A Falcon 9 launching from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral in July 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
The Federal Aviation Administration has cleared SpaceX to resume Falcon 9 launches:
The SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle may return to flight operations while the overall investigation of the anomaly during the Starlink Group 8-6 mission remains open, provided all other license requirements are met. SpaceX made the return to flight request on Aug. 29 and the FAA gave approval on Aug. 30.
The FAA
Shortly after the FAA made its announcement, the Space Force also made an announcement, seen at left:
US Space Force: “Tomorrow morning, SLD 45 will support the Falcon 9 Starlink 8-10 launch. The launch window opens Aug. 31 at 01:39 EDT (05:39 UTC). T-0 may vary.”
Polaris Dawn?
The crewed Polaris Dawn mission is currently on the launch pad at LC-39A waiting for improvements in the weather offshore in the abort zones. An official launch date has yet to be given for the twice-delayed mission.
There are several space schedule websites calling for a launch at 03:38 AM EDT Sunday, September 1st, but there has been no announcement of that being the case either by SpaceX or the Polaris Dawn team. Stay tuned.
Talk of Titusville queried the FAA this morning to get a definitive statement from the agency as to whether it would require an investigation into the failed landing of Booster B1062 on last night’s Starlink 8-6 mission. Their reply is as follows:
The FAA is aware an anomaly occurred during the SpaceX Starlink Group 8-6 mission that launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on August 28. The incident involved the failure of the Falcon 9 booster rocket while landing on a droneship at sea. No public injuries or public property damage have been reported. The FAA is requiring an investigation.
Background
An investigation is designed to further enhance public safety, determine the root cause of the event, and identify corrective actions to avoid it from happening again.
The FAA will be involved in every step of the investigation process and must approve SpaceX’s final report, including any corrective actions.
A return to flight of the Falcon 9 booster rocket is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the anomaly does not affect public safety. In addition, SpaceX may need to request and receive approval from the FAA to modify its license that incorporates any corrective actions and meet all other licensing requirements.
-Federal Aviation Administration, August 28, 2024
The FAA also noted that the the information they provided is preliminary and subject to change.
Public Safety
Given that most Falcon 9 landings are at sea on automated drone ships, the question of “public safety” seems moot. No uninformed member of the general public was near the drone ship when the booster toppled, and in fact, no SpaceX or contractor personnel were aboard the drone ship either. No one was — the drone ship is automated during landing operations.
Notably, Falcon 9 and Booster B1062 seemingly had a normal ascent, second-stage separation and preparation for its landing sequence last night. Again, that points to the uninformed general public never being in danger.
Whether the FAA agrees with that assessment remains to be seen. It is also worth noting that SpaceX has had 267 consecutive successful Falcon 9 booster landings before last night.
The last failed booster landing for the company was on February 16,2021, when Booster B1059 did not land successfully aboard ASDS ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ after launching Starlink 19. The next launch of Falcon 9 came on March 4, 2021, sixteen days after the Starlink 19 mishap.
Whether that roughly two-week period is a guideline for last night’s mishap investigation timeline remains to be seen.
Schedule Effects
The most important launch that this investigation could affect is Polaris Dawn, which is currently on its launch mount at LC-39A and tentatively scheduled to launch as soon as Friday.
SpaceX has not officially announced the date for the next Polaris Dawn launch attempt, and hopefully the company will provide more clarity regarding its plans and obligations in the coming days.
They say that sometimes you’re the bug, and sometimes you’re the windshield. An odd aphorism to be sure, but one that perfectly fits Florida: if you don’t like insects being everywhere, then you’re in the wrong place.
Today, we were the figurative bug today: after waiting through weather that seemed more like swimming in a hot, soupy burning sun, at T-Minus 46 seconds, SpaceX scrubbed (canceled) the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from a mere 4.5 miles away.
Long sigh. That’s rocket launches. A hundred thousand things must go right, but if only one of those things go wrong, nobody’s going to space today. Find, fix and try again tomorrow. It is always the right call.
A iPhone photo of Playalinda Beach.The crowd waiting for the launch that was moments away from cancelation.
No doubleheader of launches today, Starlink 10-7 set for Sunday morning.
Cocoa Beach spectators stopping to watch the liftoff of Starlink 8-3 on August 10, 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
SpaceX sent a batch of Starlink satellites to orbit this morning from Space Launch Complex 40 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. Liftoff was at 08:50 AM EDT.
