CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. SpaceX will launch a Turkish communications satellite into orbit on Thursday evening (January 7), and you can watch the action online.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Turksat 5A satellite is scheduled to take off from Space Launch Complex 40 Cape Canaveral Space Force Station here in Florida during a scheduled four-hour window that opens at 8:28 p.m. EST (0128 GMT on January 8).
You can watch the launch here live and on the Space.com homepage, courtesy of SpaceX, about 15 minutes before the setup begins. You can also watch the launch directly from SpaceX here.
Turksat 5A is one of two satellites launched by SpaceX on behalf of Turkey. The country aims to increase its presence in space and will help provide communication capabilities to customers in Turkey, the Middle East, Europe and parts of Africa. It’s a peer, Turksat 5B launches later this year. In October, activists were upset over Turkey’s role in a conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan demonstrates SpaceX’s Turksat 5A launch at the company’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California, in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the launch.
Related: SpaceX’s big year: a 2020 of space launches, Starship tests and more
This mission will be the first launch of 2021 for SpaceX and its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket. The duo celebrated a banner year in 2020 as a record of 26 Falcon 9 rockets fired during the year, including two astronaut missions to the International Space Station – marking the return of human spaceflight to American soil.
Tonight’s launch will start which is expected to be another busy year here at the Cape. A total of 31 rockets have been launched in Florida since 2020, and this year could surpass that, as more than 40 are estimated between SpaceX and the United Launch Alliance mission.
SpaceX itself hopes to launch about 40 missions from its two launch facilities in California and Florida, including two additional astronaut missions as well as a Falcon Heavy. The company also launched more Starship tests this year. including a static fire test of its next prototype, SN9. The craft can take to the air for a test flight on Saturday (January 9).
The Turksat 5A satellite, a communications satellite, rides on top of the Falcon 9 today built by Airbus for Turksat, Turkey’s only satellite operator. The 7,700 lbs. The satellite (3,500 kg) is expected to operate for 15 years, with coverage below. Forecasters at the 45th Weather Squadron predict a 70% chance of favorable start weather conditions Thursday night. The main concerns are the formation of cumulus clouds and thick clouds.
After a successful flight away, the first phase of the rocket will return to earth and end up on a floating platform at sea. To date, SpaceX has successfully recovered 70 first-phase boosters, 21 of which hit land and 49 on one of the company’s two massive drone ships – “Of course I still like you” and “Just read the instructions. ”
Related: Take a ride to space (and back) on a SpaceX Falcon 9 in this video
The star of today’s mission will be one of SpaceX’s latest regular kites – a first phase known as the B1060. This is the booster’s third launch and landing attempt. Previously upgraded it GPS III satellite in orbit and a bundle of SpaceXs starlink satellites.
Thursday’s flight was the 104th overall launch of a Falcon 9 rocket and the 71st first phase repair. SpaceX’s drone Just Read the Instructies is stationed in the Atlantic Ocean awaiting its chance to catch the returning booster. The touch will take place approximately nine minutes after kick-off.
The company’s other drone ship is in Port Canaveral along the sidelines as it undergoes the necessary repairs and renovations. The massive ship caught 13 rockets in 2020 (a total of 40) and needed some TLC before serving again.
Both hooded catchers, GO Ms. Tree and GO Ms. Chief, is again employed for this mission. It is still unclear whether the vessel will attempt to capture the Falcon 9 falling cargo – the protective ‘nose cone’ that surrounds a satellite during launch – or whether SpaceX will create just two halves of the ocean. (Whether a catch is attempted or not depends on a number of factors, including the weather and sea conditions in the recovery zone.) The call will be made approximately 45 minutes after launch.
SpaceX has been successful in its efforts to reuse more of the Falcon 9, and has even reused several fairs on various missions. The payload screen accounts for about 10% of the cost of the rocket, which amounts to about $ 62 million. According to SpaceX, it could save as much as $ 6 million per flight to use again.
SpaceX’s current version of the Falcon 9, called the Block 5, debuted in 2018 and includes upgrades that increase its reusability. Industry President and CEO Elon Musk has said many times that this version of Falcon 9 can fly as many as ten times with few refurbishments between flights and as many as 100 times before retirement. Musk also said he wants his rockets to facilitate access to space, and Turkey is just the latest country to take advantage of the opportunity. A little over two years ago, Bangladesh launches its first ever communications satellite into space on top of a SpaceX rocket first dedicated military satellite of the Space Coast in Florida.
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