SpaceX rarely lands, Falcon 9, its first California launch in a year and a half



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The Falcon 9 rocket made a rare ground landing as part of SpaceX’s first launch in California in nearly a year and a half, which the company director considered “the start of many exciting things to come.”

The Sentinel 6A ocean and earth observation satellite carries approximately 1,200 kg (~ 2,600 lb), an all-new Falcon 9 missile (including the B1063 booster) that was launched on schedule from the SLC-4E launch pad. SpaceX’s Vandenberg at 9:17 AM PDT (17:17 UTC). In simple terms, it’s no surprise that SpaceX managed to launch the Falcon 9 on its first attempt at the SLC-4E – and with NASA as its client, at least – after nearly 18 months of inactivity.

As usual, the Falcon 9 performed flawlessly, with the B1063 first stage raising the level of the second stage combined with a weight of ~ 120 tons (~ 260,000 lb), Sentinel 6A spacecraft, rounding the payload to approximately 75 km (~ 50 mi) before closing, separate and flip To return to the launch site. The second stage of the Falcon 9 ignited and continued towards orbit, igniting for about six minutes. After completing the reentry combustion of three engines and igniting the Merlin 1D’s central station for a third time with a landing burn, the Falcon 9 B1063 landed in SpaceX’s LZ-4 landing pad less than a second after it the upper stage of the missile has closed in orbit.

After 45 minutes into the “limit second stage” (SECO), the Merlin Vacuum ignited again, burning for ten seconds to circulate its polar orbit and acquire Sentinel 6A as close as possible to a symbolic operating height. . The Falcon 9 spacecraft was deployed a few minutes later, concluded the mission and marked the completion of the successful launch of Falcon 9 No. 98 and Mission 100 in general, as well as the launch of SpaceX 22 this year, a record for the company.

Sentinel 6A is now complete, and SpaceX has yet another mission – Starlink V1 L15 – scheduled for launch on November 22 and likely culminating in SpaceX’s first month of launch. Additionally, the company has at least five more launches with reasonable launch targets in December, albeit on the east coast.

In 2021, however, SpaceX could have up to four or five potential launches on the west coast, although the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic could push one or more of these missions into 2022. It recently expressed interest in the FCC to initiate the launch. of the Starlink satellite online as soon as possible, indicating that Vandenberg’s dedicated Starlink launch could begin next year if the company gets regulatory approval.

Ultimately, SpaceX’s West Coast operations appear to be back in business and are here to stay (at least for now) after an unusual year and a half of hibernation. Stay tuned for upcoming updates on the California launch.

The Falcon 9 is about to debut on the SpaceX launch pad on the west coast, surprising than ever. (ESA, ESA and SpaceX)
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