Around 8.25 minutes later, Booster B1067 completed its 21st mission successfully when it landed aboard ASDS ‘Just Read The Instructions’ stationed offshore east of Charleston.
At 09:54 AM EDT, SpaceX announced deployment of the payload of Starlink satellites, successfully concluding its 79th launch this year.
Earlier in the morning, SpaceX announced that it was demurring from launching a second Starlink mission from Florida today as it had previously planned.
The company did not specify any reason for the schedule shift.
Launch Replay
Payload
21 Starlink satellites. Once operational, the members of this Starlink group will join SpaceX’s constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites that provide Internet connectivity to over three million customers in over 100 countries and territories globally.
Next Launch
SpaceX plans to launch the Starlink 10-7 aboard a Falcon 9 from Pad LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center on Sunday morning. The launch window opens at 07:21 AM and extends to a minute before 11 AM.
Being that this is a launch from LC-39A, the best viewing spots will be in the northern Titusville parks, as well as Playalinda Beach.
Date: NET August 11, 2024
Organization: SpaceX
Mission: Starlink 10-7
Rocket: Falcon 9
Launch Site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center
Launch Window: 07:21 AM – 10:59 AM EDT
Payload: Starlink satellites
Falcon 9’s telltale contrail — it leaves a short contrail shortly before MAX-Q and breaking the sound barrier. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Despite on a 10% GO forecast and storms closing in from a distance, Falcon 9 flies another perfect mission.
SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying Northrup Grumman’s Cygnus CRS-2 NG-21 (S.S. Francis R. “Dick” Scobee) to orbit this morning from Cape Canaveral. Liftoff was at 11:02 AM EDT under variable skies that showed a strong chance of storms coming in shortly afterwards.
A dawn view of the busiest rocket launch pad in the world, Space Launch Complex 40. A Falcon 9 rocket is 229.6 ft (70 m) tall and 12 ft (3.7 m) in diameter, or 21.2 stories — it would be a tall building in most city skylines. Unfortunately, a line of thunderstorms forced a launch scrub on this day, but still, being at a launch pad is a special thing any time.
United Launch Alliance launched an Atlas V 551 from Space Launch Complex 41 this morning carrying the USSF-51 classified national defense payload for the US Space Force. Liftoff was at 06:45 AM EDT, just as the sun was rising.
Today’s launch was the last national security payload for Atlas V, but the rocket will continue to fly until 2030 when it will loft astronauts aboard Starliner to the ISS. All remaining Atlas V launches are scheduled to take place in Cape Canaveral at SLC-41.
The next Atlas V scheduled to launch will be for Amazon’s Project Kuiper sometime in the fourth quarter of this year, carrying the first of its production satellites to orbit for the company’s planned LEO-based Internet service.
After berthing in the Turn Basin by the Press Center yesterday, the Core Stage of Artemis II was offloaded today and moved into the VAB. The process began around 9 a.m. EDT and took nearly three hours until the 212-foot rocket traveled the relatively short distance—perhaps 1/2 kilometer—to the VAB.
The Pegasus Barge carrying the Artemis-2 core stage arriving in Port Canaveral this afternoon. Photo: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media Now
Business is picking up for the Artemis teams at Kennedy Space Center — the core stage for Artemis 2 has arrived in Port Canaveral, after it traveled from its manufacturing site in Mississippi.
The barge is expected to berth overnight in the Port and then travel to Kennedy Space Center tomorrow, where the 212-foot-tall stage will be offloaded. After that, processing will begin in earnest for the assembly of the second Artemis rocket, which this time will carry four astronauts on board for a circumlunar mission.
As the main stage of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for Artemis 2, it was built by The Boeing Company in NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility. Measuring some 65 m (212 ft) tall and 8.4 m (27.6 ft) in diameter, the core stage will contain approximately 987 t (2,177,000 lb) of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen cryogenic propellants when it stands ready for launch.
Artemis 1. The core stage for Artemis 2 is nearly identical and is the orange center stage of the rocket. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
The core stage is powered by four Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 engines, which generate approximately 7.44 MN (1,670,000 lbf) of thrust — about 25% of the Space Launch System’s thrust at liftoff. Its duty cycle is approximately 500 seconds, and it will propel the rocket stack alone for the last 375 seconds of flight after two solid rocket boosters complete firing and are discarded. The core stage’s target will lift Artemis 2 to an altitude of approximately 162 km (531,380 ft) before separating and reentering the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. It is not a reusable component.
Photo: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media NowPhoto: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media NowPhoto: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media NowPhoto: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media NowPhoto: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media Now
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