SpaceX Falcon 9 - JCSAT18/KACIFIC

 SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 - JCSAT-18/KACIFIC - Launching December 16/17, 2019

Foto: Screenshot from Tim Dodd: SpaceX Falcon 9 - JCSAT18/KACIFIC

Mission Rundown: SpaceX - JCSAT-18/KACIFIC 1

Written: January 5, 2021

Lift Off Time	December 17, 2019 - 00:10 UTC December 16, 2019 - 19:10 EST
Mission Name	JCSAT18/KACIFIC
Launch Provider	SpaceX
Customer	SKY Perfect JSAT Corp. Kacific Broadband Satellites Pte Ltd.
Rocket	Falcon 9 Block 5 serial number B1056-3
Launch Location	Space Launch Complex 40 - SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Payload	BSS-720MP shared Communication Satellite
Payload mass	Approximately 6 956 kg ~ 15 335 pounds
Where did the satellite go?	Geostationary Transfer Orbit - 272.73 km x 20319.41 km with a inclination of 26.87° - then GSO at 35800 km
Will they be attempting to recover the first stage?	Yes - OCISLY were towed eastward downrange
Where will the first stage land?	Of course I still love you (OCISLY) were located 651 km downrange on Coordinates N 28 19 22 W 73 55 47
Will they be attempting to recover the fairings?	Yes! Go Ms. Chief/Tree are ready to support this mission 741 km downrange about 45 minutes after liftoff
Are these fairings new?	Yes - Type 2.1 lifeboat sized fairings - 34 x 17 feet with 8 ventilation ports and a heat resisting steel tip
This will be the:	– 77th flight of all Falcon 9 rockets – 26th re-flight of all Falcon 9 boosters – 21st flight of Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket – 12th re-flight of Falcon 9 Block 5 booster – 1st mission for GO Ms. Chief – 1st attempt to catch both farring halves – 47th SpaceX launch from SLC-40 – 46th booster landing overall – 19th mission for SpaceX in 2019
Where to watch Where to read more	SpaceX link Tim Dodd on JCSAT-18/KACIFIC December 16, 2019

Launch debriefing (This is what happend)

- - T-00:12:27 Hosts: T 00:00:00 T+00:01:14 T+00:02:34 T+00:02:46 T+00:03:39 T+00:06:17 T+00:08:03 T+00:08:16 - T+00:26:35 T+00:27:25 - - T+00:33:14 - - -

Post Launch Run Down from 3:15 then Q&A Tim Dodd just released a good Video: SpaceX live feed at 20:42 Siva Bharadwaj and Kate Tice in the cold night Liftoff at 33:10 MaxQ at 34:24 (3 sec delay on downlink camera) MECO 35:44, stage separation 35:46 SES-1 at 35:55 Faring separation at 36:48 Entry burn 39:26 by 3 Merlin 1D# for 22 seconds Landing burn 41:12 by 1 Merlin 1D# for 26 seconds SECO at 41:25 and coasting Q&A with explanations and replays from 42:34 SpaceX resumes live feed at 59:45 SES-2 - SECO-2 for 50 seconds gave a velocity boost from 26 443 km/h to 33 699 km/h at 1:00:35 Even more Q&A and explanations until 1:05:57 SpaceX shows deployment at 1:06:25 Q&A, Twitter and replays from 1:05:35 Both fairings missed the net at 1:27:01 Rap up with launch day offer on merchandise 2:00:00

FH-3 - STP-2	CRS-18	Amos-17	Starlink V1.0 L01	CRS-19
JCSAT-18 Kacific-1	Starlink V1.0 L02	Dragon Abort Test Flight	Starlink V1.0 L03	Starlink V1.0 L04

Orange link above are to Everyday Astronaut Tim Dodd’s homepage, that’s still working.

