SpaceX successfully set off the same Falcon 9 rocket Thursday night, returning from a last-second launch abort on October 2, launching a third-generation global positioning system (GPS) navigation satellite into orbit for the U.S. Space Force.
At 6:24 p.m. ET, nine Merlin 1D engines in the first stage of the rocket, plus two replacement engines, roared to life. The rocket pushed out from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station atop a brilliant jet of blazing exhaust, the slender 229-foot-tall Falcon 9.
As the rocket ascended out of the dense lower atmosphere, the engines seemed to work flawlessly, putting on a dazzling evening sky display as it sped past a rising Mars and lined up on a northeasterly trajectory paralleling the East Coast.
The engines shut down as expected after 2 1⁄2 minutes after liftoff. As the flight proceeded on the strength of the Falcon 9's single second stage motor, the first stage then dropped apart and went for a safe landing on an off-shore drone ship.
FILE PHOTO: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken lifts off during NASA's SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., May 30, 2020.
Around 90 minutes after liftoff, the GPS-3 satellite, the fourth in a sequence of more efficient third-generation navigation stations designed by Lockheed Martin, was scheduled to be deployed. It will enter a globe-spanning constellation of 31 GPS satellites, assuming research and checkout go well.
At least four GPS satellites, rotating in several aircraft, are above the horizon when seen from every point on Earth, transmitting ultra-precise atomic clock signals that enable military and civilian receivers to measure the precise location, altitude and velocity of a consumer.
"GPS-3 provides three times greater accuracy and up to eight times improved anti-jamming power over satellites in the existing constellation," Tonya Ladwig, acting vice president of Lockheed Martin's Navigation Systems Division, told reporters in a recent teleconference. "For [those keeping scores], the four more powerful GPS-3 satellites will represent a little better than 12% of the 31 satellites in the constellation, but the number's growing."
Other Deals
Lockheed is developing ten GPS Block 3 satellites at an estimated cost of $529 million each. For up to 22 far more advanced GPS "Follow On" satellites, the firm still has a deal estimated at up to $7.2 billion.
As the Falcon 9 flight computer found irregular stresses in the first stage turbopumps of two engines, an effort to deploy the new GPS on October 2 ended two seconds before the expected liftoff.
A thorough examination found that narrow vent lines obstructed a lacquer-like substance used during the manufacture of the machinery that had not been washed off as planned. A fleet-wide inspection uncovered related concerns in several other engines scheduled for upcoming flights, including two high-priority NASA missions.
The suspect engines in the GPS rocket were removed, the other seven were inspected and clean health bills were issued, and on Saturday, all nine were successfully checked on the pad.
NASA plans to deploy four astronauts on a SpaceX Crew Dragon ferry boat to the International Space Station on November 14. The project is the first Crew Dragon operating flight after a successful pilot test flight earlier this year.
Two of the engines allocated for the "Crew-1" flight in the first stage of the Falcon 9 have been removed after the GPS abort. Assuming data analysis confirms strong engine output on Thursday, as scheduled, NASA should be able to move forward with the long-awaited launch of Crew-1.
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