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Additional Media

U.S./German GRACE-FO Launches Aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9

3-2-1 liftoff of Falcon 9 with GRACE-FO! The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-on, or GRACE-FO, a collaboration between NASA and German Research...

Iridium-6/GRACE-FO Mission

SpaceX is targeting launch of Iridium-6/GRACE-FO on Tuesday, May 22 from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The insta...

GRACE-FO Launches Aboard SpaceX Falcon 9

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-on (GRACE-FO) spacecraft launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on May 22, 2018, aboard a S...

Iridium-6 & GRACE-FO

Circle Image

Overview

Destination: Low Earth Orbit
Mission: Communications

Low Earth Orbit Space Launch Complex 4E Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA Probability: 90%
B1043 - Pacific Ocean

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will deliver 10 satellites to low Earth orbit for Iridium, a global leader in mobile voice and data satellite communications. This is the sixth set of 10 satellites in a series of 75 total satellites that SpaceX will launch for Iridium’s next generation global satellite constellation, Iridium® NEXT. Sharing this launch is the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-on mission, which is a joint project of NASA and the German Research Centre for Geosciences. It's goal is to track Earth's water movement to monitor changes in underground water storage, the amount of water in large lakes and rivers, soil moisture, ice sheets and glaciers, and sea level caused by the addition of water to the ocean.

Falcon 9

Family:
Configuration: Block 4

The Full Thrust variants first stage includes all systems necessary for an operational re-use of stages while the second stage is operated as an expendable rocket stage.

See Details
Specifications
  • Stages
    2
  • Length
    71.0 m
  • Diameter
    3.65 m
  • Fairing Diameter
  • Launch Mass
    546.0 T
  • Thrust
    6804.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Falcon 9
  • Family
  • Variant
    Block 4
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    Falcon 9 Block 4
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
    $50000000
  • Low Earth Orbit
    22800.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
    8305.0 kg
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity

Booster Info


B1043

Status: Expended


Type: Core
Flight Proven: Yes
First Flight: January 8, 2018
Last Flight: May 22, 2018
Flights: 2
Landings Attempted: 1
Landings Successful: 1
Previous B1043 Flights

Landing Information

Booster was expended after its second flight.

Core will be expended.

SpaceX

SpaceX

(SpX)

CEO: Elon Musk Founded: 2002 Successes: 513 Failures: 15 Pending: 116

Agency Type:

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. SpaceX operates from many pads, on the East Coast of the US they operate from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and historic LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. They also operate from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, usually for polar launches. Another launch site is being developed at Boca Chica, Texas.

INFO WIKI

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Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Space Launch Complex 4E


Falcon 9
In Flight
1 hour, 46 minutes ago
Transporter 14 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare)
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Dedicated rideshare flight to a sun-synchronous orbit with dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers.


Atlas V 551
Success
12 hours, 16 minutes ago
Project Kuiper (KA-02)
Space Launch Complex 41 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Project Kuiper is a mega constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit that will offer broadband internet access, this constellation will be managed…


Falcon 9
Success
17 hours, 12 minutes ago
Starlink Group 10-23
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Long March 3
Success
3 days, 10 hours ago
ChinaSat 9C
Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) - Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Ku- and Ka-band geostationary communication satellite for China Satcom at 92.2° East, replacing ChinaSat 9.


Angara A5/Briz-M
Success
4 days, 20 hours ago
Kosmos (Unknown Payload)
35/1 - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

Unidentified payload for the Russian military.


Falcon 9
Success
5 days, 17 hours ago
Starlink Group 10-18
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 28 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Falcon 9
Success
6 days, 19 hours ago
Starlink Group 15-9
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 26 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Long March 2D
Success
1 week, 2 days ago
Zhangheng-1-02
Launch Area 4 (SLS-2 / 603) - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Zhangheng 1-02, also known as CSES-02 (China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite-02), is the follow-on mission to Zhangheng 1/CSES, a Chinese–Italian sp…


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 3 days ago
Starlink Group 12-26
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 23 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 3 days ago
Starlink Group 15-6
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 26 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.