SpaceX F9 : Starlink v1.0 L26 : KSC LC-39A : 15 May 2021 (2256 UTC)

[Jansen]

Good orbit, coverage resumes in 45 mins

[Zardar]

Just spotted passing over Limerick, Ireland. Shining bright and steady through patchy thin cloud.

[thirtyone]

I noticed the last few F9 landings have had pretty good coverage during landing. I know many reentering vehicles have to contend with reentry plasma blocking out communications, and that often there's some hole off the rear of the reentry plasma where RF can sneak out. Is it possible that they're using Starlink (which is likely to have pretty good coverage looking from the top of the vehicle during reentry) to provide full telemetry and video through the whole launch/landing sequence? Or maybe they've even mentioned it on one of these broadcasts?

I know shuttle used TDRSS, guessing it would not be easy to get enough bandwidth from the government for a non-critical commercial launch and maybe with Starlink it'd be a much more obvious thing to do.

[Jansen]

I noticed the last few F9 landings have had pretty good coverage during landing. I know many reentering vehicles have to contend with reentry plasma blocking out communications, and that often there's some hole off the rear of the reentry plasma where RF can sneak out.

By the time you’re into the landing burn, any RF interference from plasma should be negligible.

Prob just upgraded comms gear for more bandwidth.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/kate_tice/status/1393707702786740226

Probably our most picturesque landing to date. Holy moly 🤩

Edit to add:

twitter.com/djsnm/status/1393705677680373761

I fixed the camera angle.

https://twitter.com/kate_tice/status/1393708725060337670

Whoa, this orientation made my stomach flip 😆

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/spacecoast_stve/status/1393709531243421700

Falcon 9 clears the tower for the 8th time with today’s Starlink mission, which is also carrying 2 rideshare payloads (Capella Whitney 4 and Tyvak-0130). This is the 3rd Falcon 9 to fly in just 11 days! It’s busy out here, y’all!

Mission overview: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2021/05/spacex-starlink-rideshare-milestone-nears/

[Jansen]

4 second burn, good orbit

[thirtyone]

I noticed the last few F9 landings have had pretty good coverage during landing. I know many reentering vehicles have to contend with reentry plasma blocking out communications, and that often there's some hole off the rear of the reentry plasma where RF can sneak out.

By the time you’re into the landing burn, any RF interference from plasma should be negligible.

Prob just upgraded comms gear for more bandwidth.

Whatever it was, awesome. Is it me or was this the most complete landing video to date? Just have to figure out how to get the droneship side video a little more real-time...

I took a quick look at the FCC filings and unless I'm mistaken they don't have any approvals to operate a Starlink antenna on the booster anyway. I don't know enough about the FCC rules to know if they need one for this though.

[jcm]

Capella off first, in contrast to the prelaunch press info

[Jansen]

Capella-6 deployment confirmed, not visible on video

[Jansen]

Tyvek-0130  confirmed deployment but not visible on video

[Jansen]

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1393717504346714120

Deployment of Tyvak-0130 and a Capella Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite confirmed

[Jansen]

[Just have to figure out how to get the droneship side video a little more real-time...

Vibration induced LOS is a pain

[Elthiryel]

https://twitter.com/capellaspace/status/1393717613696520192

Thank you @SpaceX for another smooth ride to Low Earth Orbit. Another Capella #SAR satellite has been deployed and our satellite operations team is working hard to establish contact and initiate calibration. Stay tuned for more updates.

[Jansen]

Capella off first, in contrast to the prelaunch press info

It could also be that the production team got it reversed. Don’t think the payload names were called out on the mission control feed.

[Jansen]

Original ITU filing for Tyvak-0130 had 37deg 500km

Capella  6  will  be  launched  in  May  2021,  on  a  53deg  orbit  at  an altitude between 550km and 600km.

It seems logical that Tyvak-0130 would deploy first into a lower orbit, but I’m not an expert on orbital mechanics.

[ugordan]

Original ITU filing for Tyvak-0130 had 37deg 500km

Capella  6  will  be  launched  in  May  2021,  on  a  53deg  orbit  at  an altitude between 550km and 600km.

It seems logical that Tyvak-0130 would deploy first into a lower orbit, but I’m not an expert on orbital mechanics.

They end up in the same orbit regardless since there are no propulsive maneuvers by the 2nd stage between deployments.

[Jansen]

Original ITU filing for Tyvak-0130 had 37deg 500km

Capella  6  will  be  launched  in  May  2021,  on  a  53deg  orbit  at  an altitude between 550km and 600km.

It seems logical that Tyvak-0130 would deploy first into a lower orbit, but I’m not an expert on orbital mechanics.

They end up in the same orbit regardless since there are no propulsive maneuvers by the 2nd stage between deployments.

The orbit is 581.1 by 569.2 km, not quite circular.

[Jansen]

Starlink deployment confirmed

Kate Tice wants you to have a good evening

[Jansen]

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1393726807547944961