Watch a replay of our stay protection of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 7:24 a.m. EST (1224 GMT) on Jan. 18 from House Launch Advanced 40 at Cape Canaveral House Pressure Station, Florida, with the GPS 3 SV06 navigation satellite tv for pc for the U.S. House Pressure. Comply with us on Twitter.
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SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket simply after dawn Wednesday from Cape Canaveral, hauling a GPS navigation satellite tv for pc into orbit to exchange an growing older 16-year-old spacecraft within the world positioning community trusted to information every thing from navy weapons to civilian commuters.
The mission was the second SpaceX launch for the U.S. House Pressure in lower than three days, approaching the heels of a Falcon Heavy launch Sunday that precisely delivered two navy satellites right into a high-altitude geosynchronous orbit.
The launch Wednesday used SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket, and focused a considerably decrease orbit to replenish the GPS satellite tv for pc constellation circling some 12,550 miles (20,200 miles) above Earth.
The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral House Pressure Station at 7:24 a.m. EST (1224 GMT) Wednesday, lower than 10 minutes after dawn on Florida’s House Coast. The launcher climbed away from pad 40 with 1.7 million kilos of thrust from its 9 kerosene-fueled Merlin engines, then headed northeast over the Atlantic Ocean.
The liftoff was delayed 14 minutes to permit time for floor groups to resolve a problem with the GPS navigation satellite tv for pc.
The Falcon 9 surpassed the velocity of sound in a few minute, then shut down its first stage round two-and-a-half minutes into the mission. The booster indifferent and descended to a propulsive touchdown about eight minutes after liftoff on a SpaceX drone ship floating within the Atlantic a couple of hundred miles east of Charleston, South Carolina.
The booster, often called B1077, accomplished its second flight to area, following a launch Oct. 5 with a crew of 4 heading for the Worldwide House Station. The Falcon’s first stage will return to Cape Canaveral on the drone ship for refurbishment and reuse on a future mission.
An higher stage engine took over after the booster accomplished its position on Wednesday’s launch, propelling the brand new GPS navigation satellite tv for pc right into a preliminary parking orbit earlier than coasting greater than midway all over the world for one more engine firing to energy the payload into a better orbit.
The second burn by the higher stage positioned the GPS spacecraft into an orbit ranging between 243 and 12,528 miles (391-by-20,162 kilometers) above Earth. The orbit will take the satellite tv for pc between 55 levels north and south latitude on every lap across the planet.
The GPS 3 SV06 spacecraft deployed from the Falcon 9’s higher stage at 8:53 a.m. EST (1353 GMT), round 1 hour and 29 minutes after liftoff. A digicam on-board the higher stage confirmed the Lockheed Martin-built satellite tv for pc flying freed from the rocket over the Pacific Ocean.
“This was a textbook launch, reflecting a extremely skilled, skilled crew executing well-honed procedures and the outcomes converse for themselves,” stated Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy Jr., program government officer for House Programs Command’s ‘Assured Entry to House’ division. “Working side-by-side with our launch service supplier and area automobile companion to satisfy the mission want on-time and with precision is our regular ops. And in the present day’s mission helps not solely our world warfighters however individuals everywhere in the world in each side of life.”
The GPS 3 SV06 satellite tv for pc is the sixth spacecraft within the newest era of GPS 3-series satellite tv for pc. After separation from the Falcon 9 rocket, the spacecraft was anticipated to unfurl its power-generating photo voltaic arrays and start firing its personal engine for orbit-raising maneuvers to succeed in a remaining place in a round orbit roughly 12,550 miles above Earth.
The transit to the round Medium Earth Orbit will take about two weeks below the management of Lockheed Martin engineers in Colorado. If all goes in line with plan, the brand new satellite tv for pc, nicknamed “Earhart” after the aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, can be transitioned to the management of House Pressure operators. GPs 3 SV06 is predicted to enter operational service a couple of months after launch.
In its launch configuration totally fueled with propellant, the GPS 3 SV06 satellite tv for pc weighed 9,595 kilos (4,352 kilograms), in line with Col. Jung Ha, senior materiel chief for the GPS House Autos Acquisition Delta at House Programs Command.
The GPS 3 SV06 satellite tv for pc will take a place in Aircraft A, Slot 2, of the GPS constellation, Ha stated. The brand new spacecraft will change a satellite tv for pc in that place that launched Sept. 25, 2006, on a Delta 2 rocket from Cape Canaveral. The growing older satellite tv for pc, often called SVN 52 or GPS 2R-15, has operated for twice its unique design lifetime.
The GPS satellites fly in six orbital groupings, with 4 slots in every group, for no less than 24 satellites to supply world protection. The GPS community at the moment has 31 operational satellites.
Liftoff of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral with the US House Pressure’s latest GPS navigation satellite tv for pc. https://t.co/ZXQRog4JSY pic.twitter.com/leCR9tTUYH
— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) January 18, 2023
Andre Trotter, Lockheed Martin’s vice chairman of navigation methods, stated the corporate has 4 extra GPS 3-series satellites prepared for “name up” by the House Pressure.
