Falcon 9 Full Thrust launch | |
---|---|
Launch | 22 December 2015UTC | , 01:29:00
Operator | SpaceX |
Pad | Cape Canaveral, SLC-40 |
Payload | Orbcomm-OG2 × 11 |
Outcome | Success |
Components | |
First stage | B1019.1 |
Falcon launches | |
Falcon 9 flight 20 (also known as Orbcomm OG2 M2) [1] was a Falcon 9 space launch that occurred on 22 December 2015 at 01:29:00 UTC (21 December, 8:29:00 pm local time). It was the first time that the first stage of an orbital rocket made a successful return and vertical landing. [2] [3] [4] [5]
The successful landing of the first stage at Landing Zone 1, near the launch site, was the result of a five-year technology development program to develop a reusable launch system and came on a flight test that followed the primary launch mission. Following separation of the second stage, SpaceX conducted the eighth of its controlled booster descent tests of the spent first stage, the first in which the descent target location was on land, and also the first ever successful landing.
Prior to this flight, SpaceX's two previous attempts at a vertical landing and booster recovery ended in failure to recover the rocket. [6] [7] The success of flight 20 marked a significant milestone en route to the company's goal of creating a reusable rocket system that would significantly reduce the cost of launching payloads into orbit. [8] [9]
Falcon 9 flight 20 was the first launch of the substantially upgraded Falcon 9 Full Thrust version of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle. It carried 11 Orbcomm-OG2 satellites to Earth orbit. The launch was also notable as it was the first SpaceX launch following the catastrophic failure of a Falcon 9 v1.1 launch vehicle's second stage on Falcon 9 Flight 19 in June 2015.
SES announced [10] in February 2015 that it would provide the payload on the first launch of the revised-design Falcon 9 Full Thrust (also called Falcon 9 v1.2 [11] ). At the time, SES expected its SES-9 geostationary communications satellite would launch by September 2015. [12] SES kept the decision despite the loss of the launch vehicle and payload of another SpaceX mission in June 2015, but postponed the launch until late 2015. [13]
On 16 October 2015, after considering all options, SpaceX announced a change: Orbcomm's 11 OG2 satellites would be the payload on the return-to-flight launch of the redesigned Falcon 9 instead of SES-9. [12] 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. [12] The launch was delayed to mid-December or later, while SES-9 was scheduled to follow within a few weeks. [12]
A required pre-launch static-fire test was initially scheduled for 16 December 2015, but a few issues emerged with the new processes required for the colder propellants for the launch vehicle and the related ground support equipment. The test was successfully carried out on 18 December 2015, which resulted in a launch delay of one day to 19 December 2015 (local time). [14] The launch was subsequently delayed an additional day after statistical analysis indicated a somewhat higher probability of recovering the booster on the later date. [15]
The Falcon 9 Full Thrust launch vehicle used on flight 20 had a number of significant modifications from the previous Falcon 9 v1.1 vehicle. These included: [13]
Flight 20 was launched on 22 December 2015 at 01:29 UTC (21 December, 8:29 pm local time).
Following successful launch and deployment of the OG2 satellites, the Merlin Vacuum (1D) second-stage engine successfully re-ignited, demonstrating its capability to launch SES-9 into geostationary transfer orbit. The engine burn de-orbited the second stage as planned for a destructive re-entry, preventing it from becoming space debris. [17]
Falcon 9 Flight 20 carried 11 Orbcomm-OG2 second-generation satellites, [12] which will provide enhanced ORBCOMM messaging capabilities, increased data capacity, and automatic identification systems (AIS) service. [18] All 11 satellites were successfully deployed by the Falcon 9 second stage, beginning approximately 14 minutes after takeoff. All 11 satellites successfully checked in with ground control stations. [2]
The satellites were placed by the launch vehicle "within a fraction of a degree in inclination and 5 km (3.1 mi) in altitude of the intended orbit, "and by 9 January 2016, were in the middle of on-orbit testing, while executing propulsion maneuvers that had spread the 11 satellites over a 6,400 km (4,000 mi) orbital arc. [19] Initial ORBCOMM customer message traffic began to be tested by late January 2016. [20]
Satflare reported in February 2016 that one of the 11 flight 2 satellites will reenter Earth's atmosphere in late-February 2016. [21]
The satellite manufacturer, Sierra Nevada Corporation, completed checkout work and handed all 11 satellites off to ORBCOMM in early March 2016. [22] [23]
SpaceX performed a controlled-descent test on the rocket's first stage — the eighth propulsive return test of the series. For the first time, SpaceX was able to vertically land and successfully recover the first stage. [24] Earlier tests had proven the high-altitude deceleration and atmospheric re-entry portions of the test protocol, but no landing attempt had previously been successful, including two attempts earlier in 2015 to land a first stage on a floating landing platform. [25] The entire controlled-descent through the atmosphere and landing attempt is an arrangement that is unusual for other launch vehicles. [26]
The flight test was planned for the twentieth Falcon 9 launch, even after the manifested payload was switched from SES-9 to the 11-satellite Orbcomm OG-2 payload. [27] The test was scheduled for and successfully carried out on 21 December 2015, when the first stage landed intact at Landing Zone 1. [3] [25]
SpaceX decided not to fly the B1019 again. [28] Rather, the rocket was moved a few miles north to Launch Pad 39A, recently refurbished by SpaceX at the adjacent Kennedy Space Center, to conduct a static fire test. This test aimed to assess the health of the recovered booster and the capability of this rocket design to fly repeatedly in the future. [29] [25] The historic booster was eventually displayed outside SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California.
