Falcon 9 Flight 22

Flight 22 launching on 4 March 2016, carrying SES-9

Falcon 9 Flight 22 is a Falcon 9 space launch by SpaceX that occurred on 4 March 2016 at 23:25 UTC from the company's leased launch site at Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40 in Florida. The payload was the SES-9 communications satellite which was inserted into a geosynchronous transfer orbit by Falcon 9. Spacecraft owner SES S.A. controls the spacecraft, and will use spacecraft propulsion to circularize the trajectory to a geostationary orbit.[1]

The flight was only the second launch of the third model of Falcon 9, the Falcon 9 full thrust, following the maiden flight of the upgraded rocket on Falcon 9 Flight 20 in December 2015.[2]

Launch schedule history

Flight 22 on 24 February 2016 launch attempt, which was scrubbed prior to loading propellants.

The launch was initially planned for 2015 but incurred an approximately six month delay following the loss of another SpaceX launch vehicle in June 2015. In the event, SES-9 endured four launch attempts that were scrubbed in late February and early March 2016 before successfully launching on 4 March 2016.

In addition to the earlier SES-8 mission ordered in 2011 and launched in 2013, SES contracted SpaceX for three additional launches starting with SES-9, originally planned for 2015. The deal was announced on 12 September 2012.[3] In early 2015, SES announced[4] that it would provide the payload on the first launch of the revised-design SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle: the Falcon 9 v1.2 (also called Falcon 9 v1.1 full thrust,[5]and later, just Falcon 9 full thrust). At the time, SES expected its SES-9 geostationary communications satellite would launch by September 2015.[6] By September 2015, SES held to the decision to be the first payload on the new model of the rocket despite the loss of the launch vehicle and payload of another SpaceX mission in June 2015, but postponed the launch until late 2015.[7]

SES-9 satellite encapsulated in the Falcon 9 payload fairing, but not yet mated with the launch vehicle, 20 February 2016.

However, after considering all options, SpaceX announced a change on 16 October 2015: Orbcomm's 11 OG2 satellites would be the payload on the return-to-flight launch of the redesigned Falcon 9 instead of SES-9.[6] The Orbcomm payload with its lower orbit would allow SpaceX to test relighting the second-stage engine, a capability required to successfully put the heavier SES-9 on a geostationary orbit.[6] The Orbcomm launch was subsequently delayed to mid-December or later, while SES-9 was scheduled to follow "within a few weeks".[6] In the event, the maiden launch of Falcon 9 full thrust occurred on 22 December 2015, and was followed in January 2016 by the final launch of the Falcon 9 v1.1 version of the rocket, with SES-9 moving to February.

A successful static fire test of the rocket was completed on 22 February 2016.[2] The launch was scheduled for 24 February 2016 at 6:46pm local time, with a backup launch window the next day at the same time.[8] Neither day produced a launch however as both attempts were scrubbed: on 24 February, prior to propellant loading "out of an abundance of caution, in order to get the rocket’s liquid oxygen propellant as cold as possible"; and on 25 February, just two minutes prior to launch “citing a last-minute problem with propellant loading.”[9]

Subsequently the launch was rescheduled for the evening of Sunday 28 February at 6:46pm EST (23:46 UTC), with a fallback slot same time next day.[10] The first Sunday launch attempt was aborted less than two minutes before scheduled liftoff due to a tugboat entering the area of the offshore safety zone.[11] A second attempt on 28 February was made about 35 minutes later, after the downrange zone had been cleared, however, the rocket shut-down a moment after ignition due to low thrust flag from one engine. Rising oxygen temperature due to the hold for the tugboat to clear and a suspected helium bubble were suggested by Elon Musk as the likely reasons for the alarm being triggered.[12] The next launch attempt on March 1st was postponed to March 4th due to high winds.[13]

The launch attempt was finally made, and was successful, on 4 March 2016.[1]

Launch attempts

Attempt Planned Result Turnaround Reason Decision point Weather go (%) Notes
1 24 Feb 2016, 11:46:00 pm Delayed [14] --- Issue loading cryogenic liquid oxygen[14] 60%
2 25 Feb 2016, 11:47:00 pm Aborted [15] 1 day, 0 hours, 1 minute Issue loading cryogenic liquid oxygen[15] (T-00:01:41[15]) 80%[14]
3 28 Feb 2016, 11:47:00 pm Aborted [16] 3 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes Fouled Range[16] 95%
4 29 Feb 2016, 12:21:00 am Aborted [16] 0 days, 0 hours, 34 minutes Low thrust alarm due to rising oxygen temps[16] 95%
5 4 Mar 2016, 11:35:00 pm Successful launch [17] 4 days, 23 hours, 14 minutes 90% Launch window: 23:35 to 01:06 UTC

