After Ian, Florida's Space Coast is on track with 3 launches in 3 days

Hurricane Ian swept through Florida this week, with its core passing directly over the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Town Card Naveral Thursday.

However, by then, Ian was already weak By the time it became a moderate-intensity tropical storm, most of its heaviest rainfall was north of the launch pad along the Atlantic coast. As a result, NASA’s launch facility at Kennedy Space Center and the Space Force launch pad at Cape Canaveral suffered minimal damage.

So, by Friday, the Florida “Space Coast” The facility is already working on three consecutive rapid launches in three days.

SES-20 and SES-21

First commercial mission of United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket for Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES Launch of the SES-20 and SES-21 satellites. Stacked in its “531” configuration, the Atlas rocket has a 5-meter diameter payload fairing, three solid rocket boosters and an engine on the upper stage Centaur.

On Friday, United Launch Alliance said everything continues to move towards Mission Forward – 41 launched from the Space Launch Complex on Tuesday, Oct. 4 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch is scheduled for 5:36 p.m. EST (21:36 UTC). Favorable weather is expected, with a 70 percent chance of favorable launch.

After launch, Atlas V The rocket will send the pair of communications satellites into a near-circular, near-geosynchronous orbit. Once separated, the satellites will orbit them 35,900 kilometers above the equator using an onboard propulsion system.

Crew-5

Next in Florida is NASA’s Crew -5 mission, which will launch on a Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station. NASA officials confirmed that the mission was still on schedule when it launched from Launch Complex-39A at the Kennedy Space Center at noon EST (16:00 UTC) on October 5.

Four crew members – NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Casada, JAXA astronauts Koichi Wakata and Roscosmos astronaut Anna Kinna – have been at the Johnson Space Center in Houston awaiting the results of Hurricane Ian . However, they will now fly to Florida on Saturday to prepare for the launch. Meanwhile, SpaceX will It pushes its Falcon 9 rocket to the launch pad along with the Crew Dragon spacecraft at night or Saturday, followed by a static fire test on Sunday. There appear to be no major technical issues that need to be resolved before next Wednesday’s release.

Galaxy 33 & 34

Finally, on October 6th, SpaceX is planning an additional launch. For this mission, a Falcon 9 rocket will launch from Space Launch Complex-40 in Cape Canaveral, delivering Intelsat’s Galaxy 33 and 34 communications satellites into geostationary transfer orbit. The launch is scheduled for 7:07pm EST (23:07UTC).

It is worth noting that this Falcon 9 first-level assistant The pusher will make its 14th launch. This marks the first time a SpaceX rocket has used a purely commercial payload on its 10th or later flight. This is a strong indication that the commercial satellite market is becoming more comfortable with SpaceX’s process of refurbishing even well-functioning rockets.

Artemis I

NASA also said Friday that its Artemis I hardware survived Hurricane Ian, Safely tucked away in the Kennedy Space Center’s large vehicle assembly building. The agency’s goal is to have the rocket ready for a launch attempt in about six weeks. “As the team completes post-storm recovery Action, NASA has determined that it will focus its launch planning efforts for Artemis I on a launch period that begins Nov. 12 and ends Nov. 27,” NASA said in a blog post. “Over the next few days, management will assess the scope of work to be performed during the VAB and determine a specific date for the next launch attempt.” In the next few days, engineers and technicians will extend around the launch vehicle and Orion spacecraft into the access platform in the vehicle assembly building to conduct inspection and Begin preparations for the next launch attempt, including retesting the flight termination system.

Rockets and spacecraft have been in this fully stacked state for over 11 months, so NASA wants to make sure all of the various batteries, stored propellants, and other “life-limited items” on the vehicle are still in good working order before they roll out to the launchpad again.