On 31 December 2015, SpaceX announced that no damage had been found on the stage and that it was ready to perform a static fire again. [30] [31] SpaceX had initially moved the booster to their hangar at LC-39A, but they moved the stage to SLC-40 — the pad from which it was launched — on 12 January 2016. [32] On 15 January 2016, SpaceX conducted the static fire test on the recovered booster, obtaining good overall results except for one of the outer engines experiencing thrust fluctuations. [29] Elon Musk reported that this may have been due to debris ingestion. [33] [34]
In February 2016, SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell indicated that some unspecified modifications to the stage design would occur as a result of the booster's post-flight evaluation and static fire. [35]
In August 2016, the returned first stage was put on permanent display on a stand outside SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. [36]
SpaceX live coverage of the launch and landing included cheering crowds and tours of the SpaceX manufacturing and launch facilities. [37] The Atlantic technology editor Robinson Meyer called the scripted broadcast "a way of treating a rocket launch not like a dry engineering procedure, but like some combination of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Super Bowl". [37] Upon the unprecedented first stage landing, a SpaceX engineer announced "The Falcon has landed", [38] [39] reminding audiences of the first Apollo landing.
Falcon 9 is a partially reusable medium-lift launch vehicle that can carry cargo and crew into Earth orbit, designed, manufactured and launched by American aerospace company SpaceX. It can also be used as an expendable heavy-lift launch vehicle. The first Falcon 9 launch was on 4 June 2010. The first Falcon 9 commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) launched on 8 October 2012. In 2020 it became the first commercial rocket to launch humans to orbit and remains the only such vehicle. It is the only U.S. rocket certified for transporting humans to the ISS. In 2022, it became the U.S. rocket with the most launches in history and with the best safety record, having suffered just one flight failure.
Orbcomm is a family of low Earth orbit communications satellites, operated by the United States satellite communications company Orbcomm. As of July 2014, 51 such satellites have orbited Earth, with 50 still continuing to do so.
Jason-3 is a satellite altimeter created by a partnership of the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) and National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA), and is an international cooperative mission in which National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is partnering with the Centre National d'Études Spatiales. The satellite's mission is to supply data for scientific, commercial, and practical applications to sea level rise, sea surface temperature, ocean temperature circulation, and climate change.
Falcon Heavy is a partially reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle that can carry cargo into Earth orbit, and beyond. It is designed, manufactured and launched by American aerospace company SpaceX.
Launch vehicle system tests assess the readiness of a launch system to safely reach orbit. Launch vehicles undergo system tests before they launch. Wet dress rehearsals (WDR) and more extensive static fire tests prepare fully assembled launch vehicles and their associated ground support equipment (GSE) prior to launch. The spacecraft/payload may or may not be attached to the launch vehicle during the WDR or static fire, but sufficient elements of the rocket and all relevant ground support equipment are in place to help verify that the rocket is ready for flight.
SpaceX manufactures launch vehicles to operate its launch provider services and to execute its various exploration goals. SpaceX currently manufactures and operates the Falcon 9 Block 5 family of medium-lift launch vehicles and the Falcon Heavy family of heavy-lift launch vehicles – both of which are powered by SpaceX Merlin engines and employ VTVL technologies to reuse the first stage. As of 2024, the company is also developing the fully reusable Starship launch system, which will replace the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy.
SpaceX has privately funded the development of orbital launch systems that can be reused many times, similar to the reusability of aircraft. SpaceX has developed technologies over the last decade to facilitate full and rapid reuse of space launch vehicles. The project's long-term objectives include returning a launch vehicle first stage to the launch site within minutes and to return a second stage to the launch pad, following orbital realignment with the launch site and atmospheric reentry in up to 24 hours. SpaceX's long term goal would have been reusability of both stages of their orbital launch vehicle, and the first stage would be designed to allow reuse a few hours after return. Development of reusable second stages for Falcon 9 was later abandoned in favor of developing Starship, however, SpaceX developed reusable payload fairings for the Falcon 9.
