Starlink Group 8-3 launch out of SLC-40 in Florida currently scheduled for 2024-08-09 16:13 UTC, or 2024-08-09 12:13 local time (EDT). Booster 1067-21 to land on Just Read the Instructions.

• NextSpaceflight page
• SpaceX mission page

Webcasts:

• Space Affairs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRcBhGopk-0
• Spaceflight Now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIdpVvJWi2c (scrub)
• NASASpaceflight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRaiUUXldS8 (scrub)
• The Launch Pad: https://youtube.com/watch?v=R8mxeSd4NR0
• SpaceX: https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1822252381343744253
• The Space Devs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNLg41F4uxg

First launch into shell eleven! (Whatever that means :)

Starlink Group 11-1 launch out of SLC-4E in California currently scheduled for 2024-08-04 07:24 UTC, or 2024-08-04 01:01 local time (EDT). Booster 1082-6 to land on Of Course I Still Love You.

• NextSpaceflight page
• SpaceX mission page

Webcasts:

• Space Affairs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpLb0LNal-o
• Spaceflight Now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYZpomrPlig
• NASASpaceflight:
• The Launch Pad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axqn-GY37gQ
• SpaceX: https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1819996345551528162
• The Space Devs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-lvmfLCMc4

Thrust: 280tf

Specific impulse: 350s

Engine mass: 1525kg

Engine + vehicle-side commodities and hardware mass : 1720kg

Time for the second of three of Cygnus launches on Falcon 9!

Due to the retirement of the Antares 230+ rocket, Northrop Grumman purchased three missions from SpaceX to launch the Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station before the Antares 330 rocket enters operation and fulfill the CRS Phase 2 contract manifest. (NextSpaceflight)

| Scheduled for (UTC) | 2024-08-04, 15:02 | |

|

| | Scheduled for (local) | 2024-08-04, 11:02 (EDT) | | Mission | CRS NG-21 | | Launch site | SLC-40, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA. | | Booster | B1080-10 | | Landing | LZ-1 | | Payload spacecraft | Cygnus | | Customer | Northrop Grumman / NASA | | Mission success criteria | Successful launch and docking to the ISS |

Webcasts

| Stream | Link | |

|

| | Space Affairs | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Aw8GziHrCQ | NASA | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhFi-h65kz0 | NASASpaceflight | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYjuWuVdTl4 | Spaceflight Now | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-nvTp0Ia0I (scrub) | The Launch Pad | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRcESGxNIUs | SpaceX | https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1820108783718445462 | The Space Devs | TBD

Stats

Sourced from NextSpaceflight and r/SpaceX:

☑️ 36th launch from SLC-40 this year

☑️ 7 days, 9:53:00 turnaround for this pad

☑️ 42nd landing on LZ-1

☑️ 336th Falcon Family Booster landing, 346th Falcon recovery attempt

☑️ 6th consecutive successful Falcon 9 launch (if successful)

☑️ 75th Falcon 9 mission this year, 361st Falcon 9 mission overall

☑️ 76th SpaceX mission of 2024, 377th mission overall (excluding Starship flights)

☑️ 78th SpaceX launch this year, 390th SpaceX launch overall (including Starship flights)

Mission info

• SpaceX mission page
• Northrop Grumman mission page
• NASA mission page
• NextSpaceflight mission page

Cygnus NG-21 (Northrop Grumman-21) is a cargo resupply mission of the Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA.

Northrop Grumman and NASA jointly developed a new space transportation system to provide commercial cargo resupply services to the International Space Station. The Cygnus cargo ship consists of two parts, a service module built in the USA based on the GEOStar platform, and a pressurized module, manufactured in France and Italy by Thales Alenia.

