October 2024

A Falcon Heavy launching from Kennedy Space Center earlier this year.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

The launch schedule for the Europa Clipper mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy remains uncertain today after Hurricane Milton’s passing through the Space Coast region.

Effects of Hurricane Milton

Originally scheduled to launch on October 10, the launch was postponed in advance of Hurricane Milton’s approach and the payload and rocket were both secured for the approaching storm.

Today, a little more than a day after Milton’s surviving eye wall passed through the Space Coast region, NASA and SpaceX are checking for damage to the facilities on the base.

According to NASA, “Once the winds subsided to a safe level [yesterday], the center’s Ride Out Team and engineering teams began initial checkouts to ensure bridges are safe and useable. Later, a larger assessment team will thoroughly check the entire center.”

The eye of Hurricane Milton as it passed over the east coast of Florida on October 10th.
Data: National Weather Service, KLMB weather radar, Tilt 1.

Part of that check will of course be the LC-39A infrastructure used to launch Falcon Heavy, as well as other buildings and infrastructure necessary to support the launch. That will also include areas not on Kennedy Space Center proper, for example, the Space Launch Delta 45 supports launch tracking, safety and weather, and they too much give the all-clear prior to a launch. (UPDATE: Space Launch Delta 45 issued an all-clear at 2PM October 11)

From the US Space Force, post-Milton.
Photo: Space Launch Delta 45

The eye of the storm went offshore somewhere near Titusville and Kennedy Space Center about 4 AM EDT on Thursday, but the region continued to experience sustained winds well into the day before finally subsiding late in the afternoon.

Extremely Tentative Plans For Sunday

Neither NASA nor SpaceX have officially announced a launch date for Europa Clipper, with NASA saying yesterday that “The agency’s Europa Clipper launch team will schedule an official launch date when teams from NASA and SpaceX are able to perform their assessments, and confirm it’s safe to launch. Teams are working to protect launch opportunities no earlier than Sunday, Oct. 13.”

The agency added that the launch window for this mission extends until November 6th.

Weather should not be a problem for the launch team from Sunday onward into next week, as the general weather forecast for the region calls for sunny skies.

National Weather Long-Term forecast for Cape Canaveral
Retrieved Friday, October 11th at 12:45 PM EDT

Launch Licensing?

The FAA currently has a hold on the Falcon family launches while the company investigates a second-stage anomaly with Crew 9, but that will not be a problem for this launch as it will be licensed by NASA.

Talk of Titusville reached out to the FAA for clarification, and they replied, “An FAA license is not required for space activities the government carries out for the government, such as some NASA or Department of Defense launches. The Europa Clipper mission is being done by and for NASA.”

As such the FAA’s required investigation will not be a factor for this launch.

Update 7PM EDT 11 OCT 24: Falcon 9 Has Been Cleared For Flight By FAA. This should answer any license questions about Falcon Heavy as well.

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X-37B
Photo: Boeing

The US Space Force announced today that it would be conducting “novel” maneuvers with one of its two Boeing X-37B orbiters.

Officially listed as a spacecraft with a mission duration “up to 270 days” the two known X-37B have performed flights lasting as long as 908 days with others lasting more than 700 days before the lifting body returned to Earth. According to the Space Force, the vehicles are used for space domain awareness, for tests of new sensor technologies and satellite hardware in orbit, for radiation testing as well as testing avionics and other flight systems.

Falcon Heavy, launching the OTV-7 X-37B mission for the US Space Force
Photo: Richard Gallagher / FMN

The X-37B’s seventh mission, OTV-7, launched on December 7, 2023 from Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.

Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman praised the team for its efforts. “This first of a kind maneuver from the X-37B is an incredibly important milestone for the United States Space Force as we seek to expand our aptitude and ability to perform in this challenging domain. The success is a testament to the dedication and perseverance of the team.”

So What Will X-37B Do?

The Space Force offers the clearest account of what is planned:

The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-7) will begin executing a series of novel maneuvers, called aerobraking, to change its orbit around Earth and safely dispose of its service module components in accordance with recognized standards for space debris mitigation. Since December 28, 2023, the United States Space Force, supported by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, has conducted radiation effect experiments and has been testing Space Domain Awareness technologies in a Highly Elliptical Orbit.

