Daily Archives: February 9, 2024

Delayed two days because of weather, a NASA satellite that will look at the tiniest parts of the air and ocean is set for an early Thursday morning launch from theSpace Coastthat could shake households inCentral Floridawhen the rockets booster creates a sonic boom during its recovery landing.

Years in the works, the Plankton, Aerosol Cloud Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite that was on the chopping block of the Trump administrations annual proposed NASA budgets several times as he sought to steer funds away from some climate-focused missions and shift money to deep-space efforts.

Now the nearly $1 billion PACE satellite sits atop a Falcon 9 rocket ready for liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force StationsSpace Launch Complex40, delayed from planned early Tuesday and Wednesday attempts because of high winds, and now targeting a1:33 a.m.liftoff Thursday.

The early morning launch could also bring a loud surprise in the form of sonic booms to theSpace Coastand surrounding counties as the booster for the flight makes a return to CanaveralsLanding Zone 1instead of downrange in theAtlantic.SpaceXwarns residents ofBrevard,Orange,Osceola,Indian River,Seminole,Volusia,Polk,St. Lucie, andOkeechobeecounties may hear one or more sonic booms depending on weather and other conditions.

Space Launch Delta45s weather squadron expects a 95% chance for good conditions for the Thursday attempt.

If it launches, it will be the eighth liftoff from theSpace Coastin 2024 during a year thatcould see as many as 111 launches.

The mission, which is being run out of NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, has been in the works for nine years, although originally conceived more than 20 years ago, saidJeremy Werdell, NASAs PACE project scientist.

What were doing here with PACE is really the search for the microscopic, mostly invisible universe in the sea and the sky in some degrees of land, he said.

Its three instruments on board look at the interactions of sunlight with clouds, a whole catalog of aerosol particulates in the air and phytoplankton, which form the base of the ocean food chain, in the sea.

Its as simple as that. We collect photons from the sun, just collect them, collect them, collect them, he said.

Werdell, whose main focus is on the oceans, andAndy Sayer, a PACE atmospheric scientist, outlined why a space-based view of this information would be beneficial.

Werdell notes there is both beneficial types of phytoplankton, such as those that help fisheries, or those that help absorb carbon dioxide, and harmful types as well, such as those related to red tide or blue-green algae that can cause fish kills and pollute the air.

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For the first time on global scale well know where the harmful ones are, where the beneficial ones are, where the beneficial ones are moving to as the oceans are starting to change.

Sayers focus on clouds and aerosols will have a wide-ranging use, he says.

We have a pretty good handle from satellites on what is the total amount of aerosol, but we dont have such a good handle on how it splits down into all these different species, he said.

That ranges from industry-bred carbon emissions to sulfates to sea spray. Sayer said knowing where the various types are located can help inform public policy on air quality and human health, for instance. It can also potentially feed information on where beneficial particulate matter might prompt better agriculture or fishing.

As far as their role into how aerosols feed into cloud formation, some of that data can help feed theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That included tracking dust off the Sahara Desert.

The interactions between the kind of dust heating in the atmosphere are thought to be able to help control cloud formation and how these storms move and how they grow, he said. So the better we can get a handle on that, maybe the better we can predict these kinds of severe ends happening further and get better forecasts.

NASAs director of its Earth Science Division,Karen St. Germain, said theNOAAis a principal partner in the mission, and the data is expected could help predict hurricane intensification and track.

They are an early adopter, for many reasons, ranging from weather prediction to long-range climate to the harmful algal blooms and the things that affect fisheries, she said.

The PACE satellite builds on parts of existing observations, but most are hyperlocal, ground-based sensing, and space gives a macro view of these microscopic phenomenon, Werdell said.

We are studying the combined Earth system, Werdell said. It is not an ocean mission. Its not an atmosphere mission. Its not a land mission. Its an all-of-those-things mission. And that is so incredibly important because you cant understand one without understanding the other.

He said the science to be determined from the mission, though, is partly unknown, but thats a good thing,

The scientific community with PACE has something they can grow into, and that hasnt happened in a really long time, he said. This is a mission that we dont know what were going to learn about. And that is so deeply exciting.

The PACE mission, which has a planned 10-year lifespan once on orbit, was one of the first targeted by Trump beginning with the 2018 fiscal year budget, butCongressrestored funding to the mission with the final budget allocations. It is now set to join more than two dozen Earth science satellites currently orbiting the planet.

It has been a long strange trip as they say, an emotional Werdell said Sunday during a preflight press conference in response to the missions several near cancellations.

We were as confident as one can be that we would find ways to persevere. The community wanted all of this, he said. Not going to dive into policy or politics, but its been a really remarkable journey and the support from the community, the support from the agency, the support from people like yourselves asking questions getting involved, weve kept our morale high.

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Sonic boom could hit Florida with SpaceX launch of NASA Earth science probe - Tampa Bay Times

Following a pair of 24-hour postponements, due to unfavorable weather conditions on the Space Coast and higher-than-allowable ground winds preventing critical pre-launch checkouts, NASAs $805 million Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission is officially underway, having taken flight at 1:33:36 a.m. EST Thursday atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster from storied Space Launch Complex (SLC)-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla. The spacecraft and its three scientific instrumentsa first-of-its-kind optical spectrometer and a pair of multi-angle polarimetershave been a decade in the making and will spend up to a decade in low-Earth orbit performing critical measurements of our planets atmosphere and oceans on a global scale.