Screenshot from Tim Dodd: SpaceX launch (and land) a Falcon 9 for JCSAT18/KACIFIC

Sometimes you just have to share the ride

SpaceX will be launching the JCSAT-18/Kacific satellite to Geostationary Orbit (GEO) on top of SpaceX’s work-horse rocket, the Falcon 9 on December 16, 2019 at 19:10 EST - December 17, 2019 - 00:10 UTC. The Falcon 9 will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 - SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, in Florida.

Falcon 9 booster B1056 will, after supporting the JCSAT-18/Kacific mission, be redesignated as B1056-3.

CRS-17	May 4, 2019	JCSAT-18/Kacific-1	December 16, 2019
CRS-18	July 25, 2019

The booster will then land 600km downrange aboard SpaceX’s autonomous spaceport drone ship ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’

Engines on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket appeared to ignite at 1:20pm EST (1820 GMT) on pad 40 at Cape Canaveral.

The fairings are going to be recovered on Go Ms. Chief and GO Ms. Tree, which left port on December 14, 2019, heading over 790km downrange. This will be the first attempt to catch both farring halves, because it is Go Ms. Chief's maiden voyage.

The Payload.

The huge JC-Sat has been shipped to SpaceX from Boeing. (Credit: Kacific) Clue: The flag

This satellite is built on Boing’s reliable BSS-720MP mid-power bus. This bus covers a diverse category of satellites from 1.500 kg to 6.100 kg with a 3-18 KWh power output. It is powered by two wings, with four panels each, of triple-junction GsAs solar cells - Triple junction means triple layered solar cells. This BSS 702MP platform was designed to generate between 6 kW and 12 kW.

A satellite bus is a general platform on which a satellite is built or based on, it provides and distributes power to the satellite parts. It can be launched from the Arianne V, Atlas V, Delta IV, Falcon 9, Proton and Zenit 3SL. JCSAT18/KACIFIC are sharing the antenna payloads on board and the expenses.

This will be the most powerful satellite over this region, as each one of the 56 beams is tailored to cover an accurate area in the Countries. JC-Sat has a 15 year lifespan.

The shipping container is designed for use in large cargo planes such as Antonov, of which one was rebuilt to carry the Soviet Space Shuttle ‘Buran’.

It consists of a large rectangular frame with plating in between designed to catch hydraulic fluids or rocket propellants if need arises. The satellite is mounted to the upright plate at the bottom of the picture upon which a dispenser ring is holding the satellite horizontally.

Hydraulics pumps and actuators can tilt that upright plate and thereby raise the satellite vertically for removal by crane onto the Falcon 9 Payload Adaptor Fitting ring, which will connect the satellite to the second stage and be the base for attaching the fairing halfs.

This is done with the satellite standing straight upright and before closure of the fairing halfs Boeing's engineers will load propellant on the huge internal tank placed right in the middle of the square satellite external structure used to carry the foldout solar panels, the reflectors, the transponders, the gas thrusters and navigation instruments.

When the fairings are closed and secure, the entire assembly gets turned horizontal and integrated with the Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket by bolting it to the top of the second stage with at least 40 spacecraft grade bolts. Check out the pictures from Amos-17.

The Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket with fairing is now lying on the Transport Erector Launcher and is ready to be moved from the Vehicle Assembly Hanger to the launch pad. In this case Space Launch Complex 40 - SLC-40, where the TEL will raise everything vertically.

You just need a countdown and a launch date. And fair weather to bout.

