![]() ![]() ![]() Credit: SpaceX/US Air ForceĪt T-4 minutes and 30 seconds prior to liftoff, the T/E retracted to the launch position. Simultaneously, the loading of RP-1 on the upper stage of the Falcon 9 was completed.įalcon 9 rolls out to SLC-40 ahead of the first GPS-III mission. LOX loading on the second stage started later, at T-16 minutes.Ī sign of an impending Falcon 9 launch - a long vent of excess oxygen from the T/E - occurred at the T-20 minute mark prior to launch. The launch auto sequence started at T-35 minutes prior to launch, meaning that propellant loading operations on the Falcon 9 began with the loading of RP-1 on both stages of the rocket.Īlso at the same time, the loading of Liquid Oxygen (LOX) began in the first stage. It was moved to the pad and raised vertical. Prior to launch day, the Falcon 9 atop the Transport Erector - or T/E - was rolled out from the Horizontal Integration Facility at SLC-40. It also was the first booster to support two missions for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and, with this launch, will be the first to support two SpaceX Transporter missions back to back. Block 5 is set to be the last major variant of Falcon 9.īooster 1061-8 is notable as it has supported the most NASA missions of any first stage, making up four flights of the booster. The Block 5 variant of the Falcon 9 had its maiden launch with booster 1046, which launched the Bangabandhu Satellite-1. The eighth launch of booster 1061 marked the one-hundredth launch of a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket. It then flew on other missions including Crew-2, SXM-8, CRS-23, IXPE, Starlink Group 4-7, and most recently Transporter-4. ![]() It launched for the first time as part of the Crew-1 crew rotation flight in November 2020. The Falcon 9 booster used on the Transporter-5 mission was booster 1061-8. These rideshare missions are intended to compete with other smallsat launch companies in the aerospace industry such as Astra and Rocket Lab, which utilize small launch vehicles to give smallsat payloads a dedicated flight. Transporter-5 is the fifth dedicated rideshare mission for SpaceX. The flight featured a somewhat rare return to launch site (RTLS) landing, with the first stage touching down at Landing Zone-1 at Cape Canaveral. Lifting off from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Falcon 9 is carrying several dozen payloads to a sun-synchronous orbit for the Transporter-5 rideshare mission. EDT) on May 25, SpaceX has launched yet another Falcon 9 rocket. ![]()
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