Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by chromas on Thursday May 10 2018, @05:12PM   Printer-friendly
from the end-of-the-beginning dept.

[Update: I noticed that the YouTube Live Feed page now shows the launch to be scheduled for 20:42 UTC -- a 30 minute delay. This is confirmed by SpaceX's Twitter feed. --martyb]

[Update 2: Another hour and 5 minutes of delay. T-0 scheduled for 5:47 PM EDT (21:47 UTC). --takyon]

[Update 3: The rocket aborted the launch sequence at T-58s. Launch window tomorrow at 4:14 PM EDT (20:14 UTC) to 6:21 PM EDT (22:21 UTC). --takyon]

[Update 3: The rocket aborted the launch sequence at T-58s. Launch window tomorrow at 4:14 PM EDT (20:14 UTC) to 6:21 PM EDT (22:21 UTC). --takyon]

[Update 4: Launch and booster landing successful. --takyon]

Ars Technica reports:

A Falcon 9 rocket has gone vertical on Thursday morning at Launch Complex 39A in Florida, and SpaceX is on track for the liftoff of a brand new version of its workhorse booster. The launch of the Bangabandhu Satellite-1 to geostationary transfer orbit is set for 4:12pm ET (20:12 UTC) Thursday, with a launch window that stretches for a little more than two hours.

The highlight of this flight is the debut of the Block 5 version of the Falcon 9 rocket (which Ars previewed thoroughly last week). SpaceX founder Elon Musk has said this will be the final "substantial" upgrade to the Falcon 9 rocket, optimizing the booster for reuse. The company hopes to be able to fly each Block 5 first stage 10 times before significant refurbishment is required.

[...] Ten flights of an individual booster would be hugely significant, as SpaceX has thus far only ever reused each of its Falcon 9 rockets a single time. Additionally, the company hopes to reduce the turnaround time between launches of a Falcon 9 booster, now several months, to a matter of weeks.

The launch will be live-streamed on YouTube:

SpaceX is targeting launch of Bangabandhu Satellite-1 on Thursday, May 10 from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The launch window opens at 4:12 p.m. EDT, or 20:12 UTC, and closes at 6:22 p.m. EDT, or 22:22 UTC. Bangabandhu Satellite-1 will be deployed into a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) approximately 33 minutes after launch.

A backup launch window opens on Friday, May 11 at 4:14 p.m. EDT, or 20:14 UTC, and closes at 6:21 p.m. EDT, or 22:21 UTC.

The Bangabandhu Satellite-1 mission will be the first to utilize Falcon 9 Block 5, the final substantial upgrade to SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch vehicle. Falcon 9 Block 5 is designed to be capable of 10 or more flights with very limited refurbishment as SpaceX continues to strive for rapid reusability and extremely high reliability.

Following stage separation, SpaceX will attempt to land Falcon 9's first stage on the "Of Course I Still Love You" droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 11 2018, @06:53AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 11 2018, @06:53AM (#678283)

    The actual estimate is 30-50 Block 5 cores [reddit.com], not 10, and up to 300 total flights expected. At least according to a teleconference yesterday. Those are shared between Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, and some will be expended. Many of the flights may be for the Starlink satellite Internet service.

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   +1  
       Informative=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Informative' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   1  
  • (Score: 2) by martyb on Friday May 11 2018, @02:22PM

    by martyb (76) Subscriber Badge on Friday May 11 2018, @02:22PM (#678387) Journal

    Thanks for the correction! Still, 300 flights using just 30-50 Block 5 cores is a whole lot less cost to SpaceX than 300 (no re-use), or 150 (single re-use) cores.

    --
    Wit is intellect, dancing.