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United States of America
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SpaceX
SpaceX
Date: Friday, December 16, 2022
Time: 10:48 PM UTC (UTC +0)

This goes

to space

O3b mPOWER

SES’s next-generation O3b mPOWER communications system builds on the commercial success of its current O3b Medium Earth Orbit constellation, with improvements in capacity, flexibility, and innovations in spacecraft, ground systems, intelligent software-driven network management, control, and automation.

O3b mPOWER is designed for demanding applications with mobility, telecom, government, and enterprise.

Full system: O3b mPOWER comprises an initial constellation of 11 high-throughput and low-latency MEO satellites, extensive ground infrastructure, and intelligent software

Capacity: Terabit-level system capacity based on dynamic ability to deliver thousands of uncontended managed services from hundreds of Mbps up to multiple Gbps per service

Flexibility: Route customer traffic anywhere, optimize forward and return path bandwidth provisioning, and control network resources to dynamically allocate capacity where needed

Coverage: Expansive reach between 50°N and 50°S – covering 96% of the global population

Courtesy of SES

On this

rocket

Falcon 9 (Block 5)

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

Total launches: 311


Total landings: 269


Total reflights: 242


The Falcon 9 has launched 49 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 LEO: 22,800 kg / 50,265 lb


Payload to 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.

Image: SpaceX / Ben Cooper

From this

launch site

SLC-40 - Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
December 16, 2022

This pad is one of two Florida launch sites leased by SpaceX to prepare and launch its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket.

Built in the early 1960s, SLC-40 was used to launch 55 Titan III and Titan IV rockets, including the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn, between June 18th, 1965 and April 30th, 2005.

In 2007, SpaceX leased the pad and converted it to launch the original version of Falcon 9.  It was upgraded again in 2013 to accommodate the larger, reusable Falcon 9 rocket

An accident on September 1st, 2016 destroyed the pad when a Falcon 9 blew up during a fueling and engine test.

The pad was completely rebuilt in just 10 months from mid-February to late-November 2017 and re-entered service with the December 15th, 2017 launch of a cargo Dragon capsule to the International Space Station.

Under SpaceX, the pad has seen many significant payloads launched from its grounds, including:

  • the first all-commercial ship (Dragon) to reach the International Space Station,
  • the DSCOVR mission for NASA,
  • the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) for NASA and MIT,
  • the first Turkmenistan satellite,
  • the classified Zuma mission for Northrop Grumman and the U.S. government,
  • the first GPS-III satellite, and
  • the Beresheet lunar lander for Israel.

Cape Canaveral

SLC-40 is located on Cape Canaveral, the primary launch center for the United States.

The Cape has four currently-active launch pads for the Atlas V, Delta IV Heavy, Falcon 9, and Minotaur rockets.

Located on Florida’s east coast, Cape Canaveral provides a wide range of access to space for missions to the Space Station, Geostationary Earth Orbit, the Moon, inter-planetary targets, polar trajectories, and more.

The Cape is ideally suited for reaching all locations in space the U.S. needs access to while launching exclusively out over the open Atlantic Ocean so as not to endanger anyone on the ground.

NASA's Kennedy Space Center, which occupies neighboring Merritt Island, and Cape Canaveral are often confused with each other or referred to as a single place.  They are in fact separate government installations and launch sites.

Cape Canaveral has hosted numerous history-making rocket launches:

  • first U.S. Earth satellite in 1958,
  • first U.S. astronaut in 1961,
  • first U.S. astronaut in orbit in 1962,
  • first two-person U.S. spacecraft 1965, and
  • first U.S. uncrewed lunar landing in 1966

Image: Jenny Hautmann for Supercluster

Booster will

land here

A Shortfall of Gravitas
December 16, 2022

A Shortfall of Gravitas (ASOG) is a SpaceX autonomous spaceport droneship (ASDS), operating out of Port Canaveral, Florida. The droneship had been teased by Elon Musk frequently since it was first announced in 2018 and made its debut mission during CRS-23.

Image Credit: Jenny Hautmann for Supercluster

Here's where to view O3b mPOWER 1 & 2

Viewing Sites
  • Alan Shepard Park
  • A. Max Brewer Bridge
  • Apollo Saturn V Center / Banana Creek
  • Cherie Down Park
  • Cocoa Beach Pier
  • Exploration Tower
  • Jetty Park
  • Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
  • LC-39 Observation Gantry
  • Lori Wilson Park
  • Playalinda Beach
  • Rotary Riverfront Park
  • Sand Point Park
  • Sidney Fischer Park
  • Spaceview Park
Know Before You Go

SLC-40 was built in the early 1960s and hosted its first launch on June 18, 1965. Since then, it has launched nearly 100 missions on the Titan III, Titan IV, and Falcon 9 rockets.

During the Titan rocket era, SLC-40 was used to launch two interplanetary missions: Mars Observer to Mars and Cassini-Huygens to Saturn.

With the Falcon 9, the pad became the first Cape Canaveral site to host a launch to the International Space Station.

The pad is located on historic Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL - the primary launch center for the United States.

The Florida launch site handles the vast majority of U.S. launches every year and has been the starting point of numerous history-making missions for the United States, including:

  • First U.S. Earth satellite in 1958
  • First U.S. astronaut in 1961
  • First U.S. astronaut in orbit in 1962
  • First two-person U.S. spacecraft 1965
  • First three-person U.S. spacecraft in 1968

Space is for everyone. Here’s a link to share the launch with your friends.