Cape Canaveral, Fla. SpaceX On Saturday (December 19) a secret U.S. reconnaissance office fee (NRO) was launched into space. Spy launches satellite, marking the 26th rocket of the year.
The mysterious payload, called NROL-108, took off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 9 a.m. (1400 GMT) during a planned three-hour window here.
A used two-phase Falcon 9 rocket The 26th launch of SpaceX in 2020, a new record for the company, carries out a spy satellite together as part of a government mission called NROL-108. About nine minutes after the lift off Fana, the first stage of the booster produced some dramatic sonic booms, as it would make its way back. Terra Ferma, Touch the landing zone-1 (LZ-1) of SpaceX at the nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Video: Watch SpaceX’s epic NROL-108 Falcon 9 rocket landing
Related: See the evolution of SpaceX’s rocket in the pictures
Today’s flight was the fifth inauguration for the first phase of this exclusive Falcon 9. The B1059 designated booster, previously sent to NASA two commercial cargo missions on the International Space Station, Batch of SpaceX Starlink satellites Earlier this year, and only recently in orbit Launched Earth-Observation Satellite for Argentina.
The Falcon 9 was flown into the clear blue sky on Saturday morning, a dramatic change from Thursday’s launch attempt. Ga day clouds pierced the rocket from sight that day and finally An issue With the second phase of the rocket, SpaceX was forced to postpone the launch.
A few minutes after jumping off the Falcon 9 pad, the first phase of the rocket reappeared in the sky, with the iconic sonic booms, you expect overhead cracking landing at the booster landing site.
The B1059 is only the second booster to land on the Cape this year (as opposed to a drone ship at sea). (3rd Landed at Wandenberg Air Force Base in California Dedication of the Sentinel-6 Earth-Observation Satellite For NASA in November.) In fact, this is now the LZ-1’s third voyage for the booster, as the P te Falcon 9 first phase also returned after delivering a CRS-20 mission into orbit earlier this year.
Related: Space ride (and back) on the Falcon 9 in this wonderful video
A mystery payload
Today’s launch of the Falcon 9 carries a classified payload into orbit of the National Reconnaissance Office Fee (NRO), the government agency that oversees the country’s fleet of spy satellites. Not much is known about the satellite unless the NRO secured a ride for top secret cargo through non-traditional means.
In particular, the reconnaissance agency said its U.S. The space force’s National Security Space Launch program will secure its ride into space, but this time it will run on its own. Now according to a report from Spaceflight.
“In some cases, NRO satellites use alternative methods to obtain launch services after building the risk tolerance, required launch date, available launch capabilities, and costs – with the aim of ensuring that satellites are safely and securely delivered into orbit. Way, ” The spokesman now told Spaceflight.
Another interesting twist is that SpaceX did not conduct static fire tests of its rockets before the flight. Typically, the company keeps the rocket down on the pads and briefly fires its nine first-stage engines to make sure their systems are working as expected before the lift to burst. It’s rare that SpaceX ignores this routine test but hasn’t heard of it.
The mission marks the sixth opening of the year for the NRO, and the SpaceX Falcon o. This will be the second overall flight. In May 2017, NROL-76 was the mission.
Falcon’s flight
The NROL-108 mission is the 50th reflight of the SpaceX Falcon 9 since the company reclaimed its first booster in 2015. It also marks the 70th landing of the Falcon 9. To stick to the landing, the booster detached from its high phase and carried out a series. Orbit ballet moves, rearrange for manual landing. He then undertook a series of three engine burns to slow down enough to gently touch his designated landing pad, marking the 21st successful landing mark for SpaceX.
To facilitate reuse use, the company typically relies on its two giant drones, named “CF Course I Still Love” and “Just Read Instructions,” floating platforms typically configured in the Atlantic Ocean and enabled SpaceX to launch. Is and then more rockets will land.
For this mission the “I Of course I Still Love You” side is bound, as the booster is returning to the ground, while “Just Read Instructions” is currently bringing back the booster from the company’s recent launch on DES. 13. For that mission, the Falcon 9 rocket was launched for the seventh time, Sirius carries a giant satellite into space for XM. That booster is one of the two that has flown those seven missions and should return to port at the same time as today’s launch.
Once they return to the Florida port of Canaveral, the land booster is transported back to the SpaceX facilities, where they are carefully inspected and re-erected for flight.
The current iteration of the Falcon 9 was finalized in 2018. Known as block 5, It has a 7 1.7 million Thrust as well as several other upgrades that enable it to be used faster. SpaceX says each of these boosters can fly between times 10 times with a minor upgrade and a potential 100 times before retirement.
To date, SpaceX has launched and landed the same booster a maximum of seven times. According to the company’s founder and CEO, Elon Musk, each Falcon is capable of flying at least 10 times with minimal renewal between 9 booster flights. We still have a long way to go to see a fly, but we’ll be able to see it next year.
Rocket Faring Recovery Recovery
Ahead of today’s launch, SpaceX has launched two pairs of ferring catchers, GO Ms. Tree, deployed to get ferring pieces after today’s launch. The company’s other ferry recovery ship, the Geo Miss Chief, was docked at the port for the second consecutive mission. Both of these boats play their role in the huge, mobile catcher straps, snagging payload fairings – protective nose cones around the satellites during the launch – in their attached mesh, falling to the ground.
For that, SpaceX has installed parachutes and special software in its payload fairings, consisting of two connected pieces. Farings has been created to guide himself in the field of recovery where Mrs. Tree and Ms. The chief can wait to snatch them as they fall back to earth. If the boat misses or the weather is too weak to attempt a catch, the two put pieces of the fairing out of the water and put it on board equipment to take it back to port for renovation.
The company is successfully using payload fairings, and the last mission – which launched the Sirius XM-7 satellite – was the first flight to feature refurbished fairings on payloads other than SpaceX. In particular, the company is reusing Farings on its own Starlink mission. One of the best pieces that cut off the Sirius XM-7 payload passing through the atmosphere by flying on the Anasis-2 mission earlier this summer, which launched a communications satellite for the South Korean military.
Today’s mission will mark the end of a busy opening year for Cape. A total of 31 missions have been launched from the area this year, and 26 of them were on SpaceX rockets. Next year, SpaceX will continue to fill its fleet of Starlink satellites, launching two more astronaut missions and one of its heavily haired, Falcon heavy.
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