Daily Archives: January 7, 2024

The Falcon 9 rocket goes upright at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Photo: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now.

The next batch of 23 Starlink satellites for SpaceXs space-based internet service are scheduled to ride a Falcon 9 rocket into orbit Sunday from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Liftoff is now targeted for 5:35 p.m. EST (2235 UTC).

SpaceX had earlier announced a four-hour launch window that opened at 4 p.m. EST (2100 UTC), but it needs to clear the way for the inaugural launch of United Launch Alliances Vulcan rocket from neighboring pad 41. The rocket was only raised upright on the launch pad at around 1 p.m. EST leaving crews racing to meet the new target launch time of 5:35 p.m. EST.

Spaceflight Now will have live coverage of the mission starting one hour before liftoff. You can watch live views of the Falcon 9 in our Launch Pad Live stream.

The first stage booster supporting this flight, tail number B1067, will be making its 16th flight, becoming just the fourth booster to reach that milestone. There are only three other boosters with a longer flight history that are still in use after B1058 was unintentionally destroyed during the recovery process:

B1060, B1061 and B1067 all have the distinction of launching two Crew Dragon spacecraft each during their lifetimes. B1080 is set to join that club later this month when it launches on its fifth flight with the Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) astronauts aboard Crew Dragon Freedom.

About eight-and-a-half minutes after liftoff, B1067 will land on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. If all goes well, this will 56th successful booster landing on ASOG since it was put into the mix. The other East Coast-based droneship, Just Read the Instructions, is still out of commission for servicing in North Carolina.

The next SpaceX mission on deck is the Starlink 7-10 flight, set to launch from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base on Tuesday, Jan. 9, with a window that opens around 9 p.m. PST (12 a.m. EST, 0500 UTC on Jan. 9).

SpaceX has not announced the number of Starlink satellites that will be onboard that flight or if there will more of the new Starlinks that feature direct-to-cell functionality.

The launches come as news regarding SpaceXs Starship rocket is set to be on the horizon. Just over a week ago on his social media site, X, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said he would be giving a company talk to SpaceX employees to mark their 2023 accomplishments and discuss the year ahead.

Recently, during an unrelated livestream on X, Musk stated that the talk would likely take place on Thursday, Jan. 11, and would include updates on the companys Starship rocket. If this happens, it would mark the first substantial update on the pivotal launch program since the second integrated flight test launched from Starbase in southern Texas in November.

There has been a flurry of activity at the development and launch site in recent weeks, including the test firings of both Ship 28 and Booster 10. SpaceX referred to them as the Flight 3 Starship and Flight 3 Super Heavy Booster respectively in social media posts.

SpaceX said in posts that a single engine was fired on the Starship upper stage demonstrating a flight-like startup for an in-space burn. Following the test firings, eagle-eyed viewers spotted SpaceX testing the payload bay door on the Starship, potentially indicating that this next mission could include some kind of payload.

The forthcoming announcement from Musk will come on the heels of another marquee event next week that could concern the rocket. In a late Friday notice to members of the press, NASA announced that it will hold a media teleconference to discuss the latest on the Artemis program and the return of humans to the Moon.

The update will be led by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and will feature Jim Free, who as of the start of 2024, is now the NASA Associate Administrator, following the retirement of Bob Cabana. Catherine Koerner, associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, and Amit Kshatriya, the deputy associate administrator for the Moon to Mars Program will also be participating.

The notice to the press also stated that Industry partner representatives also will be available to answer questions, though it doesnt explicitly state if that includes SpaceX or the developer of the lunar spacesuits set to debut on the Artemis 3 mission, Axiom Space.

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Live coverage: SpaceX to launch Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral with Starlink satellites Spaceflight Now - Spaceflight Now

United Launch Alliance is set to send its much-anticipated heavy-lift rocket into space, as it endeavors to compete against launch titan SpaceX.

The first flight test and certification mission for ULAs Vulcan Centaur rocket is on track to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Jan. 8, company officials said.

Vulcan will be very competitive in the space market because it has the capabilities of the Atlas V and Delta IV rockets combined into one system, officials said.

