PAZ slipped to the 25th now?

[ZachS09]

With PAZ now delayed, we're going to find out (although not for the first time) how well SpaceX coordinates launch work on both east and west pads at the same time!

Has PAZ slipped to the 25th now?

No. Paz is still scheduled for the 21st, but it's still possible to launch two missions within four days. The shortest gap between two missions was two days in June 2017.

[SimonFD]

B1044.1 is *supposed* to be lofting a spacecraft so heavy it negates a safe landing of the booster, but visual observations note fins and landing legs.

Could be another "very high retrothrust landing" test

Could it be testing conditions found during the FH centre core burns? Like seeing how much extra ignition fluid(?) is needed for  multiple burns perhaps?

[IanThePineapple]

My guess is that they might think Block 4 has enough power to land on 6mT missions, but they probably don't want to risk OCISLY with that.

[vanoord]

Based on the current availability of new and used cores (and looking towards the manifest), if they think they can get this one back, they may well try to do so.

[kdhilliard]

Falcon 9 preparing for static fire test at SLC-40 before the Hispasat 30W-6 mission -
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/02/falcon-9-static-fire-slc-40-hispasat-30w-6/

- By Ian Atkinson.

Great article, but perhaps the first image should be captioned to indicate which core is represented, as it shows a previously flown core, and as the article points out, this will be the first (and only) flight of core 1044.

[RocketLover0119]

Any word if the Sf is still occuring today and if they are prop loading?

[gongora]

I can't remember the source right now, but I seem to recall reading something in the not too distant past about how the SpaceX operations cause some of the CCAFS industrial area to be evacuated so they might shift some operations later in the day?  Does that ring a bell for anyone or am I just making it up?  (This is in regards to the late window for the static fire.)

[RocketLover0119]

Chris b on updates confirms a late window opening at 6 Pm eastern and running through midnight!

[tvg98]

I can't remember the source right now, but I seem to recall reading something in the not too distant past about how the SpaceX operations cause some of the CCAFS industrial area to be evacuated so they might shift some operations later in the day?  Does that ring a bell for anyone or am I just making it up?  (This is in regards to the late window for the static fire.)

In the future, the rockets may target another local landing site: a proposed pad at Kennedy Space Center that is the subject of early discussions between the Air Force, NASA and Space Florida.

The goal would be to lessen the burden landings impose on the Cape’s nearby industrial area, which workers must evacuate for hours during some missions.

https://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2017/12/12/nasa-spacex-talks-falcon-rocket-landing-zone-ksc/945993001/

This is all I've heard when it comes to modifying operations to reduce how much disturbance it causes to the industrial area.

[gongora]

I can't remember the source right now, but I seem to recall reading something in the not too distant past about how the SpaceX operations cause some of the CCAFS industrial area to be evacuated so they might shift some operations later in the day?  Does that ring a bell for anyone or am I just making it up?  (This is in regards to the late window for the static fire.)

In the future, the rockets may target another local landing site: a proposed pad at Kennedy Space Center that is the subject of early discussions between the Air Force, NASA and Space Florida.

The goal would be to lessen the burden landings impose on the Cape’s nearby industrial area, which workers must evacuate for hours during some missions.

https://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2017/12/12/nasa-spacex-talks-falcon-rocket-landing-zone-ksc/945993001/

Landings, static fires, that's kinda close, right?    Thanks for digging up the quote.

[cppetrie]

The radio silence on the static fire combined with no video coverage of the pad by the usual sources is kind of unnerving. The window closes in a little less than 2 hours.