SpaceX Falcon 9 - Hispasat 30W-6

  SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 4 - Hispasat 30W-6 - Launching March 5, 2018

The SpaceX B4 Hispasat 30W-6 launching March 5, 2018 hosted by Tim Dodd

Mission Rundown: SpaceX B4 - Hispasat 30W-6

Written: January 19, 2021

Lift Off Time	March 5, 2018 - 05:33 UTC - 00:33 EST
Mission Name	Hispasat 30W-6 PODSat
Launch Provider	SpaceX
Customer	Hispasat
Rocket	Falcon 9 Block 4 serial number B1044
Launch Location	Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Payload	SSL 1300 Communication Satellite + PODSat
Payload mass	6 092 kg ~ 13 402 pounds
Where are the satellites going?	Geostationary Transfer Orbit - 186 x 22 215 km x 26.92°
Will they be attempting to recover the first stage?	No. One way ticket flying with grid fins and landing legs. There was no time to remove them.
Where will the first stage land?	In the ruff seas 650 km east of Florida
Will they be attempting to recover the fairings?	No - High seas makes salvage operations impossible
Are these fairings new?	Yes - Type 1 boat hull sized fairings - 34 x 17 feet with 10 evenly spaced ventilation ports in a circle
This will be the:	– 50th flight of all Falcon 9 rockets – 6th flight of Falcon 9 Block 4 rocket – 6th maiden flight of Falcon 9 Block 4 rocket – 30th SpaceX launch from SLC-40 – 30th crash landing. Soft, hard, deliberate, Ups... – 5th mission for SpaceX in 2018
Where to watch Where to read more	SpaceX link Tim Dodd on Hispasat 30W-6 March 5, 2018

Launch debriefing (This is what happend)

- - T-00:11:27 Host: T 00:00:00 T+00:01:15 T+00:02:38 - T+00:02:47 T+00:03:36 T+00:06:35 T+00:08:10 T+00:08:40 - - T+00:26:02 T+00:26:46 - T+00:32:05 T+00:32:53 - -

Pre Launch Run Down from 6:04 then Q&A Explain about block changes, what is a block really? SpaceX live feed at 26:43 John Insprucker was lonesome tonight Liftoff at 38:11 - First stage burntime 162 seconds MaxQ at 29:26 MECO 40:49, stage separation 40:51 Velocity 8 231 km/h - Altitude 65,5 km - 4 seconds left? SES-1 at 40:58 Faring separation at 41:46 Entry burn 44:46 by 3 Merlin 1D# for 25 seconds audio No Landing burn 46:21 by 1 Merlin 1D# - testburn of 3? SECO at 46:51 and coasting Drumbeats at 47:35 - Technical error Q&A from 50:06 SpaceX resumes live feed at 1:04:13 SES-2 - SECO-2 in 50 seconds gave a velocity boost from 26 395 km/h to 34 842 km/h at 1:04:57 - No data SpaceX resumes live feed at 1:10:18 SpaceX show deployment at 1:11:04 Q&A and rap up by Tim Dodd until 1:27:03 Both fairings went into Davy Jones locker - Arrgh Matey

PAZ MicroSat 1&2	Hispasat 30W-6	Iridium-5 Next	CRS-14	TESS
Bangabandhu-1	Iridium-6 Next Grace-FO	SES-12	CRS-15	Telstar 19 V

Launching into the perfect storm

SpaceX is launching their 50th Falcon 9 rocket from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida. They're launching the Hispasat 30W-6 satellite on a brand new Falcon 9 Block 4 rocket.

The Hispasat 30W-6 satellite launched on March 6, 2018 at 00:33 EST/05:33 UTC on the Falcon 9 with booster B1044 from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral. Although a drone ship landing was initially planned, the offshore weather on the new launch date led to the decision to spend the booster aka. a one way ticket to Davy Jones Locker. They didn't have enough time to strib the booster, because the launch of Hispasat 30W-6 was rushed.

Even though the first stage has landing legs and the expensive titanium grid fins, they will not be attempting to land this time due to poor weather conditions at the landing site and potentially due to there just not being enough margins for a safe landing attempt on the Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship “Of Course I Still Love You”, where the massive waves would have washed deck mounted equipment overboard and potentially destroy it.

The Payload

This will be the largest satellite (In size and not necessarily weight) that SpaceX has ever launched to Geostationary transfer orbit. The satellite weighs 6 092 kg and will provide television, broadband, corporate data flow networks and telecommunications for 30° west.

Hispasat 30W-6 (formerly Hispasat 1F) is a Spanish communications satellite by Hispasat that launched on a Falcon 9 on March 6, 2018. It is replacing Hispasat 1D at 30° West longitude and will provide service for television, broadband, corporate networks and other telecommunications applications. The satellite features 4 × SPT-100 plasma propulsion engines, which will be used as primary propulsion to reach operational orbit.

This mission also carried a small (90 kg) technology demonstration satellite called Payload Orbital Delivery System Satellite (PODSat), which was deployed from its mothership when still in a sub-geostationary transfer orbit.

Spanish satellite telecommunications operator HISPASAT chose Space Systems/Loral (SSL) to produce the Hispasat 1F, to be located at orbital position 30º West. The Hispasat 1F will serve as a replacement for the Hispasat 1D and will give the Group additional Ku band capacity, in the Andean region and in Brazil. Likewise, the Hispasat 1F will expand the Group’s transatlantic capacity in Europe-America and America-Europe connectivity. Ka band capacity with European coverage will furthermore be incorporated, in order to enable HISPASAT to continue expanding its broadband service offer in the region.

The Hispasat 1F is expected to have a useful life of 15 years. The satellite will be built on the SSL 1300 satellite platform, with 11.5 kW power and a multi-mission payload distributed across:

48 Ku band transponders, which serve three coverage areas:

• Europe and North Africa, with coverage on the Iberian Peninsula, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands,  the Azores, Cape Verde and Madeira; Mauritius, Morocco, Mediterranean countries in North West Africa and  the large part of the European continent visible from 30º West.

• The Americas, with coverage from Canada to Patagonia, not including Brazil.

•  South America, with coverage especially in Brazil.

•  6 Ka band beams, with coverage on the Iberian Peninsula, the Balearic and Canary Islands, North West Africa and South East and Central Europe.

• 1 Ka BSS band beam, with coverage centred in the Iberian Peninsula.

• 1 C band beam, with coverage centred in Brazil.

The 1300 platform makes it possible to house a wide range of payloads for commercial communications satellites and its wide in-orbit experience serves to testify the high reliability it provides. In fact, the Hispasat 1F will be the Group’s third satellite to be built based on this experience. Furthermore, SSL’s expertise in manufacturing such large, complex satellites guarantees the Hispasat 1F will be delivered in line with HISPASAT requirements.

Author Tim Dodd link

Coauthor/Text Retriever Johnny Nielsen link to launch list