SpaceX F9 : Transporter-3 Rideshare : CCSFS SLC-40 : 13 January 2022 (1525 UTC)

[Skyrocket]

Out of curiosity, which ones of the deployers detached from the third stage and which ones remained attached? I know that for sure the ION SCV one detached but I don't know about the others

ION SCV 004 was the only detached deployer on this mission.

[DigitalMan]

One difference is the apparent duration of staging.
T-2 shows 10 seconds
T-3 shows 15 seconds
The 5 second difference would represent a significant  amount of additional gravity loss, over 40 m/s
Is this just “false precision” beyond the resolution of the data?

Edit: swapped flight identifications

Although we are lucky enough to have separate telemetry for S1 and S2 now, the S2 data starts a few seconds after SESU, so I can't tell the duration between MECO and SESU from the telemetry alone, unless I start interpolating values, which I'm loath to do. You may find some long range tracking videos that give a better number.

10 seconds seems right to me, I was looking at it with small binoculars. The choreography at MECO is a little distracting for me to recall exactly how long it was after the fact.

[YoannMoguer]

Looks like these guys had a satellite on this launch:
CSUG (France)
A 3U cubesat called ThingSat

https://twitter.com/CSUG_Alpes

[Skyrocket]

Looks like these guys had a satellite on this launch:
CSUG (France)
A 3U cubesat called ThingSat

https://twitter.com/CSUG_Alpes

This is a hosted payload on one of the STORK satellites.

[YoannMoguer]

Looks like these guys had a satellite on this launch:
CSUG (France)
A 3U cubesat called ThingSat

https://twitter.com/CSUG_Alpes

This is a hosted payload on one of the STORK satellites.

Ok just saw this interview confirming your information: https://twitter.com/CSUG_Alpes/status/1481615316220366849

(BTW thank you for your astonishing work)

[Chinakpradhan]

gongora, I think Chinakpradhan is referring to everything you listed.

Yes because usually we use this site for payload mass
https://everydayastronaut.com/starlink-group-4-5-falcon-9-block-5-2/ and it says total mass as
~14,500 kg (~32,000 lb) (49 x ~295 kg, plus dispenser)

Moreover if we had a hosted payload like Mars outpost tech demo on f9 second stage then we had to use this convention (I need it for wikipedia)

[Chinakpradhan]

Discussion thread for SpaceX's December 2021 dedicated rideshare flight.

NSF Threads for SpaceX Transporter-3 : Discussion
Discussion thread for SpaceX Rideshare Program

Successful aunch January 13, 2022 at 10:25am EST (15:25 UTC) on Falcon 9 (booster 1058-10) to SSO from SLC-40. Successful RTLS landing at LZ-1.  Fairing is new. Fairing recovery is expected from the water.

SpaceX is targeting Thursday, January 13 for a Falcon 9 launch of Transporter-3 to orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The 29-minute launch window opens at 10:25 a.m. EST, or 15:25 UTC, and a backup opportunity is available on Friday, January 14 with the same window.

Falcon 9’s first stage booster previously launched Crew Demo-2, ANASIS-II, CRS-21, Transporter-1, and five Starlink missions. Following stage separation, SpaceX will land Falcon 9’s first stage on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Transporter-3 is SpaceX’s third dedicated rideshare mission, and on board this launch are 105 spacecraft (including CubeSats, microsats, PocketQubes, and orbital transfer vehicles).

Payloads:
SpaceX shows 105, but that does not seem to include the satellites riding aboard ION.  103 are currently listed to separate from the Falcon 9 second stage, plus the payloads on ION.  If four of the FOSSA sats are named twice in the SpaceX deployment timeline, that drops it to 99 plus the ION riders.

