NAOS, or the National Advanced Optical System, is the satellite component of Luxembourg’s LUXEOSys Earth observation program. It was developed by OHB Italia for the Luxembourg Directorate of Defence.

The satellite has a mass between 645 and 800 kilograms and is designed to operate in a sun-synchronous polar orbit at an altitude of approximately 450 kilometers. It will complete about 15 orbits per day, enabling global coverage.

NAOS is equipped with a very high-resolution optical imaging system capable of capturing images with a ground resolution of about 50 centimeters. It can produce up to 100 images per day, with each image covering an area of 10 × 10 kilometers and generating about 2.5 gigabytes of data. The minimum time from request to image delivery is approximately 17 hours.

The satellite’s planned operational lifetime is 7 years, with the possibility of extension to 10 years depending on performance.

The imagery will be made available to Luxembourg’s institutions and can also be provided to partners such as NATO, the European Union, the United Nations, the IAEA, and allied governments. The applications include defense, security, humanitarian, and environmental monitoring.

NAOS was originally scheduled to launch on Vega-C, but the launch was reassigned to a SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.

Photo courtesy of OHB Italia.

Falcon 9 is a reusable, two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of people and payloads into Earth orbit and beyond.

Falcon 9 is the world’s first orbital-class reusable rocket.

Stats

Completed missions: 517

Total landings: 472

Total reflights: 440

The Falcon 9 has launched 71 humans into orbit since May 2020

Specs

Height: 70 m / 229.6 ft

Diameter: 3.7 m / 12 ft

Mass: 549,054 kg / 1,207,920 lb

Payload to Low Earth Orbit (LEO): 22,800 kg / 50,265 lb

Payload to Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO): 8,300 kg / 18,300 lb

Payload to Mars: 4,020 kg / 8,860 lb

On January 24, 2021, Falcon 9 launched the first ride-share mission to Sun Synchronous Orbit. It was delivering a record-setting 143 satellites to space. And while this was an important mission for SpaceX in itself, it was also the moment Falcon 9 overtook United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V for the total number of consecutive successful launches.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 had become America’s workhorse rocket, launching 31 times in 2021. It has already beaten that record this year, launching almost an average of once a week. While most of the launches deliver Starlink satellites to orbit, the company is still launching the most commercial payloads to orbit, too.

Falcon 9 is a medium-lift launch vehicle, with the capability to launch over 22.8 metric tonnes to low earth orbit. Unlike any other rocket, its first stage lands back on Earth after separating from its second stage. In part, this allows SpaceX to offer the cheapest option for most customers with payloads that need to reach orbit.

Under its ride-share program, a kilogram can be placed in a sun-synchronous orbit for a mere 1.1 million dollars, far cheaper than all other currently operating small satellite launch vehicles.

The reusability and fast booster turnaround times have made Falcon 9 the preferred choice for private companies and government agencies. This has allowed SpaceX to capture a huge portion of the launch market.

Photo courtesy of Jenny Hautmann for Supercluster.

Space Launch Complex 4 (SLC-4) at Vandenberg Space Force Base is SpaceX’s west coast launch and landing facility, with its launch pad designated SLC-4E (the eastern-most of the two areas). Originally built in the early 1960s for Atlas-Agena rockets, the pad served that rocket line until 1967, when it was taken offline and rebuilt for Titan IIID rockets. From 1971 to 1988, SLC-4E launched Titan IIID rockets, after which it was reconfigured for Titan IV missions, which continued between 1991 and 2005.

In 2011, SpaceX leased SLC-4E and spent two years rebuilding the pad for its Falcon 9 rocket. From 2013 to 2019, the pad exclusively supported Falcon 9 polar missions. However, in 2020, SpaceX began splitting polar launches between Vandenberg and Cape Canaveral, after the Air Force lifted a 51-year ban on Florida-based polar launches, previously imposed due to the risk of overflying Cuba during launch. Despite these new opportunities from Florida, SpaceX plans to continue utilizing Vandenberg, with many more launches scheduled from this location.

Photo by Supercluster

Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) is SpaceX’s only West Coast landing pad for the Falcon 9 first stage. Activated in 2018, the pad was constructed on the site of the former SLC-4W launch pad at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

SLC-4W was originally developed between 1963 and 1965 to support Atlas-Agena rocket launches and was located just 427 meters (1,400 feet) from SLC-4E. After the Atlas-Agena program ended, the pad was rebuilt for the Titan IIIB rocket program, which operated from 1966 to 1987. Following the retirement of the Titan IIIB, SLC-4W was reconfigured for Titan 23G rocket launches from 1988 to 2003.

In 2015, SpaceX leased SLC-4W, renaming it Landing Zone 4 and converting it into a dedicated landing site for Falcon 9 first stages. The first Return-To-Launch-Site landing of a Falcon 9 at Landing Zone 4 occurred on October 7, 2018, after the successful launch of the SAOCOM 1A satellite.

Photo courtesy of Pauline Acalin for Supercluster