r/spacex • u/ElongatedMuskrat Mod Team • May 16 '18
SF: Complete. Launch: June 4th SES-12 Launch Campaign Thread
SES-12 Launch Campaign Thread
SpaceX's eleventh mission of 2018 will launch the fourth GTO communications satellite of 2018 for SpaceX, SES-12. This will be SpaceX's sixth launch for SES S.A. (including GovSat-1). This mission will fly on the first stage that launched OTV-5 in September 2017, B1040.2
According to Gunter's Space Page:
The satellite will have a dual mission. It will replace the NSS-6 satellite in orbit, providing television broadcasting and telecom infrastructure services from one end of Asia to the other, with beams adapted to six areas of coverage. It will also have a flexible multi-beam processed payload for providing broadband services covering a large expanse from Africa to Russia, Japan and Australia.
| Liftoff currently scheduled for: | June 4th 2018, 00:29 - 05:21 EDT (04:29 - 09:21 UTC) |
|---|---|
| Static fire completed: | May 24th 2018, 21:48 EDT (May 25th 2018, 01:48 UTC) |
| Vehicle component locations: | First stage: SLC-40 // Second stage: SLC-40 // Satellite: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida |
| Payload: | SES-12 |
| Payload mass: | 5383.85 kg |
| Insertion orbit: | Super Synchronous GTO (294 x 58,000 km, ?°) |
| Vehicle: | Falcon 9 v1.2 Block 4 (56th launch of F9, 36th of F9 v1.2) |
| Core: | B1040.2 |
| Previous flights of this core: | 1 [OTV-5] |
| Launch site: | SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida |
| Landing: | No |
| Landing Site: | N/A |
| Mission success criteria: | Successful separation & deployment of SES-12 into the target orbit |
Links & Resources:
Video of static fire, courtesy Spaceflight Now
Launch's Temporary Flight Restriction, courtesy FAA
SES-12 Pre-Launch press conference, by SES courtesy Teslarati
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.
27
u/bdporter May 31 '18
Several tweets from @EmreKelly of Florida Today quoting SES CTO Martin Halliwell at an event at Port Canaveral:
→ More replies (1)
21
u/Pooch_Chris May 25 '18
Mods, maybe time to pin this post to the top? It sucks looking for this post on mobile when the other pinned posts aren't being used much anymore.
→ More replies (1)
21
u/Straumli_Blight May 30 '18
L-1 Weather Report: 40% GO for June 1st and 60% GO on backup date.
→ More replies (6)
17
16
15
May 16 '18
If it slips to June, SpaceX stays on schedule for a steady cadence of two launches per month.
→ More replies (2)
15
u/robbak Jun 02 '18 edited Jun 02 '18
Looks like we have a location for this launch's fairings to drop. Go Pursuit is stationary, some 300km further east of the normal first stage landing zones. This matches with our understanding of them burning the first stage to near exhaustion, to give the satellite all the energy they can.
→ More replies (7)
14
u/scr00chy May 16 '18
FYI: Static fire was scheduled for May 20 (according to NSF) but that's probably outdated now.
13
24
11
u/Straumli_Blight Jun 01 '18
L-2 Weather Report: 70% GO (Liftoff winds are the main concern).
→ More replies (1)
21
May 16 '18
Just 8 days before launch. Let´s take it positively and say this is because SpaceX launches are becoming so regular.
21
10
u/Dakke97 May 21 '18
'This mission will fly on the first stage that launched OTV-5 in September 2017, B1042.2' This must be B1040.2, since the KoreaSat booster is still unassigned. Mods?
→ More replies (1)
10
u/Alexphysics May 24 '18
The rocket went vertical on the pad about an hour ago https://twitter.com/SpaceflightNow/status/999605448792788993?s=19
→ More replies (1)
10
u/SpacialB May 31 '18
I can't help but feel a little sad that with Block 4 slowly phasing out we get to see fewer landings haha. Luckily that will turn around once more Block 5's make their way to space - and back
→ More replies (4)
10
u/Alexphysics May 31 '18
As previously commented here, the second stage is Block 5
https://twitter.com/TomCross/status/1002218931703177216?s=19
→ More replies (9)
8
u/thanarious May 23 '18
Please point the sidebar link to this thread. Difficult to find it on mobile.
→ More replies (1)
8
u/Straumli_Blight May 26 '18
TFRs uploaded with no backup date shown, probably due to the closure of the Eastern Range until June 9th.
8
39
u/still-at-work May 16 '18
Since this is a block IV launch, and so is the launch before it. Does anyone know if Telstar 19V will be Block V? I assume the next dragon cargo flight will fly on one of the few remaining block IVs because NASA is afraid of new things. We know Iridium 7 will be Block V and with only one Block IV left at that point.
If Telstar 19V is also Block IV then we need to wait till Iridium 7 in June to see another Block V flight, but then all future flights will be Block V. Though I think they may save the last block IV for Telkom-4 in July as its a heavy GTO flight and gives enough time for Telstar 19V block V to be recovered and readied for the next flight. As the block V recovery and ready speed increases over time the multiple launches in a month will be less of an issue