(port assignments are currently a guess for some of the payloads)

ISILaunch36 Port 1
   Sich-2-1 (170kg microsat, Ukraine)

Planet (ISIL Port 2)
   Planet SuperDoves Flock 4-X-1...-36 (36x 3U)

Planet (ISIL Port 3)
   Kepler 16-19 (4x 6U)
   Planet SuperDoves Flock 4-X-37/-44 (8x 3U)
   Tevel-1...-8 (8x 1U, Israel)
   LEMUR2 (2x 3U, Spire)
   LEMUR2-Djirang (6U, Spire)
   LEMUR2-Miriwari (6U, Spire)
   OroraSat (6U, Ororatech, built by Spire)
   IRIS-A (2U, National Cheng Kung University)
   MDASat-1A/-1C (3x 2U, South Africa)

D-Orbit ION SCV-004 Elysian Eleonora
   DODONA (3U, USC/Lockheed Martin)
   Stork-1, -2 (2x 3U, SatRev)
   LabSat (3U, SatRev)
   SW1FT (3U, SatRev)
   VZLUSAT-2 (3U 3.9kg, SpaceManic, Czech Republic) (from Spaceflight SXRS-6)
   (hosted) Hyperspectral payload, on-orbit computing

Exolaunch Port 1 (28 sats)
   Fossa PocketPOD deployers x2 (8 sats)
      Challenger (3P, quub & Intuidex)
      SanoSat-1 (1p, ORION Space, Nepal)
      FossaSat-2E5,-2E6 (2x 2p, Fossa Systems)
      FossaSat-2E1/WISeSAT-1 (2p, Fossa Systems)
      FossaSat-2E2/WISeSAT-2 (2p, Fossa Systems)
      FossaSat-2E3/Pilot-1 (2p, CShark, Fossa Systems)
      FossaSat-2E4/LAIKA (2p, Fossa Systems)
  Alba Orbital Clusters 3 & 4 (5 deployers, 13 sats)
      Unicorn-2E (3P, Alba Orbital)
      DelfiPQ (3P, TU Delft, Netherlands)
      Hades & EASat-2 (2x 1.5P)
      Unicorn-2D (3P, Alba Orbital)
      SATTLA-2A (2P, Ariel University, Israel)
      Grizu-263a (1p)
      Unicorn 1 (2P)
      Unicorn 2A (3P, Alba Orbital)
      MDQube-SAT1 (2P, Innova Space, Argentina)
      PION-BR1 (1P, PION Labs, Brazil)
      Unicorn 2TA1 (?P, Alba Orbital)
      SATTLA-2B (2P, Ariel University, Israel)
   ETV-A1 (16U, sen, built by NanoAvionics)
   ICEYE X-14? (microsat)
   HYPSO-1 (6U, NTNU, built by NanoAvionics)
   NuX-1 (3U, NuSpace, Singapore)
   DEWA-Sat1 (3U, UAE, built by NanoAvionics)
   BRO-5 (6U, Unseen Labs)
   Gossamer-Piccolomini (1U?, Lunasonde)
Exolaunch Port 2
   ICEYE X-16 (microsat)

Spaceflight SXRS-6 Port 1
   UMBRA-02 SAR microsat
Spaceflight SXRS-6 Port 2
   Capella 7 & 8 (2x 112kg)


Possible Payloads:
Guardian (6U, Aistech Space, mfr. OrbAstro)
TechEdSat-15
EnduroSat 6U CubeSat platform - Hypernova
Nanoracks??? (non-separating) Mars Outpost Tech Demo (111kg)
Satellogic
Carnegie Mellon (1P)
TRSI-2 (1P)
Adler-1 (3U, Spire bus)
GHOSt (x2?) (microsat, Orbital Sidekick)
SEOPS Equalizer
Momentus Vigoride - SSPD-1, Pixxel
Skycraft Majura microsat
   Sherpa LTC1 (total mass 365kg, customer deployable mass 95kg, 10 sats)
      Hawk 5A, 5B, 5C (3x 29kg microsat, Hawkeye 360, USA, propulsion)
      Lynk-05 (Tower 1) (55.6kg microsat)
      VZLUSAT-2 (3U 3.9kg, SpaceManic, Czech Republic) (moved to D-Orbit)
      KSF2a-2d (4x 6U 6.8kg, Kleos Space, UK, propulsion)
      LLITED (2x 1.5U 5.0kg total, NASA)
      MA61C/SPiN1 (1U, SPiN, Germany)
      OreSat0 (1U, Portland State University) (3.3kg for SPiN1 & OreSat0)
   Sherpa-FX3 (8 sats)
      Hawk 4A, 4B, 4C (3x microsat, Hawkeye 360)
      NearSpace Launch WVSAT mission (2x ThinSat, 2x 1U)
      (hosted payload) TROOP-3 (TAGSAT-3)


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

Is (hosted) Hyperspectral payload, on-orbit computing, ThingSat??

