SpaceX is about to tie its rocket-reuse report as we speak (Nov. 11).
A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch the KoreaSat-6A telecom satellite tv for pc from NASA’s Kennedy Area Heart (KSC) in Florida as we speak, throughout a four-hour window that opens at 12:07 p.m. EST (1607 GMT). It is going to be the twenty third mission for this rocket’s first stage, in line with SpaceX, equaling a mark set by two different Falcon 9 boosters.
SpaceX will webcast the launch dwell by way of X, starting about quarter-hour earlier than liftoff.
If all goes in line with plan, the booster will return to Earth for a twenty third time as we speak, touching down at Cape Canaveral Area Pressure Station, which is subsequent door to KSC, about eight minutes after liftoff.
Associated: SpaceX launches 40 OneWeb web satellites to orbit, lands rocket
The Falcon 9’s higher stage, in the meantime, will proceed hauling KoreaSat-6A to geosynchronous switch orbit, deploying it there about 34.5 minutes after launch.
The three.9-ton (3.5 metric tons) KoreaSat-6A will then make its approach to geostationary orbit, which lies 22,236 miles (35,786 kilometers) above Earth. At this altitude, orbital velocity matches our planet’s velocity of rotation, permitting spacecraft to “hover” over the identical patch of floor. For that reason, geostationary orbit is a well-liked vacation spot for spy and climate satellites, in addition to communication craft similar to KoreaSat-6A.
“KoreaSat-6A will exchange the present KoreaSat-6 satellite tv for pc and can ship each mounted satellite tv for pc service (FSS) and broadcasting satellite tv for pc service (BSS) to South Korea,” Thales Alenia Area, the French firm that constructed the brand new satellite tv for pc, mentioned in a assertion final yr.
“Constructed on Thales Alenia Area’s confirmed Spacebus 4000B2 platform, KoreaSat-6A shall be fitted with six BSS transponders and twenty FSS transponders to cowl all of South Korea,” the corporate added.
KoreaSat-6A shall be operated by the South Korean firm KT SAT Company Ltd. The satellite tv for pc’s anticipated lifetime is 15 years.
Fast and repeated rocket reuse is a key precedence for SpaceX, as as we speak’s mission reveals.
The corporate plans to ramp up the reuse much more sooner or later: Its next-generation megarocket, Starship, is designed to be absolutely reusable, with each of its phases coming again to land atop the launch mount. SpaceX’s two at the moment operational rockets, the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, characteristic expendable higher phases.