Congratulations to the PACE team on a successful launch, said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. With this new addition to NASAs fleet of Earth-observing satellites, PACE will help us learn, like never before, how particles in our atmosphere and our oceans can identify key factors impacting global warming. Missions like this are supporting the Biden-Harris Administrations climate agenda and helping us answer urgent questions about our changing climate.

Launching PACE was the four-times-flown B1081 booster core, which entered service last August to deliver Dragon Endurance and her Crew-7 quartet of NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, Denmarks Andreas Mogensen of the European Space Agency (ESA), Satoshi Furukawa of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov to the International Space Station (ISS), where they currently reside. Two additional launches of B1081 last November and December delivered SpaceXs CRS-29 Cargo Dragon for a month-long research stay at the space station and a 23-strong batch of Starlink low-orbiting internet communications satellites.

Liftoff of PACE was originally scheduled for 1:33 a.m. EST Tuesday, but with weather hovering no higher than 50-50 favorability, NASA and SpaceX teams opted late Monday to call off the first launch attempt and refocus on Wednesday instead. SpaceX also tweeted on X that high winds at the Capes Landing Zone (LZ)-1, where B1081 was set to make a solid-ground touchdown, were also unfavorable.

This grim picture made it not unreasonable for teams to stand down well in advance of Tuesdays launch attempt and refocus on Wednesdays pre-dawn hours when the Probability of Go (PGo) was predicted to improve to 95 percent. Only a very low risk of a Cumulus Cloud Rule violation stood in PACEs way for Wednesday.

But yesterday also proved not to be a good day, as the long-awaited launch was again called off due to higher-than-allowable ground winds that precluded several critical pre-flight checkouts of the vehicle. Although PACEs prime T-0 point, which has sat at 1:33 a.m. EST each day this week, is not strictly instantaneous, it only offered a roughly 90-second period of time, with SpaceX and NASA teams aiming for the middle of the launch window in order to leave the second half available to accommodate potential Collision Avoidance (COLA) considerations.

By Thursday, however, the weather had begun to turn a corner and the high winds began to subside. Winds will decrease and veer from the north to the northeast, noted the 45th Weather Squadron in an update yesterday afternoon. While a few low-topped coastal showers cant be ruled out in the evening/overnight hours, dry mid-level air will cap off any significant vertical development.

High pressure will remain in control and similar conditions will persist through the remainder of the week, the 45th concluded. For both the primary launch window early Thursday morning and backup window early Friday morning, weather looks very favorable with the only concern being the very low risk of a Cumulus Cloud Rule violation.

Originally tracking a liftoff at 1:33:32 a.m. EST, the T-0 point slipped slightly by four seconds in response to an anticipated COLA conjunction. As the clock passed T-1 minute and the Falcon 9 flight computers transitioned to Startup, the excitement began to build as a mission that had been a decade in the making approached fruition.

Many on the PACE Spacecraft Team now going outside to watch this launch, reported NASA commentator Derrol Nail at T-45 seconds. It should be a beauty.

His words could not have been better chosen and B1081 roared aloft perfectly, kicking ofF SpaceXs inaugural mission of February. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 and PACE, exulted Mr. Nail. Helping keep pace with our ever-changing atmosphere and ocean.

B1081 powered the 230-foot-tall (70-meter) stack uphill for opening 2.5 minutes of ascent, before separating and executing a picture-perfect descent to alight on solid ground at the Capes Landing Zone (LZ)-1 at T+7 minutes and 30 seconds. Meanwhile, the single Merlin 1D+ Vacuum engine of the Falcon 9s second stage burned longer than normal on this missionigniting at T+2 minutes and 30 seconds and running for almost eight full minutesin what Mr. Nail described as a direct-inject to get PACE into its 420-mile-high (675-kilometer) polar orbit at 98 degrees of inclination.

Spacecraft separation occurred at 12 minutes and 22 seconds into the flight.

Weighing 3,750 pounds (1,700 kilograms), PACE is managed by NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, Md. It will provide global views of microscopic algae concentrations, known as phytoplankton, which occupy the sunlit upper part of the oceans and produce at least half of Earths oxygen and forming the base of the marine food chain.

Quantifying phytoplankton levels, NASA noted, carries important implications for expanding human knowledge of the carbon cycle and tracking climatic variability and change over time. Knowing more about global phytoplankton community composition will help us understand how living marine resources respond to a changing climate, said Project Scientist Jeremy Werdell of GSFC. With PACE, we will learn more about the role of marine phytoplankton in the global carbon cycle.

In June 2016, PACE transitioned out of its preliminary design phase at Key Decision Point-A (KDP-A) and the following September NASA opted to build the spacecraft in-house. This decision enabled instrument designs and capabilities to mature as the mission developed, as well as affording improved flexibility to meet budgetary and schedule challenges and in recognition of the fact that all the requisite engineering facilities and core competencies were readily available at GSFC.

Passing Key Decision Point-B (KDP-B) in August 2017, the pace of PACE accelerated as the design of the spacecraft and its primary instrument, the GSFC-furnished Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) got underway. Described as a first-of-its-kind optical spectrometer in terms of capability, OCI will take hyperspectral measurements of the oceans, covering a broader swath of the electromagnetic spectrum than any of its predecessor missions.