Vulcan is really designed to support a full range of missions across all the markets that we serve, commercial, civil and national security, and because we do have that adjustability in its configuration can be really tailored to the specific mission, Mark Peller, ULA vice president of Vulcan development, told reporters Friday ahead of the launch.

But even with Vulcan entering the launch market, SpaceX will still have an advantage over ULA once SpaceXs Starship mega-rocket becomes operational. Starship will have an order of magnitude larger payload capacity than Vulcan and a cost per pound that much less than even the Falcon 9, said Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

I don't see any scenario in which Vulcan becomes cost-competitive with Falcon 9 or Starship, and a big reason is that it is not designed for reusability. What will keep Vulcan alive is U.S. military policy that says they want to have at least two launch providers, and commercial customers that want to avoid becoming dependent on Elon Musklike Amazon. Once Blue Origin's New Glenn enters service and gets qualified to launch military satellites, all bets are off, Harrison said.

However, ULA is looking at reusing the engines downstream, Peller said, maintaining that the current version of Vulcan is competitive regardless.

We're operating in a competitive marketplace and we must continue to always improve our product offering and the opportunity with reuseis a significant opportunity to enhance our competitiveness down the road, Peller said.

ULA had a slow year in 2023, launching a total of three rockets, partly because its transitioning from its legacy rockets to Vulcan.

In contrast, SpaceX dominated the 2023 launch market: out of 104 successful U.S. launches, 96 were by Elon Musks company, according to an annual report on global space activities by Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist working at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

A joint Lockheed Martin-Boeing venture, ULA had a monopoly on space launch until SpaceX came onto the scene in the 2010s, offering its Falcon 9 at a cheaper price than ULAs Atlas V. Falcon 9 has since become the workhorse in the market for medium and heavy launch vehicles.

The launch of ULAs new Vulcan rocket has been pushed back several times, in part due to delays in developing the main engine, BE-4, which is supplied by Jeff Bezoss Blue Origin, and also because of a post-qualification-test explosion in March 2023.

The company uses a very traditional development and engineering approach, which has led to long timelines but also means it will likely work on the first try, Harrison said.

The Monday launch is one of two certification flights ULA must complete before it can start flying missions for the Space Force. If all goes well in the first flight, the company aims for the second in April.

We need to get through two flights and we will evaluate the data and we expect that will put us on a path to complete our national security space launch certification, Peller said.

Vulcans first national security mission will be USSF-106, which will launch an experimental navigation satellite to geostationary-Earth orbit and also include a classified program. The satellite, Navigation Technology Satellite-3, NTS-3, is built by L3Harris and funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Vulcan has six launches planned in 2024, four of which are national security missions, Peller said. Once the new rocket is up and running, ULA plans to increase its cadence to 28 launches in 2025.

We're also putting in place a secondary capability where we can do vertical integration of a second vehicle in parallel, and once that capability is brought on board our flight rate will increase above the current flight rates, Peller said.

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ULA is ready to launch its new rocket. But will it be able to challenge SpaceX? - Defense One

If 2024s opening few days are anything to go by, SpaceX looks firmly committed to its goal of up to 144 Falcon-class missions, after smoothly wrapping up its third flight inside the years first week. Having already completed a record-breaking 96 flights in 202391 missions using 15 single-stick Falcon 9 boosters and five launches by the triple-barreled Falcon Heavythe Hawthorne, Calif.-headquartered organization has gone on record with its aim to fly up to a dozen times per month before the next New Years Eve.

Such a high flight-rate requires a launching mission each 2.5 days, a substantial uptick on 2023s impressive cadence which saw a Falcon leave the pad on average every 3.8 days. But with three missions already accomplished in the years first weeka pair of Starlink internet communications satellite launches and the successful lofting of Swedens Ovzon-3 broadband communications satellite to Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) last Wednesdaythe pace has already quickened into a roar.

And that roar will sound twice over the Space Coast this week, with the dust and smoke having barely cleared from tonights Falcon 9 launch before United Launch Alliance (ULA) aims for 2:18 a.m. EST Monday for the maiden Cert-1 certification flight of its Vulcan-Centaur heavylifter out of Space Launch Complex (SLC)-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla. The 202-foot-tall (61-meter) booster rolled out of the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) and completed a quarter-mile (400-meter) roll to the pad on Friday, following a satisfactory Launch Readiness Review (LRR).

