SpaceX Is Crushing 2017

 

For the majority of Americans, 2017 has not been a year to celebrate, nor a year that would warrant much optimism for our future. 

 

That is why it's crucial to highlight successes and technological advances - especially those that are space-related - lest they get lost or drowned out by the horrifying events that define our current political landscape. 

 

Based on the first six months of the year, SpaceX is having its most successful year to date, with an impressive line-up of nine (!) launches and seven landings, all of which have been a resounding success. The month of June alone saw three SpaceX missions - two of them this past weekend launched from opposite coasts within 48 hours of each other. 

 

Almost every one of these nine missions included historic milestone achievements for SpaceX as well as spaceflight in general. Below is a list of the nine SpaceX missions through the month of June, with information about them and historic milestones marked as these missions achieved their objectives, one after the other. 

 

SpaceX's 10th mission of the year, the launch of an Intelsat satellite from Cape Canaveral, is currently scheduled for no earlier than July 2.

 

 

1. January 14, 2017

From: Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA, Space Launch Complex 4E

Payload: First of multiple missions to deploy Iridium NEXT satellites

Client: Iridium Communications, McLean, VA

Landing: Drone ship in the Pacific, Just Read The Instructions

Historic milestones:

1. Return-to-flight mission after the loss of the Amos-6 payload in September 2016

2. First successful drone ship landing in the Pacific

 

 

Image credit: SpaceX

Iridium-1 mission, January 14, 2107

Image credit: SpaceX

Iridium-1 mission, January 14, 2107

 

 

 

2. February 19, 2017

From: Kennedy Space Center, FL, Launch Complex 39A

Payload: CRS-10, 10th commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station

Client: NASA, Houston, TX

Landing: Ground pad at Kennedy Space Center

 

 SpaceX's technical webcast for the CRS-10 mission

February 19, 2017

 

 

3. March 16, 2107

From: Kennedy Space Center, FL, Launch Complex 39A

Payload: EchoStar 23 communications satellite

Client: EchoStar, Englewood, CO

Landing: No attempt made

Image credit: SpaceX

Iridium mission, March 16, 2107

 

 

4. March 30, 2017

From: Kennedy Space Center, FL, Launch Complex 39A

Payload: SES-10 communications satellite

Client: SES, Luxembourg

Landing: Drone ship in the Atlantic, Of Course I Still Love You

Historic milestones: 

1. First re-use of a recovered Stage 1 rocket (B1021), which also landed again. The rocket was first flown during the CRS-8 mission to the ISS in April, 2016.

2. The payload fairing also remained intact, as SpaceX began testing reusable fairings during missions. The fairing was equipped with thrusters and parachutes for landing maneuvers.

 

World's First Reflight of an Orbital Class Rocket Hosted Webcast

March 30, 2017

 

 

5. May 1, 2017

From: Kennedy Space Center, FL, Launch Complex 39A

Payload: NROL-76 (classified)

Client: National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), Chantilly, VA

Landing: Ground pad at Kennedy Space Center

Historic milestone: 

SpaceX's first launch under its certification for national security missions.

 

Image credit: SpaceX

NROL-76 mission, May 1, 2017

 

 

 

6. May 15, 2017

From: Kennedy Space Center, FL, Launch Complex 39A

Payload: Inmarsat-5 communications satellite

Client: Inmarsat, London

Landing: No attempt made

Historic milestone:

Heaviest payload (6,070 kg) launched to geostationary transfer orbit by a Falcon 9 rocket to date.

 

Image credit: SpaceX

Inmarsat-5 mission, May 15, 2015

7. June 3, 2017

From: Kennedy Space Center, FL, Launch Complex 39A

Payload: CRS-11, 11th commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station. Delivery of NICER, MUSES and ROSA science instruments to the ISS.

Client: NASA, Houston, TX

Landing: Ground pad at Kennedy Space Center

Historic milestone:

First re-use of a refurbished Dragon capsule (C106), which first flew as part of the CRS-4 mission in September 2014.

 

Image credit: SpaceX

CRS-11 mission, June 3, 2017

Image credit: SpaceX

CRS-11 mission, June 3, 2017

8. June 23, 2017

From: Kennedy Space Center, FL, Launch Complex 39A

Payload: BulgariaSat communications satellite

Client: Bulsatcom, Sofia, Bulgaria

Landing: Drone ship in the Atlantic, Of Course I Still Love You

Historic milestones:

1. Second re-use of a booster (B1029) that initially flew five months earlier in January 2017 during the first Iridium NEXT mission.

