Launch preps advance in California for next Falcon 9 flight https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/03/2...lcon-9-flight/
SpaceX’s fifth launch of replacement spacecraft for Iridium’s global voice and data communications network is set for March 29 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a flight that Iridium hopes will signal the start of a brisk pace of West Coast missions to complete deployment of the telecom company’s initial 75-satellite constellation this summer.
All 10 satellites assigned to the March 29 launch have been bolted on their SpaceX-built mounting platform for fueling, a procedure that was expected to conclude early this week.
Each of the satellites will weigh 1,896 pounds (860 kilograms) with a full load of hydrazine maneuvering propellant. The combination of the 10 satellites, plus their two-tier dispenser module, make the Iridium missions the heaviest payloads launched by SpaceX to date.
Built in Gilbert, Arizona, by Thales Alenia Space in partnership with Orbital ATK, the latest satellites set to join the Iridium Next fleet were trucked to Vandenberg Air Force Base in pairs, then passed post-shipment checkouts before their stacking on the deployment structure.
The schedule called for technicians to load around 361 pounds (164 kilograms) of hydrazine into each of the Iridium Next satellites over the weekend. The final major steps for the spacecraft will be their encapsulation inside the Falcon 9 rocket’s payload shroud, which protects the satellites during their stay on the launch pad prior to liftoff, and during the first few minutes of flight through the dense lower atmosphere.
Meanwhile, SpaceX ground crews are preparing the Falcon 9 rocket inside the hangar at Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg. The booster launching March 29 first flew in October with the third set of Iridium Next satellites, then landed on SpaceX’s rocket recovery vessel in the Pacific Ocean for refurbishment and reuse.
All 10 satellites assigned to the March 29 launch have been bolted on their SpaceX-built mounting platform for fueling, a procedure that was expected to conclude early this week.
Each of the satellites will weigh 1,896 pounds (860 kilograms) with a full load of hydrazine maneuvering propellant. The combination of the 10 satellites, plus their two-tier dispenser module, make the Iridium missions the heaviest payloads launched by SpaceX to date.
Built in Gilbert, Arizona, by Thales Alenia Space in partnership with Orbital ATK, the latest satellites set to join the Iridium Next fleet were trucked to Vandenberg Air Force Base in pairs, then passed post-shipment checkouts before their stacking on the deployment structure.
The schedule called for technicians to load around 361 pounds (164 kilograms) of hydrazine into each of the Iridium Next satellites over the weekend. The final major steps for the spacecraft will be their encapsulation inside the Falcon 9 rocket’s payload shroud, which protects the satellites during their stay on the launch pad prior to liftoff, and during the first few minutes of flight through the dense lower atmosphere.
Meanwhile, SpaceX ground crews are preparing the Falcon 9 rocket inside the hangar at Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg. The booster launching March 29 first flew in October with the third set of Iridium Next satellites, then landed on SpaceX’s rocket recovery vessel in the Pacific Ocean for refurbishment and reuse.
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