SpaceX F9 : Galaxy 31/Galaxy 32 : CCSFS SLC-40 : Nov. 12, 2022 (16:06 UTC)

[Josh_from_Canada]

Likely using this licence

1595-EX-ST-2022
SpaceX Mission 1587 from LC-40 at CCAFS or LC-39A at KSC
NET Oct 30
Launching east on Falcon 9, ASDS North  28  0  5   West  72  0  46

[gongora]

https://blog.maxar.com/space-infrastructure/2022/maxar-delivers-intelsats-galaxy-31-and-galaxy-32-to-launch-base

[realnouns]

Likely using this licence

1595-EX-ST-2022
SpaceX Mission 1587 from LC-40 at CCAFS or LC-39A at KSC
NET Oct 30
Launching east on Falcon 9, ASDS North  28  0  5   West  72  0  46

That license isn't expendable though....

[zubenelgenubi]

Cross-post; my bold:

https://www.launchphotography.com/Launch_Viewing_Guide.html [October 18 update]

FALCON 9

The next SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch more Starlink satellites from pad 40 on October 20 at 10:50 a.m. EDT or later. A Falcon Heavy will launch USSF-44 for the U.S. Space Force from pad 39A on late October, in the late morning EDT. The side boosters will land back at the Cape about eight minutes after launch. A Falcon 9 will launch the Hotbird 13G communications satellite for Eutelsat from pad 40 on November TBD. A Falcon 9 will launch the Intelsat Galaxy 31 & 32 communication satellites from pad 40 on November TBD. A Falcon 9 from pad 40 will launch the HAKUTO-R lunar lander for iSpace on November TBD. The first stage will land back at the Cape about eight minutes after launch. And a Falcon 9 from pad 39A will launch the Dragon CRS-26 resupply mission to the ISS on November 18 around 4 or 5 p.m. EST.

[realnouns]

Likely using this licence

1595-EX-ST-2022
SpaceX Mission 1587 from LC-40 at CCAFS or LC-39A at KSC
NET Oct 30
Launching east on Falcon 9, ASDS North  28  0  5   West  72  0  46

That license isn't expendable though....

Is it possible that this Intelsat G31/32 mission is no longer expendable?  The Maxar article from 10/17 states launch in early Nov launch.  The only expendable FCC application is NET Nov 15, hardly "early" November.

[crandles57]

Is it possible that this Intelsat G31/32 mission is no longer expendable?  The Maxar article from 10/17 states launch in early Nov launch.  The only expendable FCC application is NET Nov 15, hardly "early" November.

17 Oct article is recent, but is its *early* November correct? If they have only just been delivered on 17 Oct, it seems unlikely they would be flying that soon. Also, since 16th Oct I think, Ben Cooper has had Hotbird 13G flight before this one and that is NET 7 Nov per STA letter. This flight seems highly likely to be from pad 40 and a couple of sources agree, so seems likely to be at least 6 days minimum pad turnaround  time after Nov 7. On or after Nov 15 seems likely from both delivery date and from pad considerations. 

If Intelsat has paid for the extra performance of expendable, would they give that up? They might for a discount if the mass was for some reason lower than expected but mass seems more likely to be unexpectedly higher? especially if it is a late change?

If SpaceX haven't yet got two expendable licences, this suggest they knew of Eutelsat 10B delays so haven't yet got STA. If they knew of that delay then SpaceX is also likely to have known of likely delivery date for Galaxy 31 and 32 and hence they didn't need to ask for STA to start before 15th.
 
For all these reasons I am inclined to think that it seems to be getting more likely the expendable STA starting 15 Nov (link below) is more likely for this launch rather than for Eutelsat 10B which isn't yet on Ben Cooper's upcoming launches list.
(i.e. I'm just trying to reason it out - no actual knowledge)

https://apps.fcc.gov/oetcf/els/reports/STA_Print.cfm?mode=current&application_seq=118951&RequestTimeout=1000

I think the closeness of the 15 Nov date to the 11 Nov date on the application listing below and the expected schedule at the time made us wrongly jump to the conclusion that it was for Eutelsat 10B.
 
https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/ib/forms/reports/swr031b.hts?q_set=V_SITE_ANTENNA_FREQ.file_numberC/File+Number/%3D/SESSTA2022083000931&prepare=&column=V_SITE_ANTENNA_FREQ.file_numberC/File+Number

[GWR64]

Intelsat License LLC (“Intelsat”) herein requests 30 days of Special Temporary Authority (“STA”), commencing November 3, 2022, to use its Castle Rock, Colorado C-band earth station, Call Sign E040174, to provide launch and early orbit phase (“LEOP”), in-orbit testing (“IOT”), and telemetry, tracking, and command (“TT&C”) services to the Galaxy 31 (S3076), Galaxy 32 (S3078), Galaxy 33 (S3015), Galaxy 34 (S3083), Galaxy 35 (S3143), and Galaxy 36 (S3148) satellites (“Galaxy Replacement Fleet”). Galaxy 31 and Galaxy 32 are scheduled to launch no earlier than November 3, 2022, Galaxy 33 and Galaxy 34 were launched together on October 8, 2022, and Galaxy 35 and Galaxy 36 are expected to launch together on December 14, 2022. Intelsat expects the LEOP, IOT, and drift periods of each satellite to their final locations to last at approximately 90-100 days.

(attachment 1)
There are 2 such filings.