Infographic source: rykllan

https://x.com/_rykllan/status/1819200855360364554

• B1062, B1061, B1067, and 1063 are the leaders at 22, 21, 20, and 19 flights, respectively.
• B1069 and B1071 are tied for 5th place at 17 flights each.

https://x.com/_rykllan/status/1819200863216587183

144 launches in 2024 seems less likely, given gap in launches during the investigation into Falcon 9 the upper stage failure on Starlink 9-3.

Starlink Group 10-6 launch out of LC-39A in Florida currently scheduled for 2024-08-02 05:01 UTC, or 2024-08-02 01:01 local time (EDT). Booster 1078-12 to land on A Shortfall of Gravitas.

• NextSpaceflight page
• SpaceX mission page

Webcasts:

• Space Affairs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ifVTqdf-mo
• Spaceflight Now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLcUKCeXfFU
• NASASpaceflight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LUlzGKbCaw
• The Launch Pad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fxm8DXTj0s
• SpaceX: https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1819235781199974703
• The Space Devs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCfezVnCT7Q

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/18113046

With each flight of Starship and the Super Heavy booster, we get closer to our goal of making life multiplanetary. The most important advancement to make this happen is full and rapid reusability of the entire launch system, operating Starship like an airplane which is fully and rapidly reusable after each flight. To do this, we have designed Starship’s upper stage and the Super Heavy booster to be capable of returning to the launch site. The returning vehicles will slow down from supersonic speeds, resulting in audible sonic booms in the area around the return location.

A sonic boom is a brief, thunder-like noise a person on the ground hears when an aircraft or other object travels faster than the speed of sound. As a fast-moving object travels through the air, it pushes the air aside and creates a wave of pressure which eventually reaches the ground. The change in air pressure associated with a sonic boom, known as overpressure, increases only a few pounds per square foot. A person could experience a similar pressure change by riding down several floors in an elevator. What makes sonic booms audible is the quick speeds at which the pressure change occurs.

Generally, the only impact to those in the surrounding area of a sonic boom is the brief noise. There are many variables that determine the impact of sonic booms, including the mass, shape and size of the object traveling at high speeds, along with its altitude and flight path. External factors like weather conditions can also affect the intensity of a sonic boom. The strongest effects of the sonic boom’s pressure change are localized to the area directly beneath the vehicle, concentrated under the rocket’s flight path and the landing site.

Sonic booms in spaceflight have typically only been experienced by observers on Earth when encountering vehicles designed to be reused, such as SpaceX’s Falcon family of rockets. When the first stage booster of a Falcon rocket returns for landing, its size and speed generate multiple sonic booms heard on the ground as a double clap of thunder. Similar sonic booms were heard during the return and landing of the NASA’s space shuttle. In each case, the sonic boom marks the end of just one in a series of missions for the vehicle returning from flight.

Data gathered from the first ever Super Heavy landing burn and splashdown on Starship’s fourth flight test indicates that while Super Heavy’s sonic boom will be more powerful than those generated by Falcon landings, it does not pose any risk of injury to those in the surrounding areas. The strongest effects will be localized to the area immediately around the Starbase launch pad. This area is cleared well in advance of launch and has been rigorously designed to withstand the environments of launching and returning the most powerful rocket ever flown.

Sonic booms announce the return of rockets and spacecraft built to be reused. With Starship, they’ll signal the arrival of a rapidly reusable future in spaceflight to travel to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Second launch of a possible double-header tonight!

Starlink Group 9-4 launch out of SLC-4E in California currently scheduled for 2024-07-28 09:22 UTC, or 2024-07-28 02:22 local time (PDT). Booster 1071-17 to land on Of Course I Still Love You.

• NextSpaceflight page
• SpaceX mission page

Webcasts:

• Space Affairs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MND6xOBg4c
• Spaceflight Now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdnexsaSMEk
• NASASpaceflight:
• The Launch Pad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPfAXKjnfuw
• SpaceX: https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1817489352324501662
• The Space Devs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbEvBXEzhoM

First launch of a possible double-header tonight!