The use of the aerobraking maneuver- a series of passes using the drag of Earth’s atmosphere- enables the spacecraft to change orbits while expending minimal fuel. Once the aerobrake maneuver is complete, the X-37B will resume its test and experimentation objectives until they are accomplished, at which time the vehicle will de-orbit and execute a safe return as it has during its six previous missions.

US Space Force, October 10, 2024

Aerobraking uses atmospheric drag ro slow down an object that is approaching a planet or some other body with an atmosphere. Also known as atmospheric breaking it can be utilized to alter the orbit of a spacecraft or decrease a vehicle’s velocity prior to landing.

Aerobraking is a well known technology — it has been used with Martian probes to slow spacecraft as they encounter the Red Planet and prepare for orbiting Mars or performing a landing, and the Orion capsule of Artemis plans to use aerobraking as part of its reentry regimen when it returns astronauts from lunar missions. The Space Force test will be the first time that an aerobraking maneuver has been utilized to shift the orbit of an orbiting spacecraft.

The Space Force made no comment as to whether they would share the results of the planned maneuvers.

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Ever the masters of threading the weather needle, SpaceX sent a Falcon 9 on its way to orbit and the Hera probe on its way to the Didymos binary asteroid system that was impacted by NASA’s DART probe on September 26, 2022.

Falcon 9 lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral on October 7, 2022
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

Today’s flight was the first Falcon 9 to fly since the Crew 9 second-stage anomaly. The flight was licensed by the FAA because the second stage is not planned to reenter Earth’s atmosphere, making the question of public safety moot.

A view of SLC-40 and Falcon 9, only eight minutes apart on October 7, 2024. On the left, the rocket was barely visible from two miles away due to the rain.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

Rain threatened to interfere with the planned launch all morning, with steady rains falling and steely gray overcast skies in the Space Coast region. With only twenty-odd minutes to liftoff, a misty drizzle fell in the region of Space Launch Complex 40. Skies lifted just in time, however, allowing SpaceX to once again beat the weather odds on a day where it looked like that was the least likely outcome.

Perhaps Jessica Jensen, Vice President, Customer Operations and Integration of SpaceX put it best when she said on X.com that “SpaceX has a motto to “never give up a day” no matter how many constraints are against us.” They didn’t, and the launch went right on schedule.

Didymos, the destination for the Hera probe, is shown in this graphic from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Credit: JOL / NASA

Liftoff and ascent appeared to be nominal throughout, with Falcon 9 entering the clouds only seconds after launching. Booster B1061 completed its 23rd and final mission successfully, and the second stage of Falcon 9 appeared to be nominal throughout. A little more than one hour and fifteen minutes after launching, SpaceX completed their portion of this mission successfully when the Hera probe was deployed.

Launch Replay

Next Launch

NASA and SpaceX have moved the launch of Falcon Heavy and the Europa Clipper mission from October 10 to NET Saturday, October 12th at 12:19 PM due to Hurricane Milton, which is expected to pass over the Space Coast region Wednesday night going into Thursday.

The Monday, October 7, 2024 Hurricane Advisory from the National Hurricane Center has Milton’s eye wall passing just north of the Kennedy Space Center area.
Graphic: National Hurrican Center / NOAA
  • Date: NET October 12, 2024
  • Organization: SpaceX / NASA
  • Mission: Europa Clipper
  • Rocket: Falcon Heavy
  • Launch Site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center
  • Launch Window: 04:50 AM – 08:50 AM EDT
  • Payload: 12:19 PM
Falcon 9 and Hera disappearing into the clouds on October 7, 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
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SpaceX and the European Space Agency are planning to launch ESA’s Hera probe from Space Launch Complex 40 on Monday, October 7th. The launch window extends from 10:52 AM – 11:27 AM EDT.

At A Glance:

  • Date: NET October 7, 2024
  • Organization: SpaceX / European Space Agency
  • Mission: Hera
  • Rocket: Falcon 9
  • Launch Site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
  • Launch Window: 10:52 AM – 11:27 AM EDT
  • Payload: Hera Probe
  • Booster Landing Site: Expended
A Falcon 9 on the launch mount at Space Launch Complex 40 in August 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

Falcon Family Returns To Flight, For This One Flight

The flight will mark the return to flight for Falcon family rockets after the September 28, 2024 launch of Crew 9 from Cape Canaveral, but according to the FAA it is for the Hera After launching NASA’s Crew 9 mission with Cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov and NASA Astronaut Nick Hague aboard Crew Dragon on their mission to the International Space Station, the second stage of Falcon 9 separated from the capsule and was later commanded to fire its engine one last time in order for it to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere.