Were going to look at everything in the range from ultraviolet all the way out to shortwave infrared, said PACE Project Manager Andr Dress of GSFC. Other missions have only taken slices, and while that gives you good data, it doesnt give you all of the information about different types of phytoplankton life in the ocean.

Also sharing payload space aboard PACE are a pair of multi-angle polarimeters: the Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter-2 (HARP-2)a follow-on from HARP, an initial hyper-angular rainbow polarimeter deployed from the ISS as a CubeSat in February 2020and the Spectropolarimeter for Planetary Exploration (SPEXone). Developed by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (HARP-2) and the Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON) and Airbus Defence and Space Netherlands (SPEXone), these instruments will accurately characterize aerosol properties and particulate sizes and compositions with unprecedented levels of accuracy and detail.

Together, the data output from OCI, HARP-2 and SPEXone will enable better quantification of phytoplankton and aerosol-particle effects upon marine biology, ocean chemistry and the home planets energy budget and ecological forecasting. PACE will permit scientists to better monitor fisheries, identify harmful algal blooms and observe changes over time in marine resources.

Observations and scientific research from PACE will profoundly advance our knowledge of the oceans role in the climate cycle, said Karen St. Germain, director of the Earth Science Division within the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. As an open-source science mission with early adopters ready to use its research and data, PACE will accelerate our understanding of the Earth system and help NASA deliver actionable science, data, and practical applications to help our coastal communities and industries address rapidly evolving challenges.

Its been an honor to work with the PACE team and witness firsthand their dedication and tenacity in overcoming challenges, including the global pandemic, to make this observatory a reality, said Marjorie Haskell, PACE program executive at NASA Headquarters. The passion and teamwork are matched only by the excitement of the science community for the data this new satellite will provide.

Attention now turns to Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., where another Falcon 9 is gearing up for launch with a 22-strong batch of Starlink internet communications satellites later on Thursday. Postponed yesterday due to poor weather on the West Coast, the veteran B1071 booster is now targeted to rise from Space Launch Complex (SLC)-4E during a raft of T-0 points extending from 4:56 p.m. PST through 8:54 p.m. PST.

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SpaceX Launches Ambitious PACE Mission to Monitor Global Ocean, Atmospheric Health - AmericaSpace

UPDATE 3: SpaceX is now targeting Thursday, February 8 for a Falcon 9 launch of 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Liftoff is targeted for 4:56 p.m. PT, with backup opportunities available until 8:54 p.m. PT. This new date is after the scheduled Falcon 9 mission on Tuesday was bumped to Wednesday. Both delays are due to unfavorable weather conditions, according to officials.

A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about five minutes prior to liftoff. Watch live.

This is the 14th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched NROL-87, NROL-85, SARah-1, SWOT, Transporter-8, Transporter-9, and seven Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

UPDATE 2: Its a stand down at final minute as SpaceX scrubs Starlink smallsats launch

UPDATE 2: SpaceX is targeting Wednesday, February 7 for a Falcon 9 launch of 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Liftoff is targeted for 5:17 p.m. PT, with backup opportunities available until 8:54 p.m. PT.

Tuesday the launch teams for the Starlink 7-13 mission got down to the final minute of the countdown before calling a scrub with poor weather conditions.

A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about five minutes prior to liftoff. Watch live.

This is the 14th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched NROL-87, NROL-85, SARah-1, SWOT, Transporter-8, Transporter-9, and seven Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

SpaceX schedules Tuesday for Starlink smallsats launch

SpaceX is targeting Tuesday, February 6 for a Falcon 9 launch of 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Liftoff is targeted for 9:01 p.m. PT, with backup opportunities available until 9:38 p.m. PT. If needed, additional opportunities are also available on Wednesday, February 7 starting at 5:17 p.m. PT.

A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about five minutes prior to liftoff. Watch live.

This is the 14th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched NROL-87, NROL-85, SARah-1, SWOT, Transporter-8, Transporter-9, and seven Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

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UPDATE 3: Another bump in time as SpaceX delays launch of 22 Starlink smallsats SatNews - SatNews

SpaceX is requesting permission from regulators to turn its ocean-based rocket landing pads into satellite ground stations.

First reported by Advanced Television, the satellite company has filed for permission with the FCC to test its Starlink antennas aboard its ocean-based rocket landing platforms, known as autonomous spaceport drone ships (ASDS).

The company has requested Special Temporary Authority to operate up to twelve Ka-Band earth stations operating aboard autonomous drone ships in US waters in the North Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean. The east stations will communicate with SpaceX satellites.

SpaceX would operate no more than four earth stations per vessel under this authorization at any given time, the company said. This experiment will enable SpaceX to test antennas onboard SpaceXs autonomous drone ships in the Ka-band.

The trial would run until June 29, 2024. A second SpaceX document added: The purpose of the test is to assess the earth stations' ability to serve as gateways in a maritime environment using test traffic. For the purposes of this experiment, SpaceX seeks to connect earth stations with its first- and second-generation satellite systems in the Ka-band. During the test period, the earth station will only receive and transmit test traffic to assess the capability of these earth stations to route and switch NGSO FSS traffic and backhaul local networks in a maritime environment.

