Of Course I Still Love You droneship departed the Port of Long Beach early this morning to support the upcoming Iridium-9/OneWeb mission - NET May 19th.
West Coast SpaceX support ship GO Beyond departed from Long Beach earlier to support the upcoming Iridium-9/OneWeb mission
SpaceX is targeting Friday, May 19 at 6:19 a.m. PT (13:19 UTC) for launch of the Iridium OneWeb mission to a low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. A backup launch opportunity is available on Saturday, May 20 at 6:15 a.m. PT (13:15 UTC).The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, DART, Transporter-7, and seven Starlink missions. After stage separation, the first stage will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.A live webcast of this mission will begin about 15 minutes prior to liftoff.
Falcon 9 doubleheader coming up for SpaceX!https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2023/05/starlink-iridium-oneweb/ - by Justin Davenport (@Bubbinski)Starlink Group 6-3, is scheduled to fly on Friday, May 19 at 12:41 AM EDT (04:41 UTC) from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral. An on-time launch would be just under five days after the last flight from the same pad, a new record.Eight hours later, another Falcon 9 is set to launch from SLC-4E at Vandenberg, carrying five Iridium NEXT and 16 OneWeb satellites on board.
QuoteFalcon 9 doubleheader coming up for SpaceX!https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2023/05/starlink-iridium-oneweb/ - by Justin Davenport (@Bubbinski)Starlink Group 6-3, is scheduled to fly on Friday, May 19 at 12:41 AM EDT (04:41 UTC) from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral. An on-time launch would be just under five days after the last flight from the same pad, a new record.Eight hours later, another Falcon 9 is set to launch from SLC-4E at Vandenberg, carrying five Iridium NEXT and 16 OneWeb satellites on board.
The Iridium/OneWeb launch will be the second flight for the new, shortened second-stage engine nozzle. The shorter nozzle, designed to reduce costs and increase launch cadence, made its debut on the Transporter-7 launch in April. The shortened nozzle slightly reduces performance, so it will only be used on missions that do not need Falcon 9’s full performance capability.
Quote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 05/18/2023 08:28 pmQuoteFalcon 9 doubleheader coming up for SpaceX!https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2023/05/starlink-iridium-oneweb/ - by Justin Davenport (@Bubbinski)Starlink Group 6-3, is scheduled to fly on Friday, May 19 at 12:41 AM EDT (04:41 UTC) from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral. An on-time launch would be just under five days after the last flight from the same pad, a new record.Eight hours later, another Falcon 9 is set to launch from SLC-4E at Vandenberg, carrying five Iridium NEXT and 16 OneWeb satellites on board.Short nozzle will fly again on this mission:QuoteThe Iridium/OneWeb launch will be the second flight for the new, shortened second-stage engine nozzle. The shorter nozzle, designed to reduce costs and increase launch cadence, made its debut on the Transporter-7 launch in April. The shortened nozzle slightly reduces performance, so it will only be used on missions that do not need Falcon 9’s full performance capability.
Quote from: GewoonLukas_ on 05/18/2023 08:31 pmQuote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 05/18/2023 08:28 pmQuoteFalcon 9 doubleheader coming up for SpaceX!https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2023/05/starlink-iridium-oneweb/ - by Justin Davenport (@Bubbinski)Starlink Group 6-3, is scheduled to fly on Friday, May 19 at 12:41 AM EDT (04:41 UTC) from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral. An on-time launch would be just under five days after the last flight from the same pad, a new record.Eight hours later, another Falcon 9 is set to launch from SLC-4E at Vandenberg, carrying five Iridium NEXT and 16 OneWeb satellites on board.Short nozzle will fly again on this mission:QuoteThe Iridium/OneWeb launch will be the second flight for the new, shortened second-stage engine nozzle. The shorter nozzle, designed to reduce costs and increase launch cadence, made its debut on the Transporter-7 launch in April. The shortened nozzle slightly reduces performance, so it will only be used on missions that do not need Falcon 9’s full performance capability.When specifying the payload, the dispenser mass is missing. Assuming it weighs max. 1000 kg, I get 7660 kg.But even then it should be possible to return to the launch site. Interesting, the saving on the upper stage nozzle appears to be more significant for SpaceX, than the saving from not using the ASDS.
