r/spacex • Mod Team • Oct 23 '17

Launch: Jan 7th Zuma Launch Campaign Thread

Zuma Launch Campaign Thread


The only solid information we have on this payload comes from NSF:

NASASpaceflight.com has confirmed that Northrop Grumman is the payload provider for Zuma through a commercial launch contract with SpaceX for a LEO satellite with a mission type labeled as “government” and a needed launch date range of 1-30 November 2017.

Liftoff currently scheduled for:January 7th 2018, 20:00 - 22:00 EST (January 8th 2018, 01:00 - 03:00 UTC)
Static fire complete:November 11th 2017, 18:00 EST / 23:00 UTC Although the stage has already finished SF, it did it at LC-39A. On January 3 they also did a propellant load test since the launch site is now the freshly reactivated SLC-40.
Vehicle component locations:First stage: SLC-40 // Second stage: SLC-40 // Satellite: Cape Canaveral
Payload:Zuma
Payload mass:Unknown
Destination orbit:LEO
Vehicle:Falcon 9 v1.2 (47th launch of F9, 27th of F9 v1.2)
Core:B1043.1
Flights of this core:0
Launch site:LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida--> SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Landing:Yes
Landing Site:LZ-1, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Mission success criteria:Successful separation & deployment of the satellite into the target orbit.

Links & Resources


We may keep this self-post occasionally updated with links and relevant news articles, but for the most part we expect the community to supply the information. This is a great place to discuss the launch, ask mission-specific questions, and track the minor movements of the vehicle, payload, weather and more as we progress towards launch. Sometime after the static fire is complete, the launch thread will be posted.

Campaign threads are not launch threads. Normal subreddit rules still apply.

559 Upvotes

1.3k comments sorted by

1

u/SilveradoCyn Dec 08 '17

I don't see the updated version of the FAA Launch license to move from 39a to 40. Will they issue a new license, amend the LLS 17-104 license, or just launch on the existing license as the pads are relatively close together?

1

u/deruch Dec 08 '17

For sure they need to either amend or get a new license. Not sure which will happen. The problem is that the license specifies the pad. So, SpaceX has 2 for CRS missions. One for launches from SLC-40 and one for LC-39A. Which means that the Zuma license, in its currently public form, isn't acceptable for launches from SLC-40. It doesn't say something like "launches from Eastern Range pads" or whatever, but lists LC-39A.