Wiki SpaceX Manifest and Launch Cadence

[miimura]

I've made this a wiki thread; this first post can be edited by regular members.

This gives you a list of past and future launches with pertinent details for each in an easy to read format:
List of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches - Wikipedia

Here are two websites that track upcoming launches including their time frame:
Launch Schedule – Spaceflight Now
Launch Calendar - SpaceFlight Insider

Here is a wiki of SpaceX booster cores. It tells you everything known about a completed booster:
cores - spacex

Original text:

What is going on with the SpaceX manifest? I thought I recently counted 4 launches scheduled for April 2017 (maybe counting SES-10 in that count..). Now the NROL mission is pushed out to the end of the month and the Inmarsat mission was pushed out 2+ weeks after that. CRS-11 and BulgariaSat are also scheduled for May, but April looks like a bit of a bust.

 

[Grendal]

What is going on with the SpaceX manifest? I thought I recently counted 4 launches scheduled for April 2017 (maybe counting SES-10 in that count..). Now the NROL mission is pushed out to the end of the month and the Inmarsat mission was pushed out 2+ weeks after that. CRS-11 and BulgariaSat are also scheduled for May, but April looks like a bit of a bust.

I understand. Here is the rough launch list from wiki for those that aren't aware of the very full manifest that SpaceX has:

List of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches - Wikipedia

To address your point. From what I'm reading that because this is a classified NRO launch that it has priority so another launch can't really pop in and get sent up in the NRO slot. This is exactly where having LC-40 up and running would make a huge difference because SpaceX could move over to that pad and get a launch in. I believe the Inmarsat booster is just arriving at the Cape right now. With the classified NRO payload on site you can't mix in the Inmarsat prep without causing a huge fuss. If this were a regular payload then SpaceX may have been able to do a swap like CRS-10 and EchoStar. No question that SpaceX has an ambitious launch schedule and this delay is a huge annoyance to achieving their launch goals.

 

[ecarfan]

No question that SpaceX has an ambitious launch schedule and this delay is a huge annoyance to achieving their launch goals.

Yep. And I think it's also clear that the NRO launch is very important to SpaceX and they don't want to kick up a fuss if it negatively impacts their schedule, because this launch will show the US government that SpaceX can put government satellites in orbit for a lot less money than what it has cost before, and serve to (I hope) shut up the Congressional critics and show up the "old space" launch providers who have had it much too easy for far too long.

 

[ecarfan]

And this just in... Air Force space chief open to flying on recycled SpaceX rockets

 

[adiggs]

And this just in... Air Force space chief open to flying on recycled SpaceX rockets

I like the ending quote - that sounds like somebody that can see into the future and has an imagination. "I feel pretty comfortable that we'll get comfortable" (regarding using rockets that have flown before). He's not saying he understands all the issues, or that the Air Force is ready to go flight proven immediately, but he can see a path to figuring all that out.

 

[Bobfitz1]

I understand. Here is the rough launch list from wiki for those that aren't aware of the very full manifest that SpaceX has:

List of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches - Wikipedia

To address your point. From what I'm reading that because this is a classified NRO launch that it has priority so another launch can't really pop in and get sent up in the NRO slot. This is exactly where having LC-40 up and running would make a huge difference because SpaceX could move over to that pad and get a launch in.

What is SpaceX currently saying about how much longer before LC-40 is useable? Seems like it has been down quite a while (given how fast they normally get things done).

Thanks!

 

[Grendal]

What is SpaceX currently saying about how much longer before LC-40 is useable? Seems like it has been down quite a while (given how fast they normally get things done).

Thanks!

