Tuesday, June 25, 2019

SpaceX Falcon Heavy 3 - STP-2

  SpaceX Falcon Heavy FH 3 - STP-2 - Launching June 25, 2019

Falcon Heavy preparing to mate with fairing in SpaceX’s hangar at LC-39A → spacex.com/stp-2 If anyone asks, I’m just hangin out before my flight and waiting for the TEL to come pick us up

Mission Rundown: SpaceX Falcon Heavy - STP-2

Written: January 6, 2021

Lift Off Time

June 25, 2019 - 06:30 UTC - 02:30 EDT

Mission Name

STP-2 - Space Test Program 2

Launch Provider

SpaceX

Customers

U.S. Department of Defense

NASA

NOAA

Launch Vehicles

Left Block 5 side booster B1052-2 Y-

Falcon Heavy Block 5 Core Booster B1057

Right Block 5 side booster B1053-2 Y+

Launch Location

Historic Launch Complex 39A - LC-39A

Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida

Payload

12 Mini- Nano- & Microsatellites

12 CubeSats from various sources

Payload mass

3 700 kg ~ 8 157 pounds

Where are the satellites going?

The satellites will be deployed in 3 distinct orbits, 2 Low Earth Orbits and the DSX spacecraft will be deployed in a Medium Earth Orbit.

Will they attempt to recover the first stage and side boosters?

Yes - The side boosters have enough fuel to return to launchsite - The core booster is aiming for OCISLY.

Where will the first stage and boosters land?

On OCISLY 1 236 km (771 miles) down range and Landing Zones LZ-1 & LZ-2 at CCAFS

Will they be attempting to recover the fairings?

Yes - GO Navigator and GO Ms Tree will be participating in fairing catch attempt 1 346 km downrange

Are these fairings new?

Yes - Type 2.2 lifeboat sized fairings - 34 x 17 feet with 8 ventilation ports and a heat resisting steel tip

This will be the:

Falcon Heavy is not a single stick launch vehicle so in order to reduce confusion only their single boosters are counted as Falcon 9’s regarding their landings

The Falcon Heavy core booster didn't make it to OCISLY 1236 km downrange

– 3rd Falcon Heavy launch by SpaceX

– 1st flight of Falcon Heavy core booster

– 1st & 2nd re-flight of Falcon Heavy sidebooster

– 18th SpaceX launch from LC-39A

– 41st, 42nd & 43rd booster landings overall

– 39th crash landing. soft, hard, deliberate, Ups...

– 8th mission for SpaceX in 2019

Where to watch

Where to read more in depth

SpaceX link

Tim Dodd on Falcon Heavy 3 June 25, 2019


Launch debriefing

(This is what happend)

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T-00:19:17

Hosts:

T 00:00:00

T+00:00:48

T+00:02:33

T+00:02:52

T+00:03:34

T+00:03:43

T+00:04:08

T+00:07:18

T+00:08:22

T+00:08:45

T+00:09:40

T+00:11:10

T+00:13:06

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T+01:12:40

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T+01:13:51

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T+01:19:30

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T+02:06:58

T+02:07:42

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T+03:27:01

T+03:27:28

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T+03:34:22

T+03:35:53

Pre Launch Run Down from 3:15 then Q&A

SpaceX live feed at 14:06

Alex Siegel, Jessica Andersson and John Insprucker 

Liftoff at 33:27 - 06:30:00 UTC

MaxQ at 34:15 (3 sec delay on downlink camera)

BECO at 36:02 Booster release at 36:05

Boost back burn by boosters at 36:21 - 67 seconds

MECO 37:03, stage separation 37:05

SES-1 at 37:12

Fairing separation at 37:37

Booster entry burn 40:48 by 6 Merlin 1D# for 20 seconds

Landing burn 41:52 by 2 Merlin 1D# for 22 seconds

SECO-1 at 42:15 and coasting

Entry burn 43:10 by center core for 14 seconds

Landing burn 44:40 by center core - failed

Deployment 1 at 46:36 - T+19:23 - T+24:59 - T+28:52 - T+31:18 - T+34:05 - T+38:50 - T+43:54 - T+50:10

Replays, tweeting with Q&A between deployments

and launch day offer merchandise at 1:27:40

SES-2 - SECO-2 gave a velocity boost from 25.070 km/h to 25.280 km/h in 22 seconds

