On June 12, SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 booster, which preceded the fourth launch of an upgraded GPS III navigation satellite for the U.S. military.
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Several years ago, SpaceX won the vast majority of GPS III launches thanks to the Falcon 9’s excellent combination of reliability and affordability, securing all five contracts it had been awarded in competitions. The company launched its first GPS III in December 2019, using a brand-new Falcon 9 booster (B1054) due to customer requirements—not performance—necessary to ensure extreme margins in the event of some kind of anomaly or poor performance during launch.
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In June 2020, SpaceX again launched a GPS III satellite for the US military, although this time the company was allowed to attempt to land the Falcon 9 booster supporting the mission – which it successfully recovered without a problem. Less than five months after the successful launch of GPS III SV03, SpaceX returned and launched GPS III SV04 – again with a brand new Falcon 9 rocket – and recovered the booster at sea. A few months earlier, however, the US Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) announced a contract amendment that would allow SpaceX to begin reusing Falcon 9 boosters on National Security Space Launch (NSSL) missions – starting with the company’s fourth GPS III launch.
Seven months later, SMC revealed that it has officially designated SpaceX to begin launching GPS III satellites (and other official NSSLs) on tested Falcon rockets. Specifically, this could include a Falcon Heavy launch – USSF-52 – scheduled as early as January 2022, which could reuse two new boosters scheduled to debut on USSF-44 starting in October 2021.
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In the meantime, however, GPS III SV05 – scheduled for launch no earlier than (NET) 12:09 p.m. EDT (16:09 UTC), Thursday, June 17 – is just two days away from becoming the first NSSL (formerly EELV) satellite to launch on a tested commercial rocket. GPS III SV05 will reuse the same Falcon 9 booster (B1062) that successfully launched GPS III SV04 seven months ago.
Those seven months gave the US to fully certify the Falcons' flight and gave satellite manufacturer Lockheed Martin time to address the shortage and delays related to COVID-19.
Now, the Falcon 9 will launch horizontally and return to the LC-40 integration hangar, where SpaceX will install the integrated GPS III SV05 satellite and payload fairing atop the rocket's expendable second stage.
The integrated payload assembly launched from a nearby payload processing facility at LC-40 on June 13, giving SpaceX four days to complete the integration, return the Falcon 9 to the launch pad, and prepare the rocket for flight.
L-3 weather forecasts are calling for a 40% chance of delay on June 17, and a 30% chance on June 18. Stay tuned as SpaceX's first test flight for the US military approaches.
Source of information: teslarati.com
