For its third flight this yr, Falcon Heavy performed the record-breaking launch of EchoStar 24. Also referred to as Jupiter 3, this payload would be the heaviest satellite tv for pc launched to a geostationary switch orbit, massing 9.2 tonnes. As such, Falcon Heavy wanted to expend its middle core to realize extra efficiency, like what has been finished on a number of latest missions.
Falcon Heavy was scheduled to elevate off from Kennedy Area Middle’s Launch Advanced 39A at 11:04 PM EDT on July 26 (03:04 UTC on July 27). Nevertheless, an abort was known as with lower than a minute remaining within the countdown. One other try on Friday occurred with out problem.
Though the core can be expended, the 2 aspect boosters will carry out return-to-launch website landings at SpaceX’s Touchdown Zones 1 and a couple of.
2023 is popping out to be the busiest yr thus far for Falcon Heavy — which has all the time been a low-flight cadence rocket. Following its demo mission in 2018 and two operational missions in 2019, it was not till three years later in 2022 that SpaceX’s strongest rocket took to the skies as soon as extra.
In simply the primary half of this yr, the automobile flew twice — as soon as for america Area Drive on the USSF-67 mission, and the opposite for ViaSat. The latter mission was notable for being the primary and solely fully-expendable Falcon Heavy, needing most efficiency to ship ViaSat-3 Americas and two secondary payloads to a near-geostationary orbit.
Jupiter 3 didn’t use the complete expendable efficiency of the rocket, though it did have a mission package on the second stage that enabled it to carry out a 3rd burn that will place the satellite tv for pc nearer to its ultimate vacation spot. The satellite tv for pc was deployed right into a geostationary switch orbit (GTO) — much less demanding than a near-geostationary orbit. A geostationary switch orbit has an apogee, or its highest level, roughly 35,000 kilometers above Earth’s floor, and a perigee, or lowest level in its orbit, round 200 kilometers up.
This explicit GTO lowered the inclination from 28 levels to 10 levels, and likewise raised the perigee of the switch orbit to 8000 kilometers. This put the satellite tv for pc in roughly a GTO-1000 orbit, with the satellite tv for pc needing to make use of its onboard propulsion to supply an extra 1000 m/s of velocity to succeed in geostationary orbit (GEO). It’s extra widespread to position the payload into an orbit within the vary of 1500 to 1800 m/s from GEO, with some earlier launches of heavy satellites on Falcon 9 leaving the payload greater than 2000 m/s from GEO.
Jupiter 3 is a demanding payload for the launch automobile. The satellite tv for pc has a mass of 9,200 kilograms, making it each the heaviest geostationary satellite tv for pc and heaviest industrial satellite tv for pc ever launched, breaking the present file by almost two tonnes.
This immense mass is as a result of {hardware} wanted to help the satellite tv for pc’s excessive bandwidth. With a capability of 500 gigabits per second, Jupiter 3 will double the throughput of the present two-satellite Jupiter fleet.
The Jupiter satellite tv for pc fleet — owned and operated by Hughes — is aimed toward delivering space-based web to clients on Earth. This service, known as HughesNet, supplies connectivity to airplanes, ocean vessels, rural communities, and impoverished areas world wide. Jupiter 3 specifically will function from the 95 levels West slot in geostationary orbit, permitting it to serve the North and South American continents.
With its excessive capability, Jupiter 3 will allow rural clients to succeed in obtain speeds of as much as 100 megabits per second, corresponding to common obtain speeds from SpaceX’s Starlink satellite tv for pc web service. After all, the 2 companies differ enormously in latency, with HughesNet having a median latency of roughly 600 milliseconds because of its excessive orbit, in comparison with Starlink’s 60 milliseconds. This makes a distinction in high-paced web actions like gaming however could have a lesser impact on extra mundane duties.
To help the immense satellite tv for pc, Jupiter 3 is loaded with almost 3,500 kilograms of propellants and powered by two seven-panel photo voltaic arrays. The propellant can be used for each elevating the satellite tv for pc right into a geostationary orbit in addition to stationkeeping all through its roughly 20-year service life.
To organize for its flight, Jupiter 3 was encapsulated inside Falcon Heavy’s fairing and trucked to the Horizontal Integration Facility at Launch Advanced 39A. As soon as contained in the hangar, the fairing was rotated horizontally to be built-in onto the Falcon Heavy launch automobile. At the moment, Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy solely help horizontal payload integration. Nevertheless, vertical integration strategies have been proposed and can finally must be constructed for some upcoming NASA and United States authorities payloads.
