Cape Canaveral, fl. – SpaceX A senior Falcon 9 rocket was launched into space on Sunday (Dec. 13) to orbit a large radio satellite for Sirius XM and then return to Earth.
Two level Falcon 9 Rocket EDT (1730 GMT) erupted at 12:30 pm from the 40 Herat Cape Canaveral Space Station, marking the company’s 25th launch. This brought the SXM-7 next-generation radio satellite client Sirius XM into orbit.
About 9 minutes later, the first phase of the booster returned to Earth, landing on the SpaceX drone ship “Just Read the Instructions” in the Atlantic Ocean. To wait for good weather for both the launch and the booster landing, it was launched through a scheduled two-hour window (which was originally scheduled for 11:22 EST). SpaceX representatives said via Twitter.
Related: See pictures of the evolution of SpaceX rockets
The mission was originally scheduled to explode on Friday (Dec. 11), within 24 hours of the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy. A large spy satellite was launched From one of the nearby pads to the US government.
The turning point between the two launches would have been just over 15 hours, which marks the shortest time between launches here in Cape since the 1960s. In September 1967, a Delta-G and an Atlas-Centar launched from two different launch sites at 10-hour intervals. Last August, a Falcon 9 and an Atlas V rocket were launched within 35 hours of each other, the first since May 1981.
But on Friday, SpaceX wiped out the launch attempt Following several delays in the scheduled flight window. In the final minutes of the countdown, SpaceX called for a catch, eventually pulling away from that effort, pointing to the need for additional floor systems upgrades. The delay paid off as the senior Falcon 9 rocket jumped to the pad on Sunday for its 7th mission.
Another frequent flying
For this purpose, the 230-foot (70 m) Falcon 9 successfully launched the powerful radio broadcasting satellite Sirius XM-7 (SXM-7) into orbit. It is one of two satellites launched by Maxer Technologies for Sirius XM, currently launched by SpaceX to replace obsolete ones.
The rocket’s first stage booster, now seven launches and landing under its belt, touched down on SpaceX’s “Just Read the Instructions” drone waiting in the Atlantic Ocean. This marks the 69th retrieval of the first phase booster for the California-based rocket manufacturer.
The rocket featured in Friday’s launch is another record-breaking booster. Called the P1051, this aircraft landed the proven booster on its seventh aircraft – the second in SpaceX’s fleet. First, p1049, Carried 60 Starling satellites On November 24, in orbit, before the company’s other drone touches “Off Course I Still Love You”.
To date, B1051 has taken a crew dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station as part of the 2019 flight test, which is followed by Earth observation satellites and four different Starling missions to Canada. Since this is the 7th aircraft, it is 15,432-lp. (7,000-kg) satellite in Sirius XM orbit. The satellite will reduce the content to more than 8,000 watts for Sirius subscribers across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.
Based on the SXM-7 satellite Maker Technologies‘SSL-1300 Satellite Bus. It has two large solar panels and batteries for storage in orbit. On the SXM-7S-band spectrum, operating between 2.32 GHz and 2.345 GHz, it is part of a pair that will introduce SpaceX to the Sirius XM.
SpaceX has been contracted to launch another satellite, the SXM-8, to Sirius XM, which is scheduled to launch next year. Each satellite has an operating life of 15 years, replacing two older satellites already in orbit.
Sirius XM’s SXM-7 satellite closes a busy week for Cape and SpaceX.
On Dec. 6, SpaceX has introduced its first upgraded cargo dragon spacecraft From Pat 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The automatic cargo ship arrived at the International Space Station on December 7 and successfully landed at the space station for the first time. (Sent to orbit outpost with the help of the robot arm of its previous recycling station.)
Meanwhile, the company Its starship launched a prototype of the Mars rocket Wednesday (Dec. 9) on a high-altitude test flight. The 164-foot (50 m) prototype rocket flew at an altitude of 7.7 miles (12.5 km) and was the first prototype to be powered by SpaceX’s three methane fuel raptor engines. A stainless steel vessel turned into a landing gear at SpaceX’s checkpoint in Boca Chica, Texas, near the border between the United States and Mexico.
As part of its test flight, the Starship rocket performed a dramatic turning maneuver that set itself up for landing, sending the race back to Earth after the massive rocket had failed a mid-air belly. The rocket landed very hard, exploding with a dramatic fireball. Founder and CEO of the company, Elon Musk, Praised the crash of the test aircraft, saying the teams had obtained the data they needed.
Musk and SpaceX are building a reusable starship as a way to eventually carry massive amounts of cargo into space and carry people to the moon, Mars and beyond.
In preparation for this flight, SpaceX tested the senior booster on Monday evening (Dec. 7) and then carried the rocket back into the hangar and attached it to its payload.
This aircraft marks the first time a paying customer has flown on such an experienced rocket. Historically, SpaceX has deployed first-stage boosters with more than three aircraft under their belts. Starling missions. This can be a promising sign that companies trust the reuse factor and are more comfortable with tried and true boosters.
It also marks the first time SpaceX has flown the used part of payload justification for a paying customer. The company is increasing its recycling efforts to add more rocket. In this particular mission, one of the pieces of the safety nose cone flew on the Anasis-II aircraft this summer.
To facilitate this type of reuse, SpaceX has two boats, which are decorated with giant nets. GO Ms. Tree and GO Ms. Named Chief, these boats are able to catch reasonable pieces when they return to Earth or when they are taken out of the sea and brought back to port.
A few days before the launch, GO Ms. The tree was sent to the rescue zone. GO Ms. Since the chief is still stationed at Port Canaveral, the net-fitted ship is working alone on this task.
Next to SpaceX is the launch of a classified satellite for the National Revaluation Office. The mission is scheduled to take off from NASA’s historic Bat 39AV at the Kennedy Space Center on Thursday, December 17.
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