SpaceX is saying that they intend to have SLC-40 up and running before they attempt the Falcon Heavy launch. So that means that they expect LC-40 to be repaired sometime in the next two or three months. Falcon Heavy is penciled in for late summer. After the September anomaly SpaceX had to make a decision on what to focus on and chose to make LC-39A the priority since they only have one major build and repair team. LC-39A had already had a lot of work done to it so it made the most sense. SLC-40 just had some basic clean up done while all the focus was placed on LC-39A. Now that work is done the focus is now mostly back on SLC-40. The reason for having SLC-40 up before the FH launch is to protect against any anomaly FH has. The company could then still continue launches at SLC-40. An anomaly with FH would likely be exclusive to that rocket and F9's could still be launched.

SLC-40 will be exclusively for Falcon 9 satellite and cargo launches.
LC-39A will be for both Falcon Heavy, Falcon 9, and any Commercial Crew launches.
Vandenberg is for West Coast polar launches. It has the capability for both F9 and FH.
Boca Chica is still a couple years away but it should be used for FH and F9.

LC-39A stil needs some modification for Falcon Heavy though not too much. So after SLC-40 is up then there will be a big focus at LC-39A to get the Commercial Crew modifications done.

After SLC-40 and LC39A are done with all their modifications, I expect we'll finally see some strong focus on Boca Chica to get it up and running. I expect that to take a couple years to pull off since it is being built from scratch.

I suppose we'll eventually hear where SpaceX intends to do ITS but wherever it is will need lots of modification and infrastructure to support it.

Hopefully that explains it.

 

[miimura]

NASAspaceflight also had a story about the SLC-40 rebuild today. It also described the additional work to do at LC-39A after SLC-40 is operational.

Falcon Heavy build up begins; SLC-40 pad rebuild progressing well | NASASpaceFlight.com

 

[Grendal]

Iridium just announced confirmation for their NET June 29th launch date. Since the cadence seems to be picking up over the next few months, here are the next 10 launches:

Date? Launch site Orbit Weight Payload Recovery

Apr 30 [11:00 - 13:30 UTC] Falcon 9 LC-39A LEO? ? NROL-76 LZ-1
May 15 [23:20 - 00:10 UTC] Falcon 9 LC-39A GTO 6070 Inmarsat 5-F4 no
May 31 Falcon 9 + Dragon LC-39A LEO (3300) CRS-11 LZ-1
mid Jun Falcon 9 LC-39A GTO 3669 BulgariaSat-1 LZ-1 or ASDS
late Jun Falcon 9 LC-39A GTO ~6000 Intelsat 35e no
Jun 29 Falcon 9 LC-4E PO 860 (x10) Iridium 2 (21-30) JRTI
Jun Falcon 9 LC-39A GTO 5400 SES-11 (EchoStar 105) OCISLY
Jul Falcon 9 LC-39A GTO ~3500 KoreaSat 5A LZ-1 or ASDS
Jul 22 Falcon 9 LC-4E SSO 525 FORMOSAT 5 JRTI
Aug 1 Falcon 9 + Dragon LC-39A LEO (3300) CRS-12 LZ-1

Minimum of 5 booster recoveries with one or two opportunities for a reuse flight.

Edit: Annoying that I can't seem to format this. Sorry about that.

 

[ecarfan]

Great to see the cadence picking up!

Hopefully the next time you need to add to that list you will be able to use "FH" instead of Falcon 9.

 

[GoTslaGo]

Iridium just announced confirmation for their NET June 29th launch date. Since the cadence seems to be picking up over the next few months, here are the next 10 launches:

Edit: Annoying that I can't seem to format this. Sorry about that.

