Spacex Relaunches block 5 Rocket for 1st Time Nails Landing Again
For the first time, People's republic of bangladesh has joined the community of nations to accept its own communications satellite in geostationary orbit, some 22,300 miles (35,900 km) above the Home Planet, following Friday's successful launch of Bangabandhu-1 aboard the maiden "Block 5" variant of the Upgraded Falcon nine booster. Liftoff occurred 4:14pm EDT from historic Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Heart (KSC) in Florida. Although not a homegrown spacecraft—merely rather a "turnkey" project, with the satellite and complete basis segment made by the Franco-Italian aerospace business firm Thales Alenia Space—Bangabandhu-1 volition reside at 119.one degrees Due east longitude and bring 40 C-band and Ku-band transponders to behave on a Southward Asian nation which approaches a half-century since its frail independence. The satellite is named in honor of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh'due south start president, who earned the populist nickname of "Bangabandhu", or "Friend of Bengal".
Today'southward mission as well marked the first outing of the "Block 5" variant of the Upgraded Falcon ix. Although visibly like to its predecessors, standing 230 feet (70 meters) tall, the new configuration of the rocket is characterized past an approximately 7-eight-percentage thrust increase across all of its Merlin 1D+ engines, strengthened landing legs and improved reusability performance and enhanced flying control systems.
Scout in 4K! Credit: Jeff Seibert / AmericaSpace.com
Contracts to build the seven,700-pound (3,500 kg) satellite were signed between Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and Cannes, French republic-headquartered Thales Alenia Space in November 2015, with initial plans calling for Bangabandhu-1 to be launched merely 2 years later, in time for the 46th anniversary of the South Asian nation's December 1971 Victory Day. "The contract for this telecommunication satellite signed with Thales Alenia Space, the key European actor in space telecommunication, marks a major turning-point in the history of People's republic of bangladesh, not only reducing the digital divide, but besides generating concern development and creating jobs," said Golam Razzaque, BTRC projection manager for the mission until May 2017. "Nosotros hope to carry out the launch on the 46th ceremony of our country'south Victory Day, which will be on 16 Dec 2017." However, with a excess of payloads awaiting launch for SpaceX, the satellite—which reportedly cost in the range of xix.51 billion Bangladeshi taka ($248 million)—was delayed until the spring of the following twelvemonth.
"The timeframe, with a launch by Dec 2017, is realistic according to the delivery of the satellite on ground and the availability of the launcher on time," Thales' Chrystelle Dugimont told AmericaSpace. "Bangabandhu-one has been delivered on ground in-line with this schedule, merely unfortunately, due to delays on launcher manifest and product—in detail, hurricanes over Florida and Texas—the launch has been postponed to April 2018."
The contract to build the satellite was won "against an international field of competitors", according to Thales, and it was noted that Bangabandhu-ane would "narrow the digital dissever" to bring broadcasting and telecommunications services to rural areas and introduce directly-to-habitation and other profit-making ventures. When operational, it will function for up to 15 years, providing Ku-band coverage of Bangladesh and its territorial waters of the Bay of Bengal, together with India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Republic of indonesia, as well every bit C-band coverage over the whole region. Equally well as directly-to-home services, Bangabandhu-one volition support disaster preparedness and relief, network restoration, Very Pocket-sized Discontinuity Terminals (VSAT), backhaul and trunking.
In its role of prime number contractor for the mission, Thales took charge of the blueprint, production, testing and delivery of the satellite, together with its ground support facilities. In partnership with BTRC, the business firm also led the pick of SpaceX equally launch provider. "The launcher has been selected by Thales Alenia Space in co-ordination with BTRC Squad, considering the ability of SpaceX to launch Bangabandhu-1 during the target launch period," Ms. Dugimont told AmericaSpace. "Other launch service providers were considered, but none was able to launch Bangabandhu-1 in the targeted launch menstruation."
Passing Disquisitional Design Review (CDR) phase at the end of 2016, Bangabandhu-1'southward communications module was integrated at Thales' facility in Toulouse, whilst the service module was finalized in Cannes. Both components were mated together early the following year. Construction and testing of the satellite was ended last November and the complete payload was shipped from Thales' facility in Cannes to Florida on 28 March, arriving at the Greatcoat two days later. On the Space Coast, Bangabandhu-i underwent a week of standalone testing, afterward which information technology was fueled and eventually encapsulated within the Upgraded Falcon ix payload fairing.
