SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral on Thursday with the US Space Force’s new third-generation global positioning system navigation satellite, which will help clear the way for the launch of SpaceX’s first operational crew, the Dragon astronaut mission, later this month.
Running for more than a month after the Falcon 9 engine problem based on the mission, the GPS. The navigation payload hit the clear autumn sky at 6:23:23 a.m. Thursday.
After dropping off Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with a 7 1.7 million thrash, the 229-foot (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket landed on the US East Coast parallel track northeast from Florida’s Space Coast.
The rocket’s nine Merlin 1D main engines shut down, and the first phase of the flight deviated by about a minute.
While the single stage Merlin engine was orbiting the GPS satellite in the upper phase, the first reusable phase of the Falcon 9 floated from downstream to ing00 miles (630 kilometers) on a booster SpaceX football field-sized drone. Cape Canaveral.
In the second phase of the Falcon 9, the U.S. Space Force’s fourth third pay generation GPS. Satellite – Installed GPS 3 SV 0 4 – About 250 miles (400 kilometers) and 12,550 miles (20,200 kilometers) alt altitudes were fired twice in an egg-shaped transfer orbit. ), According to publicly-available tracking data, with a 55 degree inclination toward the equator.
Those figures confirm that the Falcon 9 rocket hit its mark before waking up the Lockheed Martin-built GPS3 SV04 satellite about 90 minutes after the liftoff, wrapping up SpaceX’s 20th successful mission of the year.
Lockheed Martin confirmed in a statement that ground teams at the company’s Satellite Control Center near Denver have made contact with about five tonnes of GPS spacecraft, which will reach its on-board liquid apogee engine several times in the coming days. 12,550 miles above the earth.
Ground controllers will send commands to the GPS satellite to deploy its power-generating solar panels and antennas, to checkout, and then to hand over the space force’s space operations command.
GPS3 SV04 satellite, GSP The fleet will join 31 operational spacecraft, providing positioning, navigation and time data to billions of military and civilian users around the world, providing information to cell phones, cars, planes and ships.
The new satellite will complete its checkout and testing program in about a month, and officials expect the GPS3 SV04 to be ready for operational use in a few months, according to Space Force.
Col. Edward Byrne, chief of the Space Force’s Middle Earth Orbit Space Systems Division, said, “The GPS 3 program maintains the gold standard for position, navigation and time. GPS for space force continues to advance in the modernization of the constellation. And the Missile Systems Center.
The GPS 3 series satellites are designed to have a lifespan of 15 years, which is an improvement over the seven-and-a-half years and 12-year design life of previous generation GPS satellites.
“GPS 3 satellites offer a major step in both capacity and resilience compared to legacy GPS satellites,” Byrne said. “GPS is a critical capability for the U.S. military and its allies, and provides a worldwide service to billions of civilian users worldwide.”
Launched in December 2018, 10 GPS The first 3-series satellites, followed by two more GPS 3 spacecraft in August 2019 and June 30 this year. Low GPS The 3 satellites offer three times better accuracy and eight times improved anti-jamming capabilities than the initial GPS spacecraft, according to Lockheed Martin.
GPS3 satellites also introduce new L-band civilian signals that are compatible with other international navigation satellite networks, such as Europe’s Galileo program. The combination of signals from GPS, Galileo and other navigation satellites can improve the accuracy of space-based position measurements.
In September, Space Force officials announced that they had reached an agreement with SpaceX to launch future GPS 3 satellites with a pre-flying booster on Falcon 9 rockets. The first-stage booster, which flew over the mission on Thursday evening, will be renovated and reused for the launch of the next GPS 3 satellite in mid-2021, officials said.
The Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center or SMC signed an update agreement with SpaceX in September to cover the agreement to fly two GPS satellites on the reused Falcon 9 booster. The reusable Falcon 9 will also launch the first phase GPS3 SV066 mission, which is expected to fly in late 2021 or early 2022.
The restructuring agreement between Space Force and SpaceX for the landing of the first phase booster of the Falcon 9 after the previous GPS satellite launch June 30. SpaceX also launched the first GPS 3 series satellite in December 2018, but military officials made the launch company necessary. No residual fuel for descent and landing, to reserve all Falcon 9 propellants for the launch of that spacecraft.
