![]() ![]() The first of its fifteen launches was the first Falcon mission to fly from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, which deployed Canada’s CASSIOPE satellite in September 2013. The original Falcon 9 was replaced by an upgraded configuration, the v1.1, which featured stretched first and second stages, improved Merlin-1D engines and a new octagonal “OctaWeb” configuration for the first stage engines. The fifth launch deployed the Dragon spacecraft successfully despite a first stage engine failure, however as a result of this the second stage had to burn for longer than planned, preventing the successful delivery of an Orbcomm satellite that was also being carried by the vehicle. The first four launches were completed successfully. The same configuration was subsequently used to launch four functional Dragon spacecraft two Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) test flights and two operational Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) flights. This débuted with the Falcon 9’s maiden flight in June 2010 which carried the Dragon Spacecraft Qualification Unit – a mockup of the Dragon spacecraft. * Click here for 100s of SpaceX News Articles* Early launches used a version which has become known retrospectively as the v1.0, close to the original design with nine first stage Merlin-1C engines arranged in a square grid layout. In the six years it has been in service, SpaceX has twice made significant revisions to the Falcon 9. The company’s five previous launches, between 20, used the smaller Falcon 1 vehicle, which has since been retired. The launch was the thirtieth to be conducted by SpaceX and the twenty-fifth to use the Falcon 9 rocket which first flew in 2010. In addition to Thaicom 5 and 6, Thaicom 8 joins a fleet that includes the eleven-year-old Thaicom 4 satellite at 119.5 degrees East and Thaicom 7 – leased transponders aboard the AsiaSat-6 satellite at 120 degrees East. Propulsion is provided by a BT-4 engine constructed by Japan’s IHI Corporation, with smaller monopropellant thrusters for manoeuvring and – alongside reaction wheels – for attitude control. The Thaicom 8 spacecraft carries twenty-four Ku-band transponders which will be used to provide data relay and broadcasting to Thailand, India and East Africa.ĭesigned for fifteen years of service, the spacecraft is powered by twin four-panel solar arrays consisting of ultra-triple-junction cells. Thaicom 5 has four years remaining of its fourteen-year design life, while Thaicom 6 is expected to remain in service until 2029. The satellite will be stationed at a longitude of 76.5 degrees East, alongside Thaicom 5 – which has been in orbit since its launch on an Ariane 5 in May 2006 – and Thaicom 6. Orbital were awarded the contract to build the satellite in April 2014 with the announcement that SpaceX would provide launch services being made at the same time at a total cost of $178.5 million US dollars (approximately 6.4 billion Thai Baht at current exchange rates). ![]() ![]() Thaicom 8 is a 3.2-tonne (7,100 lb) communications satellite which was constructed by Orbital ATK around the GEOStar-2.3 bus, previously used for the Thaicom 6 spacecraft. In addition, Thaicom has a long-term lease agreement in place for half of the transponder capacity aboard the AsiaSat-6 satellite, which was also launched by a Falcon 9 in 2014 and is marketed as Thaicom 7. Liftoff from Cape Canaveral was moved to Friday, following a scrub during Thursday’s window due to an issue with an upper stage engine actuator, before launching on Friday, along with another first stage ASDS landing success!įollowing the successful launch of JCSAT-14 on 5 May, Falcon made another trip to geosynchronous transfer orbit to deploy Thaicom 8, the second satellite to be deployed by SpaceX on behalf of Thaicom, whose Thaicom 6 satellite was successfully deployed by a Falcon 9 v1.1 in January 2014. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket made its twenty-fifth flight – and its second of the month – on Friday, deploying Thailand’s Thaicom 8 communications satellite. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |