SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Monday, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the Koreasat 5A communications satellite into orbit around 36 minutes later.
The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket is poised for launch from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 3:34 p.m. EDT (1934 GMT) Monday at the opening of a 144-minute launch window.
Perched atop the rocket is the Koreasat 5A communications satellite, a spacecraft made by Thales Alenia Space for KTsat, a South Korean company which will use the new telecom relay station to broadcast television, provide Internet connectivity and support maritime services over the Middle East, the Indian Ocean, and broad swaths of Asia, including Korea and Japan.
The timeline below outlines the launch sequence for the Falcon 9 flight with Koreasat 5A.
Data source: SpaceX
T-0:00:00: Liftoff
After the rocket’s nine Merlin engines pass an automated health check, hold-down clamps will release the Falcon 9 booster for liftoff from pad 39A.
T+0:01:10: Mach 1
The Falcon 9 rocket reaches Mach 1, the speed of sound, as the nine Merlin 1D engines provide more than 1.7 million pounds of thrust.
T+0:01:16: Max Q
The Falcon 9 rocket reaches Max Q, the point of maximum aerodynamic pressure.
T+0:02:33: MECO
The Falcon 9’s nine Merlin 1D engines shut down.
T+0:02:36: Stage 1 Separation
The Falcon 9’s first stage separates from the second stage moments after MECO.
T+0:02:38: First Ignition of Second Stage
The second stage Merlin 1D vacuum engine ignites for a six-minute burn to put the rocket and Koreasat 5A into a preliminary parking orbit.
T+0:03:40: Fairing Jettison
The 5.2-meter (17.1-foot) diameter payload fairing jettisons once the Falcon 9 rocket ascends through the dense lower atmosphere. The 43-foot-tall fairing is made of two clamshell-like halves composed of carbon fiber with an aluminum honeycomb core.
T+0:06:22: Stage 1 Entry Burn
A subset of the first stage’s Merlin 1D engines ignite for an entry burn to slow down for landing. A final landing burn will occur just before touchdown.
T+0:08:32: SECO 1
The second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket shuts down after reaching a preliminary low-altitude orbit. The upper stage and Koreasat 5A begin a coast phase scheduled to last more than 18 minutes before the second stage Merlin vacuum engine reignites.
T+0:08:35: Stage 1 Landing
The Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage booster touches down on SpaceX’s drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
T+0:26:45: Second Ignition of Second Stage
The Falcon 9’s second stage Merlin engine restarts to propel the Koreasat 5A communications satellite into a supersynchronous transfer orbit.
T+0:27:52: SECO 2
The Merlin engine shuts down after a short burn to put the Koreasat 5A satellite in the proper orbit for deployment.
T+0:35:38: Koreasat 5A Separation
The Koreasat 5A satellite separates from the Falcon 9 rocket in a supersynchronous transfer orbit.
The sixth and final satellite in the U.S. Space Force’s network of secure, jam-resistant AEHF communications satellites has been installed on top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket at Cape Canaveral for liftoff March 26.
NASA has agreed to consider a Boeing proposal to extend the first piloted test flight of its commercial CST-100 Starliner crew capsule from two weeks to up to six months with an extra crew member for the International Space Station, hedging against potential delays that could jeopardize U.S. crew access to the orbiting outpost.
The Russian Progress 64P autonomous cargo ship docked to the International Space Station on Monday and the commercial SpaceX Dragon CRS 9 vessel was captured by the station’s robotic arm and berthed to the outpost on Wednesday.
