Photo: Charles Boyer / FMN
Space-X launched Falcon 9 early last evening from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station carrying new European navigation satellites to orbit. The launch came at 06:51 PM EDT, just as the sun was starting to set in the west, creating a beautiful golden hue on the pad.
Eight and a half minutes later, Booster B1067 touched down on ‘Just Read The Instructions’, completing its twenty-second mission. Falcon 9’s second stage continued ascending to its initial orbit, where it will deploy the payloads so that they may travel to their final orbital destination in Medium Earth Orbit and begin their commissioning process before entering service.
Photo: Charles Boyer / FMN
Both Lucky And Good
Some say that it’s better to be lucky than good, but in the case of SpaceX, they have been both in 2024: several times with stormy skies surrounding the launch pad and possibly closing in, the company has been able to successfully send a payload to space — and that includes crewed missions, customer payloads and of course their own Starlink satellites.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Tonight was no exception to a summer of just-in-time launches: a thunderstorm with an anvil cloud was lurking to the west of Space Launch Complex 40, and slowly moving towards Falcon 9. Had the storm moved a little faster, chances are the mission would have been scrubbed due to lightning rules, anvil cloud rules or cumulus cloud rules. ESA and SpaceX’s luck held out, however, and Falcon 9 launched on schedule and with no issues.
Payload
Graphic: ESA
Galileo satellites are the European Union’s version of GPS and GLONASS, providing high-precision ground positioning. GPS is generally more accurate than GLONASS, but GLONASS has better accuracy at high latitudes. GPS-enabled smartphones are typically accurate to within 4.9 meters (16 ft) under open sky, but accuracy decreases near buildings, bridges, and trees. GLONASS has a position accuracy of 5-10 meters. However, recent enhancements to GLONASS technology have narrowed the gap between the two systems.
Launch Replay
Next Launch
SpaceX and NASA will launch Crew 9 aboard Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon from Space Launch Complex 40 no earlier than September 25, 2024. NASA Astronaut Nick Hague will be the commander, with Russian Cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov as the mission pilot on a launch targeting the International Space Station.
- Date: NET September 25, 2024
- Organization: SpaceX / NASA / Roscosmos
- Mission: Crew 9
- Rocket: Falcon 9 / Crew Dragon
- Launch Site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
- Launch Window: 02:28 PM EDT
- Payload: Two crew members
Photo: Charles Boyer / FMN
Note: This report was written for TalkofTitusville.com by FMN’s Charles Boyer
