Weather conditions are largely optimal for the last launch of the year on Thursday on the Space Coast: a mission scheduled to involve Earth-shaking sonic booms created by the descent of a Falcon 9 booster to Cape Canaveral.
When plans are in order, SpaceX would experience 70% conditions at Kennedy Space Center for its 9 am up to 12 pm EDT launch of a satellite for classified surveillance operated by the National Reconnaissance Bureau. It has not yet published an exact liftoff period during the three-hour timeframe.
The Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron said Tuesday that powerful high-pressure system moving east from southern Texas would carry colder, drier air to the Space Coast. Thursday's primary weather issue is liftoff winds and any residual frontal cloudiness is synonymous with the dense cloud layer law.
While not included in the "percent go" estimate at pad 39A, forecasters noted that by Thursday morning, upper-level winds could be a moderate risk.
Falcon 9's 162-foot first stage launcher will detach from the second step after liftoff, then continue its descent back to Florida. Target: Zone 1, landing at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, situated approximately 9 miles south of pad 39A.
Space Coast occupants and bystanders should be ready for the triple sonic booms created by the booster as it descends towards the tip of the Cape. The launch is expected to be safe except for a few frights and activated car alarms.
Role of NROL-108 (B1059) in this flight
The NRO for this flight, classified as NROL-108, picked SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. Although the intelligence community seldom shares information on its payloads, Tuesday's published work depicts a furious, fanged gorilla pounding her chest next to the "Peace Through Strength" document.
The NRO said on Twitter that peaceful animals are gorillas, but if appropriate, they can be fearsome. Our NROL-108 mission, like the gorilla, is continuously alert and ready to preserve its own, reflecting NRO's devotion to defending U.S. warfare, values, and allies.
Gorillas are peaceful animals but can be fierce when necessary. Like the gorilla, our #NROL108 mission is constantly vigilant and ready to defend its own, demonstrating NRO's commitment to protecting U.S. warfighters, interests, and allies. Launch scheduled NET Dec. 17 w/ @SpaceX pic.twitter.com/M5k7obXk08
— NRO (@NatReconOfc) December 14, 2020
Originally planned to launch as early as October, the NROL-108 launch plans of the classified orbital intelligence organization were secretly disclosed in regular requests for contact approval lodged with the FCC by SpaceX.
Unfortunately, these preparations came in around the same moment as the last second of a Falcon 9 booster engine problem aborted a SpaceX mission and prompted the organization to undergo a swift yet thorough anomaly inquiry.
As it turned out, like the three latest boosters impacted by the probe, the Falcon 9 booster allocated to assist NROL-108 (B1059) was basically a sibling.
About the launch
For SpaceX, this would be the third time a consumer has essentially leapfrogged multiple Falcon 9 booster reuse benchmarks in a single month, once again demonstrating immense trust in the business's flight-proven rocket experience.
On December 6th, in support of SpaceX's CRS-21 space station resupply project for NASA, Falcon 9 booster B1058 launched for the fourth time, marking the space agency's first flight on a twice- or thrice-flown launcher.
Falcon 9 B1059 would flip around move back toward the Florida coast for landing at one of the two SpaceX's East Coast Landing Zones after takeoff. Falcon 9's two cargo fairing halves are predicted to splash down around 330 km (~205 mi) downrange. SpaceX rescue ships GO Quest and GO Ms Tree can seek recovery, launching a minute or so after rocket detachment.
The launch on Thursday would mark the 31st of the year for the Space Coast.
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