Looks like these guys had a satellite on this launch:
CSUG (France)
A 3U cubesat called ThingSat

https://twitter.com/CSUG_Alpes

This is a hosted payload on one of the STORK satellites.

Ok just saw this interview confirming your information: https://twitter.com/CSUG_Alpes/status/1481615316220366849

(BTW thank you for your astonishing work)

[YoannMoguer]

Hello,

Does anyone have any hypothesis on why there was no Starlink satellites on this launch?

According to my calculations, there is no more than 2-2.5t of payload on Transporter-3 (counting the separation mechanisms, ESPA rings etc), and the F9 RTLS capacity is more than 8t.

Plus we see that some ESPA rings had empty ports, so it looks like SpaceX did launch when ready, despite some payloads not being ready for this one (Sherpa LTC).

Concerning the Starlink satellites, my hypothesis is that they simply don't need to send additional Starlink v1.5 satellites in SSO, but who knows

[Chinakpradhan]

Hello,

Does anyone have any hypothesis on why there was no Starlink satellites on this launch?

According to my calculations, there is no more than 2-2.5t of payload on Transporter-3 (counting the separation mechanisms, ESPA rings etc), and the F9 RTLS capacity is more than 8t.

Plus we see that some ESPA rings had empty ports, so it looks like SpaceX did launch when ready, despite some payloads not being ready for this one (Sherpa LTC).

Concerning the Starlink satellites, my hypothesis is that they simply don't need to send additional Starlink v1.5 satellites in SSO, but who knows

As for the starlinks it was clear that no actual sats were on Transporter-1 and 2 they were test sats for testing new ideas similar to what happens stp missions. There purpose is over all tests over so no need of sats there now. And 97.5 has low starlink customer so no need currently there are 7 sats in that location. Whenever needed just launch a vandenburg 97.5° dedicated starlink lauch problem over.

[Rondaz]

Transporter-3 was a stunning launch to witness.

https://twitter.com/JennyHPhoto/status/1481793991125393409

[Chinakpradhan]

Hello,

Does anyone have any hypothesis on why there was no Starlink satellites on this launch?

According to my calculations, there is no more than 2-2.5t of payload on Transporter-3 (counting the separation mechanisms, ESPA rings etc), and the F9 RTLS capacity is more than 8t.

Plus we see that some ESPA rings had empty ports, so it looks like SpaceX did launch when ready, despite some payloads not being ready for this one (Sherpa LTC).

Concerning the Starlink satellites, my hypothesis is that they simply don't need to send additional Starlink v1.5 satellites in SSO, but who knows

Low sats mass due to non availability of users at to occupy those ports.
As for the starlinks it was clear that no actual sats were on Transporter-1 and 2 they were test sats for testing new ideas similar to what happens stp missions. There purpose is over all tests over so no need of sats there now. And 97.5 has low starlink customer so no need currently there are 7 sats in that location. Whenever needed just launch a vandenburg 97.5° dedicated starlink lauch problem over.

By the way what's your source or calculation of this launch having payload mass only 2-2.5t (Wikipedia needs reliability of source)

[YoannMoguer]

Hello,

Does anyone have any hypothesis on why there was no Starlink satellites on this launch?

According to my calculations, there is no more than 2-2.5t of payload on Transporter-3 (counting the separation mechanisms, ESPA rings etc), and the F9 RTLS capacity is more than 8t.

Plus we see that some ESPA rings had empty ports, so it looks like SpaceX did launch when ready, despite some payloads not being ready for this one (Sherpa LTC).

Concerning the Starlink satellites, my hypothesis is that they simply don't need to send additional Starlink v1.5 satellites in SSO, but who knows

Low sats mass due to non availability of users at to occupy those ports.
As for the starlinks it was clear that no actual sats were on Transporter-1 and 2 they were test sats for testing new ideas similar to what happens stp missions. There purpose is over all tests over so no need of sats there now. And 97.5 has low starlink customer so no need currently there are 7 sats in that location. Whenever needed just launch a vandenburg 97.5° dedicated starlink lauch problem over.

