SpaceX launched a record workout by launching a 26-year-old Falcon 9 rocket from Saturday, the second in less than a week, in which a satellite of the classified National Reconnaissance Office fee was put into orbit.
The NROL-108 payload added a surprising delay to SpaceX’s launch manifesto. The builder and purpose of the satellite are secrets, which are reminiscent Equally mysterious “Zuma” payload launched by SpaceX in January 2018. Zuma was lost in an accident shortly after arriving in space, and no details about his mission, or ownership of the agency, have ever come to light.
In any case, in the first phase of the Falcon 9, SpaceX’s year-end goal reached a spectacular start, with its fifth flight, roaring to life at 9:00 a.m., advancing a thin rocket from the historic Historic Pad 39 in Candy Space. 1.7 million pounds thrust in the center.
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Due to the higher-than-normal pressure in the liquid oxygen oxygen tank of the second stage of the rocket, the launch came two days after the planned, which started the last-minute “auto abort” on Thursday. SpaceX did not provide additional details on the issue or how it was resolved before Blast Saturday.
The NROL-108 payload was normally launched on the Northeast route. It was either bound for low orbit or it was a relatively light satellite – or both – because in the first stage there was enough propellant left after the low atmosphere to be reversed and to land back on the Cape Canaveral Space Force. Station
It was SpaceX’s 22nd return-to-launch landing, with 19 in Florida and three in California. Overall, the company has now recovered 70 first-stage boosters from December 2015, including 48-offer-shore droneships.
SpaceX made its debut on a booster touchdown and, with a generally classified NRO mission, no details were provided about the second phase demonstration, the hypothesis configuration of the NRL-108 satellite or its initial orbit.
In response to a question from NRO Spaceflight Now, the NRO-108 carries a national security payload, designed, built and operated by the National Rick onna Nisson Office Fees. “Additional details about the payload and its mission are protected. The name or surname of the contractor or contractors involved in creating this payload is also protected.”
SpaceX
Amateur satellite analysts trying to track amateur payloads have no idea about the nature of satellites.
It was the third NRO satellite launched this year United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 Launched on November 13 by Rocket and another ULA Delta 4 heavy rocket December 10.
Due to the slowdown in serious projects in the aerospace industry in 2020, SpaceX launched a record 26 Falcon 9s, including a sub-orbital test flight, bringing the total number of companies since the rocket’s launch in 2010 to 103, including three triple to 106. Core. Falcon Heavy. The company’s previous one-year record, which was set in 2018, was 21.
SpaceX’s 2020 flight includes 14 launches of the company’s Starlink Internet Relay satellites Cargo delivery mission For the International Space Station, the first two pilot flights of the SpaceX crew dragon capsule and a dramatic in-flight test of the capsule’s emergency abort system.
The crew took six astronauts to the Dragon International Space Station, two in one test flight. Launched May 30 And scattered from 2 August, and on the first operational flight of the ferry ship, Starting November 15th. The four “Crew 1” astronauts are expected to stay together until next May.
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