Payload

Main article: SES-9

The payload on Flight 22 is SES-9, a large commsat intended to eventually operate in geostationary orbit in an orbital slot at 108.2 degrees east longitude, providing communication services to northeast Asia, South Asia and Indonesia, as well as maritime communications for vessels in the Indian Ocean,[18] as well as provide mobility beams for "seamless in-flight connectivity for domestic Asian flights operating in countries like Indonesia and the Philippines".[8]

The satellite was built by Boeing, using a model BSS-702HP satellite bus.[2]

SES-9 massed approximately 5,271 kilograms (12,000 lb) at launch,[19][2][20] the largest Falcon 9 payload yet to a highly-energetic geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO).[8]

The original apogee for the transfer orbit contracted by SpaceX was 26,000 km (16,000 mi), a subsynchronous highly-elliptical orbit that SES would then circularize and raise over several months before the satellite would be ready for operational service at 36,000 km (22,000 mi). SES CTO Martin Halliwell indicated in February 2016 that SpaceX had agreed to add additional energy to the spacecraft with the launch vehicle and that a new apogee of approximately 39,000 km (24,000 mi) was the objective, in order to assist SES in the satellite becoming operational many weeks earlier than otherwise possible, in part to help compensate for the schedule delays leading up to the launch. This was to be achieved by the second stage burning to depletion, instead of to a target velocity.[19] SpaceX said they were projecting an apogee of at least 38,000 km (24,000 mi). In the event, the actual apogee achieved was approximately 40,600 km (25,200 mi), significantly reducing the estimated time for the satellite to become fully operational on station.

Post-mission landing test

Following word from SES that SpaceX had allocated some of the normal propellant reserve margins for landing to placing the SES-9 satellite in a higher (and more energetic) orbit than originally planned,[21] SpaceX confirmed in February that they would still attempt a secondary goal of executing a controlled-descent and vertical landing flight test of the first stage on the SpaceX east-coast Autonomous spaceport drone ship (floating landing platform) named Of Course I Still Love You.[2][22][8] Although SpaceX successfully recovered a first booster on land following the December launch to a less-energetic orbital trajectory,[23][24] they had not yet succeeded in booster recovery from any of the several previous attempts to land on a floating landing platform.[22]

Moreover, because the SES-9 satellite is very heavy and is going to such a high orbit, SpaceX indicated prior to launch that "a successful landing is not expected" on Flight 22.[21]

As expected, booster recovery failed: the spent first stage “landed hard”,[25] but the controlled-descent and atmospheric re-entry, as well as navigation to a point in the Atlantic ocean over 600 kilometers (370 mi)[26] away from the launch site, were successful and returned significant test data on bringing back high-energy Falcon 9's.[1]

