Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent to orbit with the another set of 10 next-generation satellites for Iridium’s voice and data relay fleet.
The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket will lift off Wednesday at 4:39 a.m. PDT (7:39 a.m. EDT; 1139 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
Data source: SpaceX
T-0:00:00: Liftoff
After the rocket’s nine Merlin 1D engines pass an automated health check, the Falcon 9 is released from Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
T+0:01:12: Max-Q
The Falcon 9 rocket reaches Max Q, the point of maximum aerodynamic pressure. The first stage’s nine Merlin 1D engines produce about 1.7 million pounds of thrust.
T+0:02:24: MECO
The Falcon 9’s nine Merlin 1D engines shut down.
T+0:02:27: Stage 1 Separation
The Falcon 9’s first stage separates from the second stage moments after MECO.
T+0:02:29: Stage 2 Ignition
The second stage Merlin 1D vacuum engine ignites for an approximately 6-minute burn to inject the Iridium Next satellites into a parking orbit.
T+0:03:11: 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. The fairing halves will deploy parafoils for a controlled descent into the Pacific Ocean.
T+0:05:39: 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+0:07:17: Stage 1 Landing
The Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage booster touches down on SpaceX’s drone ship in the Pacific Ocean.
T+0:08:33: SECO 1
The Merlin 1D vacuum engine turns off after placing the Iridium satellites in a temporary parking orbit, beginning at 43-minute coast in space.
T+0:51:28: Stage 2 Restart
The Falcon 9’s second stage engine ignites again for a 9-second burn to circularize its orbit.
T+0:51:37: SECO 2
The Merlin 1D vacuum engine shuts down after reaching a target orbit about 388 miles (625 kilometers) high with an inclination of 86 degrees.
T+0:56:38: Begin Iridium Deployments
The 1,896-pound (860-kilogram) Iridium Next satellites begin deploying from their two-tier dispenser on the Falcon 9 rocket’s second stage, separating at intervals of approximately every 90 seconds.
T+1:11:38: End Iridium Deployments
The last of the 10 Iridium Next satellites will separate from the rocket.
Strapped into a new SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule making its maiden flight, Whitson, test pilot Shubhanshu Shukla of India, European Space Agency astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland, and Hungarian engineer Tibor Kapu roared away from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center at 2:31 a.m. EDT.
A covert communications relay station to route spy satellite data directly to users was successfully launched by a million-pound Atlas 5 rocket overnight.
The second flight of China’s new medium-lift Long March 7A rocket successfully placed an experimental satellite into orbit Thursday, following a failed launch of the same configuration last year caused by a problem in a booster liquid oxygen system.
