SpaceX F9 : Starlink v1.0 L8 Rideshare : June 13, 2020

[Dave G]

Any news on fairing recovery?

[AndrewRG10]

Any news on fairing recovery?

If it takes longer than 90 minutes past T-0 for news, it means it failed

[FutureSpaceTourist]

So many amazing photos today

https://twitter.com/spacexfleet/status/1271768521039663105

Forward Unto Dawn! The #Falcon9 successfully brought 58 #Starlink and 3 @planetlabs sats to orbit early this morning and delivered yet another beautiful launch for #SpaceX!

[FutureSpaceTourist]

 

https://twitter.com/johnkrausphotos/status/1271767775644696576

Time lapse of this morning’s stunning pre-dawn Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral.

🎥: Me for @SuperclusterHQ

Edit to add: better resolution on YouTube

[FutureSpaceTourist]

Talking about Visorsat. Hasn't reached operational orbit yet.

Important to add that from the next Starlink launch, later this month, all Starlink satellites will have the deployable visor fitted.

The first test VisorSat is still to reach its operational orbit and so it’ll be a few weeks before it’s confirmed how effective the visor is at reducing reflectivity.

[Dave G]

The first test VisorSat is still to reach its operational orbit and so it’ll be a few weeks before it’s confirmed how effective the visor is at reducing reflectivity.

According to Musk, once a Starlink satellite has reached it's operational orbit, reflectivity is no longer an issue.
(starting at 4:10 in the video below).

In fact, he says he'd be surprised if someone could even tell where they all are.

This implies that that primary benefit of the new visor will be before the satellites reach their operational orbits.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/joeb_photos/status/1271772675053170689

I took a video of the whole launch, but here’s just 39 seconds of it where you can see the fairing half’s using their reaction control thrusters for reentry! #rocketlaunch #spacex #starlink

[HVM]

Usually I like Jeff Foust's reporting, but this tweet really needs some Honorary Captain Obvious Award, (ribbon or pin):
https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1271788411087720450

"Other NEWS: Local earthmoving firm digs a hole for their new rock crusher, no one pays them for this work..."

[HVM]

[king1999]

The first test VisorSat is still to reach its operational orbit and so it’ll be a few weeks before it’s confirmed how effective the visor is at reducing reflectivity.

According to Musk, once a Starlink satellite has reached it's operational orbit, reflectivity is no longer an issue.
(starting at 4:10 in the video below).

In fact, he says he'd be surprised if someone could even tell where they all are.

This implies that that primary benefit of the new visor will be before the satellites reach their operational orbits.

He only said that’s his “prediction”. SpaceX paper about how they mitigate the reflection detailed what they would be doing during and after the orbit raising if you are interested.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/spacexfleet/status/1271833773622116358

For people asking... SpaceX has not said anything about fairing recovery.

As of 30 minutes ago, Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief were still working within the fairing recovery zone.

[gongora]

The first test VisorSat is still to reach its operational orbit and so it’ll be a few weeks before it’s confirmed how effective the visor is at reducing reflectivity.

According to Musk, once a Starlink satellite has reached it's operational orbit, reflectivity is no longer an issue.
(starting at 4:10 in the video below).

In fact, he says he'd be surprised if someone could even tell where they all are.

This implies that that primary benefit of the new visor will be before the satellites reach their operational orbits.

The visors are for when the satellites reach their operational orbits.  During orbit raising they are trying to change the angle of the satellites in relation to the ground so less sunlight reflects off them.

[jcm]

The first test VisorSat is still to reach its operational orbit and so it’ll be a few weeks before it’s confirmed how effective the visor is at reducing reflectivity.

According to Musk, once a Starlink satellite has reached it's operational orbit, reflectivity is no longer an issue.
(starting at 4:10 in the video below).

In fact, he says he'd be surprised if someone could even tell where they all are.

This implies that that primary benefit of the new visor will be before the satellites reach their operational orbits.

