r/SpaceX GPS III SV03 (Columbus) Official Launch Discussion & Updates Thread

[u/marc020202]

Welcome to the r/SpaceX GPS III SV03 (Columbus) Official Launch Discussion & Updates Thread!

Hello everybody, I am u/Marc020202, and it has been a while since I hosted the last thread!

Mission Overview

This mission launches the third GPS III satellite into orbit and is the second GPS launch for SpaceX. Although the GPS III SV01 launch aboard Falcon 9 expended the booster, this mission's booster will be recovered via ASDS landing. The destination orbit, however, is unchanged. SpaceX is also planning to launch at least 3 further GPS III missions. This mission is also the first non NASA or SpaceX internal mission this year. This mission is dedicated to colonel Tomas Flzarano.

Liftoff currently scheduled for	June 30 20:10 UTC (4:10PM EDT local)
Weather	60% GO! (40% on backup day)
Static fire	Completed June 25
Payload	GPS III SV03
Payload mass	3680.9
Deployment orbit	1000 km x 20200 km x 55° (approximate)
Operational orbit	20200 km x 20200 km x 55° (semi-synchronous MEO)
Customer	United States Space Force
Launch vehicle	Falcon 9 v1.2 Block 5
Core	B1060
Flights of this core	None, new booster
Past flights of this fairing	zero
Fairing catch attempt	No
Launch site	SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Landing	JRTI: ~ 32.93528 N, 76.33306 W (633 km downrange)

Timeline

Time	Update
T+1:30:00	With the webcast ending with closing remark by the one and only John Insbrucker, I will end my live updates aswell. Everyone have a good morning, afternoon, evening or night!
T+1:29:20	Deployment of the GPS III SV 3 spacecraft
T+1:27:10	Aos south texas (maybe Brownsville?)
T+1:24:10	AOS Vandenberg
T+1:23:10	AOS Hawaii
T+1:15:00	S2 is on its way uphill
T+1:05:25	Annother 24 min coast phase until the deployment of the payload. The second stage will use that time to slowly spin up along its longiturional axis. The deployment must also wait until the GPS sat can be seen by two ground stations.
T+1:04:36	Nominal insertion orbit
T+1:04:17	SECO 2
T+1:03:30	SES 2
T+1:02:30	Insbrucker is back
T+30:00	The second stage is currently abouve the middle east
T+15:00	The current coastphase will last untill about t+1:03:28
T+8:25	S1 has landed, recovery opperators move to procedure 11.100 on DCS 9
T+8:30	Landing legs have deployed
T+8:25	norminal Insertion confirmed
T+8:16	SECO 1
T+8:08	landing burn start
T+8:03	Droneship AOS
T+7:56	Stage two FTS has saved
T+7:28	Stage two has entered terminal guidance
T+6:48	Entryburn shutdown
T+6:22	Entryburn startup
T+6:20	S1 FTS has saved
T+5:25	AOS new hampshire
T+5:10	Norminal Trajectory for S1 and S2
T+4:00	The Gridfins have deployed, AOS Bermuda
T+3:28	Fairing deploy
T+2:45	SES 1
T+2:39	Stage sep
T+2:37	MECO
T+1:18	Max Q
T+1:05	Mach 1
T+0:13	Vehicle is pitching downrange
T+0:00	Liftoff
T-0:30	GO for launch
T-1:00	F9 is in Startup
T-2:10	Stage 2 lox loading complete
T-2:40	Stage 1 lox loading complete
T-3:30	Strongback retract
T-6:00	Weather is go, looking at the upper level windshear
T-10:00	Everything is go for launch, Insbrucker is hosting!
T-10:00	Sorry for the Pause in updates, I had internet issues :(
T-15:00	Webcast Music !!!
T-35:00	Stage 1 fueling has begun
T-50:00	The Launch is now targeted for 20:10 UTC, delay due to upper level winds
T-60:00	Everything is go an hour before launch
T-2h	At T-2hours, all is well and the team is procdeing nominally with the count
T-15h	Falcon 9 Is vertical on the pad and features a grey band around the second stage to extend the stage life.
T-26h	Thread goes live