External video
SES-9 Technical Webcast: Experimental Landing

The controlled-descent through the atmosphere and landing attempt for each booster is an arrangement that is not used on other orbital launch vehicles.[27] SES CTO Martin Halliwell has indicated that SES has informed SpaceX that they would like to use the same rocket twice to power their sats to orbit.[20]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Foust, Jeff (2016-03-04). "SpaceX launches SES-9 satellite". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2016-03-05. After a variety of problems delayed four previous launch attempts, a SpaceX Falcon 9 successfully launched the SES-9 communications satellite March 4, although an attempted landing of the rocket’s first stage on a ship was not successful, as expected.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Bergin, Chris (2016-02-22). "SpaceX Falcon 9 conducts Static Fire ahead of SES-9 launch". NASASpaceFlight.com. Archived from the original on 2016-02-22. Retrieved 2016-02-22.
  3. ↑ Nelson, Katherine; Felte, Yves (2012-09-12). "SES and SpaceX announce contract for three satellite launches" (Press release). SpaceX. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  4. ↑ Clark, Stephen (February 20, 2015). "SES signs up for launch with more powerful Falcon 9 engines". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  5. ↑ Svitak, Amy (17 March 2015). "SpaceX's New Spin on Falcon 9". Aviation Week. Aviation Week Network. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 de Selding, Peter B. (October 16, 2015). "SpaceX Changes its Falcon 9 Return-to-flight Plans". SpaceNews. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  7. ↑ Foust, Jeff (September 15, 2015). "SES Betting on SpaceX, Falcon 9 Upgrade as Debut Approaches". SpaceNews. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "SES-9 Mission" (PDF). Press Kit. SpaceX. 2016-02-23. Retrieved 2016-02-24. This mission is going to a Geostationary Transfer Orbit. Following stage separation, the first stage of the Falcon 9 will attempt an experimental landing on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship. Given this mission’s unique GTO profile, a successful landing is not expected.
  9. ↑ Foust, Jeff (2016-02-25). "SpaceX scrubs SES-9 launch again". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  10. ↑ SES_Satellites (February 27, 2016). "SES and SpaceX are now targeting to launch #SES9 on Sunday, 28 February, at 6.46pm ET, with a backup date on Monday, 29 February!" (Tweet).
  11. ↑ http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2016/02/29/tug-boat-contributed-spacex-launch-scrub/81102952/
  12. ↑ Elon Musk [elonmusk] (February 28, 2016). "Launch aborted on low thrust alarm. Rising oxygen temps due to hold for boat and helium bubble triggered alarm." (Tweet).
  13. ↑ Elon Musk [elonmusk] (2016-03-01). "Pushing launch to Friday due to extreme high altitude wind shear. Hits like a sledgehammer when going up supersonic" (Tweet).
  14. 1 2 3 Clark, Stephen (2016-02-25). "Commercial Falcon 9 launch delayed to Thursday". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  15. 1 2 3 Clark, Stephen. "SpaceX launch aborted in final minutes". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  16. 1 2 3 4 Clark, Stephen. "Falcon 9 grounded again after last-second abort". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  17. ↑ SpaceX (2016-03-04). "Liftoff!" (Tweet).
  18. ↑ "SES-9". SES. 2016-02-23. Archived from the original on 2016-02-23. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
  19. 1 2 Clark, Stephen (2016-02-24). "Falcon 9 rocket to give SES 9 telecom satellite an extra boost". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 2016-03-07. SES 9’s launch weight is 11,620 pounds, or about 5,271 kilograms ... heavier than the Falcon 9 rocket’s advertised lift capacity to geosynchronous transfer orbit, an elliptical path around Earth that serves as a drop-off point for communications satellites heading for positions 22,300 miles (36,000 kilometers) above the equator, a popular location for powerful broadcast platforms. Geosynchronous transfer orbits targeted by satellite launchers typically have an apogee, or high point, of at least 22,300 miles and a low point a few hundred miles above Earth. ... SES’s contract with SpaceX called for the rocket to deploy SES 9 into a “sub-synchronous” transfer orbit with an apogee around 16,155 miles (26,000 kilometers) in altitude. Such an orbit would require SES 9 to consume its own fuel to reach a circular 22,300-mile-high perch, a trek that Halliwell said was supposed to last 93 days. The change in the Falcon 9’s launch profile [is planned to] put SES 9 into an initial orbit with an apogee approximately 24,419 miles (39,300 kilometers) above Earth, a low point 180 miles (290 kilometers) up, and a track tilted about 28 degrees to the equator
  20. 1 2 Klotz, Irene (2016-02-23). "Satellite operator SES says interested in used SpaceX rocket". Reuters. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  21. 1 2 Grush, Loren (2016-02-23). "SpaceX doesn't expect a successful landing after its rocket launch tomorrow". The Verge. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
  22. 1 2 Orwig, Jessica (2016-02-23). "SpaceX will attempt a potentially historic rocket landing this week — here's how to watch live". Business Insider. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
  23. ↑ "SpaceX ORBCOMM-2 Mission" (PDF). press kit. SpaceX. December 21, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2015. This mission also marks SpaceX’s return-to-flight as well as its first attempt to land a first stage on land. The landing of the first stage is a secondary test objective.
  24. ↑ Gebhardt, Chris (31 December 2015). "Year In Review, Part 4: SpaceX and Orbital ATK recover and succeed in 2015". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  25. ↑ Elon Musk [elonmusk] (2016-03-05). "Rocket landed hard on the droneship. Didn't expect this one to work (v hot reentry), but next flight has a good chance." (Tweet).
  26. ↑ Webcast At 20min
  27. ↑ "SpaceX wants to land next booster at Cape Canaveral". Florida Today. December 1, 2015. Retrieved December 4, 2015.

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