7.09.2025
SpaceX targeting Monday night to launch Indonesian satellite from Cape Canaveral, Florida
Potential "jellyfish effect" launch alert: SpaceX may propel a Falcon 9 rocket into flight shortly after sunset Monday, Sept. 8, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Sunset will occur at 7:35 p.m. Monday at the Cape, according to The Old Farmer's Almanac. Soon afterward, SpaceX is targeting a 116-minute launch window that opens at 8:02 p.m. and ends at 9:58 p.m.
The photogenic space jellyfish phenomenon happens when ground level is darkened just before sunrise or just after sunset but the ascending rocket's vapor plume is illuminated by sunlight streaming through the upper reaches of the atmosphere.
The 230-foot Falcon 9 will lift off from Launch Complex 40, then deploy the Nusantara Lima communications satellite in geosynchronous transfer orbit for Pasifik Satelit Nusantara, Indonesia's first satellite-based private telecommunications company.
Boeing built the satellite, which is scheduled to enter commercial service early next year and provide broadband internet, phone service and emergency communications across Indonesia and neighboring countries in Southeast Asia.
"Why it matters: Indonesia’s more than 17,000 islands make it nearly impossible to connect everyone with fiber or cell towers," an Aug. 7 Boeing news article said.
The satellite will operate about 22,000 miles above the Earth's surface. In a Boeing press release, PSN Group CEO Adi Rahman Adiwoso said, “this satellite will empower communities, schools, and businesses that have never had reliable access before."
“Boeing’s satellite business has a rich history of serving Indonesia and the Asia Pacific region, dating back to the Palapa A1 satellite in 1976,” Ryan Reid, president of Boeing Satellite Systems International, said in the press release.
The SpaceX launch comes on the heels of Friday's Starlink 10-57 mission, which lifted off at 8:32 a.m. from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
Quelle: Florida Today
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Update: 8.09.2025
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NUSANTARA LIMA MISSION
SpaceX is targeting Monday, September 8 for a Falcon 9 launch of the Nusantara Lima mission to geosynchronous transfer orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The 116-minute launch window opens at 8:02 p.m. ET. If needed, a backup opportunity is available Tuesday, September 9 during a 116-minute window that opens at 8:01 p.m. ET.
A live webcast of this mission will begin about 15 minutes prior to liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX. You can also watch the webcast on the new X TV app.
This will be the 23rd flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously supported Crew-6, SES O3b mPOWER-b, USSF-124, BlueBird 1-5, and 18 Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
Quelle: SpaceX
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Update: 12.09.2025
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SpaceX launches powerful satellite to orbit for Indonesian telecom company
It was the 114th Falcon 9 mission of 2025 already.
SpaceX continued its busy 2025 tonight (Sept. 11), sending a satellite high above Earth for an Indonesian telecom company.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Nusantara Lima satellite lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today at 9:56 p.m. EDT (0156 GMT on Sept. 12), after being grounded for three days by bad weather.
The rocket's first stage returned to Earth as planned about 8.5 minutes later, touching down on the SpaceX drone ship "A Shortfall of Gravitas," which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
It was the 23rd launch and landing for this particular booster (which is known by the designation 1078), according to a SpaceX mission description. That's seven short of the company's reflight record, which was set late last month on a launch of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites.
The Falcon 9's upper stage, meanwhile, continued carrying Nusantara Lima skyward. The satellite was deployed into geosynchronous transfer orbit on schedule, 27.5 minutes after liftoff.
The satellite, which was built by Boeing, will set up shop in geosynchronous orbit (GEO), 22,236 miles (35,785 kilometers) above Earth. Orbital speed matches Earth's rotational speed at that altitude, allowing spacecraft to "hover" over one patch of the planet. GEO is therefore a popular orbit for communications, weather and reconnaissance spacecraft.
Nusantara Lima is expected to start work in 2026 after completing a series of checkouts. PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN), Indonesia's first satellite-based private telecom company, will use the spacecraft to beam service to customers across Indonesia's 17,000 islands, as well as in neighboring countries.
"Indonesia was one of the first nations to adopt satellite communications to connect its citizens, and Nusantara Lima continues that legacy," Adi Rahman Adiwoso, CEO of PSN Group, said in a Boeing statement last month.
"This satellite will empower communities, schools, and businesses that have never had reliable access before," Adiwoso added. Nusantara Lima, "with the capacity of more than 160 Gbps, will strengthen our capability to provide national capacity for our nation[al] needs. Our partnership with Boeing and our global technology partners is about making sure no one is left behind as Indonesia grows."
The Nusantara Lima satellite is seen after its deployment in the light of an orbital sunrise on Sept. 11, 2025. (Image credit: SpaceX)
Tonight's launch was the 114th Falcon 9 mission of 2025. More than 70% of these flights have been dedicated to building out the Starlink megaconstellation in low Earth orbit, which consists of more than 8,300operational satellites and is growing all the time.
SpaceX has also launched four other missions so far this year. They were test flights of its next-generation Starship megarocket, which the company is developing to help humanity settle Mars, among other goals. The most recent Starship launch occurred on Aug. 26and was a complete success, according to SpaceX.
Quelle: SC