First fairing half caught by GO Ms. Tree 1:47:27 - The other half was damaged but salvaged

Deployment 2 at 1:53:03 - T+01:21:54 - T+01:24:05 - T+01:27:13 - T+01:31:23 - T+01:34:36 - T+01:36:30 - T+01:39:53 - T+01:43:20 - T+01:46:13

Q&A with info, explanations from 2:19:10

Launch day offer on merchandise at 2:23:35

Rap up from Tim Dodd at 2:24:11

And watching SpaceX from 02:31:56 their video time

SES-3 and SECO-3 gave a velocity boost from 25.352 km/h to 28.837 km/h in 30 seconds, apogee 6 000 km

SpaceX is back for final MEO burn and deployment

SES-4 and SECO-4 gave a velocity boost from 14.630 km/h to 20.046 km/h in 47 seconds, altitude 6.006 km

Deployment of DSX at 1:53:03

Hats of to Tim Dodd


One giant leap for… - …was just too far

SpaceX will be launching the Space Test Program 2 (STP-2) rideshare mission for the U.S. Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center on a Falcon Heavy rocket. This Falcon Heavy is composed of a new block 5 center core (B1057) and the two block 5 side boosters (B1052-2 & B1053-2) from the Arabsat-6A mission.

The launch window for this mission opens at 11:30 PM EDT on June 24, 2019 and is 4 hours in duration. The Falcon Heavy will be lifting off from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After burning for about 2 and a half minutes, the side boosters will separate from the core booster and boost back to the launch site for a landing at Landing Zones 1 & 2 (LZ-1 & LZ-2).

The core booster will continue burning for another minute, before shutting down and separating from the second stage. The core booster will be landing approximately 1 239 km (771 miles) downrange on the Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship, Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY). The core booster crash landed and did not survive the impact.

Screenshot of Falcon Heavy mission view by Geoff Barret - The soddy side boosters have flown before

It took 8 months to make a deployment list

The unclear Payload

From Wikipedia it says that the STP-2 (DoD Space Test Program) payload was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy on 25 June 2019 - 06:30:00 UTC.

Included was COSMIC-2, a cluster of six satellites, with a mass of 277,8 kg each. The primary role of the COSMIC-2 satellite constellation is to provide radio occultation data with an average latency of 45 minutes.

The six satellites were placed on an orbit with an inclination of 24 to 28.5 degrees with plans for them to move eventually to six separate orbital planes with 60 degree separation between them. The payload stack was integrated using an ESPA ring. Two ESPA Grande adapter rings were used to mount the six COSMIC-2 satellites beneath the upper payload adapter hosting the DSX payload and avionics modules. Arrgh Write it properly ESPA ring.

STP-2 also deployed a number of CubeSats as secondary payloads, including E-TBEx, PSAT, TEPCE, and 3 ELaNa 15 CubeSats. LightSail 2 is carried by the Prox-1 nanosatellite. Other satellites and payloads included Oculus-ASR nanosatellite, GPIM, and the Deep Space Atomic Clock. Another source of information is this article.

LightSail 2 after a boom deployment test

Screenshot of artist impression of STP-2 payload mounted on ESPA rings with portholes

There are 4 ESPA rings with 17 ports upon which a Minisatellite or CubeSat dispenser is secured. PPOD 1-8 deploys the first 11 CubeSat payloads.

Payload Pay Dirt

From the eo Portal Directory this article about the Deep Space Atomic Clock shows the precise loading manifest of STP-2, so now there is access to a more detailed Payload list, and an educational explanation of the use of atomic clocks in space.

First set of deployments consists of 10 small secondary CubeSat satellites that will be deployed into an elliptical orbit of ~300 x 860 km, inclination of ~28º.