SpaceX first announced plans for unmanned floating landing platforms back in 2014. The companys reusable rockets launch from and land on the barges, and the platforms autonomously keep station using GPS. Current and former platforms used by SpaceX include Just Read the Instructions 1 and 2, Of Course I Still Love You, and A Shortfall of Gravitas. All are based on the Marmac series of barges from McDonough Marine Service.

Starlink has signed a number of connectivity deals in the maritime sector. Container ship companies including Fukujin Kisen, Hapag-Lloyd, Seaspan Corporation, Polembros Shipping, Columbia Shipmanagement, Costamare, Sun Enterprises, F. and Laeisz are Starlink customers.

Cruise liner firms deploying Starlink terminals include Ambassador, Cunard, Seabourn, Aqua Expedition, OceanGate Expeditions, Enesel, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, Carnival Corporation, Windstar Cruises, Hurtigruten, SeaDeam, and American Cruise Line.

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SpaceX applies for sea-based satellite earth stations - DatacenterDynamics

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On the week of the sixth anniversary of the first flight of Falcon Heavy, SpaceX looks to launch four separate Falcon 9 missions. Meanwhile, JAXA is preparing for the second flight of the H3 rocket after its unsuccessful maiden launch in 2023, while Roscosmos will resupply the International Space Station (ISS) with Progress MS-26 launching on Soyuz.

On Tuesday evening, this weeks first batch of Starlink satellites was supposed to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California but that was scrubbed due to bad weather. Early Thursday morning, another Falcon 9 launched from SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) taking NASAs Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Earth-observing satellite to a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). Later in the week, SpaceX will launch again from SLC-40 taking another group of Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit.

Closing out this extended week, there will be a triple header of launches coming from three different countries. The first will be SpaceXs launch of the IM-1 Nova-C lunar lander out of LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Then, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will launch three payloads out of the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan on what aims to be the first successful launch of the H3 rocket. Finally, a Soyuz 2.1a will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan taking supplies up to the ISS.

SpaceX Falcon 9 | PACE

On Thursday, Feb. 8 at 1:33 AM EST (06:33 UTC), SpaceX launched NASAs PACE Earth-observation satellite on a Falcon 9 out of SLC-40 from CCSFS.

PACE is a long-term Earth-observation satellite that will show constant models of global ocean color, cloud, and aerosol data. This satellite has many different uses all in one package and will benefit humanitys understanding of the Earth by watching for changes and inconsistencies to predict environmental phenomena such as weather, visibility, and air quality.

The booster launching this mission was B1081-4, which propulsively returned to Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) shortly after launch. The second stage inserted PACE into a 676.5-kilometer Sun-synchronous polar orbit inclined 98 degrees.

SpaceX Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 7-13

Following multiple delays due to unfavorable recovery and cloud conditions, SpaceX is now targeting Feb. 9 at 9:01 PM PST (Feb. 10 at 05:01 UTC) for the launch of Starlink Group 7-13 from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. SpaceX has targeted Feb. 6 and Feb. 8 for this launch although both attempts were scrubbed due to excessive weather conditions.

An expected 22 v2 Mini satellites will be lofted to a 53-degree inclination orbit on a southeastern trajectory. The booster B1071 will have launched 14 times and plans to land on the autonomous droneship Of Course I Still Love You downrange in the Pacific Ocean.

View of a stack of 21 Starlink v2 Mini satellites before being enclosed in their fairing. (Credit: SpaceX)

The specific booster set to launch the mission is not yet known. Group 7-13 is set to be the 11th SpaceX Falcon 9 launch of the year, and the 25th orbital launch attempt for the year overall.

SpaceX Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 6-39

SpaceX will be launching another stack of Starlink satellites on Feb. 10 at 1:00 AM EST (06:00 UTC) from SLC-40 out of CCSFS in Florida. Starlink Group 6-39 will have a payload of 23 Starlink v2 Mini satellites. These satellites will be heading to an initial low-Earth orbit of 284 by 293 kilometers with a southeastern trajectory inclined 43 degrees. The 23 satellites will be added to the thousands of active Starlink satellites in orbit giving internet to people all over the world.

The booster for this mission is unknown at this time, but it is believed that it will land on one of the two autonomous droneships stationed on the East Coast. This will be the 27th total orbital launch of 2024 with nearly half being Falcon 9 launches.

SpaceX Falcon 9 | Nova-C (IM-1)

Falcon 9s 300th flight and the next mission to the Moon is launching on Feb. 14 at 12:57 AM EST (05:57 UTC). Falcon 9 is set to take Intuitive Machines first Nova-C lunar lander to a trans-lunar injection. Lifting off from historic LC-39A at KSC in Florida, Falcon 9 will launch with an unknown booster and then return to LZ-1 while the second stage does the heavy lifting, taking Nova-C out to the Moon.

The IM-1 Nova-C lander during final assembly. (Credit: Intuitive Machines)

Nova-C is the next lunar lander in NASAs Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. CLPS was created to give private companies the resources to build commercial lunar landers to send NASA payloads to the Moon before the crewed Artemis III landing. It will carry five NASA payloads and four private or university payloads with plans to study plume-surface interactions, radio astronomy, and space weather interactions on the lunar surface. The lander will touch down in Malapert A, a crater near the south pole of the Moon.

