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posted by martyb on Saturday June 13 2020, @04:21AM   Printer-friendly
from the renew-reuse-recycle dept.

SpaceX goes for its third launch in two weeks early on Saturday:

Early on Saturday morning, SpaceX will go for its third launch in two weeks with another Starlink mission into low Earth orbit. This will bring the total number of Starlink Internet satellites launched to date to nearly 540.

[...] The launch of the Starlink-8 mission is scheduled for 5:21am ET (09:21 UTC) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

[...] The company appears to be accelerating its cadence of launches after the Crew Dragon mission, which necessitated extra preparation due to the fact that it involved launching humans. It's possible that SpaceX will complete three more launches this month: this one, another Starlink flight, and the launch of a GPS III satellite for the US Space Force.

[...] This will be the first time SpaceX has flown a Starlink mission with other payloads attached, and it's the first of the company's SmallSat Rideshare Program launches. The company will remove two Starlink satellites from its normal stack inside the payload fairing—bringing the total down to 58—to accommodate the launch of three SkySat imaging satellites for Planet.

[...] This will be the third flight for this Falcon 9 rocket's first stage, having previously flown two Cargo Dragon resupply missions for NASA. The Of Course I Still Love You droneship will attempt to catch the rocket as it returns to Earth.

It is notable that SpaceX did not conduct a static fire of the first stage before this attempt.

The launch is scheduled for 5 hours after this story goes "live".

There will be a YouTube live stream of the launch. The stream typically starts 15-20 minutes before launch. From the description on the video page:

SpaceX is targeting Saturday, June 13 at 5:21 a.m. EDT, 9:21 UTC, for launch of its ninth Starlink mission, which will include 58 Starlink satellites and three of Planet's SkySats. Falcon 9 will lift off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and a backup opportunity is available on Sunday, June 14 at 4:59 a.m. EDT, 8:59 UTC. This mission marks SpaceX's first SmallSat Rideshare Program launch.

Falcon 9's first stage previously supported Dragon's 19th and 20th resupply missions to the International Space Station. Following stage separation, SpaceX will land Falcon 9's first stage on the "Of Course I Still Love You" droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. Half of Falcon 9's fairing previously flew on the JCSAT-18/Kacific1 mission, and the other half previously flew on SpaceX's third Starlink mission.


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by EETech1 on Saturday June 13 2020, @07:42AM (2 children)

    by EETech1 (957) on Saturday June 13 2020, @07:42AM (#1007347)

    My favorite is the F1 turbopump
    From Wikipedia:
    A gas generator was used to drive a turbine which drove separate fuel and oxygen pumps, each feeding the thrust chamber assembly. The turbine was driven at 5,500 RPM, producing 55,000 brake horsepower (41 MW). The fuel pump delivered 15,471 US gallons (58,560 litres) of RP-1 per minute while the oxidizer pump delivered 24,811 US gal (93,920 l) of liquid oxygen per minute. Environmentally, the turbopump was required to withstand temperatures ranging from input gas at 1,500 °F (820 °C) to liquid oxygen at −300 °F (−184 °C). Structurally, fuel was used to lubricate and cool the turbine bearings

    Show me your 40,000 GPM pump, 55,000 HP motor, and 41MW power source lol.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2020, @12:45PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2020, @12:45PM (#1007429)

    for those 41 MWatt, fusing 3 grams of helium3 (totally pull out of ass value, i admit) would suffice.
    the problem is probably, how do you leverage a mass of 3 grams, mechanically and thermally onto a mechanical shaft/axis that then pumps the fuel and oxydizer into the combustion chamber?
    instead of going from converting fusion "energy", which is probably (due to tiny masses involved) mostly thermal and electrical-magnetic, to mechanical (spinning shaft with pump blades attached), it would be simpler to use the electrical-mechanical energy directly? unfortunatly the fuel and oxydizer can only be pumped mechanically. they probably would only "feel" magnetic and electrical forces AFTER they have combusted... but we need them to be accesible to electro magnetics before. :)

  • (Score: 1) by gmby on Saturday June 13 2020, @04:50PM

    by gmby (83) on Saturday June 13 2020, @04:50PM (#1007475)

    Yes nice; but only one shot wonder....
    Megawatts from a disposable reactor is easy. Super-Cooled electric motors are out there.

    Idea....
      If the fuel is used to cool the motor.... the motor it's self is the pump.... rocket engine burns and accelerates fuel.... extra power from the reactor drives a LARGE ion accelerator with the rocket exhaust as a fuel.. all this in an axial package so fuel flow is....

    The trick to this is not the thrust of the chem fire (that's just the first part) but the expansion of dense cold fuel that is accelerated to extremes with the dense energy from the reactor.
    he he.. It might leave a very deep hole in the ground after launch... ;)

    Look Mom! I can write sci-fi!

    --
    Bye /. and thanks for all the fish.