OCULUS-ASR deployed from ESPA ring 1 port 1 of 5 in top view of PAF camera

OCULUS-ASR: Attitude and Shape Recognition Microsatellite - 70 kg - from MTU

OCULUS-ASR SPHERE: Deployed Attitude and Shape Recognition CubeSat- 2 kg - MTU

PPOD-1 have deployed DOTSI an unlisted CubeSat along with TEPCE

TEPCE 1&2: Tether Electrodynamics Propulsion CubeSat Experiment, a 3U CubeSat 3 kg

PPOD-2 have deployed FalconSat-7

FalconSat-7: a 3U CubeSat mission developed by the Cadets of the U.S. Air Force Academy

PPOD-3 have deployed ARMADILLO

ARMADILLO: a nanosatellite - 3U CubeSat from University of Texas at Austin, mass ~ 4 kg

PPOD-4 have deployed PSAT-2 and BricSat 2

PSAT-2: ParkinsonSAT, a student built 1.5U CubeSat of US Naval Academy - mass 2 kg

BRICSAT: a student built a 1.5U CubeSat of USNA (US Naval Academy) to demonstrate a µCAT 

electric propulsion system and carry a ham radio payload

PPOD-5 have deployed the Prometheus CubeSat, another unlisted CubeSat

PPOD-6 have deployed E-TBEx A, the first of the tandem pair of CubeSats

E-TBEx A: Enhanced Tandem Beacon Experiment, a 3U CubeSats from SRI

PPOD-7 has deployed E-TBEx B, the second of the tandem pair of CubeSats

E-TBEx B: Enhanced Tandem Beacon Experiment, a 3U CubeSats from SRI

PPOD-8 has deployed CubeSats CP-9 “LEO” and StangSat

CP-9/StangSat: a joint 2U CubeSat/1U CubeSat experiment sponsored by NASA LSP

By seeing CP-9 “LEO” deployed, I suspect that PPOD 1-8 is a CubeSat dispenser mounted on top of DSX, which is mounted on ESPA ring 4 port 1 or Z+ who is in camera view.

The last set of CubeSat are developed under the ELaNa-15 program - Educational Launch of Nanosatellites run by the Launch Services Program (LSP) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Second sets of deployments consist of 10 Mini- and Nanosatellites and 1 CubeSat, which will be deployed in a circular orbit at 720 km altitude and at an inclination of 24º.

Prox-1: Nanosatellite - mass 71 kg - Space Systems Design Laboratory at Georgia Tech

LightSail-2: Planetary Society, Nanosatellite 3U CubeSat - mass 5 kg - are deployed by Prox-1 who were deployed from ESPA ring 1 port ? of 5 out of view of PAF camera

NPSat-1: Nanosatellite - mass 86 kg from Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA.

NPSat-1 where deployed from ESPA ring 1 port 2 of 5 in view of PAF camera

OTB-1: Minisatellite with NASA's DSAC - Deep Space Atomic Clock - millimeter accuracy?

OTB-1 where deployed from ESPA ring 1 port ? of 5 out of view of PAF camera

GPIM: Green Propellant Infusion Mission Minisatellite - hydroxylammonium nitrate (HAN)

GPIM  where deployed from ESPA ring 1 port ? of 5 out of view of PAF camera

6 FormoSat-7/COSMIC-2 Satellites on ESPA ring 2 and 3 from NOAA and Taiwan’s NSO

COSMIC-2-5 deployed from ESPA ring 2 port Z+ who are in view of PAF camera

COSMIC-2-6 deployed from ESPA ring 2 port Z- who are out of view

COSMIC-2-2 deployed from ESPA ring 2 port Y- who are out of view

COSMIC-2-4 deployed from ESPA ring 2 port Y+ who are in view

COSMIC-2-1 deployed from ESPA ring 3 port Z- who are out of view

COSMIC-2-3 deployed from ESPA ring 3 port Z+ who are in view

Third and last deployment happens after two orbit raising and circulation burns made by the second stage to reach an elliptical MEO (Medium Earth Orbit) with a perigee of 6000 km and an apogee of 12000 km, inclination of 43º.

DSX: Demonstration and Science Experiments mission of AFRL Air Force Research Lab

SET 1 and 2 are DSX payload and avionics mounted on ESPA ring 4 port 1 and 3; Z+ and Z-

DSX payload where deployed with ESPA ring 4 mounted on port 1 Z+  in view of PAF camera

There is no longer something missing in this launch manifest. After searching 6 different sources, it’s now possible to find a more clear loading manifest and details about the 24 Minisatellites and CubeSats and their deployment order.

Other multi-satellite deployments have the same problem with being superficial. Only details about the CubeSats are lacking “Sorry. Nerd level 9 in progress.

In the picture below, there are a pair of missing payloads called SET-1 and SET-2, which will replace the two Van Allen Probes. The Space Environment Testbed payloads should have had a recognizable mission name, but damn if I know which payload. Maybe there was room for two extra Minisatellites, but they got cut from the loading manifest.

