SpaceX F9 - SWOT - SLC-4E

(Admin note: Launch delayed by 24 hours to Dec 16)
Launch Date: December 15
Launch Window: 3:46 am PST (6:46 EST, 11:46 UTC)
Launch site: SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
Core Booster Recovery: RTLS - LZ-4
Booster: B1071.6
Fairings: Reused
Mass: 2200 kg
Orbit: LEO - Geocentric
Yearly Launch Number: 57th

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission for NASA. SWOT is a science mission jointly developed by NASA and CNES, the French space agency, to measure how much water is in Earth’s oceans, lakes, and rivers.

Home – NASA SWOT

SWOT: NASA's first global survey of Earth's surface water, providing data for clean air and water, extreme events, and long-term environmental changes

swot.jpl.nasa.gov

Surface Water and Ocean Topography - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Grendal]

 

[Electroman]

RTLS !!

I wish they show a little zoomed out for the last 30 seconds of landing.

 

[Grendal]

 

[Electroman]

Is that the payload or just the fairing?

 

[Mike1080i]

Is that the payload or just the fairing?

That's after it was encapsulated inside the fairing.
Here's one that shows SWOT just before it was encapsulated.

 

[ecarfan]

This launch is supposed to be on the 15th (today) at 3:46AM, correct? The SpaceX launches web page links to the NASA livestream but I don’t see any indications that the mission launched. Is it postponed?

 

[Grendal]

This launch is supposed to be on the 15th (today) at 3:46AM, correct? The SpaceX launches web page links to the NASA livestream but I don’t see any indications that the mission launched. Is it postponed?

24 hour delay.

This will mess up all the Yearly Launch Numbers. Aargh!

 

[MyJoule]

Success. Probably was a pretty good show in the LA area.

 

[ecarfan]

The NASA livestream launch narration is so lame. The narrator did her own verbal countdown over the launch control countdown. Max Q was described as “peak mechanic stress”. The male narrator talked over the female narrator. The female narrator repeatedly said “this is a camera view”, as if there is some other kind of “view” of the vehicle.

Anyway…love the science this sat is going to do!

 

[HVM]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1603740262081040384

Hello, SWOT!

We've successfully acquired the satellite’s signal. Initial telemetry reports show the spacecraft in good health. SWOT will now undergo a series of checks and calibrations before it starts collecting science data in about six months. #TrackingWorldWater

 

[Grendal]

This is first launch where SpaceX didn't have its own launch webcast.

 

[JohnnyEnglish]

This is first launch where SpaceX didn't have its own launch webcast.

And hopefully the last.