Gloria Holmes
Cape Canaveral, Florida – Espace X The veteran Falcon 9 rocket launched on its third spaceflight Sunday, June 6, to carry a massive radio satellite into Sirius XM’s orbit before returning to Earth.
the two floors Falcon 9 The rocket lifted off at 12:26 a.m. EDT (04:26 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 40 here at Cape Canaveral Space Station, marking the company’s 18th launch of the year. He was wearing SXM-8 digital radio satellite In orbit for a Sirius XM client.
About 9 minutes later, the first stage of the booster rocket returned to Earth, landing on one of two SpaceX drones, called “Just Read The Instructions,” stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. The launch took place at the start of a window of approximately two hours.
We hit Falcon 9,” SpaceX’s Jesse Anderson said during the launch webcast. “Today marks the 87th comprehensive recovery of an orbital-class rocket.”
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The mission was SpaceX’s second launch in just three days from the Florida space coast, Another Falcon 9 also took off From Pad 39A to the nearby Kennedy Space Center on Thursday afternoon (June 3). Payload: A rubber ball-shaped cargo capsule bound for the International Space Station He arrived at the lab in orbit Saturday morning صباح To deliver 7300 pounds. (3,311 kg) of scientific equipment and supplies.
Forecasters from the 45th Space Delta Squadron have forecast only a 60% chance of favorable launch conditions due to residual clouds left by storms late at night on Saturday. Despite uncertain expectations, SpaceX was able to start on time.
The cloud layer provided great images as the sky glowed orange as the rocket climbed through the clouds on its way to orbit.
Triple spaceship
For this mission, the 70-meter Falcon 9 successfully placed the Sirius XM-8 (SXM-8) high-powered broadcasting satellite into orbit. Designed by Maxar Technologies for Sirius XM, it is one of two satellites launched by SpaceX to replace older satellites currently in orbit.
The rocket’s first stage, after three successful launches and landings under its belt, landed on the SpaceX “Just Read the Instructions,” which was waiting in the Atlantic Ocean. This is the 87th rescue of a first-stage booster for the California-based rocket manufacturer.
Another historic booster is the rocket that appeared in its pre-dawn launch on Sunday. This rocket, known as B1061, carried two different crews of astronauts to the space station, marking the first time humans have flown on a reused rocket. This historical mission It took off from the Kennedy Space Center on April 23. The first flight of the missile was codenamed Crew-1. Launched in November 2020.
On this third trip, he changed his cargo which was carrying £15,432. (7000 kg) in orbit for Sirius XM. The satellite will provide more than 8000 watts of content to Sirius subscribers in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. This is the second satellite launched by SpaceX on behalf of Sirius, with the first satellite (SXM-7) launched in December 2020.
This satellite has been reported missing After experiencing a payload failure earlier this year during an orbit-climb maneuver. Sirius a confirmé l’échec en janvier et, dans un récent rapport sur les résultats en avril, a déclaré qu’il disposait d’une couverture d’assurance de 225 millions de dollars pour le satellite qui couvrait le lanceopment et de les First year. Sirius expects to make a claim for its missing satellite and is looking to build another satellite to replace the SXM-7.
The company says the loss would not affect its satellite radio service and that the SXM-7 was to replace the XM-3 satellite launched in 2005. Sirius expected the SXM-7 and SXM-8 to replace the XM-3 and XM satellites . , but these satellites are still operational and still have several years of life expectancy. (There is also a spare device in orbit, the XM-5, that can be refilled as needed.)
Officials did not disclose if any changes were made to the SXM-8 after the loss of the other satellite.
Both were based on Maxar TechnologiesThe SSL-1300 satellite carrier is designed to operate in the S-band range. It is equipped with two large solar panels as well as batteries for in-orbit storage. Large deployable S-band antennas, built by L3, broadcast the signal to Sirius customers.
The launch of the SXM-8 satellite from SiriusXM continues a series of busy launches for SpaceX.
In May, the company launched four different Starlink missions, bringing the total number of broadband satellites launched to 1,737.
Sunday’s flight is the second so far in June, with two more scheduled for later this month. One of these missions will launch an enhanced GPS III satellite for the US Space Force. It will be the first military payload to fly on a reused missile.
To prepare for this flight, SpaceX tested the veteran booster early Thursday morning (June 3), before launching the Dragon cargo mission on a nearby launch pad. After testing, the missile was returned to the hangar to attach to its payload.
SoaceX will attempt to recover missile payload achievements after they have fallen in flight. The shell-shaped material is designed to protect the payload while the missile is flying through the atmosphere.
To facilitate this kind of reuse, SpaceX has deployed two ships that usually carry Dragon capsules. Both GO Searcher and GO Navigator are located in the designated recovery area, waiting to collect any fallen achievements.
The company used to rely on a pair of netted boats to recover aerodynamics, either by capturing it in the air or taking it out of the water. However, SpaceX has since improved its recovery techniques and improved payload aerodynamics to better withstand ocean dips.
As a result, the company abandoned its in-flight strategy and instead opted to recover the aerodynamics from the water after each flight.
SpaceX’s next step is to launch an improved GPS satellite for the US Army. This mission is scheduled to take off from Space Launch Complex 40 here at Cape Canaveral Space Station on June 17.
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