SpaceX has upgraded LC-39As strongback with new propellant connections to load Nova-C with liquid oxygen and liquid methane propellants while vertical on the launch pad. Recently, SpaceX has performed tests on the new system at the pad before the integrated vehicle is brought out for a wet dress rehearsal in the coming days.

It appears that SpaceX may be testing the TE at 39A with the new connections that should allow @Int_Machines's Nova-C lander to be loaded with propellants while on the pad. The lander uses cryogenic oxygen and methane fluids for its propulsion system.https://t.co/bWDuxt1M5U pic.twitter.com/ELmTDpjPiZ

Alejandro Alcantarilla Romera (Alex) (@Alexphysics13) January 21, 2024

The landing of Nova-C is planned for Feb. 22 with the operation time on the lunar surface being nearly 14 Earth days. Intuitive Machines is following closely after Astrobotics Peregrine Mission One another CLPS lander which failed to land on the Moon last month after a propulsion system malfunction.

If everything goes well with this flight, Intuitive Machines has a second lunar lander lined up to launch in the second quarter of this year to send more NASA, university, and commercial payloads to the lunar surface.

JAXA/MHI H3-22 | VEP 4, CE-SAT-1E & TIRSAT

The second flight of the JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) H3-22 rocket is set for Feb. 15 at 9:22 AM JST (00:22 UTC) from LA-Y2 out of the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. H3 is classified as a medium-lift launch vehicle and uses cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in its first and second stages. The core rocket can then optionally be augmented by two or four solid rocket boosters.

This mission will use two boosters along with a short payload fairing, taking three payloads into a Sun-synchronous orbit.

The first flight of H3 experienced a failure of the second engine ignitor causing the test payload to fall short of orbit. While flight two was originally planned to launch the ALOS-4 Earth observation satellite, the vehicle failure caused JAXA to choose to fly the Vehicle Evaluation Payload-4 (VEP-4) mass simulator, although there are also two small satellites onboard for this flight.

CE-SAT-1E is a 70-kilogram Earth observation satellite built by Canon Electronics Inc., and TIRSAT is a five-kilogram 3U CubeSat from Japan Space Systems to test infrared sensors for Earth observation. While there is an inherent risk to flying an unproven rocket, the customers are confident in the new vehicles ability to take their payloads to orbit.

Roscosmos Soyuz 2.1a | Progress MS-26

The next resupply mission to the ISS is launching on a Soyuz 2.1a to low-Earth orbit on Feb. 15 at 9:25 AM AQTT (03:25 UTC) from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. This mission will take Progress MS-26 to the ISS, carrying food, water, oxygen, fuel, and more to keep the Station and its astronauts healthy.

This will be Soyuz 2.1as 74th overall mission but the first of 2024. Progress MS-26s docking time is unknown, as is the date of its departure from the Station. This will be the 179th Progress mission since the first flight back in 1978.

(Lead image: Intuitive Machines IM-1 Nova-C lander before encapsulation in Falcon 9s payload fairing. Credit: SpaceX)

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Launch Roundup: SpaceX to launch lunar lander on Falcon 9's 300th mission; JAXA looks to reach orbit with H3 rocket ... - NASASpaceflight.com

UPDATE 2: NASA and SpaceX are standing down from the Wednesday, February 7, launch of the agencys Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission due to ground winds preventing prelaunch checkouts. The team is targeting liftoff at 1:33 a.m. EST Thursday, February 8, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The satellite and rocket remain healthy and ready for launch.

If needed, a backup opportunity is available Friday, February 9 at the same time.

A live webcast of this mission will begin on NASA+ and NASA Television about 45 minutes prior to liftoff.

This is the fourth flight of the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-7, CRS-29, and one Starlink mission. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

SpaceX is ready to keep pace despite weather and launch NASAs PACE mission

SpaceX is targeting Wednesday, February 7 at 1:33 a.m. ET for a Falcon 9 launch of NASAs PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) mission to a sun-synchronous orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. If needed, a backup opportunity is available Thursday, February 8 at the same time.

PACE is scheduled to fly from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Wednesday, February 7, at 1:33 AM EST (06:33 UTC), during an instantaneous launch window. The flight was previously scheduled for February 6 but was delayed due to unfavorable weather conditions. Falcon 9 will take a southbound trajectory to a Sun-synchronous polar orbit that allows for the satellite to see a given spot on Earth at the same time every day.

A live webcast of this mission will begin on NASA+ and NASA Television about 45 minutes prior to liftoff.

This is the fourth flight of the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-7, CRS-29, and one Starlink mission. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. January was a record-setting month featuring 10 launches for SpaceX and this will be a busy February as well.

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UPDATE 2: PACE launch delay again as weather creates stand down SatNews - SatNews

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with NASAs PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) spacecraft encapsulated atop is raised to a vertical position at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. Liftoff of the PACE mission is set for no earlier than 1:33 a.m. EST on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo credit: SpaceX

Launch weather officers with Cape Canaveral Space Force Stations 45th Weather Squadron predict a 40% chance of favorable weather conditions for the launch of NASAs PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) mission at 1:33 a.m. EST Tuesday, Feb. 6, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket fromSpace Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Lingering showers and storms from the weekend will continue across the area today and into the overnight hours with accompanyingwinds expected to increase. The primary weather concerns at launch are cumulus clouds, thick cloud layers, and liftoff winds.