Cert-1 has three back-to-back launch attempts on the Eastern Range, with Monday mornings opening opportunity offering the best oddssome 85-percent favorabilitywith a sharp deterioration to 30-percent favorability on Tuesday and 45 percent on Wednesday. Elevated winds and an encroaching cold front are likely to bring a period of strong winds, heavy rain and thunderstorms in the early part of the new week.

By the primary launch window, high pressure should bring generally favorable weather conditions, although there is a slight chance of a Thick Cloud Layers Rule violation from clouds associated with the subtropical jet, the 45th cautioned in its Sunday update. By Monday night, winds will begin to increase ahead of an approaching low-pressure system, it added, with an expectation that there would be no cessation until late Tuesday night, with multiple Launch Commit Criteria (LCC) violations likely.

In development for the last decade, ULA intends the Vulcan-Centaur ultimately to replace its in-service Atlas V and soon-to-be-retired Delta IV fleets. For its maiden outing in a few hours time, it will rise from SLC-41 under almost 2.1 million pounds (950,000 kilograms) of thrust from the twin Blue Origin-built BE-4 engines at the base of its core stage and a pair of Northrop Grumman Corp.-furnished Graphite Epoxy Motor (GEM)-63XL solid-fueled strap-on boosters to deliver Astrobotics Peregrine lunar lander into a highly elliptical orbit of more than 220,000 miles (360,000 kilometers) to intercept the Moon next month and propel Celestis, Inc.s Enterprise Flight memorial payload into deep space.

Tomorrow mornings launch will begin at T-5 seconds, when the Vulcan core stages BE-4 engines ignite, building up thrust to over 1.1 million pounds (450,000 kilograms). At T-0, their roar will be joined by the staccato crackle of the GEM-63XL boosters to power the stack uphill, exceeding the speed of sound at 70 seconds into flight and experiencing Max Qthe peak amount of aerodynamic stress upon its airframeat 76 seconds.

Their job done, the twin GEM-63XLs will be jettisoned at 110 seconds after liftoff, after which the BE-4s will continue their own burn to push the Vulcan-Centaur to the edge of space. Shutting down five minutes into the flight, the 109.2-foot-long (33.3-meter) core stage and the 38.5-foot-long (11.7-meter) Centaur V upper stage will part company.

It will next be the Centaur Vs responsibility to conduct the remainder of the mission, executing three burns of its twin Aerojet Rocketdyne-built RL-10 engines to emplace Peregrine into a highly elliptical orbit, more than 220,000 miles (360,000 kilometers) above Earth, and deliver the Enterprise Flight memorial payload into deep space. The Centaur V, which possesses 40 percent more endurance and 2.5 greater energy than ULAs current in-service upper stages, will kick off the first burn of its RL-10 engines, lasting ten minutes and 31 seconds, shortly after separation from Vulcans core.

During the burn, the two-piece composite fairing will be discarded, exposing Peregrine to the harsh environment of space for the first time. After Main Engine Cutoff (MECO)-1, by which point the Centaur will be high above the mid-Atlantic Ocean, the stack will coast for 28 minutes, before the RL-10 engines ignite again, this time running for four minutes and two seconds to lift Peregrine into a TLI orbit.

MECO-2 will take place at T+47 minutes and 37 seconds, with Peregrine expected to be deployed three minutes later high above the Indian Ocean at an altitude of 304 miles (490 kilometers), inclined 30.03 degrees. The lander is targeting touchdown on the Moon in February 2024. A final burn of the RL-10 engines, lasting about 20 seconds, will end with MECO-3 at T+78 minutes, carrying Centaur V and Enterprise Flight into a long-lasting and stable solar orbit.

But before this dramatic maiden voyage could commence, SpaceX at 5:35 p.m. EST Sunday executed its third launch of the year. Veteran B1067 completed no fewer than 15 flights between June 2021 and last November; her 16th launch tonight sets her in fourth place on the list of most experienced operational Falcon 9 boosters behind her in-service siblings B1060, B1061 and B1062, all three of which have reached 17 flights.