The Space Force eased their requirements for the upcoming SpaceX launch with a GPS satellite earlier this year, adjusting the peripheral or low point of the target orbit for the deployment of GPS payloads at low itude altitudes. It ensured that the Falcon 9 rocket would land a booster on a June 30 mission, saving the Space Force several million dollars.
GPS0 is a factor in changes to booster recovery on four GPS missions starting June and the use of rockets on two GPS missions starting next year, resulting in an updated launch agreement between Space Force and SpaceX, which saved 52 52.7 million, officials said. Was. .
Next year will be the first high-priority national security payload to launch the GPS3 SV05 mission, a Falcon 9 rocket with a previously flying booster stage. Space Force officials will conduct a full review of SpaceX’s renewal and rocket reuse procedures and policies before clearing the GPS3 SV05 satellite to travel on a recycle booster next year.
It will provide support for the launch of more national security satellites on the Falcon rocket with a reusable first-stage booster.
“This is our journey to understand how SpaceX drives already developed hardware innovations,” said SpaceLut Luddardel, chief of SMC’s Falcon Systems and Operations division, and mission director of GPS3 SV04 countdowns and launches. : Then we will compare it with the qualification. These boosters are assessed for what they do and then evaluate for them to be ready to fly again. “
“So it requires a review of the various systems and to make sure we’re good at a board with already developed hardware, not just this particular booster,” La La Dardell told a news conference in September.
Flying 2,600 miles (4,200 kilometers) over the Pacific Ocean, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket landed in the U.S. The Army’s GPS 3 SV04 navigation satellite has been placed in orbit of the target.
The satellite will promote itself in the GPS network to launch a 15-year mission. https://t.co/IsAn9gN5Rn pic.twitter.com/epCTvf2FzQ
– Now Spaceflight (Spaceflight Now) November 6, 2020
With the GPS3 SV04 satellite safely in orbit, SpaceX’s next mission, the Blastoff F, scheduled for November 14 from Pad 39 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is the launch of the first regular crew Dragon astronaut flight to the International Space Station.
NASA engineers will analyze data from Thursday night’s GPS launch to make sure the Merlin engine crew is ready to go on the Falcon 9 rocket assigned to the Dragon launch.
SpaceX first Oct Kto. Tried to launch GPS3 SV04 satellite in 2, but engine problem forced automatic skipping just two seconds before liftoff.
Engineers investigating the October 2 abortion found that two of the nine first-stage engines on the rocket had a tendency to ignite earlier than expected. Observations showed that the blocked relief valve in the gas generator of the two engines increased the pressure earlier than initially designed, and the sensors on the engines found the problem and stopped the calculation.
Engineers at SpaceX inadvertently identified the masking treatment as the cause of a countdown canceled in two Merlin engines last month. The investigation revealed that a substance blocking a line leading to the pressure relief valve in the gas generator on the two engines launched for the GPS mission.
Hans Konigsman, vice president of build and flight reliability at SpaceX, said the vent port, which means one-sixteenth of an inch wide, was blocked by strict masking lacquer. He said liquid lacquer – similar to red nail polish polish – is used by third-party vendors who anodize aluminum engine parts for SpaceX.
Rogan protects certain parts during the anodizing treatment process, but the seller – who was not recognized by the authorities – removes the material before sending the components for engine manufacturing to SpaceX.
The gas generator on each Merlin engine operates a turbopump delivering kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants to the main combustion chamber.
SpaceX replaced two suspected engines for the GPS3 SV04 mission in the first phase of the Falcon 9, then test-fired a rocket Saturday at Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Which gave officials enough confidence to move forward with the GPS launch countdown on Thursday.
A review of the Merlin engines surrounding SpaceX’s rocket fleet found that the crew was showing the same initial initial signatures to the engines on the launcher for the GPS mission on the Falcon 9 rocket for the Dragon flight.
SpaceX said last week that it would replace those two engines on the Falcon 9L cherncher for the Crew Dragon mission. An engine problem delayed the launch of the Crew Dragon from Oct. 31 to Nov. 14.
Steve Stitch, NASA’s commercial crew program manager, said last week that the agency’s engineers wanted to review engine data from the GPS launch before clearing the crew dragon for a liftoff later this month.
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