A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the KoreaSat-6A telecom satellite from NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida.
The booster tied a reuse record with its 23rd launch and landing.
Credit: SpaceX
The booster tied a reuse record with its 23rd launch and landing.
Credit: SpaceX
Category
🤖
TechTranscript
00:00T-15. T-10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Ignition. And launch. Go back in. Go crew aside.
00:22Vehicle is pitching downrange.
00:37Heavy propulsion is double.
00:49Falcon 9 has successfully lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, carrying the KoreaSat-6A satellite.
00:58During ascent, we tilt or gimbal the engines, and that turns the rocket horizontally, a maneuver known as a gravity turn.
01:07We're still going up, but now we're also heading horizontally, away from the launch pad.
01:12Moments ago, we throttled the engines down in preparation for max Q, or maximum aerodynamic pressure.
01:17Falcon 9 is supersonic.
01:19Great callouts on the nets.
01:21And max Q is a critical moment during flight because the combined stresses caused by Falcon 9, that are caused by Falcon 9,
01:30accelerating through the atmosphere and the ambient static pressure are at their greatest.
01:35Max Q.
01:37Great callout for max Q right there.
01:41The rocket typically needs to go 17,500 miles per hour horizontally in order to avoid being pulled back down to Earth and get into orbit.
01:51Now we have six events coming up in quick succession.
01:54Main engine cutoff, or MECO, stage separation, stage 1 flip, second engine start 1, or SES 1, boostback start, boostback burn start, and fairing separation.
02:07During MECO, we'll shut down the nine Merlin engines, which is followed by stage separation.
02:12Once separated from the second stage, the booster will flip its orientation and begin heading back to Earth with a short boostback burn,
02:23while simultaneously the second stage MBAC engine will ignite for the first time, followed quickly by fairing separation.
02:31We should see all of those events happening back-to-back in the next few seconds.
02:41Stage separation confirmed.
02:50Stage 1 boostback startup.
02:52MBAC ignition.
03:00Some awesome views on the screen of those events that happened back-to-back.
03:25MECO, stage set, S1 flip, and SES 1.
03:32Fairing separation confirmed.
03:37An awesome view of fairing separation as well.
03:40We'll be attempting to retrieve these fairing halves again today once they fall back to Earth using our recovery vessel, Doug.
03:47Stage 1 boostback shutdown.
03:50And we just had confirmation that we completed our boostback burn.
03:56So it's about T-plus 3 minutes and 40 seconds into today's mission.
04:02And at T-plus 6 minutes and 32 seconds, we expect to have some great views of the first stage entry burn.
04:09For the entry burn, we relight three of the M1D engines on the first stage.
04:13Both vehicles continue to follow nominal trajectories.
04:16Starting with the center E9 engine, followed shortly after by the E1 and E5 engines,
04:22which slows down the vehicle as it passes back into Earth's atmosphere.
04:26We need to slow down to reduce reentry forces, which ultimately helps us recover and reuse the first stage.
04:42During the entry burn, Falcon 9 is decelerating by firing its Merlin engines, but we're still moving really, really fast.
04:49And this causes the vehicle to fly through Merlin's exhaust gases, which is also known as the rocket's plume.
04:55And this deposits a layer of soot on the vehicle surface, which is why our flight-proven vehicles look so toasty.
05:01And that soot comes from the carbon-based fuel that Falcon 9 uses, the RP-1.
05:10Reusability is key to lowering the cost of spaceflight, which enables more investment in critical scientific research.
05:17And as a reminder, the Falcon 9 first stage that is supporting today's mission will be performing this entry burn for its 23rd time.
05:40It is a super clear today, and we have some really great views.
05:43You can see that both the Stage 1 and Stage 2 vehicles continue to pick up speed.
06:00The Merlins on the first stage are optimized...
06:02Both vehicles continue to follow nominal trajectories.
06:05Great callouts there.
06:08The Merlins on the first stage are optimized for sea level, and these achieve around 190,000 pounds of thrust during ascent and entry.
06:17The MVAC engine is optimized to operate in space and produces 220,500 pounds of thrust in vacuum.
06:25So after entry burn and landing burn, we will shut down our MVAC engine on the second stage, and then the landing burn will actually happen after that.
06:43And as a reminder, we are targeting a landing at Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral.
06:50Stage 1 entry burn startup.
06:53There is the beginning of entry burn.
07:11Stage 1 entry burn shutdown.
07:14An awesome view of Stage 1's entry burn as it heads back towards Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
07:26Both vehicles continue to follow nominal trajectories.
07:28In about 30 seconds, we will begin the landing burn on Stage 1, where the center engine E9 will launch.
07:47Stage 2 is in terminal guidance.
07:50Stage 1 transonic.
07:55All great Stage 1 callouts right there.
07:59Stage 2 FTS has saved.
08:07An awesome view of landing burn.
08:09We are now waiting for Falcon 9 to land back on land at Landing Zone 1.
08:16Stage 1 landing leg deployed.
08:19And there you have it.
08:21That landing marks SpaceX's 364th recovery of an orbital-class rocket, including first-stage landings for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy.
08:34Nominal parking orbit, Pete.