17.06.2022
A Falcon 9 rocket is set to launch an Airbus-built German military radar surveillance satellite after 10 a.m. PDT (7 a.m. PDT; 1400 GMT) Saturday from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. That mission will utilize a Falcon booster making its third fight. The first stage will return to Vandenberg for an onshore landing after sending the four-ton SARah 1 radar imaging satellite toward orbit.
Quelle: SN
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A German military satellite will get a ride into orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket set to blasat off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Saturday morning.
Liftoff of the 230-foot-tall Falcon 9 rocket built by Space Exploration Technologies is scheduled to occur at 7:19 a.m. from Space Launch Complex-4 on the South Base.
A backup launch opportunity is available Monday with the same window.
Liftoff won't occur any later than 8:30 a.m., according to marine notices released to keep boaters out of the ocean near the launch site.
The rocket will carry a SARah-1 satellite, an Earth observation spacecraft developed on behalf of the German Bundeswehr.
Earlier this week, Airbus said the satellites had been moved from Friedrichshafen, Germany, to Vandenberg in anticipation of the weekend launch.
Airbus built SARah-1 as part of a new operational reconnaissance system consisting of several satellites and a ground segment.
The satellite weighs about 4 tons — roughly the same amount as an adult hippo. It will replace the SAR-Lupe system in service but will offer significantly enhanced capabilities from the older system, Airbus representatives said.
The SARah system boasts three radar satellites and a ground segment connected to two ground stations.
Equipped with the latest technology, SARah-1 is expected to provide extremely high-resolution observation of the Earth's surface, regardless of time of day and weather conditions.
About eight minutes after liftoff, SpaceX intends to land the first-stage at Vandenberg, just west of where the rocket will launch.
A return to the launch site is likely to produce sonic booms that may be heard in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties as the vehicle breaks the sound barrier en route back to Vandenberg.
Sonic booms stem from the shock waves created by an aircraft or launch vehicle traveling faster than the speed of sound. Sonic booms have been likened to an explosion or a clap of thunder, but sound at various locations can depend on weather conditions and other factors.
Vandenberg has restricted access, but several locations around the Lompoc Valley provide views of the launch and landing sites, which are south of West Ocean Avenue (Highway 246). Those locations include west of Lompoc, the peak of Harris Grade Road and near the intersection of Mooglow and Stardust roads. Providence Landing Park, at 699 Mercury Ave., also is a popular gathering spot.
It will be the fifth Falcon 9 rocket launch from Vandenberg during 2022.
Quelle: Noozhawk
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Update: 19.06.2022
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Start von SpaceX Falcon9 mit SARah 1 radar imaging satellite
Quelle: SpaceX