Author: Trevor Sesnic Spaceflight entusiast link

Coauthor/Text Retriever: Johnny Nielsen link to launch list

SpaceX Falcon 9 - CRS-19

  SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 - CRS-19 - Launching December 5, 2019

Screenshot of CRS-19 ready for launch one sunny clear December day

Mission Rundown: SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 - CRS-19

Written: January 5, 2021

Lift Off Time	December 5, 2019 - 17:29:24 UTC - 12:29:28 EST
Mission Name	CRS-19
Launch Provider	SpaceX
Customer	NASA
Rocket	Falcon 9 Block 5 serial number B1059-1
Launch Location	Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Payload	Cargo Dragon serial number C106-3 5 CubeSats from ELaNa-25B and ELaNa-28
Payload mass	Approximately 7 700 kg ~ 16 975 pounds
Where are the Dragon going?	Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to the International Space Station
Will they be attempting to recover the first stage?	Yes - OCISLY have been towed downrange
Where will the first stage land?	Of course I still love you (OCISLY) located 345 km downrange along the east coast
Will they be attempting to recover the fairings?	No. The Dragon capsule has a jettisonable nose cone and solar panel covers on the Trunk
This will be the:	– 76th flight of all Falcon 9 rockets – 20th flight of Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket – 9th maiden flight of a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket – 3rd mission for C106-3 Dragon capsule – 45th SpaceX launch from SLC-40 – 46th booster landing overall – 12th mission for SpaceX in 2019
Where to watch Where to read more	SpaceX link Tim Dodd on CRS-19 December 5, 2019

Launch debriefing (This is what happend) If the times given in the articles about CRS-19 are correct then the T+ are correct. Local time in Florida EST is 5 hours earlier. Between the deorbit burn and splashdown it only took 11:22 minutes to get down to Earth. The second count is frozen due to the lack of exact seconds given by the UTC times.

- - - T-00:14:27 Hosts: T 00:00:00 T+00:01:15 T+00:02:34 T+00:02:43 T+00:02:54 T+00:03:30 T+00:06:23 T+00:07:29 T+00:08:42 T+00:09:42 T+00:12:11 - - - T+55:17:36 784:35:36 791:16:36

Pre Launch Run Down from 3:23 then Q&A Tim Dodd recommends a video about rocket fails Launch day offer on merchandise 12:10 SpaceX live feed at 17:50 Alex Siegel and John Federspiel Liftoff at 32:19 - 17:29:24 UTC - December 5, 2019 MaxQ at 33:34 (3 sec delay on downlink camera) MECO 34:53, stage separation 34:55 SES-1 at 35:02 Boost back burn at 35:13 for 23 seconds Nose cone separation at 35:48 Entry burn 38:41 by 3 Merlin 1D# for 9 seconds Landing burn 39:48 by 1 Merlin 1D# for 23 seconds? SECO at 41:01 and coasting Dragon CRS-19 deployment at 42:00 Dragon solar arrays deploy at 44:29 Q&A with info, explanations from 43:16 Launch day offer on merchandise at 1:01:32 Rap up from 1:04:34 Berthed with ISS Harmony Nadir at 12:47:xx UTC Released 33 days later at Jan. 7 - 10:05:xx UTC Splashdown near NRC Quest LZ at 16:46:xx UTC

FH-3 - STP-2	CRS-18	Amos-17	Starlink V1.0 L01	CRS-19
JCSAT-18 Kacific-1	Starlink V1.0 L02	Dragon Abort Test Flight	Starlink V1.0 L03	Starlink V1.0 L04

Orange link above are to Everyday Astronaut Tim Dodd’s homepage, that’s still working.

Screenshot: Mission overview of CRS-19 by Geoff Barrett

How many Falcons flew over the Ocean?

SpaceX will be launching their cargo Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA. The Dragon C106-3 — which has flown twice — will be launched on a Falcon 9 (1059-1) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral in Florida. The booster supporting this mission is brand new, it will only perform a reentry burn, and a landing burn. The booster will land on Of Course I Still Love You, which will be located 344,42 km down range.

This Landing is unusual for CRS Missions, as CRS Missions usually always are returned to the launch site (RTLS). Every CRS Mission since CRS-8 has landed at LZ-1, excluding CRS-17, which had to land on OCISLY (just off shore) due to the investigation of the May 20th anomaly, which was happening on LZ-1.