Well, he is completely wrong, based on numerous observations by satellite observers. But the visor and the darksat coating will make that true for naked eye observers. It's still an issue for professional astronomy observations though, as extensively documented in papers by me and others.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/gregscott_photo/status/1271835509158002693

The awesome power of the 9 Merlin 1-D engines put on display this morning for the #SpaceX Falcon 9 #Starlink 9 launch... #NASA #Space

https://twitter.com/abernnyc/status/1271850069189226502

Edit to add:

https://twitter.com/johnkrausphotos/status/1271806437660991492

Thundering from Cape Canaveral at 5:21am this morning, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launches the ninth Starlink mission, including 58 Starlink satellites and three @planetlabs satellites.

This was the third flight for this particular Falcon booster.

📷: Me for @SuperclusterHQ

[Nomadd]

The first test VisorSat is still to reach its operational orbit and so it’ll be a few weeks before it’s confirmed how effective the visor is at reducing reflectivity.

According to Musk, once a Starlink satellite has reached it's operational orbit, reflectivity is no longer an issue.
(starting at 4:10 in the video below).

In fact, he says he'd be surprised if someone could even tell where they all are.

This implies that that primary benefit of the new visor will be before the satellites reach their operational orbits.

The visors are for when the satellites reach their operational orbits.  During orbit raising they are trying to change the angle of the satellites in relation to the ground so less sunlight reflects off them.

I thought the problem while raising the orbit was solar arrays, while the problem on orbit was mainly antennas, which will have the visors. Why would you expect the visors to be ineffective while raising the orbits? Musk's comment sounds more like it refers to the angle of the solar arrays to me. They can't just feather them to the sun the whole raise since that's when they'll need to most power.

[ChrisC]

Fairing separation. T+4 minutes.

So nobody else thought the booster return looked weird?  That cloud at the bottom during the entire descent was not normal, and I don't think it can be ascribed to lighting conditions and certainly not RCS firings.  I think something was outgassing all the way down, but clearly they had enough to stick the landing.

[Surfdaddy]

The return seemed normal to me.
In daylight returns we see smoke trailing from the booster all the way down until landing burn.
If earth is dark but booster is sunlit, it seems that the smoke would appear as it did in this mornings booster return video.

[Rocketdog2116]

Fairing separation. T+4 minutes.

So nobody else thought the booster return looked weird?  That cloud at the bottom during the entire descent was not normal, and I don't think it can be ascribed to lighting conditions and certainly not RCS firings.  I think something was outgassing all the way down, but clearly they had enough to stick the landing.

That's them chilling in the engines like they do before launch. It's either rp1 or lox venting through the turbopumps. If you look at other twilight launches like Iridium 4 or SAOCOM1A you'll see similar things even from the ground.

[ugordan]

Fairing separation. T+4 minutes.

So nobody else thought the booster return looked weird?  That cloud at the bottom during the entire descent was not normal, and I don't think it can be ascribed to lighting conditions and certainly not RCS firings.  I think something was outgassing all the way down, but clearly they had enough to stick the landing.

I was expecting this kind of comment and, frankly, it took long enough to appear. Every time the lighting condition is significantly different from the previous landings there are there comments. Go back many missions ago when we got to see the "sparks" from the 1st stage reentry, just because we never got to see them earlier doesn't meant they were off-nominal. What actual basis do you have in claiming this was NOT normal?

FWIW, I did initially think it looked weird, but after looking at the lighting conditions and automatic exposure settings on the camera and the lighting angle (small particles being strong in forward-scattered light), I think this is pretty much normal. It's the lighting situation that's the major change here, not the booster recovery. Dark surface background of a predawn ground, but strong off-camera illumination of a risen sun.

[wannamoonbase]

Fairing separation. T+4 minutes.

So nobody else thought the booster return looked weird?  That cloud at the bottom during the entire descent was not normal, and I don't think it can be ascribed to lighting conditions and certainly not RCS firings.  I think something was outgassing all the way down, but clearly they had enough to stick the landing.

That's them chilling in the engines like they do before launch. It's either rp1 or lox venting through the turbopumps. If you look at other twilight launches like Iridium 4 or SAOCOM1A you'll see similar things even from the ground.

During the early landing attempt/successes I recall Hans Koenigsmann mentioned that they learned that they need to flow a little bit through the engines during re-entry  to protect the engines.  I'd suspect that applies to all 9 not just the 3 used for landing.