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SpaceX Falcon 9 : Iridium NEXT Flight 3 : Oct 9, 2017 - UPDATES by Chris Bergin on 20 Sep, 2017 13:32
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UPDATE ONLY THREAD for Flight 3 of the Iridium NEXT missions.
Flight 3: October 9, 2017 at 0537 PDT (1237 UTC). (new booster, probably 1041) from SLC-4E at Vandenberg. Landing of first stage on ASDS is expected.
Flight 3 will launch into Iridium plane 4.
NSF Threads for Iridium NEXT Flight 3: Discussion / Updates / L2 Coverage September-October
NSF Articles for Iridium NEXT Flight 3:
SpaceX realign near-term manifest ahead of double launch salvo
SpaceX preps Falcon 9 for Iridium 3 static fire, Vandenberg manifest realigns
Launch Article
See the Flight 1 Discussion Thread for more information and links to other Iridium Next threads and articles.
General information for Iridium flights 1-7
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 -
#1 by Chris Bergin on 20 Sep, 2017 13:33
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Full Payload of Satellites for Third Iridium® NEXT Launch are Onsite at Vandenberg Air Force Base
Pre-Launch Processing Nearly Complete in Anticipation of October 4th Launch
MCLEAN, Va. – September 20, 2017 - Iridium Communications (NASDAQ: IRDM), today announced that all 10 Iridium NEXT satellites for the third launch are onsite at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California. Pre-launch processing activities are underway, which includes mating them to the dispensers, fueling and encapsulation within the fairing. The Falcon 9 rocket stages and fairing components are also onsite and in processing for launch. Scheduled for October 4, 2017 at 6:06am PDT (1:06pm UTC), this early morning launch continues the ambitious deployment pace for the Iridium NEXT program, set to launch a total of 75 satellites on SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets. A total of 81 Iridium NEXT satellites are being built - 66 are required for the operational constellation, with the remaining 15 serving as on-orbit spares (nine) and ground spares (six).
“Our teams, not only in California, but also in Arizona and in Northern Virginia, have maintained a steady and impressive pace when it comes to pre-and-post launch operations,” said Matt Desch, CEO, Iridium. “We’re setting a new industry standard for satellite deployment, in terms of both time and efficiency. On our end, all systems are go for our coming predawn launch.”
The October 4th launch is the third of eight launches for the Iridium NEXT program. Under the lead of Thales Alenia Space (Iridium NEXT System Prime Contractor), the satellites were shipped in pairs from the Orbital ATK Satellite Manufacturing Facility in Gilbert, Arizona to VAFB. The satellites were delivered in specially designed motion and temperature-controlled containers designed to maintain optimal environmental conditions.
Iridium NEXT is the company’s next-generation global satellite constellation scheduled for completion in 2018. Iridium NEXT represents the evolution of critical communications infrastructure that governments and organizations worldwide rely upon to drive business, enable connectivity, empower disaster relief efforts and more. Iridium NEXT will introduce new capabilities, such as Iridium CertusSM, the company’s next-generation multi-service communications platform, which will deliver broadband speeds over L-band for aviation, maritime, land mobile, Internet of Things applications for commercial and government organizations. It will also enable the AireonSM space-based ADS-B, real-time, global aircraft surveillance and flight tracking system. -
#2 by Chris Bergin on 20 Sep, 2017 13:33
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Iridium pic:
Iridium NEXT satellites undergoing pre-launch processing
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#3 by FutureSpaceTourist on 20 Sep, 2017 15:41
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Another image from Iridium
Edit to add:QuoteT - minus 14 days and counting! Satellites all mated and being fueled today. blog.iridium.com/2017/09/20/ful…
https://twitter.com/iridiumboss/status/910528864807473152
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#4 by Chris Bergin on 22 Sep, 2017 12:42
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Watching the launch date. L2 notes have Static Fire for September 30, but with caveat the launch may be moving to the right by several days (no firm date, not being vague). Iridium CEO Matt is usually pretty good at noting date changes, so keep an eye on his Twitter.
So nothing official, but keep an eye on it. -
#5 by Chris Bergin on 25 Sep, 2017 15:21
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Iridium or SpaceX need to post to confirm the change, but the L2 Range has this as NET October 9 now (as in documented, so it's October 9, but the rules are SpaceX or the Customer make it "official"). So I'll characterise this as "We expect SpaceX or Iridium to note IR-3 is now October 9".