There are also one filing for G31 and one for G32 for in orbit tests. November 3rd is also mentioned there as launch date. (G31 attachment 2)

[crandles57]

So should we be expecting Galaxy 31 32 on Nov 3 and not Hotbird 13G (which has a 180 day STA starting 7 Nov)?

despite Launch Photography and NextSpaceflight both suggesting Nov 3 for Hotbird 13G and Galaxy 31 32 later

[GWR64]

So should we be expecting Galaxy 31 32 on Nov 3 and not Hotbird 13G (which has a 180 day STA starting 7 Nov)?

despite Launch Photography and NextSpaceflight both suggesting Nov 3 for Hotbird 13G and Galaxy 31 32 later

As of yesterday, the old STA filings for G31+32 for launch on November 5th have the status: "Action Complete".
There are new ones (already last week) for launch (NET) November 3rd.
No news from Hotbird 13G found.

[lenny97]

Ben Cooper, today's update:

A Falcon 9 will launch the Intelsat Galaxy 31 & 32 communication satellites from pad 40 on November 8.

[realnouns]

If true, does that mean this mission is no longer expendable?

Only current expendable FCC license is NET Nov 15

So this is what an expendable F9 FCC permit looks like now (it's been so long).  One of several expendable launches coming up.

1708-EX-ST-2022   

SpaceX Mission 1802 from LC-40 at CCAFS or LC-39A at KSC, and the experimental recovery operation following the Falcon 9 launch...
The first stage booster is expendable...
North  27  54  50   West  71  48  9 Boat

NET mid-November

Instead will use either of the following, with Hotbird 13G using the other

1679-EX-ST-2022
SpaceX Mission 1631 from LC-40 at CCAFS or LC-39A at KSC
Launching east
ASDS North  28  26  10   West  73  41  32
NET end of October

1595-EX-ST-2022
SpaceX Mission 1587 from LC-40 at CCAFS or LC-39A at KSC
NET Oct 30
Launching east on Falcon 9, ASDS North  28  0  5   West  72  0  46

[gongora]

I don't know if it's still expendable, but I really don't see a barrier to using a permit that shows an ASDS and then switching to expendable.  The rest of the transmissions are the same.  Whether or not the booster ends up in the ocean isn't the FCC's problem.

[Alexphysics]

Yes there's no issue at all on that. When they were on their expendable run back in the late 2017-early to mid 2018 era, SpaceX almost always put coordinates for an ASDS despite there not being any landing attempt in the cards since they were "old" Block 3 and Block 4 boosters being expended.

[realnouns]

I'd expect out of the two possible FCC apps 1595 would be assigned to Galaxy 31/32, since the ASDS landing is 800+km downrange

Converting the ASDS coordinates to decimal degrees is 28.001389 -72.012778.

The distance between that point and either LC-39A or SLC-40 is between 842 and 845 kilometers.

That makes me wonder if they want to push the envelope for launching a heavier GTO satellite while maintaining a low post-MECO fuel reserve for the entry and landing burns. Maybe ignite all three engines at once without the center one being lit first.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/intelsat/status/1586064265244467203

Galaxy 31 and 32 have arrived in Florida! 🛰️

This launch continues Intelsat’s Galaxy fleet refresh plan. G-31 and G-32 are third and fourth in a total of seven new Galaxy satellites launching in the next six months. This launch follows G-33 and G-34 launched last month.

[ZachS09]

I'd expect out of the two possible FCC apps 1595 would be assigned to Galaxy 31/32, since the ASDS landing is 800+km downrange

Converting the ASDS coordinates to decimal degrees is 28.001389 -72.012778.

The distance between that point and either LC-39A or SLC-40 is between 842 and 845 kilometers.

That makes me wonder if they want to push the envelope for launching a heavier GTO satellite while maintaining a low post-MECO fuel reserve for the entry and landing burns. Maybe ignite all three engines at once without the center one being lit first.

If (and only if) it’s confirmed that Galaxy 31/Galaxy 32 will try the 840+km ASDS landing, this would be one of those launches I’m tuning into.

After all, it’s a booster flying for the 14th time. I’d rather see it take a Heroic Sacrifice toward the faraway drone ship rather than simply use up all its fuel and fall normally into the ocean.

[zubenelgenubi]

Very approximate launch time:
Ben Cooper's Launch Photography Viewing Guide, updated November 1:

A Falcon 9 will launch the Intelsat Galaxy 31 & 32 communication satellites from pad 40 on November 8, in the late morning EST.

[ZachS09]

https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/

Launch window on November 8, 2022 is 16:06 to 18:06 UTC (11:06 AM to 1:06 PM EST).

[zubenelgenubi]

Approximate launch time, somewhat at variance with SFN:
Ben Cooper's Launch Photography Viewing Guide, updated November 2:

A Falcon 9 will launch the Intelsat Galaxy 31 & 32 communication satellites from pad 40 on November 8, around 11:30 a.m. EST. The launch window stretches around two hours.

[GewoonLukas_]

Launch hazard area's have been published. B1051 will impact the ocean approximately 863km downrange.

Launch Hazard Areas for #Intelsat G31/32 mission from CCSFS SLC-40, valid for NET 08 Nov 16:06 UTC, altern.09 to 14 Nov based on issued NOTMAR. Expendable B1051.14 water landing 863km downrange. Estimated fairing recovery position approx. 958km downrange.

https://twitter.com/Raul74Cz/status/1588148662328254467