SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the Hispasat 30W-6 communications satellite into orbit around 33 minutes later.
The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket is poised for launch from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 12:33 a.m. EST (0533 GMT) Tuesday at the opening of a two-hour launch window.
Perched atop the rocket is the Hispasat 30W-6 communications satellite, a spacecraft manufactured by Space Systems/Loral to provide video, data and broadband services across the Americas, Europe and North Africa. The tri-band satellite, owned by Madrid-based Hispasat, will replace an aging telecom craft launched in 2002.
The Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage booster will not be recovered due to unfavorable weather conditions in the Atlantic Ocean downrange from Cape Canaveral.
The timeline below outlines the launch sequence for the Falcon 9 flight with Hispasat 30W-6.
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 40.
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+0:01:18: Max Q
The Falcon 9 rocket reaches Max Q, the point of maximum aerodynamic pressure.
T+0:02:35: MECO
The Falcon 9’s nine Merlin 1D engines shut down.
T+0:02:37: Stage 1 Separation
The Falcon 9’s first stage separates from the second stage moments after MECO.
T+0:02:39: First Ignition of Second Stage
The second stage Merlin 1D vacuum engine ignites for a six-minute burn to put the rocket and Hispasat 30W-6 into a preliminary parking orbit.
T+0:03:39: 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+0:08:39: SECO 1
The second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket shuts down after reaching a preliminary low-altitude orbit. The upper stage and Hispasat 30W-6 begin a coast phase scheduled to last more than 18 minutes before the second stage Merlin vacuum engine reignites.
T+0:26:38: Second Ignition of Second Stage
The Falcon 9’s second stage Merlin engine restarts to propel the Hispasat 30W-6 communications satellite into a supersynchronous transfer orbit.
T+0:27:33: SECO 2
The Merlin engine shuts down after a short burn to put the Hispasat 30W-6 satellite in the proper orbit for deployment.
T+0:32:51: Hispasat 30W-6 Separation
The Hispasat 30W-6 satellite separates from the Falcon 9 rocket in a geostationary transfer orbit.
The third launch of China’s heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket successfully delivered its satellite payload to orbit Friday, validating engine design changes after a failure on the Long March 5’s second flight, and clearing the way for the launch of a Chinese Mars rover and lunar sample return mission in 2020.
SpaceX and Arianespace recently announced plans to launch rideshare missions to sun-synchronous and geostationary orbit, dedicating big rocket capacity for small satellites as the U.S.-based launch broker Spaceflight committed to using a new Indian microsatellite launcher set to debut later this year.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral on Friday afternoon, sending a Dragon cargo freighter on the way to the International Space Station as the launcher’s first stage booster returned to Earth aboard a floating platform.