Found them at last. It’s DSX on ESPA ring 4. Enjoy the picture. It’s at least “colorful”.

The missing payloads is SET-1 and 2, who will replace the two Van Allen Probes - It’s DTX Arrgh

Following orbital targets were identified by the NORAD space track. “Sorry. Nerd level 10.

NORAD  Name               NSSC ID    Type  Country Period Incl.   Apo  Peri

44339  Prox-1             2019-036A  NanoSat TBD   99.13  24.00   725   709

44340  NPSat1             2019-036B  NanoSat TBD   99.12  24.00   725   708

44341  OTB-1              2019-036C  MiniSat TBD   99.12  24.00   725   708

44342  GPIM               2019-036D  MiniSat US    99.09  24.00   725   706

44343  Formosat/Cosmic-3  2019-036E  PAYLOAD TBD   99.10  24.00   725   707

44344  DSX                2019-036F  PAYLOAD US   316.92  42.21 12035  6005

44345  FH R/B 2nd stage   2019-036G  Debris  US   306.86  42.24 11936  5449

44346  OBJECT H           2019-036H  TBA     US    96.27  28.52   853   307

44347  OBJECT J           2019-036J  TBA     US    96.24  28.53   850   307

44348  OBJECT K           2019-036K  TBA     US    96.23  28.52   852   304

44349  Formosat/Cosmic-1  2019-036L  PAYLOAD TBD   99.10  24.00   724   707

44350  Formosat/Cosmic-4  2019-036M  PAYLOAD TBD   99.10  24.00   724   707

44351  Formosat/Cosmic-2  2019-036N  PAYLOAD TBD   99.09  24.00   724   706

44352  ARMADILLO          2019-036P  CubeSat       96.21  28.54   848   306

44353  Formosat/Cosmic-6  2019-036Q  PAYLOAD TBD   99.09  24.00   724   706

44354  PSat-2             2019-036R  CubeSat US    96.19  28.53   847   305

44355  BricSat-2          2019-036S  CubeSat US    96.19  28.53   847   305

44356  OCULUS ASR         2019-036T  NanoSat       96.15  28.52   847   301

44358  Formosat/Cosmic-5  2019-036V  PAYLOAD US    99.09  24.00   725   705

44359  E-TBEX-B           2019-036W  CubeSat US    96.14  28.52   847   300

44360  CP-9 LEO           2019-036X  CubeSat       96.06  28.52   842   298

44361  E-TBEx A  OBJ Y     2019-036Y  guess   US    96.12  28.52   848   297

44375  OBJECT Z           2019-036Z  TBA           96.17  28.52   845   306

44376  OCULUS-ASR SPHERE1 2019-036AA CubeSat       95.91  28.51   820   305

44386  PROMETHEUS 2-6     2019-036AB CubeSat       96.15  28.53   844   304

44386  Lightsail          2019-036AC CubeSat       96.15  28.53   844   304

Five to go:  E-TBEx A, FalconSat7, StangSat, TEPCE 1&2 as Object H, J, K, Y & Z.

After the last deployment there will not be enough propellant in the second stage tanks to deorbit, so this third Falcon Heavy launch will produce yet another large piece of space debris that will take a long time to deorbit on its own.

Maybe the 2nd stage should be equipped with a passive payload packet from NASA so it can do a bit of science. It is kind of a satellite bus, it’s missing solar panels for power, gyroscopes for orientation, solarwind detectors, magnetic field instruments and Hall effect thrusters to deorbit itself with. There are some possibilities in a NASA science packet.


Mirror Mirror on the… Deck

At 2:00:46 (T+01:27:13) you see the reflection of the GPIM satellite deployed in the upper left corner of the screen. That’s a rare sight to behold. 

The Center Core was aiming directly at the Drone Ship, but something made it tip over, and it bolted and sped off and flew itself directly in the ocean just off the OCISLY starboard forward side, almost missing it. The light from the triple engine burn is reflected off the back blast shield, so it was almost working perfectly.

Just before landing, the water on the deck was blasted away, so it was on target, but an engine lost thrust so the others opened up uncontrolled to get away from OCISLY.

Author John Rumpf - former member of the Everyday Astronaut team - link

Coauthor/Text Retriever Johnny Nielsen

link to launch list


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