The next available launch date is Wednesday, Feb. 7. Launch weather officers forecast a 60% chance of favorable conditions for this launch opportunity, with the cumulus cloud rule and liftoff winds as the primary weather concerns.

To learn more about the PACE mission, visit:

https://pace.oceansciences.org/mission.htm

Continue checking the PACE blog for additional mission updates, or join the conversation on social media by following these accounts:

X:@NASA,@NASA_LSP,@NASAKennedy,@NASAGoddard Facebook:NASA,NASAs Launch Services Program,NASAs Kennedy Space Center,NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center Instagram:@NASA,@NASAKennedy,@NASAGoddard

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Weather 40% Favorable for Tuesday PACE Mission Launch PACE Mission - NASA Blogs

SpaceX wants to launch its giant Starship vehicle often over the coming months, as a new photo makes abundantly clear.

In a post on X this afternoon (Feb. 2), SpaceX shared photos of the "megabay" at its Stabase site in South Texas, the center of Starship manufacturing and launch activities.

The building is jam-packed with towering stainless-steel cylinders Super Heavy vehicles, the first stage of SpaceX's Starship megarocket which rise nearly to the roof.

"Super Heavy boosters for the next three flights, with a fourth ready to stack, in the Starbase Megabay," SpaceX wrote in the post.

Related:See stunning photos and video of Starship's 2nd launch

Starship consists of two elements, both of which are designed to be fully and rapidly reusable: Super Heavy and a 165-foot-tall (50 meters) upper-stage spacecraft called Starship.

When fully stacked, Starship stands about 400 feet (122 meters) tall. It's the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, capable of launching up to 150 tons of payload to low Earth orbit, according to SpaceX's spec sheet.

Starship isn't up and running yet, however; it has launched just twice to date, on test flights in April and November of last year. Both ended in powerful explosions. But Starship made enough progress on the second liftoff acing a full-duration Super Heavy burn and successfully separating its two stages, for example that success seems like a real possibility on flight number three, which may be just around the corner.

Indeed, SpaceX aims to launch the test mission this month, provided it secures a launch license from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration in time. (The FAA is overseeing an investigation into what happened on the November flight.)

SpaceX thinks that Starship's combination of power and reusability will lead to huge breakthroughs in exploration, allowing humanity to put down stakes on the moon and Mars.

NASA sees promise in the vehicle: It selected Starship to be the first crewed moon lander for its Artemis program, which aims to establish a permanent human presence on and around Earth's nearest neighbor by the end of the 2020s. Starship will put astronauts down on the lunar surface for the first time in 2026, on the Artemis 3 mission, if all goes according to plan.

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SpaceX shows of 4 giant Starship Super Heavy boosters (photos) - Space.com

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with NASAs PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) spacecraft stands vertical at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. PACE is NASAs newest earth-observing satellite that will help increase our understanding of Earths oceans, atmosphere, and climate by delivering hyperspectral observations of microscopic marine organisms called phytoplankton as well new data on clouds and aerosols. Liftoff of the PACE mission is set for no earlier than 1:33 a.m. EST on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. Photo credit: SpaceX

Launch weather officers with Cape Canaveral Space Force Stations 45th Weather Squadron predict 95% favorable weather conditions for the launch of NASAs PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

The launch has been delayed two times due to unfavorable weather conditions near the Space Coast. For the primary launch window early Thursday morning, the only concern is a very low risk of a Cumulus Cloud Rule violation.

Liftoff continues to be targeted for 1:33 a.m. EST Thursday, Feb. 8, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Space in Florida.

Follow along here on the blog as the countdown continues, or watch live coverage at 12:45 a.m. EST on Thursday, Feb. 8 on the NASA+ streaming service, theNASA app, and the agencys website, as well as YouTube, and the agencys website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms, including these accounts on social media:

X: @NASA, @NASA_LSP, @NASAEarth, @NASAKennedy, @NASAGoddard Facebook: NASA, NASAs Launch Services Program, NASAs Kennedy Space Center, NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center Instagram: @NASA, @NASAKennedy, @NASAGoddard

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Weather Clears for PACE Launch PACE Mission - NASA Blogs

Featured image credit: SpaceX/Jack Beyer Liftoff Time February 09, 2024 00:55 UTC February 08, 2024 16:55 PST Mission Name Starlink Group 7-13; a launch of v2 Mini Starlink satellites Launch Provider(What rocket company is launching it?) SpaceX Customer(Whos paying for this?) SpaceX Rocket Falcon 9 Block 5 booster B1071-14; 62.70-day turnaround Launch Location Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E), Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, USA Payload mass ~17,600 kg (22 x ~800 kg, plus dispenser)(estimated) Where are the satellites going? 530 km circular low-Earth orbit (LEO)at 53; initial orbit 286 x 295 km at 53.16 Will they be attempting to recover the first stage? Yes Where will the first stage land? ~642 km downrange on Of Course I Still Love You

Tug: Debra C; Support: GO Beyond

SpaceXs Starlink Group 7-13 mission will launch 22 Starlink v2 Mini satellites atop a Falcon 9 rocket; unlike on Starlink Group 7-9, none of these satellites have direct-to-cell capability. The Falcon 9 will lift off from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E), at Vandenberg Space Force Base, in California, United States. Starlink Group 7-13 will mark the 137th operational Starlink mission, boosting the total number of Starlink satellites launched to 5,828, of which ~5,438 will still be in orbit around the Earth once launched.