B1067 first saw service almost three years ago to launch the CRS-22 Cargo Dragon for a month-long stay at the International Space Station (ISS). She went on to deliver eight astronauts from the United States, Germany and Italy to the sprawling orbital complex on Crew-3 in November 2021 and Crew-4 in April 2022, followed by the CRS-25 Cargo Dragon to the ISS the following summer.

Added to this impressive list, B1067 also lifted a geostationary communications satellite for Turkey in December 2021which helped set a new record (now broken) between pairs of Falcon 9 launches at less than 16 hoursand a pair of O3b mPOWER broadband satellites in December 2022. Other payloads included the Hotbird 13G communications satellite in November 2021 and last June the Satria Very High Throughput Satellite (VHTS), built by Thales Alenia Space for Indonesias Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN).

Her Hotbird 13G launch in November 2021 marked the first time that SpaceX achieved 50 Falcon 9 missions in a single calendar year. And in January of 2023, one of her Starlink payloads tipped the scales at 38,400 pounds (17,400 kilograms) to become the heaviest Falcon 9 payload ever orbited at that time.

Aboard tonights mission were a further 23 of these small, flat-packed internet communications satellites, bringing to eight the total number of dedicated Starlink stacks B1067 has lofted since September 2022. All told, this particular booster has lofted 312 Starlinks to orbit, about 5.5 percent of the total launched by the entire Falcon 9 fleet since May 2019.

Weather for tonights launch proved generally favorable, with an 80-percent probability of acceptable conditions during a suite of T-0 points from 4 p.m. through 7:59 p.m. EST. A group of backup opportunities were also available on Monday afternoon, set against the backdrop of a murkier weather picture of only 40-percent favorability.

Key to the current Florida weather situation is a slow-moving cold front, although this was expected to finally get nudged south of the area late Sunday as surface high pressure builds across the Southeast U.S., according to the 45th Weather Squadron at Patrick Space Force Base. The reprieve from the active weather pattern will be short-lived, however, as a powerful storm system develops across the southern Plains and western Gulf of Mexico on Monday, with its impacts expanding towards Florida late in the day.

All told, this threatened Sunday afternoons opening launch attempt with violating the Thick Cloud Layers Rule, with an added risk of breaking the Cumulus Cloud Rule also factoring into Mondays dreary weather picture. In readiness for launch, the Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS), A Shortfall of Gravitas, put to sea out of Port Canaveral on the morning of 3 January, bound for a recovery position some 390 miles (630 kilometers) offshore in the Atlantic Ocean.

Liftoff occurred from storied Space Launch Complex (SLC)-40 at the Cape at 5:35 p.m. EST and B1067 roared smoothly into the steadily darkening Florida sky, the flare of her nine Merlin 1D+ engines clearly visible throughout first-stage ascent. At 2.5 minutes into flight, the core stage separated from the stack and completed a picture-perfect descent to alight on ASOGs deck. Meanwhile, the single Merlin 1D+ Vacuum engine of the second stage burned for six minutes, with a targeted deployment of the 23 Starlinks about 65 minutes into tonights flight.

As a network, Starlink enables high-speed and low-latency internet provision to 70 sovereign nations and international markets in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Oceania and Africa. Landlocked Eswatiniformerly Swaziland in southern Africaand Paraguay joined Starlink as recently as December.

The downsized Starlink V2 Mini satellites, first flown last February, boast three to four times greater usable bandwidth than earlier Starlink iterations. V2 Minis include key technologiessuch as more powerful phased-array antennas and the use of E-Band for backhaulwhich will allow Starlink to provide 4x more capacity per satellite than earlier iterations, SpaceX explained. Among other enhancements, V2 Minis are equipped with new argon Hall thrusters for on-orbit maneuvering.

Florida-based intercity operator Brightline adopted Starlink on its trains earlier in 2023, the first passenger rail service in the world to do so. Additionally, El Salvadors Ministry of Education has begun integrating Starlink capability into its schools to help close the digital divide between urban and remote rural communities and 50 Rwandan schools are now connected via Starlinks high-speed internet service.