A specific area in the Pacific Ocean was targeted so as to minimize any risk of surviving debris causing injuries or property damage. The second stage’s final burn was “off-nominal,” according to SpaceX, and the stage re-entered outside of its designated area. SpaceX immediately announced it was “pausing” Falcon 9 flights while it investigated the matter and two days later, the FAA announced that it was requiring a formal investigation into the incident.

Falcon 9 second stage after shutting down on September 28, 2024 Photo: NASA – SpaceX livestream
Falcon 9 second stage after shutting down on September 28, 2024 Photo: NASA – SpaceX livestream

That investigation put the Monday, October 7 target date for Hera’s launch in doubt, but SpaceX has been given a special exemption for the Hera flight because the second stage will not be re-entering Earth orbit:

Assuming a successful LRR (Launch Readiness Review), Falcon 9 will again soar over Florida skies tomorrow morning.

Payload

According to ESA, “Hera is a planetary defence mission under development at the European Space Agency. Its objectives are to investigate the Didymos binary asteroid, including the very first assessment of its internal properties, and to measure in great detail the outcome of NASA’s DART mission kinetic impactor test. Hera will provide extremely valuable information for future asteroid deflection missions and science; increasing our understanding of asteroid geophysics as well as solar system formation and evolutionary processes.”

ESA: Hera Mission page

ESA released this infographic showing the basic timeline of the Hera mission.

Weather

The L-1 Forecast from the 45th Weather Squadron of the Launch Delta 45 command of the US Space Force is not optimistic for a the next three days:

And after that, things will only get worse as a tropical system approaches the area midweek.

Via National Hurricane Center, retrieved October 6, 11:45 AM EDT

We will update this article with the official POV forecasts from the 45th Weather Squadron are updated.

Trajectory

Eastward towards an equatorial orbit.

Online Viewing

SpaceCoastLaunchCalendar.com will have a livestream of the launch if you’re not able to watch the launch in person: Livestream

SpaceX will have a live stream of the launch on its website. This will also be available on the X platform. Coverage starts about fifteen minutes before liftoff.

Spaceflight Now will have coverage of the launch starting about one hour before liftoff on Youtube: link

For official updates regarding launch times, SpaceX.com is the best source of information. Starlink launch times change from time to time, and the company generally updates their website within minutes of the decision to change the launch time. This is very handy if none of the streaming options on YouTube have started their broadcasts.

Remember that there is a delay between a launch stream and the actual countdown clock. That is simply because of physics: it takes time for the signal to travel from the launch site, through the Internet, and back down to your phone, resulting in a five to fifteen-second delay.

Next Space Flight an app for iOS and Android phones, has a real-time countdown clock that is accurate to a second, give or take. The app is free. Search the App Store or Google Play. They are also on the web: nextspaceflight.com.

Launch Viewing: In Person

Since the launch is during the morning, a lot of options are available for spectators: Jetty Park, the Banana River Bridge on FL 528 W or the southern Titusville parks on Washington Avenue / US-1 are your best bets.

Cocoa Beach will have great views of the launch once it clears any obstructions from the rising rocket and a viewer’s location.

Playalinda Beach is several miles north of the launch pad, but ignition and of course the flight of the rocket are visible from that location. If you go, go early in case the crowds are heavy.

This flight is one where the booster will be expended after its duty cycle. This is being done in order to get the maximum performance possible out of the launch vehicle. That in mind, there will be no sonic boom in the Space Coast region for a returning booster.

The “Big Vent” event at T-minus twenty minutes for a Falcon 9 rocket is a common sight here on the Space Coast. This is liquid nitrogen being vented out of the propellant fill lines. The clouds are condensation and are harmless.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
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United Launch Alliance successfully launched its second Vulcan rocket this morning from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral. The launch was not a perfect one, however, as Vulcan survived a very close call when one of the two solid-rocket boosters on the first stage partially failed and lost its nozzle in flight.