2. Launch of the first Bulgarian-owned commercial communications satellite.

 

Image credit: SpaceX  

BulgariaSat mission, June 23, 2017

 

 

9. June 25, 2017

From: Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA, Space Launch Complex 4E

Payload: Second of multiple missions to deploy Iridium NEXT satellites

Client: Iridium Communications, McLean, VA

Landing: Drone ship in the Pacific, Just Read The Instructions

Historic milestones:

1. Third successful Falcon 9 launch and landing in a single month and the first to launch within 48 hours of a previous mission.

2. First use of new titanium landing grid fins during a mission. The titanium fins are much more durable than previously used aluminum fins and require almost no maintenance.

 

 Image credit: SpaceX

New titanium grid fins used to land Falcon 9 rockets 

 

 Image credit: SpaceX

Iridium-2 mission, June 25, 2017

 

  Image credit: SpaceX

Iridium-2 mission, June 25, 2017 

 

 

 

SpaceX Is Back!

Our American political future may seem bleak these days, but that did not stop the ingenuity of American rocket science from prevailing, showcasing a jaw-dropping return-to-flight launch this past Saturday, January 14, 2017. Following a week of launch delays due to major rain storms that may just have solved California's drought problem, Falcon 9 carrying the first of its Iridium satellite payloads received the all clear, performing flawlessly against a bright, blue sky.

Mind-blowing beauty during dark times ~ #ThisIsOurHumanFuture

Thank you, Elon.

RT @elonmusk: Liftoff pic.twitter.com/sBwNlsZObs

— Claudia (@ct_la) January 15, 2017

Not only did Falcon 9 deliver the first 10 of at least 70 next-gen Iridium satellites into orbit, the rocket's first stage returned to Earth, sticking the landing right on top of the X painted on SpaceX's ocean-going barge in the Pacific, downrange from Vandenberg Air Force Base. SpaceX has launch pads both at Vandenberg in Southern California and at Cape Canaveral on Florida's Space Coast.

You can learn more about Iridium Corporation and its fleet of satellites here.

Below is SpaceX's live webcast from countdown to satellite deployment to landing. Enjoy!

SpaceX Returns To Flight

Update January 8, 2017: Given the massive winter rain storm looming in Southern California's forecast, it's not surprising that SpaceX's Iridium-1 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base has been  postponed to Saturday, January 14, 2017, at 9:54 a.m. PST (6:54 a.m. EST; 18:54 CET). Launch details below.

Following completion of a successful static-fire test yesterday, Iridium Corporation announced that it will target Monday, January 9, 2017 to launch the first ten of its Iridium Next satellites into orbit atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Southern California's Vandenberg Airforce Base. Launch time is set for 10:22 a.m. PST (1:22 p.m. EST; 19:22 CET).

Iridium has contracted with SpaceX to deliver its second generation global satellite constellation into orbit, over the course of seven missions, including the current one. The new 3-billion-dollar satellite array will replace Iridium's existing satellite network dating to the 1990s and 2000s and provide satellite and cell phone services.

Yesterday the Federal Aviation Administration also accepted Space X's accident report on last September's on-pad explosion of a Falcon 9 rocket and its payload during a pre-launch static fire test. SpaceX traced the failure to one of three composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs). More info here.

Thursday's test fire of the rocket that will launch Iridium's satellites was performed without the payload atop the rocket. It will be installed at Vandenberg over the weekend for a Monday morning launch window.

This mission will include a landing attempt of the rocket's first stage on a barge in the Pacific downrange from VAFB. If you are anywhere in Southern California with an unobstructed ocean view at launch time, you may well be able to see the launch and perhaps the burns by the returning rocket as it maneuvers itself to touch down on an ocean-going barge. The weather, however, may not cooperate. Southern California is expecting a winter storm with potentially heavy rain that is forecast to linger through Monday. Still, it's great news to know that SpaceX is back on track and back on the pad, preparing to return to flight.

 

What Do We Know About The Falcon 9 Explosion?

[Update, September 28, 2016: SpaceX has provided additional details on its website. The company's preliminary findings revolve around the possibility that there was a large breach in the cryogenic helium system of the second stage liquid oxygen. While its cause is still unknown, the malfunction appears unrelated to the Falcon 9 mishap during the CRS-7 mission in June 2015. SpaceX expects to return to flight in November. In addition, Elon Musk announced this week that SpaceX is targeting early 2017 for the maiden flight of the company's Falcon Heavy rocket.]
 

Five days later, what do we know about the events surrounding an explosion during a pre-launch test that destroyed a Falcon 9 rocket along with its satellite payload and damaged SpaceX's launch pad SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral? 

The short answer: Very little at this point.