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SpaceX Launches Third Mission in 2024s First Week, ULA Vulcan-Centaur to Fly Tonight - AmericaSpace

CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE SpaceX launched more than 20 Starlink v2-mini satellites on Sunday evening, making it the first Starlink mission of the year to be sent from the Sunshine State.

The companys Falcon 9 rocket left Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 5:35 p.m. ET,stated SpaceX.

It was originally set to launch at 4 p.m. ET, but the company did not state why it was pushed back.

If Sunday nights launch was scrubbed, the next attempt would have been Monday, Jan. 8, at 4:01 p.m. ET.

The Starlink 6-35 mission is the second launch from the Sunshine State of 2024, with the first one beingSpaceXs Ovzon 3 mission.

For Sundays mission,the 45th Weather Squadron on Saturdaygave an 80% chance of good launch conditions, with the only concern being the thick cloud layers rule.

Go here to learn aboutNASAs launch weather criteria for the Falcon 9 rocket.

Before this launch, SpaceXs first-stage booster B1067 for the Starlink 6-35 mission has an impressive 15 successful missions under its ample 12-foot-wide belt, if it wears one:

After the first-stage separation, the Falcon 9s booster landed on A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship that will be out in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Starlink 6-35 mission is expected to send up 23 satellites to low-Earth orbit, where they joined thousands of its mechanical siblings as they provide internet service to many parts of the globe.

Starlink is owned and operated by SpaceX.

Before the launch, astronomer Dr. Jonathan McDowell of Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics recorded thecurrent information on the Starlink satellites:

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SpaceX sends up first Florida Starlink mission of the year - News 13 Orlando

Digital content creators are invited to register to attend the launch of the eighth SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket that will carry crew to the International Space Station for a science expedition mission. This mission is part of NASAs Commercial Crew Program.

The targeted launch date for the agencys SpaceX Crew-8 mission is no earlier than mid-February from Launch Complex 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch will carry NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, commander; Michael Barratt, pilot; and mission specialist Jeanette Epps, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut mission specialist Alexander Grebenkin, to the International Space Station to conduct a wide range of operational and research activities.

If your passion is to communicate and engage the world online, then this is the event for you! Seize the opportunity to see and share the #Crew8 mission launch.

A maximum of 50 social media users will be selected to attend this three-day event and will be given access similar to news media.

NASA Social participants will have the opportunity to:

NASA Social registration for the Crew-8 launch opens on Friday, Jan. 5, and the deadline to apply is at 3 p.m. EST Tuesday, Jan. 9. All social applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

APPLY NOW

Yes. This event is designed for people who:

Users on all social networks are encouraged to use the hashtag #NASASocial and #Crew8. Updates and information about the event will be shared on X via @NASASocial and @NASAKennedy, and via posts to Facebook and Instagram.

Registration for this event opens Friday, Jan. 5, and closes at 3 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Jan. 9. Registration is for one person only (you) and is non-transferable. Each individual wishing to attend must register separately. Each application will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Because of the security deadlines, registration is limited to U.S. citizens. If you have a valid permanent resident card, you will be processed as a U.S. citizen.

After registrations have been received and processed, an email with confirmation information and additional instructions will be sent to those selected. We expect to send the acceptance notifications on Jan. 17.

All social applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Those chosen must prove through the registration process they meet specific engagement criteria.

If you do not make the registration list for this NASA Social, you still can attend the launch offsite and participate in the conversation online. Find out about ways to experience a launch here.

Registration indicates your intent to travel to NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida and attend the three-day event in person. You are responsible for your own expenses for travel, accommodations, food, and other amenities.

Some events and participants scheduled to appear at the event are subject to change without notice. NASA is not responsible for loss or damage incurred as a result of attending. NASA, moreover, is not responsible for loss or damage incurred if the event is cancelled with limited or no notice. Please plan accordingly.

Kennedy is a government facility. Those who are selected will need to complete an additional registration step to receive clearance to enter the secure areas.

IMPORTANT: To be admitted, you will need to provide two forms of unexpired government-issued identification; one must be a photo ID and match the name provided on the registration. Those without proper identification cannot be admitted.

