SpaceX Falcon 9 Full Thrust - PAZ + Microsat 2a, 2b - Launching February 22, 2018
SpaceX FT - PAZ - Microsat 2a, 2b Feb 22, 2018 hosted by Tim Dodd
Mission Rundown: SpaceX FT - PAZ + Microsat 2a, 2b
Written: January 20, 2021
Making room for the new hardware
SpaceX is targeting a Falcon 9 launch of the PAZ satellite to low-Earth orbit on Thursday, February 22 from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The instantaneous launch opportunity is at 6:17 a.m. PST, or 14:17 UTC. The satellite will be deployed approximately eleven minutes after launch.
It was the final and 26th flight of a Block 3 first stage, and reused the booster B1038 from the Formosat-5 mission from SLC-4E in August 2017. SpaceX will not attempt to recover Falcon 9’s first stage after launch.
About PAZ
Paz (Spanish for "Peace") is a Spanish Earth observation and reconnaissance satellite launched on 22 February 2018. It is Spain's first spy satellite.
Screenshot of PAZ just before shipping to SpaceX
The satellite is operated by Hisdesat. Paz was previously referred to as SEOSAR (Satélite Español de Observación SAR).
For observational purposes, Paz uses a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to collect images of Earth for governmental and commercial use, as well as other ship tracking and weather sensors, which enables high-resolution mapping of large geographical areas at day and night. The X-band radar imaging payload operates at a wavelength of 3.1 centimeters (1.2 in), or a frequency of 9.65 gigahertz.
The Paz satellite is operated in a constellation with the German SAR fleet TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X in the same orbit. The collaboration was agreed on by both Hisdesat and former European aerospace manufacturer Astrium, operator of the two other satellites. The high-resolution images will be used for military operations, border control, intelligence, environmental monitoring, protection of natural resources, city, and infrastructure planning, and monitoring of natural catastrophes.
Originally, Paz was scheduled for launch from the Yasny launch base, Russia, in 2014, but this was delayed due to Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, resulting in an International Court of Arbitration legal battle between Hisdesat and Kosmotras. The US launch was estimated to cost around €53 million, partially reduced by the inclusion of several mobile internet satellites on the same flight.
The satellite launched on a reused Falcon 9 rocket by SpaceX from Vandenberg Air Force Base, SLC-4E on 22 February 2018 at 14:17 UTC. The satellite hosted two secondary payloads: an AIS receiver and the Radio-Occultation and Heavy Precipitation (ROHP) experiment. Paz weighs 1.282 kg (2.826 lb), and its mass with fuel is 1.341 kg (2.956 lb). The payloads were carried to a Sun-synchronous dawn-dusk orbit. The launch was originally scheduled for 30 January 2018.
The Share Ride - Tintin A & B
Paz was joined aboard Falcon 9 by MicroSat-2a and 2b, two 400 kilogram - 880 lb SpaceX test satellites for their future constellation Starlink, nicknamed Tintin A and B. Tests of these satellites include video transmission from earth to A, relaying it to B and receiving it from B on earth. The pair of satellites are the first prototypes in a fleet which may consist of up to 12,000 spacecraft.
SpaceX aims to have Starlink fully operational by 2024, with the operational constellation expected to contain 4,425 satellites across 83 planes in the higher 360 km orbit, with a further 7,518 satellites in the lower 340 km orbits and in polar orbits.
Payload Adaptor Fittings PAF on rockets comes in all sizes with different functions, but they reduce the rocket’s 12 foot “shoulder” to this 5 foot tube, where the satellites are locked on
SpaceX was conducting a recovery attempt using a crew boat named Mr Steven that was equipped with a huge net on four steel poles. The new 2.0 fairing measures 34,4 x 17,2 feet and as is evident in this picture, they are like friggin 'huge’ boats.
The PAZ fairing narrowly missed the boat, leading to a soft water landing. Twitter Elon Musk.
Comparing Type 1 and Type 2 fairings
PAZ also featured Fairing 2.0 with which the recovery attempt was made using a crew boat named Mr Steven that was equipped with a huge net on four steel poles. The 2.0 fairing measures 34,4 x 17,2 feet.
By comparison of pixel counts, a difference in fairing measurements between type 1 and 2 can be found. Type 2 seems to have an extra layer of honeycomb aluminum outside on the old layer
Type 2 have fewer ventilation ports at the bottom part of the fairings. These 8 ports vent out the “Nitrolox” atmosphere in the fairing used to keep the payload moisture free and in a rust-free working order. The fairings are pressurized and during ascent they are slowly depressurized until fairing deployment.
Type 2 have specifically been built with recovery in mind they are equipped with RCS thrusters, flight guidance computers, a drogue chute mortar afth and a steerable parafoil parachute for soft landings on the ocean. The fairing in itself is a suborbital space vehicle capable of reentry and autonomous landing with very little design change.
The ventilation ports at the bottom part of the fairing still let in seawater which flooded the bottom black cotton pads used as sound and vibration suppression material.
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