Starlink Group 10-4 launch out of SLC-40 in Florida currently scheduled for 2024-07-28 05:09 UTC, or 2024-07-28 01:09 local time (EDT). Booster 1077-14 to land on A Shortfall of Gravitas.

• NextSpaceflight page
• SpaceX mission page

Webcasts:

• Space Affairs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9bMt4MpDVw
• Spaceflight Now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFmSw8j5CJQ
• NASASpaceflight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_DwxgIP8BI
• The Launch Pad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FPsFwviAjU
• SpaceX: https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1817425590531858564
• The Space Devs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTu6BrBjJcU

Via SpaceX: https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1817312715758862485

Relevant portion of the video is 18:06 - 22:22.

Key quote: "We'll move a Dragon recovery vessel to the Pacific some time next year, and we'll use SpaceX facilities in the Port of Long Beach for initial post-flight processing".

Although this was revealed in a Crew-9 briefing, it doesn't actually apply to Crew-9.

The announcement has just now been posted to the SpaceX website.

Key excerpts:

During Dragon’s first 21 missions, the trunk remained attached to the vehicle’s pressurized section until after the deorbit burn was completed. Shortly before the spacecraft began reentering the atmosphere, the trunk was jettisoned to ensure it safely splashed down in unpopulated areas in the Pacific Ocean.

After seven years of successful recovery operations on the U.S. West Coast, Dragon recovery operations moved to the East Coast in 2019, enabling teams to unpack and deliver critical cargo to NASA teams in Florida more efficiently and transport crews more quickly to Kennedy Space Center. Additionally, the proximity of the new splashdown locations to SpaceX’s Dragon processing facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base in Florida allowed SpaceX teams to recover and refurbish Dragon spacecraft at a faster rate [...]

This shift required SpaceX to develop what has become our current Dragon recovery operations, first implemented during the Demo-1 and CRS-21 missions. Today, Dragon’s trunk is jettisoned prior to the vehicle’s deorbit burn while still in orbit, passively reentering and breaking up in the Earth’s atmosphere in the days to months that follow. [...]

When developing Dragon’s current reentry operations, SpaceX and NASA engineering teams used industry-standard models to understand the trunk’s breakup characteristics. These models predicted that the trunk would fully burn up due to the high temperatures created by air resistance during high-speed reentries into Earth’s atmosphere, leaving no debris. The results of these models was a determining factor in our decision to passively deorbit the trunk and enable Dragon splashdowns off the coast of Florida.

In 2022, however, trunk debris from NASA’s Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station was discovered in Australia, indicating the industry models were not fully accurate with regards to large, composite structures such as Dragon’s trunk. [...]

After careful review and consideration of all potential solutions – coupled with the new knowledge about the standard industry models and that Dragon trunks do not fully burn-up during reentry – SpaceX teams concluded the most effective path forward is to return to West Coast recovery operations.

To accomplish this, SpaceX will implement a software change that will have Dragon execute its deorbit burn before jettisoning the trunk, similar to our first 21 Dragon recoveries. Moving trunk separation after the deorbit burn places the trunk on a known reentry trajectory, with the trunk safely splashing down uprange of the Dragon spacecraft off the coast of California.

Falcon 9 returns to flight after the upper stage failure on Starlink 9-3. The cause was found to be a crack in a sense line for a pressure sensor attached to the vehicle’s oxygen system.

Starlink Group 10-9 launch out of LC-39A in Florida currently scheduled for 2024-07-27 05:45 UTC, or 2024-07-27 01:45 local time (EDT). Booster 1069-17 to land on Just Read the Instructions.

• NextSpaceflight page
• SpaceX mission page

Webcasts:

• Space Affairs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dP1XFBzDow
• Spaceflight Now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZg8oq1QD5U
• NASASpaceflight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAC6jUd8rlM
• The Launch Pad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uNxBoWjsJ8
• SpaceX: https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1817072484761682309
• The Space Devs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqLwEFyj6tc