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#6 by Chris Bergin on 25 Sep, 2017 23:54
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#7 by Req on 26 Sep, 2017 14:11
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https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/912680164827447296
@SpaceX
Iridium-3 launch slated for 10/9 from Vandenberg, AFB in California—setting up back-to-back launches in early October. -
#8 by FutureSpaceTourist on 26 Sep, 2017 14:15
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Here's the time:Quote
Iridium Corporate Verified account @IridiumComm 3m3 minutes ago
It's an early morning (5:37 am PDT) #ColumbusDay launch from the #NewWorld out of VAFB! #IridiumNEXT #Nina #Pinta #SantaMaria #Falcon9
https://twitter.com/IridiumComm/status/912680882657546241
So 12:37pm UTC -
#9 by FutureSpaceTourist on 26 Sep, 2017 14:58
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Quote
Matt Desch @IridiumBoss 3m3 minutes ago
Patience everything in spaceflight, but success better than fast! Our sats are ready and looking fwd to their (very) early morning flight!
https://twitter.com/IridiumBoss/status/912691749226729474 -
#10 by SmallKing on 27 Sep, 2017 13:57
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Quote
Matt Desch @IridiumBoss 22h22 hours ago
https://twitter.com/IridiumBoss/status/912703915384242176
Replying to @ASchweigler
SpaceX needed more time for second stage processing at VAFB. Ran out of schedule margin. No problems I'm aware of.
Matt Desch @IridiumBoss 22h22 hours ago
Replying to @CJDaniels77
Don't have specifics, but no big issues. SpaceX was running late on second stage processing at VAFB and needed more time. -
#11 by Chris Bergin on 04 Oct, 2017 02:15
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
From: 30th Space Wing Public Affairs, www.vandenberg.af.mil
Falcon 9 Scheduled for Launch
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Team Vandenberg is scheduled to launch
the third Iridium mission consisting of 10 satellites on a SpaceX Falcon 9
rocket from Space Launch Complex-4 here Monday, Oct. 9, at 5:37 a.m. PDT.
Col. Michael S. Hough, 30th Space Wing commander, is the space launch
commander.
"Our mission is to provide assured access to space and to do it safely and
securely. We can't accomplish this without great mission partners like
SpaceX," said Hough. "SpaceX's and 30 SW's ever present 'can-do-attitude'
and job pride will be on display for the Iridium-3 launch."
Due to the early morning launch time, the Hawk's Nest on Hwy 1 south of
Vandenberg Air Force Base's main gate will not be open.
- 30 - -
#12 by FutureSpaceTourist on 04 Oct, 2017 22:17
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Quote
Iridium Corporate Verified account @IridiumComm 22m22 minutes ago
Iridium-3 Update: #IridiumNEXT SVs are mated & stacked in prep for encapsulation! T-5 days to launch @SpaceX @30thSpaceWing #NationalTacoDay
https://twitter.com/IridiumComm/status/915696256693014528
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#13 by Chris Bergin on 05 Oct, 2017 10:19
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ARTICLE by Chris Gebhardt:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/10/spacex-falcon-9-iridium-3-static-fire-vandenberg-manifest-realigns/
Falcon 9 is on SLC-4E for early morning firing. Standing by for prop load. -
#14 by Chris Bergin on 05 Oct, 2017 12:51
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Window for the Falcon 9 (Iridium NEXT-3) Static Fire opens at the top of the hour.
10 mins from this post time stamp. -
#15 by tvg98 on 05 Oct, 2017 13:33
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Quote
Static fire test of Falcon 9 complete—targeting October 9 launch of Iridium-3 from Vandenberg AFB in California.
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/915932492460380160 -
#16 by Chris Bergin on 05 Oct, 2017 13:47
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https://twitter.com/IridiumBoss/status/915936031706370049Quote
Getting real! Weather currently looks good for Monday morning, and all else is on track. Busy @SpaceX weekend- rooting for SES-11 on Sat!
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#17 by catdlr on 06 Oct, 2017 04:04
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OrbitalATK and Iridium NEXT
Orbital ATK
Published on Oct 5, 2017
Under a contract from Thales Alenia Space, Orbital ATK is assembling and testing the 81 Iridium NEXT satellites at its Gilbert, Arizona satellite manufacturing facility. Orbital ATK engineers highlight the challenges and rewards of working on this exciting program.
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#18 by FutureSpaceTourist on 06 Oct, 2017 07:39
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Quote
With #Iridium-3 now 6 days away, we're excited to share the official launch patch! Check it out along w/ other gear bit.ly/2yFW0dM
https://twitter.com/iridiumcomm/status/915239432869089282
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#19 by Raul on 06 Oct, 2017 13:31
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SpaceX Mission 1339 Launch Hazard Areas visualization for Iridium-3 based on issued NOTMAR and NOTAM.
(It looks like someone drew that ugly NOTMAR area by hand at this time.
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Stage 2 debris area is included (identical with Iridium-1 mission).
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