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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]
(Score: 4, Interesting) by takyon on Tuesday October 23 2018, @05:46PM
The market for larger satellites is flattening. Small satellite launches may be growing. Whereas Rocket Lab might launch a rocket for every small satellite payload, SpaceX is going to put 70 small satellites on a single Falcon 9 in November. That might be an extreme case, but will there be enough small satellite demand and careful planning to repeat that feat throughout 2019 and beyond?
Fully reusable BFR might be able to revive the large satellite market if it can cut the price to significantly below $50 million (total paid by whoever is sharing the rocket). But launches are usually planned at least a year in advance.
SpaceX could become its own biggest "customer" if it starts launching the hundreds and thousands of satellites needed to provide Starlink satellite internet service. But it has only launched a couple of test satellites so far.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]