Topic: Flight 4 of Falcon 1 - Sunday Sept 28th 4-9PM California time

[Nemesis]

Link to full write up

Flight 4 of Falcon 1

Falcon 1 is currently cleared for liftoff sometime between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. (California time) tomorrow, Sunday September 28th. Of course, if we see anything that requires investigation, the launch will be postponed, but we’ll let you know as soon as we know. As with prior flights, you can access the webcast from the SpaceX site: www.spacex.com

The Flight 4 Webcast will provide live coverage of launch activities. The webcast will be accessible via a link on the SpaceX home page at www.SpaceX.com. The launch window runs from 4 PM to 9 PM (Pacific time) each day. The Falcon 1 launch facilities are situated on Omelek Island, part of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site (RTS) at United States Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA).

Lets hope this one is picture perfect.

[Nemesis]

The launch has been reported as successful, orbit achieved.



Now lets hope that they can do this consistently.  With the falcon 9 and Dragon as well. 

[Nemesis]

The Press Release:

HAWTHORNE, CA – Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) announces that Flight 4 of the Falcon 1 launch vehicle has successfully launched and achieved Earth orbit. With this key milestone, Falcon 1 becomes the first privately developed liquid fuel rocket to orbit the Earth.

"This is a great day for SpaceX and the culmination of an enormous amount of work by a great team," said Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX. "The data shows we achieved a super precise orbit insertion—middle of the bull's-eye — and then went on to coast and restart the second stage, which was icing on the cake."

Falcon 1, designed from the ground up by SpaceX, lifted off at 4:15 p.m. (PDT) / 23:15 (UTC) from the Reagan Test Site (RTS) on Omelek Island at the U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) in the Central Pacific, about 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii.

Preliminary data indicates that Falcon 1 achieved an elliptical orbit of 500 km by 700 km, 9.2 degrees inclination—exactly as targeted.

Falcon 1 carried into orbit a payload mass simulator of approximately 165 kg (364 lbs), designed and built by SpaceX, specifically for this mission. Consisting of a hexagonal aluminum alloy chamber 1.5 meters (5 feet) tall, the payload remains attached to the second stage as it orbits Earth.

This was the fourth launch of the Falcon 1 launch vehicle and second flight for the new SpaceX-developed Merlin 1C regeneratively-cooled engine. A "hold before liftoff" system was used to enhance reliability by permitting all launch systems to be verified as functioning nominally before launch was initiated. A single SpaceX-developed Kestrel engine powered the Falcon 1 second stage.

For more information about the Falcon family of vehicles, and to watch the archived video of the Falcon 1, Flight 4 launch, visit the SpaceX website at www.spacex.com

So far the only thing I can think of that was not tested is insertion of the payload into an independent orbit.  Hopefully they won't leave that simulated payload behind as a piece of debris (unless it is put into an orbit that brings it down far out to sea of course).

[Tus-XC]

the orbit is supposed to last 5 to 10 years.  I wouldn't exactly call it debris, it will allow them to see if there were any problems w/ the insertion and let them figure out what the error is.

[Wraith 413]

 Kudos to the SpaceX team for a successful launch.  Next launch will be for Malaysia, carrying the RazakSat-1. 

[Nemesis]

the orbit is supposed to last 5 to 10 years.  I wouldn't exactly call it debris, it will allow them to see if there were any problems w/ the insertion and let them figure out what the error is.

I hadn't heard anything about their plans for the payload beyond that it was a dummy and at last report still attached to the 2nd stage.  Where did you learn this?

I do see they plan to try a launch of the Falcon 9 before year end and the first listed customer for a Falcon 9 launch is a Canadian company.  Lets hope they all fly like clockwork and that business for the Falcon 1 and 9 both begin to roll in.

I'd love to see cheaper commercial companies take over the Earth Orbiting stuff and get NASA back on the cutting edge doing space science.