For a complete list of acceptable forms of ID, please visit: NASA Credentialing Identification Requirements.

All registrants must be at least 18 years old.

Many different factors can cause a scheduled launch date to change multiple times. If the launch date changes, NASA may adjust the date of the NASA Social accordingly to coincide with the new target launch date. NASA will notify registrants of any changes by email.

If the launch is postponed, attendees will be invited to attend a later launch date. NASA cannot accommodate attendees for delays beyond 72 hours.

NASA Social attendees are responsible for any additional costs they incur related to any launch delay. We strongly encourage participants to make travel arrangements that are refundable and/or flexible.

If you cannot come to the Kennedy Space Center and attend in person, you should not register for the NASA Social. You can follow the conversation online using #NASASocial.

You can watch the launch on NASA Television or http://www.nasa.gov/live. NASA will provide regular launch and mission updates on @NASA, @NASAKennedy, and @Commercial_Crew.

If you cannot make this NASA Social, dont worry; NASA is planning many other Socials in the near future at various locations! Check backherefor updates.

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Experience the Launch of NASA's SpaceX Crew-8 Mission - NASA

TAMPA, Fla. Swedish satcom service provider Ovzons first fully owned satellite lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Jan. 3, closing a chapter on years of launch and manufacturing setbacks for the broadband spacecraft.

The Ovzon 3 satellite launched toward geostationary orbit at 6:04 p.m. Eastern from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, and separated from the rocket around 38 minutes later.

Maxar Technologies, Ovzon 3s manufacturer, said it has successfully contacted the satellite, which is now due to spend several months climbing to its orbital slot at 59.7 degrees East by using onboard electric propulsion. Ovzon 3s mobile connectivity services are slated to begin by the middle of the year if in-orbit health checks are successful.

Ovzon ordered the 1,500 kilogram satellite from Maxar in 2018 and had originally lined up a launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy in 2021.

The company switched launch providers in 2019 after what it said was a better offer from Arianespace, only to miss a ride on one of the last remaining Ariane 5 rockets following pandemic-related production issues at Maxar.

The Ovzon 3 mission was moved back to SpaceX in early 2023, but final assembly and testing delays along with work taking longer than expected to switch to a Falcon 9 pushed launch plans to late 2023, when poor weather bumped the mission to Jan. 3.

Ovzon twice had to get extensions from international regulators to the date it must begin providing services from the satellite or risk losing priority spectrum rights following the setbacks.

The latest regulatory extension pushed this deadline to July 4, which Ovzon CEO Per Norn said the company is on track to meet after the successful launch.

Ovzon was founded in 2006 with a focus on providing mobile satellite terminals, and later branched out to offer end-to-end connectivity services by leasing satellite capacity from third parties such as Intelsat.

The company provides broadband services mainly for government customers across the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

While the U.S. Department of Defense has traditionally been Ovzons largest customer, the operator sees opportunities to expand across Europe with its own satellite, the first commercial geostationary spacecraft to be deployed by a privately funded Swedish company.

The satellite has five steerable beams and a reprogrammable onboard processor that acts as a mesh network to enable remote satellite terminals to operate independently of a teleport a capability seeing rising demand from government customers following Russias invasion of Ukraine, according to Ovzon.

Ovzon 3 marked SpaceXs second launch of 2024 and was the 10th flight for the Falcon 9s first stage booster. The booster successfully returned to a nearby landing zone around eight minutes after lift-off for future reuse.

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SpaceX launches Ovzon's debut broadband satellite - SpaceNews

The first Falcon 9 rocket to launch from Florida in 2024 lifts off from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now

The orbital launch year in Florida began in the same way it ended 2023: with the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. On board the workhorse launch vehicle was a communications satellite for Sweden-based Ovzon. Liftoff of the rocket happened at the opening of a ten-minute launch window that began at 6:04 p.m. EST (2304 UTC). It marked the second Falcon 9 flight in less than 24 hours, following the launch of 21 Starlink satellites from California late Tuesday.

The mission sent the Ovzon-3 satellite to geostationary orbit, marking the first, privately-funded Swedish satellite launched.

