LAUNCH TIME | June 29, 2022 - 23:04:00 |
LAUNCH PROVIDER | SpaceX |
CUSTOMER | SES S.A. |
ROCKET | Falcon 9 Block 5 - Booster 1073 |
LAUNCH SITE | Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral, Florida |
PAYLOAD MASS | 3,500 Kg |
DESTINATION | Orbita di trasferimento geostazionario (GTO) |
LANDING SITE | A Shortfall of Gravitas |
WEATHER | 80% (45th Weather Squadron) |
SpaceX will launch SES-22, a C-band satellite, into a Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) on their Falcon 9 Block 5.
The booster (B1073), after having brought the second stage and the satellites out of the Earth's atmosphere, will land on the Just Read The Instructions droneship located about 642 Km from the Florida coast.
This will be the second flight for B1073, having launched the Starlink Group 4-15 mission.
The Falcon 9 fairings will be recovered from the sea approximately 782 km off the coast of California by support ship Doug.
A few hours after the satellites are released, the second stage will turn on its engine to perform a deorbit maneuver and disintegrate into the Earth's atmosphere. Re-entering the atmosphere avoids the creation of new space debris.
What is SES-22?
SES-22 is a C-band communications satellite owned by SES SA, a Luxembourg telecommunications company. The satellite, designed and built by Thales Alenia Space, is based on the Spacebus 4000 B2 platform. With a mass of 3,500 kg it has two solar panels and an expected life of 15 years.
SES-22 will be used to cover the North American area.
Falcon 9
The Falcon 9 Block 5 is SpaceX's partially reusable two-stage launch vehicle. The vehicle consists of a reusable first stage, a consumable second stage and a reusable fairing pair.
The first stage The Falcon 9 first stage contains 9 Merlin 1D engines optimized for sea level. Each engine, powered by RP-1 and liquid oxygen (LOx), produces 845 kN of thrust at sea level.
After the separation from the second stage, the booster starts up some of the 9 engines to make a landing on the Landing Zones located on the coast or on the droneships located in the open sea.
The second stage The second stage is the only expendable part of the Falcon 9. It contains a single Merlin 1D Vacuum motor that produces 992 kN of thrust. The second stage is capable of several ignitions, allowing the Falcon 9 to place loads in different orbits.
Fairings The Falcon 9 fairing is made up of two reusable halves. The first half is called the active half and houses the pneumatics for the separation system while the other is the passive half.
Both fairing halves feature thrusters and a parachute that are used to gently touch the fairing half into the ocean.
The official live stream will start approximately at T- 10 minutes.