Quote:

Date?..................................................Launch site....Orbit.....Weight......Payload....................Recovery

Apr 30 [11:00 - 13:30 UTC] Falcon 9...LC-39A.........LEO?.......?............NROL-76....................LZ-1
May 15 [23:20 - 00:10 UTC] Falcon 9..LC-39A.........GTO......6070........Inmarsat 5-F4.............no
May 31 Falcon 9 + Dragon...................LC-39A.........LEO......(3300)......CRS-11.......................LZ-1
mid Jun Falcon 9..................................LC-39A.........GTO......3669........BulgariaSat-1..............LZ-1 or ASDS
late Jun Falcon 9..................................LC-39A.........GTO......~6000......Intelsat 35e..................no
Jun 29 Falcon 9....................................LC-4E............PO.......860 (x10)..Iridium 2 (21-30).........JRTI
Jun Falcon 9.........................................LC-39A..........GTO.....5400......SES-11(EchoStar 105)..OCISLY
Jul Falcon 9..........................................LC-39A..........GTO....~3500........KoreaSat 5A................LZ-1 or ASDS
Jul 22 Falcon 9.....................................LC-4E............SSO......525..........FORMOSAT 5.............JRTI
Aug 1 Falcon 9 + Dragon.....................,LC-39A..........LEO......(3300)......CRS-12.......................LZ-1

Minimum of 5 booster recoveries with one or two opportunities for a reuse flight.

End quote.

So I've found that this site really likes periods (.....) instead of spaces ( ). Hope this helps.

FYI: I put 5 spaces in the brackets after "spaces" and 5 "." after "periods", and we can all see that the site respects the periods, but ignores the spaces.

 

[Grendal]

Quote:

Date?..................................................Launch site....Orbit.....Weight......Payload....................Recovery

Apr 30 [11:00 - 13:30 UTC] Falcon 9...LC-39A.........LEO?.......?............NROL-76....................LZ-1
May 15 [23:20 - 00:10 UTC] Falcon 9..LC-39A.........GTO......6070........Inmarsat 5-F4.............no
May 31 Falcon 9 + Dragon...................LC-39A.........LEO......(3300)......CRS-11.......................LZ-1
mid Jun Falcon 9..................................LC-39A.........GTO......3669........BulgariaSat-1..............LZ-1 or ASDS
late Jun Falcon 9..................................LC-39A.........GTO......~6000......Intelsat 35e..................no
Jun 29 Falcon 9....................................LC-4E............PO.......860 (x10)..Iridium 2 (21-30).........JRTI
Jun Falcon 9.........................................LC-39A..........GTO.....5400......SES-11(EchoStar 105)..OCISLY
Jul Falcon 9..........................................LC-39A..........GTO....~3500........KoreaSat 5A................LZ-1 or ASDS
Jul 22 Falcon 9.....................................LC-4E............SSO......525..........FORMOSAT 5.............JRTI
Aug 1 Falcon 9 + Dragon.....................,LC-39A..........LEO......(3300)......CRS-12.......................LZ-1

Minimum of 5 booster recoveries with one or two opportunities for a reuse flight.

End quote.

So I've found that this site really likes periods (.....) instead of spaces ( ). Hope this helps.

FYI: I put 5 spaces in the brackets after "spaces" and 5 "." after "periods", and we can all see that the site respects the periods, but ignores the spaces.

Ah-ha. Thank you very much. I was so frustrated when it kept removing the spaces that I just gave up and wrote the edit comment. Someone else made a grid to organize a post like this so I spent about 10 minutes trying to figure that out and couldn't do that either. I figured they created the grid elsewhere and inserted it here but was too frustrated to play around with that.

So, thanks again, GTG. Period.

 

[landis]

Quote:
So I've found that this site really likes periods (.....) instead of spaces ( ). Hope this helps

As I learned recently in another thread, this site also likes html tables.
Just quote a reply (and abort before post) if you want to learn how to do this with TABLE TR TD tags like this:
(Preview is your friend.)