By the way what's your source or calculation of this launch having payload mass only 2-2.5t (Wikipedia needs reliability of source)

I simply listed everything that was on this launch (satellites, ESPA rings, separation mechanisms, ...) and made some hypothesis where the information was not available (number of separation mechanisms used by Exolaunch for instance was not given, as opposed to ISISpace)

[ZachF]

Hello,

Does anyone have any hypothesis on why there was no Starlink satellites on this launch?

According to my calculations, there is no more than 2-2.5t of payload on Transporter-3 (counting the separation mechanisms, ESPA rings etc), and the F9 RTLS capacity is more than 8t.

Plus we see that some ESPA rings had empty ports, so it looks like SpaceX did launch when ready, despite some payloads not being ready for this one (Sherpa LTC).

Concerning the Starlink satellites, my hypothesis is that they simply don't need to send additional Starlink v1.5 satellites in SSO, but who knows

Low sats mass due to non availability of users at to occupy those ports.
As for the starlinks it was clear that no actual sats were on Transporter-1 and 2 they were test sats for testing new ideas similar to what happens stp missions. There purpose is over all tests over so no need of sats there now. And 97.5 has low starlink customer so no need currently there are 7 sats in that location. Whenever needed just launch a vandenburg 97.5° dedicated starlink lauch problem over.

By the way what's your source or calculation of this launch having payload mass only 2-2.5t (Wikipedia needs reliability of source)

Looking at the mass of previous rideshare launches, 2-2.5t sounds about right.

[Rondaz]

Bob is sailing back towards Port Canaveral with the recovered fairing from Transporter-3.

Should arrive after 10:30pm ET tonight.

https://twitter.com/SpaceOffshore/status/1482033086200270856

[Chinakpradhan]

Is (hosted) Hyperspectral payload, on-orbit computing, ThingSat??

Looks like these guys had a satellite on this launch:
CSUG (France)
A 3U cubesat called ThingSat

https://twitter.com/CSUG_Alpes

This is a hosted payload on one of the STORK satellites.

Ok just saw this interview confirming your information: https://twitter.com/CSUG_Alpes/status/1481615316220366849

(BTW thank you for your astonishing work)

Any answer??

[gongora]

Any answer??

Gunter said that Thingsat was on one of the Stork satellites.  I don't understand what else you're asking?

[mandrewa]

Hello,

Does anyone have any hypothesis on why there was no Starlink satellites on this launch?

According to my calculations, there is no more than 2-2.5t of payload on Transporter-3 (counting the separation mechanisms, ESPA rings etc), and the F9 RTLS capacity is more than 8t.

Plus we see that some ESPA rings had empty ports, so it looks like SpaceX did launch when ready, despite some payloads not being ready for this one (Sherpa LTC).

Concerning the Starlink satellites, my hypothesis is that they simply don't need to send additional Starlink v1.5 satellites in SSO, but who knows

SpaceX has told us they are trying to do five launches from the Eastern Range this month.  These are:

Starlink Group 4-5
SpaceX Transporter-3
Starlink Group 4-6
CSG-2
Starlink Group 4-7

I suspect the reason that they did not take the opportunity to use the Transporter-3 to put more Starlink ver. 1.5 satellites in the polar orbit was the fact that they only have two drone ships on the Eastern Range and it takes time to go back and forth on the barges.

[Jrcraft]

Some more info on Unicorn-2TA1, it's a 1p

https://www.ece.cmu.edu/news-and-events/story/2022/01/satellite-lauch.html

[Chinakpradhan]

Any answer??

Gunter said that Thingsat was on one of the Stork satellites.  I don't understand what else you're asking?

This page tells a payload on ion scv 4 to be hyperspectral payload. I need to to confirm that is it thingsat Or is thingsat different and hyperspectral payload different

[gongora]

Any answer??

Gunter said that Thingsat was on one of the Stork satellites.  I don't understand what else you're asking?

This page tells a payload on ion scv 4 to be hyperspectral payload. I need to to confirm that is it thingsat Or is thingsat different and hyperspectral payload different

They have nothing to do with each other