Re-launch & Landing of SpaceX booster 23/6/2017 @14:10 EDT

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permela

Re-launch & Landing of SpaceX booster 23/6/2017 @14:10 EDT

Post by permela » Thu Apr 27, 2017 3:33 pm

This post replaces previous posts about the same subject that were viewed 108 times.

According to the June 23, 2017 excepts below from the article at https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/06 ... 1-mission/ SpaceX will launch Bulgaria’s first communications satellite today. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center is scheduled for a two-hour window opening at 14:10 Eastern Daylight Time (18:10 UTC).

The launch is the second of three missions SpaceX plan to fly in June, setting up a weekend double-header with the third, which is scheduled to depart from Vandenberg Air Force Base on Sunday carrying eight Iridium satellites.

Friday’s launch is the second time SpaceX has used what they term a “Flight-Proven” Falcon 9 vehicle – that is, one whose first stage has already been used for a previous launch.

Friday’s launch makes use of Core 1029, which previously flew from Vandenberg Air Force Base in January, delivering ten Iridium-NeXT satellites into low Earth orbit.

With Friday’s launch targeting a first stage landing aboard Of Course I Still Love You, a successful landing would make Core 1029 the first core to land aboard both drone ships.

The stage is expected to land aboard Of Course I Still Love You at about eight minutes, 31 seconds after liftoff, making a short landing burn to arrest its descent just before landing.

SpaceX has also begun experimenting with the recovery of the Falcon 9’s payload fairing. On some flights, each half of the fairing will be fitted with an attitude control system and a parachute to slow its descent.

This will allow either a surface or airborne recovery to take place. SpaceX hopes that by reusing the fairing they can shave a few million dollars further off of the Falcon 9’s launch cost. It is not known whether Friday’s launch is carrying this hardware.

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