Crew-1 Mission
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1328132314732265472
Launch
Coast Phase
Rendezvous and Docking
2 Likes
Sentinel-6
Mission Overview
The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich spacecraft is developed and operated by the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), ESA, NASA and NOAA. The primary mission of Sentinel-6 is to provide ocean surface elevation data via a suite of instruments including synthetic aperture radar, and a GNSS radio occultation payload which will gather atmospheric temperature profile data as a secondary mission. Collected data will allow high precision tracking of sea level rise, and aide weather forecasting and climate modeling. Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is the first of two Sentinel-6 satellites which will operate in the same orbit as, and eventually replace, previous Jason satellites. The primary contractor is Airbus.
| Customer | NASA (launch contract) |
| Payload | Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich |
| Payload mass | 1192 kg |
| Operational orbit | 1336 km x 66° (non-sun synchronous LEO) |
| Vehicle | Falcon 9 v1.2 Block 5 |
| Core | B1063 |
| Past flights of this core | None |
| Fairing catch attempt | No, possible water recovery by NRC Quest |
| Launch site | SLC-4E, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California |
| Landing | LZ-4 |
| Mission success criteria | Successful separation & deployment of the customer spacecraft. |
Stats
- 107th SpaceX launch
- 99th Falcon 9 launch
- 1st flight of B1063
- 66th Landing of a Falcon 9 1st stage
- 22nd SpaceX launch this year
- 1 VAFB launch by SpaceX in 2020
Starlink-15 mission
Liftoff time: 10:56 am CST | Monday, November 23, 2020
Mission Overview
The 15th operational batch of Starlink satellites (16th overall) will lift off from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida on a Falcon 9 rocket. In the weeks following deployment the Starlink satellites will use onboard ion thrusters to reach their operational altitude of 550 km. Falcon 9’s first stage will attempt to land on a droneship approximately 633 km downrange.
This mission is significant, as it is both the 100th Falcon 9 launch, as well as the first time a booster will have flown seven times. If the launch window for this launch holds, it will also be SpaceX’s fastest launch turnaround by about 14 hours. Finally, this will be the first time that SpaceX will launch four missions in one month.
Mission Details
| Past flights of the fairings | Unknown |
| Mission success criteria | Successful separation & deployment of the Starlink Satellites |
| Landing | OCISLY (~633 km downrange) |
| Operational orbit | Low Earth Orbit, 550 km x 53° |
| Deployment orbit | Low Earth Orbit, ~ 261km x 278km 53° (?) |
| Fairing catch attempt | Likely — Ms. Chief and GO Searcher deployed |
| Vehicle | Falcon 9 v1.2 Block 5 |
| Launch site | CCSFS SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida |
| Core | B1049.7 |
| Payload | 60 Starlink V1.0 |
| L-1 Weather report | 40% Weather Violation (60% GO) |
| Past flights of this core | 6 (Telstar 18V, Iridium 8, Starlink-v0.9, Starlink-2, -7, -10) |
| Payload mass | ~15,600 kg (Starlink ~260 kg each) |
Stats
- 108th SpaceX launch
- 100th Falcon 9 launch
- 7th flight of B1049
- 67th Landing of a Falcon 9 1st Stage
- 23th SpaceX launch this year
- 4th SpaceX launch this month
10:13 am CST | Wednesday, November 25, 2020
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1331420926450094080
CRS-21
Launch:
12:39 am CST | Sunday, December 6, 2020
Overview
SpaceX’s 21st ISS resupply mission on behalf of NASA and the first under the CRS-2 contract, this mission brings essential supplies to the International Space Station using the cargo variant of SpaceX’s new Dragon 2 spacecraft. Cargo includes several science experiments, and the external payload is the Nanoracks Bishop Airlock. Although the boosters for most Dragon 1 missions returned to LZ-1, the booster for this mission is expected to land on an ASDS. The mission will be complete with return and recovery of the Dragon capsule and down cargo.
