SpaceX launches Maxar 1 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base

most expensive parts of the rocket that in turn drives down the cost of access to space right now we're working on qualifying our feet of Fleet of Falcon boosters and fairings to support 40 missions each after liftoff Falcon 99's first stage accelerates through the Earth's atmosphere and into space using nine Merlin m1d engines which you have a great view of right there on your screen eventually separating from the rest of the rocket and turning to Earth to be reused stage two will then continue to it to its Target altitude where it will deploy today's payloads after stage separation the booster will be returning to Landing Zone 4 ADV vaning Berg space for space Eng chill has started there's confirmation that engine chill has started on board Falcon and today we have landed a falcon booster 31 times now turning our attention back to Falcon 9 on the pad today above the first stage is the second stage which has a single Merlin vacuum or mvac engine that ignites after the first stage separates this is what will carry the world view Legion satellites into orbit and located above the second stage is the payload fairing which is the large barrel structure at the top of the rocket at 17 ft in diameter the carbon composite fairing protects the satellit on their complete on their way to orbit those fairing halves are then jettison approximately 3 minutes into flight the fairing half supporting today's Mission are both flight proven with one half flying for its 16th time and the other flying for its 13th after separation from the second stage both fairing halves will return to Earth and be recovered by our teams for more on today's payloads let's take a look at this short video from maxar [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] now at T minus 4 minutes and 45 seconds Falcon 9 is tracking no issues and the payload is healthy Falcon 9 has been loading propellants since tus 35 minutes and should finish loading at about two T minus 2 minutes 2 and a half minutes from now the range is ready to support and weather is looking good for our mission this morning but if for some reason we do not launch today we do have a backup opportunity tomorrow at the same time next up the transporter erector or the te will return CED away from Falcon that's the large trust structure that you see next to the rocket on your screen hopefully we'll get a view here through those clouds of oxygen venting from around the vehicle to see those clamp arms open up around the base of stage two strong back retracted progress there's confirmation that the strong back is pulling away from Falcon 9 so right now we're just retracting slightly but at T minus 0 ground hydraulic systems will pull the te even further away from Falcon 9 as it lifts off the first stage is connected to a launch Mount at the base of the te but the structure is hinged to allow that retraction we just saw you also heard it referred to as the strong back from the launch Team and it does a lot of heavy lifting in the lead up to launch we use the te both to roll the rocket out to the pad and raise it to its vertical launch position then the te is also what we use to Route the vehicle's fluids power and telemetry umbilicals from the ground systems to the rocket and payload that is until Falcon 9 switches to internal power and clears the pad now at this point in a countdown both the first and second stages are nearly fully loaded with 1 million pounds of kerosene Fuel and liquid oxygen both stage one lock load is complete right on time there we've got the call out that stage one locks load is complete and as I mentioned earlier we'll expect to hear that second stage call out in about 45 seconds now again those white clouds you see around the vehicle is just chilled gas from above the liquid oxygen tank that we vent overboard to maintain pressure in the tank as needed when that vented oxygen comes out into the California air it condenses into clouds at T minus 60 seconds we should hear the call out that Falcon 9 has entered startup mode this means that the Rocket's autonomous internal flight computers have taken over the launch countdown then just inside of tus 2 seconds we light the m1d engines for liftoff with just about two minutes to go the two worldview Legion satellites continue to be healthy the Falcon 19 team is tracking no issues on the rocket and weather is still looking green the range is also ready to two lock load is complete there's that call out that stage two locks load has also been completed and the range is standing by to support our t0o time of 11:36 a.m. Pacific current gas close up with that we are fi stepping into the final minutes of terminal count 9 doesn't start up there's confirmation that Falcon 9 is on internal power and that stage one and stage two have begun pressurizing for launch LD is go for launch there you heard our launch director give the final go for launch so at tus 38 seconds all systems are go for launch of Falcon 9 with the worldview legion satellites on board tus 30 seconds T minus 15 seconds T minus 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 and vehicle pitching down range stage one propulsion is nominal at t plus 35 seconds and counting Falcon 9 has successfully lifted off from space launch complex 4 East carrying the worldview legion satellites in just a few seconds we'll throttle the nominal there's confirmation that engine Telemetry is nominal we are preparing to throttle the engines down in preparation for Max Q or the period of Maximum aerodynamic pressure on the vehicle and with that call out we know that Falcon 9 is moving faster than the speed of sound during Ascent we tilt the engines there's the call out for Max Q now the technical term for that engine tilt is called gimblet horizontally in what we call a gravity turn the vehicle is still going up but now we're also heading horizontally away from the Launchpad the rocket typically needs to go about 17,500 miles hour in order to avoid being pulled back down to earth and reach orbit you can keep an eye on that stage