The satellite is named in laurels of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who is today revered as the founding father of the People's Commonwealth of Bangladesh, as well equally serving every bit its start president and subsequently prime minister, until his assassination by mutinous regular army units in August 1975. He earned the pop moniker of "Bangabandhu", which means "Friend of Bengal". Original plans called for the satellite begetting his proper name to be launched in December 2017, timed to commemorate the 46th anniversary of the formation of Bangladesh as a new nation.
SpaceX's new Block 5, although outwardly similar to its predecessors, is characterized by an approximately 7-viii-percent thrust increment across all of its Merlin 1D+ engines, strengthened landing legs and improved reusability performance and enhanced flight command systems. "Bangabandhu-i happened to become manifested on the first Cake v Falcon 9," a media representative from Thales Alenia Infinite told AmericaSpace. "This has resulted in some extra delay. However, Bangabandhu-1 will fly on the most avant-garde and near reliable vehicle always built past SpaceX." Since this particular variant of the Upgraded Falcon 9 volition also carry astronauts—aboard the Crew Dragon vehicle, slated to make its unpiloted debut later in 2018—the preparations for each flight of the booster take featured unprecedented thoroughness, also as shut scrutiny from NASA.
As previously reported by AmericaSpace'south Mike Killian, NASA volition soon certify the Block 5 for launching human beings on, having awarded SpaceX a multi-billion dollar contract to fly astronauts to and from the ISS in 2014, and has strict requirements SpaceX must meet before certifying Falcon nine to launch people. Block 5 will meet them all, allowing information technology to go rated for human spaceflight and ending further development of the Falcon ix in full general.
Information technology'due south SpaceX'south last significant update to the Falcon 9, and represents the culmination of years of evolution, incorporating many changes to let SpaceX to refurbish and reuse the rockets much faster, and fly more than missions with a single booster, all while keeping costs down. But SpaceX has been rather quiet as to what upgrades the Block 5 DOES incorporate, and so specific details are hard to come by.
What nosotros do know, is the rocket's Merlin engines have been redesigned to provide more power and allow for up to a dozen flights per booster before needing refurbishment, aiming for 48-hour turnaround between missions and 100 flights each before retiring. Not only will they improve performance, simply reliability and manufacturability also.
"The primal to Cake 5 is that it's designed to practise 10 or more than flights with no refurbishment betwixt each flight — or at least not scheduled refurbishment between each flight. The only thing that needs to change is you reload propellant and wing again," said Elon Musk in a media teleconference this week.
"Our goal, merely to requite you a sense of how reusable we think the design can exist, we intend to demonstrate ii orbital launches of the same Block 5 vehicle within 24 hours, no later than adjacent year. Toward the end of next yr we'll see the start Block five seeing [its] tenth flying. And like I said, next year is when we intend to demonstrate re-flying of the same master rocket booster within — basically, same day re-flight of the same rocket. I think that'south really a key milestone," he added.
Information technology'south understood as well, that one significant alter is the elimination of a specific middle engine configuration, reducing the number of engine configurations to 2; relight and non-relight. This means the change, combined with the new Merlin Throttle Valve (or MTV), allows any engine to be modified to be a relight or non-relight engine, at least up until integration with the rocket.
"There are probably 100 or and then changes on that vehicle," said SpaceX'south president and chief operating officer, Gwynne Shotwell, early last year. Diverse components of the rocket accept likewise been redesigned to endure more stress and harsher weather condition, which will translate to less refurbishment, more reusability and less fourth dimension between flights.
"Block 5 is the last large spin on Falcon 9, and it's largely driven by the upgrade that nosotros needed to brand for the commercial crew program, likewise as national security space launch requirements," she added.
As for today's successful launch, the Block 5 appeared to accept performed as expected, if non amend. Liftoff from 39A was followed minutes later by a successful landing of the offset stage rocket on an offshore Autonomous Drone Ship (ASDS), marking the 25th landing overall for SpaceX and 14th ASDS landing.
Current plans are that the satellite should enter operational service later on in 2018. BDNews24 reported last year that Bangabandhu-1 should enter operational service most six months after reaching orbit and is expected to save the Bangladeshi government effectually $14 meg per month in hire payable to foreign satellite service providers.
FOLLOW AmericaSpace on Facebook!
.
throssellagook1961.blogspot.com
Source: https://www.americaspace.com/2018/05/11/spacex-launches-new-falcon-9-block-5-with-bangabandhu-1-nails-25th-landing/