Starlink is SpaceXs internet communication satellite constellation. The low-Earth orbit constellation delivers fast, low-latency internet service to locations where ground-based internet is unreliable, unavailable, or expensive.The first phase of the constellation consists of five orbital shells.

Starlink is currently available in certain regions, allowing anyone in approved regions to order or preorder. After 28 launches SpaceX achieved near-global coverage, but version one of the constellation will not be complete until all five shells are filled. Once Starlink generations 1 and 2 are complete, the venture is expected to profit $30-50 billion annually. This profit will largely finance SpaceXs ambitious Starship program, as well as Mars Base Alpha.

Each Starlink v1.5 satellite has a compact design and a mass of 307 kg. SpaceX developed a flat-panel design, allowing them to fit as many satellites as possible into the Falcon 9s 5.2-meter wide payload fairing. Due to this flat design, SpaceX is able to fit up to 60 Starlink satellites and the payload dispenser into the second stage, while still being able to recover the first stage. This is near the recoverable payload capacity of the Falcon 9 to LEO, around 18 tons.

As small as each Starlink satellite is, each one is packed with high-tech communication and cost-saving technology. Each Starlink satellite is equipped with four phased array antennas, for high bandwidth and low-latency communication, and two parabolic antennas. The satellites also include a star tracker, which provides the satellite with attitude data, ensuring precision in broadband communication.

Each Starlink v1.5 satellite is also equipped with an inter-satellite laser communication system. This allows each satellite to communicate directly with other satellites, not having to go through ground stations. This reduces the number of ground stations needed, allowing coverage of the entire Earths surface, including the poles.

The Starlink satellites are also equipped with an autonomous collision avoidance system, which utilizes the US Department of Defense (DOD) debris tracking database to autonomously avoid collisions with other spacecraft and space junk.

To decrease costs, each satellite has a single solar panel, which simplifies the manufacturing process. To further cut costs, Starlinks propulsion system, an ion thruster, uses krypton as fuel, instead of xenon. While the specific impulse (ISP) of krypton is significantly lower than xenons, it is far cheaper, which further decreases the satellites manufacturing cost.

Each Starlink satellite is equipped with the first Hall-effect krypton-powered ion thruster. This thruster is used for both ensuring the correct orbital position, as well as for orbit raising and orbit lowering. At the end of the satellites life, this thruster is used to deorbit the satellite.

SpaceXs Starlink v2 satellites are larger, more powerful satellites meant to be launched on SpaceXs Starship launch vehicle. While little is known about these satellites thus far, it is known that they mass roughly 1,200 kg and feature a twin-solar array design, to increase power delivered to the satellite. On top of this, according to SpaceX CEO and CTO Elon Musk, the satellites will have an order of magnitude more bandwidth, higher speeds, and be roughly 10x better in every way.

Starting on Starlink Group 7-9, some Starlink v2 satellites will act as cell towers, providing worldwide cell phone coverage to T-Mobile customers. Musk has stated that each of these satellites will have roughly 2-4 Mb/s of bandwidth per cell phone zone, which will allow for tens of thousands of SMS text messages per second or many users placing phone calls. While this technology is primarily meant for contacting emergency services worldwide (similar to Apples connect to satellite feature on the iPhone 14 and 15 series), it will also be able to be used for sending non-emergency-related messages.

Due to delays in the Starship launch vehicle, SpaceX is launching Starlink v2 Mini satellites that will launch on the Falcon 9 rocket. These satellites have a more powerful phased array antenna and utilize the E-band for backhaul. This allows each satellite to provide 4x more capacity than Starlink v1.0 and v1.5.

The Starlink v2 Mini satellites are equipped with a new argon Hall thruster for on-orbit maneuvering. These generate 2.4 times as much thrust as the thrusters on v1.5 satellites and have 1.5 times the specific impulse. Starlink v2 Mini satellites are the first satellites to use an argon thruster on-orbit.

A satellite constellation is a group of satellites that work in conjunction for a common purpose. SpaceXs Starlink constellation consists of two generations: the first (which is largely complete) is filled with Starlink v1/1.5 satellites and the second is to be filled with Starlink v2 and v2 Mini satellites.

Starlink Generation One consists of five orbital shells and has a total of 4,408 satellite slots. These satellites will entirely be launched on Falcon 9, and it is expected for these launches to finish in 2023.

Generation Two consists of 29,988 satellitesthis is roughly 20 times more satellites than were ever launched before the start of Starlink in 2019. These satellites will primarily be launched by Starship; however, as previously mentioned, Falcon 9 will launch some of these satellites while Starship is not operational.

Due to the vast number of Starlink satellites, many astronomers are concerned about their effect on the night sky. However, SpaceX is working with the astronomy community and implementing changes to the satellites to make them harder to see from the ground and less obtrusive to the night sky. SpaceX has changed how the satellites raise their orbits and, starting on Starlink v1.0 L9, added a sunshade to reduce light reflectivity. These changes have already significantly decreased the effect of Starlink on the night sky.

The first orbital shell of Starlink satellites consists of 1,584 satellites in a 53.0 550 km low-Earth orbit. Shell 1 consists of 72 orbital planes, with 22 satellites in each plane. This shell is currently near complete, with occasional satellites being replaced. The first shell provides coverage between roughly 52 and -52 latitude (~80% of the Earths surface), and will not feature laser links until replaced.

