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SpaceX launched a Telstar communications satellite in orbit in July 2018 and will launch a second Sunday (9 September).
Credit: SpaceX / Flickr
SpaceX is ready to launch a powerful communications satellite tonight (9 September) and then attempt to land the first floor of a rocket on a drone ship at sea.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Telstar 18 Vantage communication satellite, also known as Apstar 5C, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, during a launch window that will begin at 23:28. EDT (0328 GMT Sept. 10). You can Watch it online here on Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX. In case of delay, the launch window extends to 4 hours.
The satellite, which will be a partnership between Canadian company Telesat and the Hong Kong-based company APT Satellite Co. Ltd., will provide broadcasting, corporate and government communications services to the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii to Hawaii. India and Pakistan. according to a statement from Telesat. The satellite weighs 15,564 pounds. (7,060 kilograms), according to Spaceflight Now.
SpaceX will use one of its new Falcon 9 rockets, Block 5, although, unlike its previous launch of Telstar in JulyThe company is putting together a new, rather than previously stolen, first rocket stage. After the launch, SpaceX plans to land on the company's East Coast UAV stage, Of Course I Still Love.
SpaceX is ready to launch the Telstar 18V satellite late Saturday, September 8, 2018.
Credit: Telesat
SpaceX successfully tested the rocket engines September 5 at the launch pad, launch complex 40, but launch was delayed 24 hours to complete pre-flight checks, SpaceX officials wrote in a tweet Thursday, September 6th. On Friday, September 7th, the 45th Air Force Squadron gave 60 percent chance of favorable weather; the main risks are the possibility of thick cloud layers and cumulative clouds whose peaks reach freezing temperatures.
After launch, the satellite will move into a high geostationary orbit, remaining over the Pacific Ocean as satellites orbit and Earth rotate. APT Satellite will use 57.5% of satellite communications, and Telesat will take the rest. According to Telesat, the satellite is expected to operate for 15 years.
Email Sarah Lewin at [email protected] or follow her @SarahExplains. follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
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