Quote from: GWR64 on 05/18/2023 09:00 pmQuote from: GewoonLukas_ on 05/18/2023 08:31 pmQuote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 05/18/2023 08:28 pmQuoteFalcon 9 doubleheader coming up for SpaceX!https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2023/05/starlink-iridium-oneweb/ - by Justin Davenport (@Bubbinski)Starlink Group 6-3, is scheduled to fly on Friday, May 19 at 12:41 AM EDT (04:41 UTC) from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral. An on-time launch would be just under five days after the last flight from the same pad, a new record.Eight hours later, another Falcon 9 is set to launch from SLC-4E at Vandenberg, carrying five Iridium NEXT and 16 OneWeb satellites on board.Short nozzle will fly again on this mission:QuoteThe Iridium/OneWeb launch will be the second flight for the new, shortened second-stage engine nozzle. The shorter nozzle, designed to reduce costs and increase launch cadence, made its debut on the Transporter-7 launch in April. The shortened nozzle slightly reduces performance, so it will only be used on missions that do not need Falcon 9’s full performance capability.When specifying the payload, the dispenser mass is missing. Assuming it weighs max. 1000 kg, I get 7660 kg.But even then it should be possible to return to the launch site. Interesting, the saving on the upper stage nozzle appears to be more significant for SpaceX, than the saving from not using the ASDS.I don't really understand how a smaller nozzle saves so much money that the whole thing is even worth the hassle of developing and testing it. Can someone enlighten me please?
Yes hello I’d like a double order of Falcons, Crew Dragon and Starlink, with a double side of H A Z E pleaseSLC-40: Starlink Group 6-3 - tonight at 12:41am EDTLC-39A: Axiom-2 - Sunday at 5:37pm EDT📸 - @NASASpaceflight
The rocket that launches the spares will dispense the satellites at 615 km. Iridium will then move the satellites to 625 km to perform on-orbit checkout. Once checkout is completed, Iridium will drift four satellites down plane at 625 km, stopping two satellites under plane 4, one satellite under plane 3, and one satellite under plane 2. The fifth satellite is going up a plane, with an expected final altitude of 760 km.
182359Z MAY 23HYDROPAC 1660/23(61).SOUTHWESTERN INDIAN OCEAN.DNC 02.1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS, SPACE DEBRIS 1456Z TO 1606Z DAILY 19 THRU 25 MAY IN AREA BOUND BY 39-43.00S 025-24.00E, 39-38.00S 022-50.00E, 57-07.00S 021-04.00E, 57-13.00S 024-42.00E.2. CANCEL THIS MSG 251706Z MAY 23.
Maybe it's not about the money, but about the availability the alloy for the nozzle.discussion there https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=41014.msg2475818#msg2475818The world Hafnium market is tiny and cannot easily be expanded because it is tied to the Zirconium market.
Quote from: GWR64 on 05/18/2023 09:29 pmMaybe it's not about the money, but about the availability the alloy for the nozzle.discussion there https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=41014.msg2475818#msg2475818The world Hafnium market is tiny and cannot easily be expanded because it is tied to the Zirconium market. Isn’t the nozzle material niobium?
Rockets enshrouded in fog on non-launch days are pretty rad. Hoping for a lovely sunrise liftoff of Iridium OneWeb tomorrow morning, May 19, 6:19 a.m. #Vandenfog 📷 for @SuperclusterHQ
Meet JoeySat; OneWeb’s demonstration satellite that is heading into space today as part of #OneWebLaunch19 with @SpaceX 🦘We're now just 3 hours from launch!
Upcoming launch of #IridiumNEXT9/#OneWeb19 mission via #SpaceX's #Falcon9 vehicle#Space #Iridium #OneWeb