SpaceX still refers to the event as an "anomaly" in updates posted to its website. As of this writing, the most recent update was published on September 2. Not that this is unusual less than a week after the loss of a rocket. It's safe to assume that it will take time to determine what happened. I don't think anyone at SpaceX - or elsewhere - was expecting this or had planned for a catastrophic outcome during a static fire test. Even Elon Musk isn't on twitter joking about RUDs (rapid unscheduled disassembly), like he did on occasions when experimental attempts to land Falcon 9 rockets on an ocean-going barge failed. The difference is those failures were semi-expected and necessary to refine SpaceX's path towards re-usability.

Below are the most commonly asked questions since the explosion, with up-to-date answers:


What is a static fire test?

Static fire tests are typically conducted a few days prior to the scheduled launch date as a "rehearsal run" for the actual launch and to assess a rocket's launch readiness. Such "rehearsals" are not unheard of in the space launch industry, even though other launch providers do not use them as often and typically only to test new rocket designs. SpaceX, on the other hand, conducts static fires prior to every launch. A few years ago, I would make a point of watching static fire tests, but they turned out to be so anti-climactic compared to actual launches that I soon stopped. Which goes to show that when we view a detail of the launch preparation process as "routine" or "unremarkable", reality has a way of dramatically, sometimes tragically, reminding as otherwise. After all, the rocket is partially or fully fueled during static fire tests. The explosion apparently occurred five minutes prior to the static fire sequence that briefly ignites the rocket, so it is still unclear which role the test itself played in the progression of events that led to the explosion.


Is SLC-40 SpaceX's only launch pad? 

No. While we do not yet have information on how badly SpaceX's launch pad at the Cape was damaged or how much it will cost to repair, the private space company has another pad on the space coast: SLC-39A, the former space shuttle launch pad. SpaceX has not yet launched from 39A, but plans to start doing so were already underway and could theoretically be accelerated. Moreover, SpaceX can and has launched from facilities at Vandenberg AFB north of Los Angeles. Even so, not all launch pads are the same. Some altitudes or orbits are harder or easier to reach from some locations than others, depending on rocket specifications and mission requirements. There is no word yet on whether scheduled launches from launch pads other than SLC-40 will proceed as planned, such as the maiden flight of SpaceX's largest rocket yet, the Falcon Heavy, from Vandenberg in November. In my opinion, it is not likely, unless the cause of last week's loss is discovered and mitigated very quickly.


Was the payload insured?

Yes. Insurance-related questions immediately began to swirl after the on-pad explosion, as the video clearly shows the payload fairing plummeting to Earth. Speculation centered around the question if the satellite was insured at all, since it was not destroyed as part of an actual launch. That question, at least, has been answered: the manufacturer of the AMOS-6 satellite, Israeli company spacecom, was insured for pre-launch activities and will receive $200 million in payouts. Nonetheless, the company is poised to ask SpaceX for additional compensation of up to $50 million or a free launch in the future. spacecom's shares dropped by almost one-third in the days since the explosion and its pending sale to a Chinese company is now in question. spacecom says it wants to continue to work with SpaceX and complete the launch contract with amended agreements. This means the company may well recover most of its losses, even as SpaceX faces significant costs, including loss of the rocket, launch pad facility and a possible decline in customer confidence.


Why was the payload integrated in the rocket during the static fire test?

Good question. The payload does not need to be atop the rocket to complete a static fire test successfully and SpaceX did not do this until about two years ago. Since then, the private launch provider has moved increasingly towards conducting static fire tests with the payload secured to the rocket. Conducting the test without it adds a day to the launch preparation time frame. Since static fire tests are conducted so close to the actual scheduled launch date, it's not surprising to see that SpaceX would try to streamline the process, especially considering the company's busy launch schedule.

 
Will this affect SpaceX's launch manifest?

Almost certainly. The private space company had assembled its most ambitious launch manifest yet for the remainder of 2016, with 9-10 launches scheduled through December. With that in mind, it makes sense SpaceX would move toward efficiency during pre-launch preparations. Still, it's also possible to frame such a move as an indication that SpaceX did not anticipate a failure during a static fire test, or did not perceive the risk as serious. It very well may not have been; we know nothing yet about what happened and why, or how likely it was to happen in the first place.

 
As jarring as it is to see a rocket explode when you least expect it, this is not a time to give up on SpaceX. I fully expect the company to rebound as strongly as it did following a launch failure in June 2015: By the end of that year, not only did SpaceX return to flight, it did so while simultaneously demonstrating the successful evolution of its landing and re-usability technology. 

