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Since it is a government satellite, will it have range support to be able to launch tomorrow despite the looming government shutdown?
It will launch. LC-40 and the military is not included in the issues.
Pushed to the end of the launch window: 26 minutes later
They are loading propellent. So they are going to give it a shot.
They are loading propellent. So they are going to give it a shot.
Successful launch, but...so boring without stage recovery, And depressing to think of that huge booster crashing into the ocean and sinking.
e-FTW
New electron smell
I would hope there was good data to be had. And that the Air Force got the data they need to calculate the performance margins needed for a future re-usable launch for GPS III.
Also, I think we got a first shot of the second stage’s giant Merlin engine bell clearing the interstage at stage separation. It’s like they saw our reactions to the pics from the VPs visit... and gave us that view. ;-)
Nikxice
Active Member
Cool launch. Could see where all that F9 booster energy went. Although not quite accurate, from the perspective of the video the rocket appeared to fly straight up to space, then dramatically pitch over. Once altitude leveled off around 173 km, quick acceleration began up the east coast. Noticed there was even a temporary drop of several km during the burn.
I may have missed it, but what was the reason for expendable? Was it performance limits? Or did the AF really just not want to fill up the main stage tanks?
They explained it was the orbit and mass needed all the fuel. Nothing left for a landing.
I'm wondering if all the GPS III's will be expendable or was this something needed specifically for this particular launch.
Interesting. A quick wiki says launch mass is ~4000kg, and they’re going to high-ish MEO. Reusable GTO shots have been heavier than that, so farmers math says this could have been reusable.
Does the webast say (with words or a graphic) what orbit the upper stage was in at separation? Or just altitude?
This article explains it far better than I ever could.
Air Force requirements will keep SpaceX from landing Falcon 9 booster after GPS launch – Spaceflight Now
The conclusion on SpaceX FB and someone on Reddit who did the math is that there was enough margin that the booster could have tried for a landing. So it is really the military in cooperation with SpaceX to not try for a recovery. There are probably some good reasons that go beyond SpaceX just wanting to recover the booster. The contract for this launch was done in 2012 to 2013. That was long before SpaceX had ever had a successful landing or anyone ever considered that SpaceX could pull it off. Also, that was when SpaceX had just begun launching the F9 v2.0. It was unlikely in the extreme that SpaceX could have recovered a booster with a satellite this heavy while placing into the extreme orbit necessary with that older version of the Falcon 9. I expect to see the military watch this and maybe another launch or two then decide they are okay with SpaceX recovering their boosters.
Edit: I was wrong. The contract was done on 4/27/16. Landings were very new but had been done before.
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