SpaceX, SES ready for sunset launch of previously flown Falcon 9 from KSC
SpaceX, SES ready for sunset launch of previously flown Falcon 9 from KSC:- A previously flown SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is set to vault through the sunset-soaked sky above Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, marking satellite operator SES’s second mission on a recycled rocket and third overall attempt by SpaceX.
“We’re convinced that we have a good vehicle here again,” SES Chief Technology Officer Martin Halliwell said just before rollout of the rocket to pad 39A on Tuesday. “We’re ready to fly.”
Teams are targeting 6:53 p.m. – the opening of a two-hour window – for liftoff of the Falcon 9 with the 11,400-pound EchoStar 105 / SES-11 commercial communications satellite. Air Force meteorologists with the 45th Weather Squadron estimate a 90 percent chance of favorable conditions, citing the presence of cumulus clouds as the only concern.
If the mission does lift off at the beginning of the window, Space Coast spectators could be in for an impressive view as the nine-engine rocket thunders through the sunset, which occurs just four minutes later at 6:57 p.m.
The Airbus-built satellite marks a joint mission for Colorado-based EchoStar and Luxembourg-based SES, which will share capacity on the spacecraft designed to deliver high-definition and ultrahigh-definition television programming to North America, including Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean. The two operators will evenly split the satellite’s 48 transponders.
SpaceX and SES made history in March when the duo embarked on SES-10, the first relaunch of a “flight proven” Falcon 9 that culminated in a drone ship landing and successful deployment of the communications satellite.
Halliwell said the booster for Wednesday’s mission, first flown in November 2016 on the tenth Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station, features the same engines and is mostly comprised of previously flown parts.
SpaceX has successfully landed 11 of its boosters this year alone, but that doesn’t necessarily mean customers like SES get a say in which flight proven rocket their satellites fly on.
“I believe in the future, there won’t be a discussion,” Halliwell said, later noting that SES does get a minor discount for flying on recycled boosters. “You’ll just buy a launch service and whether it’s a new vehicle or a reflown vehicle, maybe some bits of both – it’s not going to matter.”
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk sees rocket reusability as the key to lowering launch costs, increasing access to space and eventually building outposts on the moon and Mars. Musk in March said Falcon 9 first stages could be flown up to 10 times with minimal refurbishment and up to 100 times with more extensive work, but how soon could a booster fly more than twice?
For SES, which has secured launch vehicles for all its near-term spacecraft, the idea isn’t “quite there yet,” according to Halliwell.
“It’s certainly something considerable and it’s not something we would ignore,” he said.
Launch Wednesday
Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9
Mission: Launch SES-11 communications satellite for SES and EchoStar
Launch Time: 6:53 p.m.
Launch Window: Two hours
Launch Pad: 39A at Kennedy Space Center
Weather: 90 percent “go”
Source:- https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2017/10/10/spacex-ses-echostar-ready-previously-flown-falcon-9-rocket-launch-kennedy-space-center-florida/749508001/