"Of Course We Still Love you, SpaceX!" - Space geeks everywhere 


Update, September 7, 2016: An article published in The Atlantic confirms that Elon Musk plans to provide additional information this month about the Mars Colonization Project, an ambitious plan to colonize Mars by the mid-2020s. While many are understandably skeptical of this timeline, getting to Mars has always been SpaceX's goal. Ten years ago, Elon Musk got mocked for saying this out loud. Today, SpaceX is the only commercial or government launch provider in the world that can land its rockets on land and on water.

SpaceX JCSAT-16 Mission: A Beautiful Night Launch...And Landing!

On Sunday, August 14, SpaceX launched a Japanese satellite into orbit, the JSAT 16, as part of a beautiful night launch, topped off by a perfect landing of the rocket's first stage on SpaceX's ocean-going barge "Just Read The Instructions".

Image credit: SpaceX

Falcon 9 on the pad at Cape Canaveral after sunset on launch night

Image credit: SpaceX

JCSAT 16 mission patch

This was the second time that a JSAT Corporation satellite traveled to orbit atop a SpaceX rocket.The first was JCSAT 14. The JCSAT network is designed to support and expand communication services across Asia. Prior to choosing SpaceX as a launch provider, JSAT Corporation's satellites usually launched on Europe's Ariane rocket from Kourou, French Guinea.

Image credit: SpaceX

Liftoff of Falcon 9 with JCSAT 16 payload at 1:26 am EDT, right at the start of a 2-hour launch window

Source: SpaceX

Graphic illustrating Falcon 9 launch and landing arc

JCSAT 16 was launched to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), an orbit much further out than a low Earth orbit (LEO) destination such as the International Space Station. Since Falcon 9 had to travel further, it had little fuel left prior to re-entry, and thus fewer options to maneuver using controlled burns to reach the landing destination. A Falcon 9 returning from geostationary transfer orbit lands harder than one returning from a mission to the ISS. After a previous mission to GTO, Falcon 9's recovered first stage listed visibly to one side on the barge as it returned to port, an indication that at least some of the rocket's struts and dampers had been pushed to the limits of their capability during touchdown.
 

And she's back!! Another successful drone ship landing for @SpaceX!!
Standing ovation!
Congrats @elonmusk & team! pic.twitter.com/W3hXaPVg6R

— Claudia Taake (@ct_la) August 14, 2016

Below is SpaceX's full webcast for the launch and landing. As always, the entire video is worth watching, but if you want to skip to the good parts, the legend on the bottom tells you when the launch, landing and payload delivery events occur.

Video source: SpaceX

Live webcast from SpaceX HQ in Hawthorne, CA, detailing all the stages of the mission.

Last Monday's Perfect SpaceX CRS-9 Launch And Landing In Pictures

Last Monday's commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station was a perfect night launch from Cape Canaveral, topped off by a successful return to launch site, which means SpaceX landed a Falcon 9 first stage back at the launch site, while the Dragon capsule it sent to orbit continued on to dock with the ISS. This landing marks the second time SpaceX has returned a rocket intact to a launch site on land. Rocketry doesn't get more picture perfect than this:
 

Image credit: SpaceX

Falcon 9 and its ISS-bound Dragon payload launch into the night sky in Florida...

Image credit: SpaceX

Image credit: SpaceX

...and then Falcon 9 returns to its launch site a few minutes after lift-off.
This picture shows the landing burn just before touchdown.

Image credit: SpaceX

The above long exposure image shows a familiar night sight on the Cape: a launch into orbit on the left. Not so familiar are the landing burn on the right and the re-entry burn visible at the center top of the image. Falcon 9 performs three burns to land: the boostback burn right after payload separation, which reorients the rocket in orbit in preparation for landing. This is followed by the re-entry burn. Spent rockets used to burn up in the atmosphere at this point. SpaceX's technological advances guide them back to Earth for re-use. The third and final burn occurs just before landing.
 

Image credit: SpaceX

Long exposure image of the launch and landing burn:
Falcon 9 returns to land next to the launch location.

Image credit: SpaceX

Launch, re-entry and landing burns with SpaceX signage at Cape Canaveral

Image Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX marks the spot: Falcon 9 just after it returned to the launch pad location

Image Credit: SpaceX

Dragon cargo capsule CRS-9, solar wings extended, approaches the ISS

After Dragon docked to the International Space Station on Thursday, NASA shared the following two tweets:

.@SpaceX #Dragon now berthed to the @Space_Station as of 10:03am ET. Hatches to be opened on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/qUNmJxTq12

— NASA (@NASA) July 20, 2016

The hatches between #Dragon and station are open and the crew will begin unloading cargo: https://t.co/19JfOxqJXt pic.twitter.com/bJMCAxE3iZ

— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) July 20, 2016