one Telemetry in the bottom left hand corner of your screen now we have five events coming up in quick succession and we should hear all of these called out by Mission Control starting with moo then stage separation sces one first stage boost back burn and fairing separation during moo we'll shut down all nine m1d engines on the first stage stage separation is when the first and second stages of Falcon separate from one another and second engine start one is when we will light the mvac engine on board the second stage for the first time shortly after that we should also see those two fairing halves jettisoned main engine cut off stage separation confirmed and back ignition stage one boost Back start up fairing separation confirmed so hopefully there you heard and saw those five events happening back to back which again were M stage separation sces one first stage boost back burn begin and fairing separation of course we will be attempting to retrieve these fairing halves again today once they fall back to Earth with our recovery vessel go beyond stage one boost back shut down there's confirmation that the first stage has ended its boost back burn really great views on your screen right now too we are just about t plus 3 and a half minutes into today's Mission and just about 3 minutes from now you should see on your screen the first stages entry burn begin now to start the entry burn we will relight three of the m1d engines starting with the center engine known as E9 followed shortly after by the E1 and E5 engines this is similar to pumping the brakes to slow down and the vehicle will nominal trajectories confirmation there we're on a nominal trajectory now we need to slow down to reduce reentry forces which then helps us to recover and reuse the first stage during the entry burn Falcon 9 is decelerating by firing its Merlin engines but we're still moving really fast this causes the vehicle to fly through Merlin's exhaust gases also known as the Rockets plume which deposits a layer of soot on the vehicle surface that soot comes from the carbon-based fuel that Falcon 9 uses and with each flight the soot builds up a little more on the outside of the rocket often times prior to launch you can see the soot from prior flights on the first stage continuing to get really beautiful views from up in space and of course you can continue to track both the stage one and stage two Telemetry in the bottom corners of your screen on the left hand side of the screen you've got views of our grid fins with the Earth in the background and on the right hand side you see our mvac engine burning on board the second stage on board the second stage are Max's first of two worldview Legion satellites those satellites will replenish a portion of Max R's existing constellation to expand capacity again in the bottom left hand corner of your screen you can track that stage one Telemetry as it continues to decrease its altitude on its way back to Earth and in the bottom right hand corner you can watch stage two's Ascent to orbit the grid fins that you can see on your screen right now are the primary mechanical mechanism by which we steer the first stage on his re-entry we're expecting entry burn to begin in just about 15 seconds stage one entry burn startup there's confirmation of Entry burn startup grave of that on your screen as well reusability is key to lowering the cost of space flight which enables more investments in critical scientific research stage one entry burn shut down with confirmation of Entry burn shut down the Falcon 9 first stage supporting today's Mission has now performed that entry burn 20 times the Merlins on the first stage are optimized for L sa these achieve 190,000 pounds of thrust each during ascent and descent at liftoff Falcon 9's first stage tror there's confirmation that both first and second stage are still on nominal trajectories stage transonic confirmation there that stage one is transonic stage one Landing stage two fds has safed right now we're standing by for landing a falcon back on Landing Zone 4 at vandenbberg space force base in California Landing L deploy stage one Landing confirmed confirmation there of the 20th launch and Landing for this first stage this is the third boost booster to complete 20 flights and this Landing marks spacex's 302nd recovery of an orbital class rocket includ meanwhile up in space we're continuing to get beautiful VI views from our second stage again today's two worldview Legion satellites will replace a portion of Maxx's existing constellation joining over 95 maxar built satellites already in orbit maxar combines frequent monitoring over key areas of change with scalable analytics to deliver near realtime information to their customer customers the worldview legion satellites on board stage two today are the beginning of a new generation of satellite made to image the Earth more frequently and at higher resolution than ever before worldview Legion will support multiple kinds of data collection allowing one platform to support both monitoring and mapping mission now we are standing by for confirmation of second engine cut off one expected in just about 10 seconds mvac shutdown there's confirmation of mvac shutdown nominal orbit insertion and confirmation of good orbit insertion while we are just a few minutes away from payload deployment it's going to happen between ground station coverage so confirmation will come on X when we regain coverage later on in the mission all of us here at SpaceX want to thank our customer maxar for entrusting us with today's launch and of course we'd also like to thank the range and Federal Aviation Administration for supporting today's Mission this will conclude our webcast coverage of spacex's 44th launch of 2024 and 339th overall mission to date if you're interested in even more launch coverage be sure to check spacex.com launches for the most uptate date information thank you for tuning in we'll see you again soon

Channel: News Channel 3-12

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Id: 13WLhOMeghc

Length: 18min 46sec (1126 seconds)

Published: Thu May 02 2024