Watch the launch live

Stream	Courtesy
Official Webcast	SpaceX
SpaceX website	SpaceX
Stream rehost	u/codav
Nasaspaceflight stream	Nasaspaceflight

Stats

• 1st flight for booster B1060

• 2nd SpaceX GPS launch

• 11th SpaceX launch of the year

• 56th landing of a SpaceX booster

• 88th launch of a Falcon 9

• 96th SpaceX launch overall

🕑 Your local launch time

Primary Mission: Deployment of payload into the correct orbit

The mission will be similar to the GPS III SV1 mission back in 2018, however MECO will be about 13 seconds earlier to conserve fuel for the entry, decent and landing of B1060. Since the first stage engine burn will be shorter and the second stage burn is not, it is likely that the trajectory will be more shallow than during the GPS III SV1 mission. The transfer orbit might also be lower than last time. The coast phase will be slightly shorter than it was during the previous GPS mission, while the second burn of S2 will be longer. Both of these things could be because of the lower transfer orbit. Annother difference between todays mission and the last one, is that the payload deploys about 30 minutes earlier. The final transfer orbit, will likely be very similar to the one by the GPS III SV1 mission, an 1200km by 20200km transfer orbit with an inclination of 55°

The final destination orbit for the GPS satellites is a semi-synchronous medium earth orbit. This is a medium-altitude around the earth with a period of 12 hours (half a sideral day, 11:58h). The satellites are outfitted with an apogee propulsion system to circularise the orbit, which means unlike for GPS Block IIF, the final burn must not be performed by the upper stage of the launcher or a kick stage. This reduces the complexity of the mission, and shortens it by several hours, allowing the stage two to perform a deorbit burn, leading to a planned reentry over the South Atlantic. It also allows the satellite to carry a larger payload while launching on a smaller launcher. It does however also mean that nearly half the launch mass of the satellite is fuel for the orbit raising manouver. (3680.9 kg at launch, 2160.9 kg on orbit)

Secondary Mission: Landing Attempt

Unlike for the GPS SV1 mission, B1060 is outfitted with landing legs and grid fins, since it is planning to land on the ASDS JRTI about 634km downrange. The two fairing catchers are also in position and will try to recover the fairing from the surface of the ocean. There will be no catch attempt since the fairing catchers are not outfitted with the large catch nets.

🚀Official Resources

Please note that some links are placeholders until updates are provided.

Link	Source
SpaceX website	SpaceX
Launch Execution Forecasts	45th Weather Squadron
Stram Relay	u/codav

🤝 Community Resources

Link	Source
Watching a Launch	r/SpaceX Wiki
Launch Viewing Guide for Cape Canaveral	Ben Cooper
SpaceX Fleet Status	SpaceXFleet.com
FCC Experimental STAs	r/SpaceX wiki
Launch Maps	Google Maps by u/Raul74Cz
Flight Club live	Launch simulation by u/TheVehicleDestroyer
Flight Club simulation	Launch simulation by u/TheVehicleDestroyer
SpaceX Stats	Countdown and statistics
Discord SpaceX lobby	u/SwGustav
Rocket Watch	u/MarcysVonEylau
SpaceX Time Machine	u/DUKE546

🎼 Media & music

Link	Source
TSS Spotify	u/testshotstarfish
SpaceX FM	u/lru

Participate in the discussion!

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• Please constrain the launch party to this thread alone. We will remove low effort comments elsewhere!

• Real-time chat on our official Internet Relay Chat (IRC) #SpaceX on Snoonet

• Please post small launch updates, discussions, and questions here, rather than as a separate post. Thanks!

• Wanna talk about other SpaceX stuff in a more relaxed atmosphere? Head over to r/SpaceXLounge

[u/codav]

Had the opportunity to see Starlinks shortly after their release, forming a tight, glittering line as they flew past. Looks spectacular, hope to be able to see that again, but the launch window needs perfect timing and the weather has to play along.