SpaceX is going to perform a “thermal demonstration” with the second stage after it releases the Dragon spacecraft. A testing of engine ignition after a 6 hour long coasting phase. It’s very hard to use cryogenic fuel in the vacuum of space, as the propellant is either going to freeze or boil. To ensure there is enough fuel in the second stage for these tests, the first stage booster will not use its full boost back burn as usual to return to LZ-1.

The Dragon Payload

NASA has contracted for the CRS-19 mission from SpaceX and therefore determines the primary payload, date/time of launch, and orbital parameters for the Dragon space capsule. CRS-11 carried a total of 2 617 kg (5 769 lb) of material into orbit. This included 1 693 kg (3 732 lb) of pressurized cargo with packaging bound for the International Space Station, and 924 kg (2 037 lb) of unpressurised cargo composed of the Kibō-mounted Hyperspectral Imager Suite (HISUI) from Japan, the Robotic Tool Stowage (RiTS) platform, and a replacement lithium-ion battery for the station's solar array truss.

Among the science experiments transported to the station are the Anheuser-Busch sponsored Germination of ABI Voyager Barley Seeds in Microgravity, the Confined Combustion experiment, and 40 genetically engineered mice as part of the Rodent Research-19 experiment.

A number of CubeSats were launched on CRS-19. The ELaNa-25B flight included AzTechSat-1, SORTIE, and CryoCube, while the ELaNa-28 flight included CIRiS and EdgeCube. Other small satellites launched on this mission include QARMAN and MakerSat-1.

CRS-19 is the 19th commercial resupply mission, which was awarded to SpaceX in February of 2016. This is the second to last Commercial Resupply Mission with Dragon 1, the sixth reuse of Dragon, and the 2nd time a Dragon has been reused for the third time. The Dragon C106-3 supporting this mission was previously flown on CRS-4 and CRS-11, and was the first Dragon to ever be reused.

The Cargo Dragon C106-3 is expected to arrive at the station ISS within two days after lift off. Once it navigates into position, it will be captured by the Canadarm, and then berthed to the station a few hours later. NASA TV will provide coverage of the arrival, capture and berthing. After about 30 days Dragon will depart ISS, ditch its trunk, reenter the Earth's atmosphere and splash down in the Pacific Ocean.

Block 5’s? That’s the question

At 14:11 somebody asked, how many Block 5 rockets are there?

Well I made a Google datasheet about Falcon 9 launches from 2010 to present day, and there are (Counting) 19 Block 5. Some new Falcon 9 Block 5 are in production.

B1059-6 bought the Fish Farm on the bottom of the ocean on flight 104 L19. 

By this fourth edit of this page July 19, 2021 the count is now:

Block 5 boosters produced, flown, spent, destroyed, damaged or just lost.

There are 8 active Block 5 boosters, 2 Falcon Heavy sideboosters and 9 fallen, spent or crashed Block 5 boosters, who are no more. Their serial numbers are as follows:

Bold numbers are the last flight of that particular booster. First flight was in this order:

B1046-4 , B1047-3, B1048-5, B1049-9, B1050-1, B1054-1, B1051-10, B1055-1, B1052-2, B1053-2 , B1056-4, B1057-1, B1059-6, B1058-8, B1060-8, B1062-2, B1061-3, B1063-2, B1067-1,

There have been a total of 67 Block 5 launches, and 2 Falcon Heavy triple launches.

Just how many Block 5 boosters, that are in reserve, I don’t know.

B1064-0, B1065-0, B1066-0, B1068-0 This is my guess. But later I found diamonds.

I reckon, the teams building Block 5 boosters are currently building 2nd stage rockets, and that the team's building Merlin 1D# rocket engines are on Raptor engine building teams.

By this fifth edit of this page August 29, 2022 the count is now much higher,

Author Trevor Sesnic link Super source: ElonX net link

Coauthor/Text Retriever Johnny Nielsen link to launch list