Despite a partial loss of thrust from the errant SRB, ULA’s flight software and engineering teams were able to make corrections to trajectory of the rocket as it continued to ascent.

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United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Cert-2 mission lifting off from Cape Canaveral this morning.
United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Cert-2 mission lifting off from Cape Canaveral this morning.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

United Launch Alliance successfully launched its second Vulcan rocket this morning from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral. The launch was not a perfect one, however, as Vulcan survived a very close call when one of the two solid-rocket boosters on the first stage partially failed and lost its nozzle in flight.

Despite a partial loss of thrust from the errant SRB, ULA’s flight software and engineering teams were able to make corrections to trajectory of the rocket as it continued to ascent.

Later, ULA CEO Tory Bruno would say that the SRB had “an observation” and he added quickly that the mission was a success.

Problems with the left-hand solid rocket booster are apparent shortly after liftoff. Compare the distorted shape of the SRB at left with the one at right.
Problems with the left-hand solid rocket booster are apparent shortly after liftoff. Compare the distorted shape of the SRB at left with the one at right.
Photo: Chris Leymarie / Florida Media Now

Vulcan uses Northrop Grumman-built GEM 63XL solid rocket boosters to provide additional thrust for the vehicle and to increase its capabilities. GEM motors have a long history of usage, and the 63XL edition was flying its third and fourth flights. Two other GEM 63XLs flew with no problem on Vulcan Cert-1.

graphic: Northrup Grumman

Later on X.com, Tory Bruno stated, “All missions have propellant reserves. We add to that additional propellant margins based on the mass [and] the configuration of the rocket. Because this was compensated for within reserves, this anomaly was ‘invisible’ to the rocket.” Bruno credited “Robust design and well engineered avionics” for the resilience of Vulcan, and indeed, it is one of the very few rockets launched that had an SRB failure and still successfully completed their mission.

Launch Replay

Video starts at t-minus five minutes.

Next Launch:

The next launch from Florida is a tricky call: SpaceX and the FAA have “paused” Falcon family launches while the company investigates issues with Falcon 9s second stage — there was an “off-nominal” performance of the Crew 9 second stage after the astronauts had separated from the launch vehicle when the stage was relit to de-orbit and reenter Earth’s atmosphere.

At this time, SpaceX has not announced a return to flight for Falcon rockets, and the FAA has not yet released a safety determination on the Crew 9 event that would allow SpaceX to resume flights.

Both of those could come at any time, however, and given the short stand-downs earlier in the summer with other Falcon issues, odds are good that this delay will be shorter rather than longer.

Should SpaceX announce Falcon 9 returning to action, its next scheduled launch is for the European Space Agency and the Hera mission. According to ESA, “As part of the world’s first test of asteroid deflection, Hera will perform a detailed post-impact survey of the target asteroid, Dimorphos – the orbiting moonlet of a binary asteroid system known as Didymos.”

“Now that NASA’s DART mission has impacted the moonlet, Hera will turn the grand-scale experiment into a well-understood and repeatable planetary defence technique. Demonstrating new technologies from autonomous navigation around an asteroid to low gravity proximity operations, Hera will be humankind’s first probe to rendezvous with a binary asteroid system and Europe’s flagship Planetary Defender.”

  • Date: NET October 7, 2024
  • Organization: SpaceX / ESA
  • Mission: Hera
  • Rocket: Falcon 9
  • Launch Site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
  • Launch Window: 10:52 — 11:27 AM EDT
  • Payload: Hera probe
United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Cert-2 mission lifting off from Cape Canaveral this morning. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Cert-2 mission lifting off from Cape Canaveral this morning.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Vulcan climbing into the skies at dawn on October 4. 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Vulcan climbing into the skies at dawn on October 4. 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Near the end of the solid-rocket booster phase of flight, Vulcan left a trail behind itself as it flew to orbit on October 4, 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Near the end of the solid-rocket booster phase of flight, Vulcan left a trail behind itself as it flew to orbit on October 4, 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
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ULA Vulcan CERT-2 on the launch mount at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral on October 3, 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

United Launch Alliance is planning to launch its second Vulcan rocket early tomorrow morning from Space Launch Complex 41. Liftoff is currently scheduled for 06:00 AM EDT, with a launch window that extends to 09:00 AM EDT the same day.