Falcon Heavy within the hangar at LC-39A in Florida pic.twitter.com/EAOp1Nbvqb
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 21, 2023
Deviating from each earlier Falcon Heavy launch, SpaceX opted to not carry out a static hearth take a look at. A static hearth is a pre-launch rehearsal the place the automobile — often with out the payload on prime — is rolled out onto the launch pad, loaded with propellants, and subjected to a launch-like countdown. At T0, the engines ignite for a short firing earlier than shutting down. The rocket is then rolled again into the Horizontal Integration Facility for ultimate work.
Omitting a static hearth has not been unusual for Falcon 9 missions, particularly these flying a flight-proven booster. Nevertheless, it is a distinctive transfer for Falcon Heavy, as each prior launch had a pre-flight static hearth.
That is doubtless as a result of two aspect boosters B1064 and B1065 having already flown twice earlier than. And though the middle core B1074 is model new, the Falcon rocket household has been extraordinarily dependable, having a stretch of over 200 profitable launches in a row, doubtless enjoying into the omission of a static hearth.
With the Jupiter 3 satellite tv for pc and its fairing built-in on prime, Falcon Heavy was rolled out onto the launch pad at Launch Advanced 39A and raised to vertical forward of launch.
The countdown started round T-10 hours with the automobile being powered up. At T-50 minutes, all three first-stage boosters started to be crammed with a refined type of kerosene generally known as RP-1. Round 5 minutes later, liquid oxygen (LOX) started flowing in as properly.
The second stage then adopted, with RP-1 loading commencing at T-35 minutes and LOX round T-18.5 minutes.
Propellant loading continued till just some minutes earlier than liftoff to make sure it was as chilled and dense as doable, giving the automobile the absolute best efficiency.
At T-7 minutes, the 27 first-stage Merlin 1D engines have been chilled as a small quantity of LOX was trickled by way of their plumbing. That is to keep away from thermal shock at ignition when LOX and RP-1 start flowing by way of the engine in earnest.
When the rely reached T-1 minute, the automobile itself took management of the countdown adopted by the propellant tanks being pressurized for flight.
At T-3 seconds, first-stage ignition commenced, because the boosters ignited in a staggered sample to keep away from inducing excessive stress on the automobile. With engines and automobile methods working nominally, Falcon Heavy lifted off from Pad 39A at T0.
Lower than a minute after leaving the bottom, the automobile reached max-Q, the second of most aerodynamic forces.
Falcon Heavy boosters B1064 and B1065 on Touchdown Zones 1 and a couple of at Cape Canaveral Area Drive Station after the USSF-67 mission earlier this yr. (Credit score: SpaceX)
The aspect boosters have been the primary elements to detach from the automobile, shutting down and separating two and a half minutes after liftoff. B1064 and B1065 flip and reignited three of their 9 Merlin 1D engines to spice up again to Cape Canaveral. The identical three engines reignited twice extra — as soon as for the entry burn to decelerate the boosters and defend them from re-entry heating, and once more for the touchdown burn. The 2 cores landed at Touchdown Zones 1 and a couple of, prepared for minor refurbishments forward of their subsequent flight.
The middle core burned for round a minute and a half longer, additional accelerating the second stage and Jupiter 3 payload. The middle core, like on the previous three Falcon Heavy missions, was expended to supply extra efficiency to the payload.
The core and second levels separated, adopted shortly after by second-stage ignition and payload fairing separation. Like most up-to-date Falcon missions, the fairings deploy a parachute and land softly within the Atlantic Ocean to be recovered and reused.
Stage two injected itself and Jupiter 3 right into a near-circular low-Earth parking orbit, the place they coasted collectively previous to the second stage reigniting. As soon as it has reached the proper place in house, the second stage ignited its Merlin 1D vacuum engine for the second time, accelerating Jupiter 3 to a geostationary switch orbit.
After a ultimate coast of almost 3 hours, the higher stage lit yet one more time to place the satellite tv for pc nearer to its vacation spot. Jupiter 3 was then deployed from the second stage, and can use its onboard propulsion to succeed in its ultimate geostationary orbit.
2023 is about to be the busiest yr but for Falcon Heavy. Jupiter 3 was its third flight this yr, with as much as two extra missions left on the roster earlier than 2024. NASA’s Psyche mission would be the automobile’s subsequent launch, whose advanced flight profile means it should fly between October 5 and 23 of this yr or will probably be delayed once more by round a yr. At the moment, the spacecraft is on monitor for launch.
(Lead picture: Falcon Heavy on LC-39A. Credit score: Sawyer Rosenstein for NSF)
