SpaceX Flies Satellites For Iridium, NASA In 10th Launch of 2018 (bloomberg.com)

SpaceX launched a total of seven satellites for Iridium and NASA, reusing part of a previously flown rocket for its 10th mission of 2018. "Five Iridium NEXT satellites were launched as part of the company's campaign to replace the world's largest commercial satellite network," reports Bloomberg. "SpaceX's mission also includes launching twin satellites for the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO)," which will "measure the distribution of the Earth's mass" and "monitor changes in ice sheets, glaciers and sea level." From the report: The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base on California's central coast about 12:47 p.m. local time. The GRACE-FO satellites deployed roughly 11 minutes after launch, while the Iridium satellites are due to be released roughly an hour after the launch. SpaceX won't attempt to recover the first stage of the rocket, which flew in January during the Zuma mission, according to a SpaceX press kit. CBS News has some additional details about the GRACE-FO satellites. They were reportedly "designed to fly in tandem 137 miles apart in a 305-mile orbit around Earth's poles," reports CBS News. "Using a microwave tracking system, the distance between the two 1,300-pound satellites can be measured to within the diameter of a red blood cell. By precisely measuring the distance between the satellites, scientists can determine how much mass is below the flight path and then calculate the contribution of water, creating global maps every 30 days."

UPDATE: SpaceX has confirmed that all five Iridium satellites have been successfully deployed.

Comments

Re:Unprecedented

[JoshuaZ]

First, please note, that SpaceX is launching satellites more cheaply than others. Moreover, with the exception of the partially reusable space shuttle, SpaceX is the only one to successfully reuse a first stage, and SpaceX has shown that it is capable of doing so more quickly than the turnaround for the Shuttle. This rocket used a previously flown first stage (from the Zuma mission) and is one of the last of the Block 4 Falcon 9s since they are switching over to the Block 5 which is optimized for rapid and cheap reusability based on lessons from previous blocks. If this has become not newsworthy then the very fact that SpaceX has made it so routine that one doesn't think it is newsworthy is something to note.

Second, even if you find the above completely unconvincing, given that Slashdot has room for around ten stories or so a day, deciding that one of the top ten news-for-nerds/stuff-that-matters is a satellite launch seems pretty reasonable.

Or is this really about you not liking SpaceX for essentially extraneous reasons?

Also, the beginning of the end for Iridium flares

[Zocalo]

Apparently these five art are part the next generation of Iridium satellites and they are not expected to create the same predictable flares as the previous generation did when their solar panels caught the sun at the right angle. As a result, another batch of the older Iridium satellites will be either moved to parking orbits that are not so tightly controlled with less predictable flares where they can act as backups, or possibly even de-orbited outright. Predictable Iridium Flares are currently expected to cease altogether by the end of the year, so last call, I guess...

No landing. Less space than the SLS. Lame.

[Kjella]

Everything nominal, from employee sighs the fairing recovery attempt failed but they didn't show any of that so basically no progress just your bog standard satellite launch. I guess that's better for SpaceX than the alternative but the entertainment value was quite low.

Re:No landing. Less space than the SLS. Lame.

[Anonymous Coward]

SLS has exactly ZERO cargo space, seeing that the rocket does not exist in any remotely functional form. Who knows if it will ever fly at all.

At this point SLS is still vaporware. At best SLS is currently a make work program. I still don't understand the obsession with reusing the turd brown external tank either, other than "IT LOOKS LIKE THE SHUTTLE!"

Re:No landing. Less space than the SLS. Lame.

[Anonymous Coward]

I always thought the ET looked orange, not brown.

Re:Also, the beginning of the end for Iridium flar

[jfdavis668]

Yes, I have been catching as many as I can while they last. Loved to show them to people, not many have ever noticed them. But then, there are people who never noticed Venus until you point it out to them.

Re:Unprecedented

[Jeremi]

It's 20 fucking 18. Is putting a satellite into orbit really headline news?

It gave you your chance to complain about something, didn't it?

Re: Unprecedented

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe OP is actually complaining about slashdot, because he likes to.

Re:Unprecedented

[crow]

I have to agree. A launch without any failures of a tested rocket platform isn't really big news these days. Stories like this should be relegated to "news for nerds" sites and the like, or the science section of more traditional news sites, and there focusing more on the satellites than the launch itself. Of course, as more news platforms are dynamic based on user preferences, seeing a story like this indicates that you should be interested, even if most people aren't.

So it's totally appropriate here.

Re:Also, the beginning of the end for Iridium flar

[chispito]

I think I've inadvertently caught a few. Are they easily mistaken for a meteor, or is the apparent movement to slow?

Yeah but...

