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posted by martyb on Tuesday October 23 2018, @03:38PM   Printer-friendly
from the launch-cadence-is-looking-up dept.

SpaceX is set to launch five more times before the end of 2018, bringing the total for the year to 22 launches. This falls short of a goal of 30 launches that was set previously:

SpaceX's launch manifest for the remainder of 2018 is beginning to take shape. The company has five launches remaining on its schedule for the year. Executing all of them would take SpaceX's 2018 launch total to 22 – surpassing the launch provider's previous record of 18 launches in a single year.

The next mission on SpaceX's manifest is Es'hail 2. Scheduled for no earlier than November 14th, a Falcon 9 will launch the communications spacecraft from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center for the Qatar Satellite Company. [...] The launch will be the first from Pad 39A since Bangabandhu-1 on May 11th of this year. Since then, the launch complex has been undergoing renovations to support NASA's Commercial Crew Program. Notable changes include the addition of a crew access arm and raising of the Emergency Egress System (EES).

[...] Just five days later, a Falcon 9 will launch Spaceflight Industries' SSO-A mission from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The launch will feature over 70 small payloads. Traditionally, small satellites have either launched on smaller launch vehicles or as rideshares with a larger payload. However, the SSO-A mission will combine numerous smaller payloads into one dedicated launch. Currently, the launch is targeting a liftoff time of 18:30 UTC on November 19th.

Interestingly, SpaceX's Vice President of Mission Assurance, Hans Koneigsmann, stated at the 2018 International Astronautical Congress that the SSO-A mission may feature a first stage booster being flown for the third time. Previously, SpaceX has only flown the same core twice. If SSO-A is the first to feature a milestone third flight of the same booster, then the launch would have to utilize either B1046 or B1048. Those are the only two Block 5 boosters in SpaceX's fleet which have already flown twice. B1048 would be the most likely candidate out of the pair, given that it has already been performing launches out of Vandenberg.

The SSO-A launch carrying 70 small payloads to orbit will be one to watch. The Iridium-8 launch scheduled for December 30 will be SpaceX's final launch for the Iridium NEXT constellation of satellites.

Related: A New Wave Of Satellites In Orbit: Cheap And Tiny, With Short Lifespans
SpaceX Attempts Historic West Coast Landing Tonight -- Successful! [Updated]


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 23 2018, @04:23PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 23 2018, @04:23PM (#752516)

    We really had plans to launch several world leaders into orbit, possibly to the ISS, and intentionally "miss" our targets. Unfortunately, the Five Eyes caught on, and put the stops to our plans.

  • (Score: 1) by DECbot on Tuesday October 23 2018, @04:52PM (2 children)

    by DECbot (832) on Tuesday October 23 2018, @04:52PM (#752527) Journal

    I just figured you were waiting for stronger boosters to launch them into the sun.

    --
    cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
    • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday October 23 2018, @06:34PM (1 child)

      by bob_super (1357) on Tuesday October 23 2018, @06:34PM (#752558)

      The Falcon 9 can already launch a few chosen ones into the sun, and the Falcon Heavy would get us most of the way to getting rid of the worst.
      Launching to the sun isn't too hard, if you don't try to brake and achieve some kind of orbit.

      But we can save our efforts and money: Trump's latest Treaty moves strive to soon bring Sun-like weather a few thousand feet above Washington DC.

      • (Score: 0, Offtopic) by Sulla on Tuesday October 23 2018, @06:56PM

        by Sulla (5173) on Tuesday October 23 2018, @06:56PM (#752562) Journal

        Or you know Russia could have just not violated the treaty

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BrahMos [wikipedia.org]

        The BrahMos (designated PJ-10)[12] is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarine, ships, aircraft, or land. It is the fastest cruise missile in the world.[13] It is a joint venture between the Russian Federation's NPO Mashinostroyeniya and India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) who together have formed BrahMos Aerospace.[14] It is based on the Russian P-800 Oniks cruise missile and other similar sea-skimming Russian cruise missile technology. The name BrahMos is a portmanteau formed from the names of two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia.

        In 2016, India became a member of the MTCR. India and Russia are now planning to jointly develop a new generation of Brahmos missiles with 600 km-plus range and an ability to hit protected targets with pinpoint accuracy.[23][24] The upgrade will also be applied to all existing BrahMos missiles.

        I checked various sources on the nuclear viability of the rocket
        https://web.archive.org/web/20121220053816/http://en.rian.ru/military_news/20121009/176500812.html [archive.org]

        The integration of the navigation systems from Kh-555 will turn BrahMos, a supersonic cruise missile, into a "super-rocket" with almost a sub-strategic capability above its normal tactical range, capable of hitting targets over 180-300 miles (300-500 km), from sea, land and air launchers, and capable of being armed with a nuclear warhead, the source said.

        I actually think the bigger thing here is forcing China into the same treaty instead of limiting Russia and India's R&D. Could very well be a US/India ploy to force China into the deal. With Chinese expansion into Mongolia this could also help the Russians.

        https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45939544 [bbc.com]

        The INF treaty was signed by US President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, in the final years of the Cold War.

        It banned ground-launched medium-range missiles, with a range of between 500 and 5,500km (310-3,400 miles) - both nuclear and conventional - effectively reducing the perceived threat to European nations from Soviet missiles.

        It has stayed in effect for three decades but on Saturday President Trump said Russia had not adhered to the deal.

        --
        Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam