SES-11 (EchoStar 105) - Falcon 9 - Kennedy LC-39A - 11.10.2017 22:53 UTC

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Цитировать10/02/2017 18:04
SpaceX's next Falcon 9 rocket flight is set to move a step closer to liftoff Monday with a hold-down engine firing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The two-stage rocket, featuring a previously-flown first stage booster, is set for a static fire test during a window opening at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT).
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SpaceX's launch team plans to load super-chilled RP-1 kerosene and liquid oxygen propellant into the Falcon 9 launcher in the final hour of today's mock countdown. The Falcon 9's tanks will be pressurized just before ignition of the rocket's nine Merlin 1D first stage main engines.

The engines will fire for several seconds while hold-down restraints keep the Falcon 9 rocket firmly grounded at pad 39A.

SpaceX uses the customary prelaunch test-firings to check out the readiness of the Falcon 9 rocket, ground systems and launch team. Once the static fire is completed, ground crews will return the Falcon 9 rocket to its nearby assembly hangar at the southern perimeter of pad 39A for attachment of its satellite payload.
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Цитировать10/02/2017 19:02

The Falcon 9 rocket is standing vertical at pad 39A ahead of a planned static fire test this afternoon.

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Цитировать10/02/2017 23:10

The first signs of venting from the Falcon 9 rocket have appeared, suggesting the static fire test is expected shortly.

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Цитировать10/02/2017 23:31

The Falcon 9 rocket's engines appeared to ignite at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT) for SpaceX's customary pre-launch static fire test. We'll now await confirmation from SpaceX of a good test.

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Цитировать10/02/2017 23:39

Here's a view of the exhaust plume from pad 39A at the moment of today's static fire test.

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Цитировать SpaceX‏Подлинная учетная запись @SpaceX 43 мин. назад

Static fire test of Falcon 9 complete—targeting October 7 launch of EchoStar 105/SES-11 from Pad 39A in Florida.

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Цитировать10/03/2017 00:28

SpaceX test-fired a reused Falcon 9 booster Monday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, checking the rocket's readiness for a planned liftoff Saturday with an Airbus-built commercial communications satellite.

The two-stage rocket, featuring a previously-flown first stage booster, fired its nine Merlin 1D main engines for several seconds at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT). The engines throttled up to full power, generating around 1.7 million pounds of thrust, while the rocket remained firmly on the ground.
Спойлер
SpaceX's launch team loaded super-chilled RP-1 kerosene and liquid oxygen propellant into the Falcon 9 launcher in the final hour of the mock countdown. The Falcon 9's tanks were pressurized just before ignition of the rocket's nine Merlin 1D first stage main engines.

The engines fired for several seconds while hold-down restraints keep the Falcon 9 rocket firmly grounded at pad 39A.

SpaceX tweeted shortly after the hotfire that the test was completed.

Read our full story.
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https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/10/02/previously-flown-falcon-9-booster-test-fired-for-weekend-launch/
ЦитироватьPreviously-flown Falcon 9 booster test-fired for weekend launch
October 2, 2017 Stephen Clark


SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is test-fired Monday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX test-fired a reused Falcon 9 booster Monday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, checking the rocket's readiness for a planned liftoff Saturday with an Airbus-built commercial communications satellite.

The two-stage rocket, featuring a previously-flown first stage booster, fired its nine Merlin 1D main engines for several seconds at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT). The engines throttled up to full power, generating around 1.7 million pounds of thrust, while the rocket remained firmly on the ground.
Спойлер
SpaceX's launch team loaded super-chilled RP-1 kerosene and liquid oxygen propellant into the Falcon 9 launcher in the final hour of the mock countdown. The Falcon 9's tanks were pressurized just before ignition of the rocket's nine Merlin 1D first stage main engines.

The engines fired for several seconds while hold-down restraints keep the Falcon 9 rocket firmly grounded at pad 39A.

SpaceX tweeted shortly after the hotfire that the test was completed.

SpaceX uses the customary prelaunch test-firings to check out the readiness of the Falcon 9 rocket, ground systems and launch team. Once the static fire is completed, ground crews will return the Falcon 9 rocket to its nearby assembly hangar at the southern perimeter of pad 39A for attachment of its satellite payload.