[Areyoukiddingme]

The fit and finish was terrible. The keycard wasn't recognized, the backup camera didn't work, the audio system spontaneously turned itself on, and the passenger vanity mirror fell off. It's a TERRIBLE rocket! TERRIBLE! Nobody will ever buy them! Nobody SHOULD ever buy them! If you can't see behind you, how can you back your rocket up? And it's really embarrassing when you walk up to your rocket in the parking lot and the audio system starts blasting Yanni out the windows. Just because it put 7 satellites in orbit doesn't mean it's a good product.

Wait...

Re:Yeah but...

[Anonymous Coward]

Whats wrong with Yanni blasting out of your rocket windows? Yanni has some real musical talent, even if he's not my cup of tea.

Re:Yeah but...

[Mal-2]

Actually, the rocket was blasting Laurel. You just heard Yanni because you were primed for it.

Re:Unprecedented

[PopeRatzo]

Second, even if you find the above completely unconvincing, given that Slashdot has room for around ten stories or so a day, deciding that one of the top ten news-for-nerds/stuff-that-matters is a satellite launch seems pretty reasonable.

OK, you've convinced me. I'm nothing if not a reasonable guy.

Now can we please get back to talking about SJWs and how women and immigrants shouldn't be in tech jobs before Elon does something else notable like scratch his heinie?

GRACE-FO

[riverat1]

For me the big news of this launch is the GRACE-FO satellites. The amount of and value of the information the original GRACE satellites provided is hard to overstate. Who knew that measuring the minute changes in gravity around the Earth would be so informative? The original GRACE satellites finally failed in October 2017 after 15+ years so it's good to get the replacements in place.

Re:Also, the beginning of the end for Iridium flar

[rahvin112]

It's not the solar panels that cause the flare, it's the radio dish.

Re:Unprecedented

[Anonymous Coward]

Well lets see here. Space travel is something that nerds are well noted for being interested in. It is also news, as it happened today. So we can check the box about it being news for nerds. Is it stuff that matters, well, it seems to matter to nerds.

Why the fuck are you even here then?

reusing part of a previously flown rocket

[c8663]

I have always wondered how much is reused. I have assumed that the engines are the most expensive part of the booster. Are they being reused? I have looked for that answer, but I have not found any info on this

Re:reusing part of a previously flown rocket

[quenda]

I have always wondered how much is reused.

The whole first stage. This one was used for the Zuma launch in January, and landed back at the launch site.
However it was not recovered today, which allows a greater payload.

Re:reusing part of a previously flown rocket

[riverat1]

SpaceX did not rebuild the booster after its first use. Basically 100% of the booster was reused.

The reason the booster was not recovered was it was a Block 4 Falcon 9. They are only reusing them a maximum of one time. Basically they are trying to clear the old boosters from the inventory so they can move to the Block 5 boosters. They hope to reuse Block 5 up to 10 times before any major refurbishment.

Re:reusing part of a previously flown rocket

[Terwin]

When they re-use a block-4 booster they:
1) remove the landing legs(need to be replaced if the second launch will carry them, Block 5 legs are reuseable)
2) wipe off the soot over the welding seams and inspect those seams(the rest of the soot stays on for the second launch)
3) Replace the grid-fins(if they were aluminum and will be used on the second launch, titanium ones are reusable)
4) perform a new static fire test
5) attach a new second stage with new payload and fairing(they currently are working on Second Stage and Fairing reuse, but I am not aware of them actually having done so as of yet)
6) refill fuel tanks and launch

Re:Unprecedented

[Raenex]

Now can we please get back to talking about SJWs and how women and immigrants shouldn't be in tech jobs before Elon does something else notable like scratch his heinie?

Nobody said women and immigrants shouldn't be in tech jobs. For women, it's the SJWs who insist that we have to bend over backwards to insure that there's an equal number of women as men in tech jobs. As for immigrants, it's not surprising that natives don't want their jobs taken away by cheap imported labor.

Happy now?

Re:Also, the beginning of the end for Iridium flar

[RPI Geek]

Someone who doesn't know the difference could certainly mistake the two, but Iridium flares are MUCH slower. They last on the order of (5s-20s), and the brightness profile is a smooth fade-in, peak, fade-out rather than a meteor's quick rise and slower fade.

This site will give you a prediction for your location of when you can see them.

Re:Unprecedented

[painandgreed]

Or is this really about you not liking SpaceX for essentially extraneous reasons?

There are a lot of entrenched interests that stand to lose a lot of money and power if SpaceX or Tesla get a firm foothold. SpaceX threatens to kick out many parts of the military industrial complex with ULA. Tesla is changing the field for the car industry, and if anything, the US car industry has shown it can't handle change very well. This is the only reason I can really parse all the anti-SpaceX and anti-Tesla propaganda that comes out of nowhere and is mostly just quickly fabircated lies. I figure somebody is paying them.

Re:Unprecedented

[Anonymous Coward]

A little from column A, a little from column B...