Joseph Roth, Space Systems Command director of innovation and prototyping. The LDPE is "a freight train to space for experiments and prototypes in geosynchronous Earth orbit that can be manifested on any National Security Space Launch mission with available mass margin," said Col. The Falcon Heavy's two side boosters completed side-by-side landings at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station after helping boost the rocket out of the lower atmosphere. Two other payloads presumably will test space weather sensors and possibly test equipment to monitor other satellites. Space Force programs."įor the USSF-67 mission, the hosted payloads included operational prototypes for "enhanced situational awareness" and encryption technology for space-to-ground communications. The second satellite, the Long Duration Propulsive ESPA (LDPE)-3A, is a payload carrier equipped with its own propulsion and navigation systems "to rapidly place multiple, diverse payloads into orbit and provide critical data to inform and influence future U.S. ![]() "The mission of CBAS-2 is to augment existing military satellite communication capabilities and continuously broadcast military data through space-based satellite relay links." ![]() The Continuous Broadcast Augmenting SATCOM (CBAS)-2 is designed to operate in geosynchronous orbit "to provide communications relay capabilities in support of our senior leaders and combatant commanders," the release said. Space Systems Command said in a pre-launch news release that the Falcon Heavy carried two satellites for mission USSF-67: a military communications relay station and a deployable satellite hosting five technology demonstration payloads. But as usual with many military launches, details were not released. The second stage used its single vacuum-optimized Merlin engine to reach an initial parking orbit before heading on to the targeted geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles above the equator. Unlike the side boosters, the core stage used all of its propellant as planned to complete the climb out of the lower atmosphere and recovery was not possible. The central core booster fired for an additional minute and a half before it, too, fell away, leaving the rest of the ascent to the Falcon Heavy's second stage. Heralded as usual by shotgun-like sonic booms, the boosters first flew on a Space Force Falcon Heavy last November and both will be used again in an upcoming mission. The two side boosters fired for two-and-a-half minutes before falling away and flying themselves back to synchronized side-by-side landings at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The huge rocket, second only to NASA's much more expensive Space Launch System moon rocket in liftoff power, put on a spectacular show for spaceport workers, area residents and tourists, climbing into the glare of the setting sun atop a brilliant jet of flaming exhaust.īut the triple-core Falcon Heavy, making its second national security launch, chalked up a picture-perfect climb to space Sunday. Space Force satellite blasts off from historic pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center to kick off SpaceX's third launch of the new year. EST, arcing away to the east over the Atlantic Ocean. ![]() Generating more than 5 million pounds of thrust from 27 Merlin engines powering the rocket's central core and twin strap-on boosters, the Falcon Heavy blasted off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center at 5:56 p.m. Space Force on Sunday, boosting a military communications satellite into space along with a maneuverable payload carrier hosting five classified technology demonstration packages. With a thundering roar, SpaceX launched a triple-core Falcon Heavy rocket for the U.S.
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