| Backup date(s) | December 6, 8. The launch opportunity advances ~25 minutes per day. |
| Static fire | TBA |
| Payload | Commercial Resupply Services-21 supplies, equipment and experiments and Bishop |
| Payload mass | 2972 kg |
| Separation orbit | Low Earth Orbit, ~200 km x 51.66° |
| Destination orbit | Low Earth Orbit, ~400 km x 51.66° |
| Launch vehicle | Falcon 9 v1.2 Block 5 |
| Core | B1058 |
| Past flights of this core | 3 (DM-2, ANASIS II, Starlink-12) |
| Spacecraft type | Dragon 2 |
| Capsule | unknown |
| Past flights of this capsule | None |
| Docking | December 6 ~16:30 UTC (11:30AM EST) |
| Duration of visit | ~4 weeks |
| Launch site | LC-39A , Kennedy Space Center, Florida |
| Landing | ASDS: 32.59278 N, 76.03917 W (~622 km downrange) |
| Mission success criteria | Successful separation and deployment of Dragon into the target orbit; docking to the ISS; undocking from the ISS; and reentry, splashdown and recovery of Dragon. |
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1335616271732240385
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1335619441724256257
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1335621834495016966
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1335622715013701632
Starship down…
This is a prototype for mars colonization. Not too bad for the first trial though. Looks like they fired up the engines too late?
2 Likes
You could see in the end the color of the flame changed.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1336809767574982658
2 Likes
That’s crazy fun. Do it again Elon!
1 Like
Fanboys watching it live:
1 Like
SXM-7
Overview
SpaceX will launch the first of two next generation high power S-band broadcast satellites, replacing SiriusXM’s XM-3. The spacecraft will be delivered into a geostationary transfer orbit and the booster will be recovered downrange. The spacecraft is built by Space Systems Loral (SSL) on the SSL 1300 platform and includes two solar arrays producing 20kW, and an unfurlable antenna dish. SXM-7 will provide satellite radio programming to North American consumers.
| Payload | SXM-7 |
| Payload mass | ~7000 kg |
| Destination orbit | GEO, 85.15° W |
| Deployment orbit | GTO, sub-synchronous |
| Launch vehicle | Falcon 9 v1.2 Block 5 |
| Core | B1051 |
| Past flights of this core | 6 (DM-1, RADARSAT Constellation Mission, Starlink-3, -6, -9, and -13) |
| Past flights of this fairing | 1 half flown on ANASIS-II |
| Launch site | SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida |
| Landing attempt | Yes |
| Landing site | ASDS (Just Read the Instructions), ~644 km downrange |
| Fairing catch attempt | One half will be attempted to be caught; the other will be recovered from the water. GO Ms. Tree and GO Searcher deployed downrange. |
Stats
- 25th SpaceX launch this year
- 7th flight of B1051
- 2nd seventh flight of a Falcon 9 booster
- 1st non-Starlink fairing reuse
- 14th launch from SLC-40 this year
- 102nd Falcon 9 launch
1 Like
NROL-108
Launch:
10:00pm-1:00am CST | Thursday, December 17, 2020
Overview
SpaceX will launch an undisclosed payload into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office aboard a Falcon 9. This launch was only recently confirmed by the NRO, and little is known about the mission except that the booster will return to land at Cape Canaveral.
| Customer | National Reconnaissance Office |
| Payload | unknown |
| Payload mass | unknown |
| Deployment orbit | unknown |
| Operational orbit | unknown |
| Vehicle | Falcon 9 v1.2 Block 5 |
| Core | B1059 |
| Past flights of this core | 4 (CRS-19, CRS-20, Starlink-8, SAOCOM 1B) |
| Fairing catch attempt | unknown |
| Launch site | LC-39A , Kennedy Space Center, Florida |
| Landing | LZ-1 |
| Mission success criteria | Successful separation & deployment of the NROL-108 payload. |
1 Like
So cool!