Spaceflight Now will have live coverage with commentary from the Cape beginning about an hour before liftoff.

Sweden has a strong history with the satellite area, but this is a first for Sweden and I think thats something were very proud of, said Kristofer Alm, the Chief Marketing Officer for Ovzon. And I think that Sweden is a very strong based to continue our development.

Following liftoff on Wednesday, the satellite will spend the next three months reaching its orbital slot of 59.7 East. Once it gets there, Ovzon will begin its full testing campaign. The plan is that by mid-2024, the satellite will be full operational.

The good thing is were not finished then. Were going to keep adding capabilities, Alm said. Obviously, some of those capabilities will be customer-driven, some that we will do because its on our roadmap.

At its core, the Ovzon-3 satellite is designed for critical missions with so-called near-peer capabilities. Alm said the idea is for the satellite to be operable without being reliant on the ground segment of the architecture, helping it be resistant to jamming or other intrusive operations.

The satellite features five steerable spot beams that allow it to adjust where it is delivering the greatest user capacity and will function with Ovzons suite of satellite terminals.

Defense is our main target market. Defense is where weve been most successful, but weve started to broaden. We have national security, public safety, Alm said. So were doing like fire and rescue services in Italy and other parts of Europe where they need mobile terminals, robust terminals. They need a service that can be quickly activated.

And thats another part of our advantage, that we have the full-service chain. So, we can activate and deploy a network in basically 24 hours, Alm added.

Ovzon was founded in 2006 to offer a service of leasing on-orbit capacity through the use of its on-the-ground terminals. One of the companys main customers historically has been the U.S. Department of Defense.

Alm said as the years went on, Ovzon leaders decided that having their own satellite was important to expand their capabilities and offer a new service for government customers within the European market.

Weve always been a Swedish company with a U.S. customer base and now were a Swedish company with a U.S. and a European customer base and I think thats really exciting, Alm said.

Alm pointed to the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine as a moment of evolution in regards of the global community having a greater appreciation for having resident critical communications. He said the market is now more ready for this type of service than it was even just two years ago.

One thing that happened when the Russians went into Ukraine was they jammed satellite communications. And how did they do that? Well, they knocked out the ground segment, Alm said. Our satellite can function without the ground segment. So, when we tell that to our customer, theyre like Ooh.

So, they have studied whats going on there and we can bring capabilities to address that, Alm added. And thats meant that the narrative that we are putting forth has become extremely relevant for a lot of European customers right now.

The debut of Ovzons first satellite marks the first privately-funded satellite for Sweden, but it has also faced some headwinds. A combination of production delays and the COVID-19 pandemic put the satellite notably behind schedule and the cost heading into the launch was estimated around 2 billion Swedish kronoa (equivalent to roughly $195 million). It was original scheduled to launch on an Ariane 5 but was not ready to fly before the European workhorse rocket was retired.

Alm said despite the struggles, theyve had strong support from their financial backers on their way to launch.

Of course, the expectations are high and now that were [ready to launch] theyre going to be even higher, but I think we see that as a challenge and were ready to embrace it, Alm said. Obviously, its up to us to deliver now and I think thats part of the excitement ahead because now were given a tool that will allow us to continue the growth that weve been on.

The launch of the Ovzon-3 satellite continues what SpaceX hopes to be a historically busy year for the company. The mission will be the second orbital launch of 2024 for SpaceX and the first of the year with a paying customer.

The first stage booster supporting this mission, tail number B1076, will be making its 10th flight to date and will return to Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station about eight minutes after liftoff.

This mission kicks off a busy couple of months for SpaceX that will be highlighted by the launch of two crewed missions to the International Space Station, the launch of a Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft to the ISS and a Moon-bound mission with Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander.

In a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, SpaceX Vice President of Launch Kiko Dontchev reiterated the companys goal of launching 144 times before the year is out.

The launch system (pads, recovery, flight hardware) needs to be capable of 13 [per] month so we can play catch up when planned maintenance, debacles and weather inevitably slow us down, he wrote.

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SpaceX Falcon 9 launches Ovzon-3 satellite, kicking off launch year at the Cape Spaceflight Now - Spaceflight Now