The launch is planned for about 75 minutes before sunrise, and if liftoff occurs before the sun peeks over the horizon, the expanding gases of the second stage may produce a spectacular display.

At A Glance

  • Mission: Cert-2
  • Date: NET October 4, 2024
  • Launch Window: 06:00 – 09:00 AM EDT
  • Weather: 80% Go during the primary launch window
  • Organization: United Launch Alliance (ULA)
  • Rocket: Vulcan (VCS2)
  • Trajectory: Easterward
  • Launch Site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
  • Booster Landing: none
  • Payload: Scientific instruments and an inert payload
  • Destination: Heliocentric orbit

    * consult the ULA website for the specific target for T-0.

Launch Readiness Review Completed

ULA announced yesterday the mission has been cleared to proceed.

According to the company, “The LRR, led by ULA Launch Director Eric Richards, was completed this morning at the Advanced Spaceflight Operations Center (ASOC).”

“Leadership from ULA and the Space Force assessed the readiness of the rocket, payload and mission assets, discussed the status of pre-flight processing work, heard technical overviews of the countdown and flight, and previewed the weather forecast that projects a 75 percent chance of meeting the launch rules.”

“At the conclusion of the meeting, senior leaders were polled and gave a ready status for launch, then signed the Launch Readiness Certificate.”

ULA Vulcan CERT-2 on the launch mount at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral on October 3, 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
ULA Vulcan CERT-2 on the launch mount at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral on October 3, 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

Weather

The 45th Weather Squadron has listed a 20% Probability of Violation for tomorrow’s launch, which means that the weather is expected to be 80% GO at launch time.

Payload

In this case, the mission is the payload.

CERT-2 is designed to be the second and final demonstration flight of Vulcan. The key objective for CERT-2 is to validate the performance of the Vulcan rocket and to demonstrate to the Department of Defense that the Vulcan flight system is ready for national defense and surveillance payloads.

ULA Vulcan CERT-2 on the launch mount at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral on October 3, 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

Aside from the flight characteristics and performance of the Blue Origin BE-4 booster, ULA will also gauge the performance of its Centaur V upper stage. The stage was redesigned for Vulcan and proving its abilities and reliability is also a critical piece of the certification process.

CERT-2 was originally scheduled to carry the Sierra Space Dream Chaser ‘Tenacity’ on its maiden flight, but ULA was forced to switch to an inert payload for CERT-2 due to Dream Chaser not being ready for flight. Dream Chaser is currently scheduled to fly sometime in 2025, but no launch date has been announced. Currently, the spacecraft is at Kennedy Space Center undergoing flight preparations.

Trajectory

Eastwards, relatively speaking. Vulcan is destined for a heliocentric orbit around the sun, so it will take a path that lines up with the equator.

Online Viewing

SpaceCoastLaunchCalendar.com will have a livestream of the launch if you’re not able to watch the launch in person: Livestream

ULA will have a livestream of the launch on their website: ULA Cert-2 Mission Page. This will also be available on the Youtube platform. Coverage will start about about twenty minutes prior to liftoff.

Spaceflight Now will have coverage of the launch starting about one hour before liftoff on Youtube: link

For official updates regarding launch times, ULA’s Cert-2 Mission Page is the best source of information. Starlink launch times change from time to time, and the company generally updates their website within minutes of the decision to change the launch time. This is very handy if none of the streaming options on YouTube have started their broadcasts.

Remember that there is a delay between a launch stream and the actual countdown clock. That is simply because of physics: it takes time for the signal to travel from the launch site, through the Internet, and back down to your phone, resulting in a five to fifteen-second delay.

Next Space Flight an app for iOS and Android phones, has a real-time countdown clock that is accurate to a second, give or take. The app is free. Search the App Store or Google Play. They are also on the web: nextspaceflight.com.

Launch Viewing: In Person

Given that this is a launch from Cape Canaveral’s SLC-41, Jetty Park, The Banana River Bridge and southern Titusville Parks are your best bets.

Cocoa Beach and the northern Titusville parks will have an excellent view as well.

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