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
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.
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.
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