SpaceX Launched US Spy Satellites For National Reconnaissance Office

Space.com

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched NROL-113 mission with a batch of next-gen spy satellites for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The rocket lifted off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base.  Credit: SpaceX

Transcript

00:007, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, ignition, and liftoff of Falcon 9, go NROL, 113.

00:21Vehicle is pitching downrange.

00:25Stage 1 propulsion is nominal.

00:30If you're just joining us, Falcon 9 has successfully lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East,

00:50as you can hear on your screen, and we are getting some awesome shots of ascent.

00:54We've also heard a few callouts so far from Mission Control.

00:58Nominal power and telemetry.

01:00Including that everything is looking nominal from both a power and telemetry standpoint.

01:06Now in just a few moments, we're going to throttle down the engine.

01:09Vehicle is supersonic.

01:10In preparation for max Q, and with that callout, we hear that Falcon 9 is moving faster than the speed of sound.

01:22Max Q.

01:23There's that max Q callout.

01:25As you may have heard us mention before, max Q is a critical flight milestone,

01:29because this is the moment in flight with the highest amount of aerodynamic pressure.

01:36So with that, we have three events coming up in quick succession here,

01:39starting with MECO, stage SEP, and SES-1.

01:42Main engine cutoff, or MECO for short, is where all nine M1D engines will shut off

01:48to slow the vehicle down in preparation for stage separation.

01:51MVAC chill.

01:52There's confirmation that we're chilling the MVAC engine for SES-1.

01:57Stage 2, of course, will continue to second engine start one after stage SEP,

02:02and that's when the single MVAC engine will ignite to propel the second stage to orbit.

02:07Less than a minute after all of these flight events,

02:10the fairing halves will also separate and jettison away from the rocket.

02:14We'll hear that one called out from Mission Control,

02:17but as a reminder, we won't have any payload views tonight at the request of our customer.

02:22Standing by for main engine cutoff in just about 15 seconds.

02:53Main engine cutoff. Stage separation confirmed.

03:07MVAC ignition.

03:09We have had great confirmation and views there of main engine cutoff, stage separation,

03:15and, of course, second engine start one.

03:18We are standing by now for the callout for fairing separation,

03:22and we will be attempting to retrieve these fairing halves once they fall back down to Earth

03:27using our recovery shift GO BEYOND.

03:30Fairing separation confirmed.

03:32There's confirmation of fairing SEP.

03:37Now, coming up about three minutes from now,

03:39the booster, which you've got great views of the grid fins on your screen right now,

03:43will initiate its entry burn to begin its journey to the, of course, I still love you,

03:48drone ship, which is currently stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

03:52Those grid fins onboard Stage One are the primary mechanical structure

03:57that we use to guide the rocket on its way back to Earth.

04:00Those grid fins on board Stage 1 are the primary mechanical structure that we use to guide the rocket on its way back to Earth.

04:21Of course what we are leading up to is the entry burn, expected again at just about T plus 6 minutes after liftoff.

04:30If you are just joining us today, you're coming into our live webcast of the NRO payload launch.

04:36We had an on-time 8.20 p.m. Pacific liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California,

04:42followed by successful main engine cutoff, stage separation, second engine start one, and fairing separation.

04:49To start the entry burn, we'll relight three of the M1D engines on board the first stage, which is essentially the same as pumping the brakes.

05:05We need to slow the vehicle down as it passes back into the Earth's atmosphere to reduce re-entry forces,

05:11which helps us to recover and reuse the booster on future flights.

05:20During the entry burn, Falcon 9 will be decelerating by firing those Merlin engines, but we're still moving really fast.

05:27This causes the vehicle to fly through Merlin's exhaust gases, which is also known as the rocket's plume,

05:33and deposits a layer of soot on the vehicle's surface.

05:37That soot comes from the carbon-based fuel that Falcon 9 uses, and with each repeated flight,

05:42the soot builds up a little more on the outside of the vehicle.

05:50You can, of course, continue to track the first stage telemetry in the bottom left corner of your screen

05:55as the booster continues to make its way back to our drone ship, of course I still love you,

06:00which is currently stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

06:09Reusability is key to lowering the cost of spaceflight, which enables more investments in critical space infrastructure,

06:16in today's case, supporting national security.

06:20The Falcon 9 first stage that is supporting today's mission is about to perform this entry burn for the 20th time.

06:49Stage 1 entry burn startup.

06:53There we have great views that entry burn has begun onboard our first stage booster,

06:58and we are expecting this burn to last about 20 seconds.

07:09Stage 1 entry burn shutdown.

07:11And confirmation of shutdown.

07:14The Merlin engines onboard the first stage are optimized for sea level,

07:17which is primarily because they operate in the Earth's atmosphere.

07:22They achieve 190,000 pounds of thrust each during both ascent and descent.

07:28At liftoff, Falcon 9's first stage has thrust greater than five 747 airplanes at full power.

07:35Stage 1 FTS is safe.

07:38By contrast, the impact engine onboard the second stage has a much wider nozzle

07:43and is optimized to 220,500 pounds of thrust in vacuum.

07:51Now coming up in just over 30 seconds, we'll have our landing burn onboard the first stage.

08:07Stage 1 transonic.

08:10Confirmation that stage 1 is transonic on its way back to its rendezvous point with our drone ship.

08:24Just like the entry burn, we're expecting our landing burn to be relatively quick.

08:28The difference here, though, is that what we're using this burn for is to touch down softly on the surface of our drone ship.

08:39Stage 1 landing burn.

08:42Confirmation of landing burn startup.

08:54You can see those grid fins working as we target the drone ship here.

09:04Stage 1 landing confirmed.

09:06And confirmation of touchdown.

09:09This, again, was the 20th launch and landing for this first stage.

09:14This landing also marks SpaceX's 345th recovery of an orbital-class rocket,

09:19including first-stage landings for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy.

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