The commercial SES 11/EchoStar 105 communications satellite, made by Airbus Defense and Space, has been fueled and readied for launch at Cape Canaveral since arriving from its factory in Toulouse, France, last month.

The satellite is heading toward an operating perch in geostationary orbit more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over the equator at 105 degrees west longitude. SES 11/EchoStar 105 will support video distribution and TV broadcasts over the North America during its mission.

The Falcon 9 rocket is set for launch at 6:53 p.m. EDT (2253 GMT) Saturday, Oct. 7, at the opening of a two-hour launch window.

It will be the 14th Falcon 9 flight of the year, a record pace of launch activity for SpaceX, and the 42nd launch of a Falcon 9 rocket overall.

Saturday's launch will fly with a reused Falcon 9 first stage booster, the third time SpaceX has used a previously-flown stage on an orbital launch. The first stage made its first flight Feb. 19 during the launch of a space station cargo ship, then landed at Cape Canaveral a few minutes later.

The first stage on Saturday's launch will descend to a touchdown on SpaceX's floating rocket landing platform in the Atlantic Ocean.
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https://spaceflight101.com/spacex-completes-static-fire-test-ahead-of-third-falcon-9-re-use-mission/
ЦитироватьSpaceX Completes Static Fire Test ahead of Third Falcon 9 Re-Use Mission
October 3, 2017

SpaceX test fired a previously flown Falcon 9 booster on its Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad on Monday in preparation for the company's third re-use mission aiming for liftoff on Saturday. Carrying the SES-11 communications satellite, Falcon 9 will be tasked with a high-energy delivery into Geostationary Transfer Orbit, using a first stage that flew earlier this year with a Dragon cargo spacecraft.
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Photo: SpaceX

The launch of SES-11 will mark the 14th in a record-setting year by SpaceX that so far pulverized the company's previous best mark for the number of launches, extended SpaceX's streak to 12 successful booster recoveries in a row and completed the first two re-flight missions of Falcon 9 first stages – demonstrating what the company had so long worked toward.


First Falcon 9 Re-Use Mission – Photo: SpaceX

The first re-flight mission occurred on March 30 when Falcon 9 B1021 reached space for the second time, dispatching a brand new second stage and the SES-10 satellite toward orbit before making the return trip from the edge of space a second time. BulgariaSat-1 flew on the second re-use mission on June 23, marking the first flight of an orbital launch vehicle stage from both coasts of the United States after that booster had lifted a group of Iridium-NEXT satellites from Vandenberg in January.

Booster #1031 – earmarked for its second flight this weekend – first saw action on February 19 when lifting off from LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center with the Dragon SpX-10 spacecraft, carrying 2.5 metric tons of cargo to the International Space Station. Refurbishment work on the Block 3 booster between flights included detailed inspections of the airframe & engines, the replacement of the engine section heat shield and re-attachment of four folded landing legs. SpaceX hopes to cut these steps to an absolute minimum with the inauguration of Falcon 9 Block 5 that will be fully optimized for rapid and cost-effective re-use.


SES-11 – Photo: SES/Airbus Defence & Space

SES, customer of Falcon's first re-use mission, confirmed in August that it, based on the results of the first mission, had opted for another flight-proven booster for the SES-11 launch. Initially, SES said that SES-11 was unlikely to fly on a used booster while SES-14 and 16, also booked to fly on SpaceX, would be the more likely options for re-use missions.

SES-11 was built by Airbus Defence and Space in Europe and weighs in at 5,200 Kilograms, putting it in the same ball park as SES-10 which pushed Falcon 9 to the maximum in terms of performance while preserving sufficient propellant for a sporty landing on the Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship. Based on the EuroStar E3000 platform, SES-11 hosts a hybrid communications payload comprising 24 Ku-Band and 24 C-Band transponders to deliver TV, radio and media distribution across the U.S. & Canada plus Mexico, Hawaii and the Caribbean.

>> SES 11 Satellite Overview


Photo: Airbus Defence & Space

The satellite is also known as EchoStar 105 as EchoStar agreed to lease the full Ku-Band capacity of the satellite for at least ten years to expand its U.S. orbital arc for media distribution and digital networking. SES-11's Ku-Band capacity is replacing the AMC-15 satellite launched back in 2004 while the SES-operated C-Band payload provides replacement coverage for the almost 11-year old AMC-18. Built in Toulouse, France, SES-11 is set for a mission of at least 15 years stationed at 105 degrees west in Geostationary Orbit.