Starlinks second shell will host 720 satellites in a 70 570 km orbit. These satellites will significantly increase the coverage area, which will make the Starlink constellation cover around 94% of the globe. SpaceX will put 20 satellites in each of the 36 planes in the third shell. This shell is currently being filled, along with Shell 4.

Shell 3 will consist of 348 satellites in a 97.6 560 km orbit. SpaceX deployed 10 laser link test satellites into this orbit on its Transporter-1 mission to test satellites in a polar orbit. SpaceX launched an additional three satellites to this shell on the Transporter-2 mission. On April 6, 2021, Gwynne Shotwell said that SpaceX will conduct regular polar Starlink launches in the summer, but this shell is now the lowest priority and is expected to be the last filled. All satellites that will be deployed into this orbit will have inter-satellite laser link communication. Shell 3 will have six orbital planes with 58 satellites in each plane.

The fourth shell will consist of 1,584 satellites in a 540 km 53.2 LEO. This updated orbital configuration will slightly increase coverage area and will drastically increase the bandwidth of the constellation. This shell will also consist of 72 orbital planes with 22 satellites in each plane. This shell is currently being filled alongside Shell 2.

The final shell of Phase 1 of Starlink will host 172 satellites in another 97.6 560 km low-Earth polar orbit. Shell 5 will also consist purely of satellites with laser communication links; however, unlike Shell 3, it will consist of four orbital planes with 43 satellites in each plane.

However, it is unclear if this shell will still be filled; previous group 5 launches have gone to a 43 orbit.

The Starlink gen 2 constellation consists of nine orbital shells. It is currently unclear how these shells will be named.

The Falcon 9 Block 5 is SpaceXs partially reusable two-stage medium-lift launch vehicle. The vehicle consists of a reusable first stage, an expendable second stage, and, when in payload configuration, a pair of reusable fairing halves.

The Falcon 9 first stage contains nine Merlin 1D+ sea-level engines. Each engine uses an open gas generator cycle and runs on RP-1 and liquid oxygen (LOx). Each engine produces 845 kN of thrust at sea level, with a specific impulse (ISP) of 285 seconds, and 934 kN in a vacuum with an ISP of 313 seconds. Due to the powerful nature of the engine, and the large amount of them, the Falcon 9 first stage is able to lose an engine right off the pad, or up to two later in the flight, and be able to successfully place the payload into orbit.

The Merlin engines are ignited by triethylaluminum and triethylborane (TEA-TEB), which instantly burst into flames when mixed in the presence of oxygen. During static fire and launch the TEA-TEB is provided by the ground service equipment. However, as the Falcon 9 first stage is able to propulsively land, three of the Merlin engines (E1, E5, and E9) contain TEA-TEB canisters to relight for the boost back, reentry, and landing burns.

The Falcon 9 second stage is the only expendable part of the Falcon 9. It contains a singular MVacD engine that produces 992 kN of thrust and an ISP of 348 seconds. The second stage is capable of doing several burns, allowing the Falcon 9 to put payloads in several different orbits.

SpaceX is currently flying two different versions of the MVacD engines nozzle. The standard nozzle design is used on high-performance missions. The other nozzle is a significantly shorter version of the standard, decreasing both performance and material usage; with this nozzle, the MVacD engine produces 10% less thrust in space. This nozzle is only used on lower-performance missions, as it decreases the amount of material needed by 75%. This means that SpaceX can launch over three times as many missions with the same amount of Niobium as with the longer design.

For missions with many burns and/or long coasts between burns, the second stage is able to be equipped with a mission extension package. When the second stage has this package it has a grey strip, which helps keep the RP-1 warm, an increased number of composite-overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs) for pressurization control, and additional TEA-TEB.

The booster supporting the Starlink Group 7-13 mission is B1071-14; as the name implies, the booster has supported 13 previous missions. Following the landing, its designation will change to B1071-15.

Following stage separation, the Falcon 9 will conduct two burns. These burns aim to softly touch down the booster on SpaceXs autonomous spaceport drone ship Of Course I Still Love You.

The Falcon 9s fairing consists of two dissimilar reusable halves. The first half (the half that faces away from the transport erector) is called the active half, and houses the pneumatics for the separation system. The other fairing half is called the passive half. As the name implies, this half plays a purely passive role in the fairing separation process, as it relies on the pneumatics from the active half.

Both fairing halves are equipped with cold gas thrusters and a parafoil which are used to softly touch down the fairing half in the ocean. SpaceX used to attempt to catch the fairing halves, however, at the end of 2020 this program was canceled due to safety risks and a low success rate. On Starlink Group 7-13, SpaceX will attempt to recover the fairing halves from the water with its recovery vessel GO Beyond.

In 2021, SpaceX started flying a new version of the Falcon 9 fairing. The new upgraded version has vents only at the top of each fairing half, by the gap between the halves, whereas the old version had vents placed spread equidistantly around the base of the fairing. Moving the vents decreases the chance of water getting into the fairing, making the chance of a successful scoop significantly higher.

All times are approximate

All times are approximate

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Starlink Group 7-13 | Falcon 9 Block 5 - Everyday Astronaut