“We at the moment have 4 extra GPS satellites in our Colorado facility which can be obtainable for launch and are ready to reply the House Pressure’s name,” Trotter instructed reporters Tuesday in a pre-launch information convention. These satellites, numbered GPS 3 SV07 via SV10, are the ultimate spacecraft in Lockheed Martin’s preliminary batch of GPS 3 satellites ordered by the Pentagon in 2008.
The subsequent GPS satellite tv for pc, GPS 3 SV07, is scheduled to launch in mid-2024 on a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket. It’s a candidate to turn into the primary nationwide safety payload to fly on ULA’s new Vulcan launch automobile.
Building of the primary eight GPS 3 satellites is roofed in a 2008 contract valued at $3.6 billion. The navy ordered two further GPS 3-type satellites later. The primary GPS 3 satellite tv for pc launched in 2018, and the newest mission, SV05, launched in June 2021.
Army officers had been unable to supply a precise price for the GPS 3 SV06 spacecraft, however the common price of every satellite tv for pc within the 2008 buy quantities to roughly $600 million in inflation-adjusted {dollars}.
The collection of GPS 3 navigation satellites are designed for 15-year life spans, an enchancment over the seven-and-a-half 12 months and 12-year design lives of previous-generation GPS satellites. The GPS 3 satellites present thrice higher accuracy and as much as eight occasions improved anti-jamming capabilities over early GPS spacecraft, in line with Lockheed Martin.
The GPS 3 satellites additionally introduce a brand new L-band civilian sign that’s appropriate with different worldwide navigation satellite tv for pc networks, reminiscent of Europe’s Galileo program. Combining alerts from GPS, Galileo, and different navigation satellites can enhance the precision of space-based place measurements.
The U.S. navy makes use of GPS satellites for sensible bombs and different precision-guided munitions. Troops depend on the community, which requires a minimal of 24 satellites for world protection, to supply positioning knowledge pole-to-pole.
Lockheed Martin gained a follow-on contract from the navy in 2018 to construct as much as 22 extra upgraded GPS 3F satellites. The House Pressure has positioned agency orders with Lockheed Martin for the primary 10 GPS 3F satellites, which is able to present the navy with new capabilities reminiscent of enhanced regional safety and even higher anti-jamming capabilities, an upgraded search and rescue payload, and a laser retroreflector array to assist present extra correct knowledge on every spacecraft’s location in orbit, info that can lead to extra exact place info for customers on the bottom.
L3Harris Applied sciences builds the navigation payloads for the GPS 3 satellites.
Civilians use the World Positioning System on their smartphones, and airliners make use of augmented GPS alerts for precision landings and in-flight navigation. Banks use the timing alerts from GPS satellites to time tag monetary transactions.
“GPS has turn into part of our important nationwide infrastructure,” Trotter stated.
ROCKETS: Falcon 9 (B1077.2)
PAYLOAD: GPS 3 SV06
LAUNCH SITES: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral House Pressure Station, Florida
LAUNCH DATES: Jan. 18, 2023
LAUNCH TIME: 7:24 a.m. EST (1224 GMT)
WEATHER FORECAST: Better than 90% probability of acceptable climate at Cape Canaveral
BOOSTER RECOVERY: “A Shortfall of Gravitas” drone ship
LAUNCH AZIMUTH: Northeast
TARGET ORBIT: MEO switch orbit; 250-by-12,550 miles (400-by-20,200 kilometers); 55 levels inclination
LAUNCH TIMELINE FOR GPS 3 SV06
- T+00:00: Liftoff
- T+01:12: Most aerodynamic stress (Max-Q)
- T+02:33: First stage foremost engine cutoff (MECO)
- T+02:37: Stage separation
- T+02:45: Second stage engine ignition
- T+03:30: Fairing jettison
- T+06:19: First stage entry burn ignition
- T+06:44: First stage entry burn cutoff
- T+08:08: Second stage engine cutoff (SECO 1)
- T+08:09: First stage touchdown burn ignition
- T+08:33: First stage touchdown
- T+01:03:32: Second stage engine restart (SES 2)
- T+01:04:16: Second stage engine cutoff (SECO 2)
- T+01:29:17: Separation of GPS 3 SV06 satellite tv for pc
MISSION STATS:
- 197th launch of a Falcon 9 rocket since 2010
- 207th launch of Falcon rocket household since 2006
- 2nd launch of Falcon 9 booster B1077
- a hundred and seventieth SpaceX launch from Florida’s House Coast
- one hundred and tenth Falcon 9 launch from pad 40
- one hundred and sixty fifth launch general from pad 40
- 139th flight of a reused Falcon booster
- sixth Lockheed Martin-built satellite tv for pc launched by SpaceX
- fifth GPS satellite tv for pc launched by SpaceX
- third Falcon 9 launch of 2023
- 4th launch by SpaceX in 2023
- 4th orbital launch from Cape Canaveral in 2023