The Falcon 9 for this mission, featuring a previously flown Block 3 first stage and new Block 4 second stage, rolled out to the pad at LC-39A on Monday, still missing its payload per the new procedure instated after the loss of the AMOS-6 satellite in last year's explosion of a Falcon 9 counting down to its static fire. Gearing up for the test, Falcon 9 was placed in a vertical position and put through an initial series of checks before pushing into the automatic countdown sequence at the one-hour point, marking the start of the rapid tanking operation to fill over 500 metric tons of sub-cooled Liquid Oxygen and chilled Rocket Propellant-1 into the two-stage rocket.

Although the second stage is only a bystander in the firing test of the first stage, it also receives a full load of propellant and Helium pressurant to check out the integrity of its systems as a last end-to-end test of the entire launch vehicle to avoid any surprises on launch day. Standing autonomous on its pad, Falcon 9 was isolated from propellant supply, running on internal power and operating under control of its onboard computers when triggering the ignition of the nine Merlin 1D engines on the first stage, soaring to a collective thrust of just under 700 metric ton force.


Cores inside the LC-39A HIF – Photo: SpaceX

While newly-built boosters typically perform a 3.5-second static fire for the engines to complete start-up and reach stable operating conditions, the test is slightly changed for flight-proven boosters – extending the burn to up to seven seconds to obtain additional performance data with the engines in steady operation after completing start-up. Monday's firing – occurring around 20:30 UTC – appeared to use a five-second engine burn.

Immediately after the test, SpaceX teams went into a quick review of data to ensure the firing reached its desired duration and all required performance parameters were captured before giving the go-ahead to de-tank the rocket. Falcon 9 will return to the pad-side hangar to meet its payload later in the week while in-depth reviews of data from the test are underway to clear the way for liftoff.

The SES-11/EchoStar 105 mission has a two-hour launch window opening at 22:53 UTC on Saturday, October 7. This will mark the opening of a SpaceX double-header as another Falcon 9 is currently deep in its processing campaign at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for an early morning liftoff on October 9 with the third group of Iridium-NEXT satellites, to be preceded by a Static Fire Test on October 5.


Launch Complex 39A – Photo: SpaceX

The next Cape Canaveral mission is looking at liftoff on October 30, also using Launch Complex 39A as Space Launch Complex 40 is still in the process of being re-activated after last year's AMOS-6 incident. Work at SLC-40 is largely complete and engineers are currently outfitting the Transporter, Erector, Launcher (TEL) inside the SLC-40 hangar. Initially, SLC-40 had been hoped to re-open for Falcon 9 missions around September/October.

This latest delay at SLC-40 will also push the debut of the Falcon Heavy rocket as a number of modifications have to be made to the LC-39A ground system and TEL before being able to accommodate the three-core launch vehicle, requiring missions to shift back to SLC-40 first to free up LC-39A for outfitting. Speaking at the International Astronautical Congress last week, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk noted that Falcon Heavy is still hoped to fly this year; however, given the recent schedule changes, a more realistic goal would be having Falcon Heavy ready for rollout to the pad before the year is out.
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NOTMARs
ЦитироватьNAVAREA IV 891/2017 (11,26) 

WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.
FLORIDA.
1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS, ROCKET LAUNCHING
   072248Z TO 080146Z OCT, ALTERNATE
   082248Z TO 090146Z OCT
   IN AREAS BOUND BY:
   A. 28-40N 080-38W, 28-40N 080-20W,
   28-39N 079-50W, 28-37N 079-36W,
   28-33N 079-36W, 28-33N 080-36W,
   28-39N 080-38W.
   B. 28-34N 076-13W, 28-38N 074-35W,
   28-36N 072-36W, 28-31N 072-08W,
   28-01N 072-09W, 27-59N 072-38W,
   28-10N 074-40W, 28-26N 076-13W.
2. CANCEL THIS MSG 090246Z OCT 17.

( 020823Z OCT 2017 )
lnm07402017.pdf, 6-я стр
 

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