Date	Launch site	Orbit	Weight	Payload	Recovery
May 1 ?[11:00 - 13:30 UTC] Falcon 9	LC-39A	LEO?	?	NROL-76	LZ-1
May 15 [23:20 - 00:10 UTC] Falcon 9	LC-39A	GTO	6070	Inmarsat 5-F4	no
May 31 Falcon 9 + Dragon	LC-39A	LEO	(3300)	CRS-11	LZ-1
mid Jun Falcon 9	LC-39A	GTO	3669	BulgariaSat-1	LZ-1 or ASDS
late Jun Falcon 9	LC-39A	GTO	~6000	Intelsat 35e	no
Jun 29 Falcon 9	LC-4E	PO	860 (x10)	Iridium 2 (21-30)	JRTI
Jun Falcon 9	LC-39A	GTO	5400	SES-11(EchoStar 105)	OCISLY
Jul Falcon 9	LC-39A	GTO	~3500	KoreaSat 5A	LZ-1 or ASDS
Jul 22 Falcon 9	LC-4E	SSO	525	FORMOSAT 5	JRTI
Aug 1 Falcon 9 + Dragon	LC-39A	LEO	(3300)	CRS-12	LZ-1

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

As I learned recently in another thread, this site also likes html tables.
Just quote a reply (and abort before post) if you want to learn how to do this with TABLE TR TD tags like this:
(Preview is your friend.)

If you don't want to do an HTML table you can also use CODE square-tags and everything will be displayed in a non-proportional font so you can use spaces to display the values in columns. CODE's original purpose is to display program code.

Date                       Launch            site   Orbit Weight    Payload              Recovery
May 1 ?                    Falcon 9          LC-39A LEO?  ?         NROL-76              LZ-1
May 15 [23:20 - 00:10 UTC] Falcon 9          LC-39A GTO   6070      Inmarsat 5-F4        no 
May 31                     Falcon 9 + Dragon LC-39A LEO   (3300)    CRS-11               LZ-1 
mid Jun                    Falcon 9          LC-39A GTO   3669      BulgariaSat-1        LZ-1 or ASDS
late Jun                   Falcon 9          LC-39A GTO   ~6000     Intelsat 35e         no 
Jun 29                     Falcon 9          LC-4E  PO    860 (x10) Iridium 2 (21-30)    JRTI 
Jun                        Falcon 9          LC-39A GTO   5400      SES-11(EchoStar 105) OCISLY 
Jul                        Falcon 9          LC-39A GTO   ~3500     KoreaSat 5A          LZ-1 or ASDS 
Jul 22                     Falcon 9          LC-4E  SSO   525       FORMOSAT 5           JRTI 
Aug 1                      Falcon 9 + Dragon LC-39A LEO   (3300)    CRS-12               LZ-1

 

[GoTslaGo]

Ah-ha. Thank you very much. I was so frustrated when it kept removing the spaces that I just gave up and wrote the edit comment. Someone else made a grid to organize a post like this so I spent about 10 minutes trying to figure that out and couldn't do that either. I figured they created the grid elsewhere and inserted it here but was too frustrated to play around with that.

So, thanks again, GTG. Period.

Now that I'm looking at it on an iphone, the ... chart looks funny as well.

Looks like @landis and @ItsNotAboutTheMoney have much better solutions! Thanks!

 

[Electroman]

You guys are all great !!..

SSO - Sun Synchronous Orbit?
PO - Polar Orbit?

I need to go read up on both on what they are and when it is used.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

You guys are all great !!..

SSO - Sun Synchronous Orbit?
PO - Polar Orbit?

I need to go read up on both on what they are and when it is used.

List of orbits - Wikipedia

 

[ggr]

You guys are all great !!..

SSO - Sun Synchronous Orbit?
PO - Polar Orbit?

I need to go read up on both on what they are and when it is used.

Sun-sync orbit is often used for photographic purposes, because the shadows are minimized and always almost the same. There is seasonal variation but not much daily variation.

 

[Grendal]

Here's a nice article from NSF about the launch cadence:
SpaceX improving launch cadence, testing new goals | NASASpaceFlight.com

 

[Grendal]

Here's a cool video from Elon showing the factory in action:

Instagram post by Elon Musk • Jun 16, 2017 at 10:14pm UTC

And from the latest twitter post:

Elon Musk (@elonmusk) | Twitter