SpaceX CRS-8, also known as SpX-8, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station (ISS) which was launched on April 8, 2016, at 20:43 UTC. It was the 23rd flight of a Falcon 9 rocket, the tenth flight of a Dragon cargo spacecraft and the eighth operational mission contracted to SpaceX by NASA under the Commercial Resupply Services program. The capsule carried over 3,100 kilograms (6,800 lb) of cargo to the ISS including the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), a prototype inflatable space habitat delivered in the vehicle's trunk, which was attached to the station and, as of May 2022, is expected to remain so for five more full years of in-orbit viability tests.
Falcon 9 flight 10 was a Falcon 9 space launch that occurred on July 14, 2014. It was the fifth launch of the Falcon 9 v1.1 launch vehicle and carried six Orbcomm-OG2 telecommunication satellites. All six 172-kilogram-mass (379 lb) satellites were successfully deployed.
Falcon 9 v1.1 was the second version of SpaceX's Falcon 9 orbital launch vehicle. The rocket was developed in 2011–2013, made its maiden launch in September 2013, and its final flight in January 2016. The Falcon 9 rocket was fully designed, manufactured, and operated by SpaceX. Following the second Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) launch, the initial version Falcon 9 v1.0 was retired from use and replaced by the v1.1 version.
The Falcon 9 first-stage landing tests were a series of controlled-descent flight tests conducted by SpaceX between 2013 and 2016. Since 2017, the first stage of Falcon 9 missions has been routinely landed if the rocket performance allowed it, and if SpaceX chose to recover the stage.
SES-9 is a geostationary communications satellite operated by SES S.A. It was launched from Cape Canaveral SLC-40 by a Falcon 9 Full Thrust launch vehicle on 4 March 2016.
Falcon 9 Full Thrust is a partially reusable medium-lift launch vehicle, designed and manufactured by SpaceX. It was first designed in 2014–2015, with its first launch operations in December 2015. As of 25 March 2024, Falcon 9 Full Thrust had performed 294 launches without any failures. Based on the Laplace point estimate of reliability, this rocket is the most reliable orbital launch vehicle in operation.
Landing Zone 1 and Landing Zone 2, also known as LZ-1 and LZ-2 respectively, are landing facilities on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for recovering components of SpaceX's VTVL reusable launch vehicles. LZ-1 and LZ-2 were built on land leased in February 2015, on the site of the former Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 13. SpaceX built Landing Zone 2 at the facility to have a second landing pad, allowing two Falcon Heavy boosters to land simultaneously.
The Falcon Heavy test flight was the first attempt by SpaceX to launch a Falcon Heavy rocket on February 6, 2018, at 20:45 UTC. The successful test introduced the Falcon Heavy as the most powerful rocket in operation at the time, producing five million pounds-force (22 MN) of thrust and having more than twice the payload capacity of the next most powerful rocket, United Launch Alliance's Delta IV Heavy.
Falcon 9 B1046 was a reusable Falcon 9 first-stage booster manufactured by SpaceX. It flew four times between 2018 and 2020 before it was expended during a successful abort test of the Crew Dragon. It was the first rocket of the final Falcon 9 upgrade, Block 5.
Starship is a two-stage super heavy lift launch vehicle under development by American aerospace company SpaceX. It is the largest and most powerful rocket ever flown. Starship is intended to be fully reusable, allowing both stages to be recovered after a mission and to be rapidly reused. SpaceX has stated that a long-term goal for the Starship system is to achieve frequent space launches at low cost. Development follows an iterative and incremental approach, involving often destructive test flights of prototype vehicles.
Falcon 9 Block 5 is a partially reusable two-stage-to-orbit medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured in the United States by SpaceX. It is the fifth version of Falcon 9 Full Thrust, powered by SpaceX Merlin engines burning rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1) and liquid oxygen (LOX).
the first time SpaceX had successfully landed the rocket's first stage.
In-orbit testing continues to progress well. Yesterday, we turned on one of our OG2 satellites and started successfully processing customer message traffic. We will continue testing this single satellite for the next several days. We expect to move forward with multi-satellite testing next week.
WARNING: This object is expected to decay around Thursday, 25/02/2016 UTC
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.
The latest changes, [Shotwell] said, came after a static fire test of the first stage January 15 at Cape Canaveral. "We fired it up, and actually learned something about the rocket", she said, without elaborating on what the company learned. "We're going to make some mods based on what we saw on that stage landing and firing".