SAOCOM-1B | Falcon 9 Block 5

Enclosed in the fairing there are also two smallsats: GNOMES-1 and Sequoia. The GNOMES-1 satellite is a navigation and occultation measurement satellites and is the first of 20 satellites to be launched for this constellation. It will be used to provide weather forecasting, climate research, and space weather monitoring services. Sequoia is an Earth observation satellite, and is the first satellite of six in the “Whitney” constellation. The main goal of this constellation is to provide sub-half meter imagery that has both low noise and high contrast. Little is known about the use of this satellite.

Polar Launches

This launch is especially interesting as it is a polar launch (meaning it is heading South) from the East coast.  This is something that has not been done in over 50 years; it last happened when NASA Launched  ESSA-9 on a Delta rocket on February 26th, 1969. After this, this launch corridor was shut down due to being too much of a risk to the populated areas in it. However, this changed in 2018 when the 45th space wing announced that if rockets had an automatic flight termination system (AFTS) they would be able to launch in this corridor. As of now, this means that only the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy are able to launch into polar orbits from the East coast, but that is going to change in the coming years. SpaceX’s Starship, Blue Orgin’s New Glenn, and ULA’s Vulcan are all going to have automatic flight termination systems, meaning they will be able to take advantage of this opening.

What is Falcon 9 Block 5?

The Falcon 9 Block 5 is SpaceX’s partially reusable two-stage medium-lift launch vehicle. Block 5 is the final iteration of the Falcon 9; the goal is to apply all the lessons learned from 56 previous Falcon 9 flights into a human-rated reusable rocket. The Falcon 9 contains 3 main components: a reusable first stage, an expendable second stage, and a reusable fairing.

Block 5 updates:

SpaceX introduced a lot of changes on Block 5, allowing it to become the crewed-launching reusable rocket that we know today. To start, the Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel (COPV) had to undergo a complete redesign. NASA mandated the COPV redesign, as it had been the cause of both of the Falcon 9 failures: AMOS-6 and CRS-7.

Alongside with certification for human spaceflight, Block 5 came with a number of other major changes. To increase the amount of flight each booster could handle, and decrease the turnaround time, SpaceX reinforced the landing legs, upgraded the grid fins, and added a carbon fiber interstage. They also added heat resistant external paint and upgraded the engines. For more information about the changes in Block 5, and the other Blocks of the Falcon 9, check out this video by the Everyday Astronaut:

Falcon 9 Booster B1059

The booster supporting this mission is B1059. It first flew on CRS-19 on December 5, 2019. This booster’s second flight was on CRS-20, on March 6, 2020. The third mission of the booster was Starlink V1.0 L8 on June 13, 2020. This changes the vehicle’s designation to B1059.4!

Following stage separation, the Falcon 9 conducted 3 burns. These three burns brought the Falcon 9 to a soft landing at LZ-1, at the CCAFS.  

Fairing Reuse

SpaceX is the first entity ever that recovers and reflies its fairings. Go Ms. Chief recovered both fairing halves from the water. After being jettisoned, the two fairing halves used cold gas thrusters to orientate themselves as they descend through the atmosphere. Once at a lower altitude, they will deploy parafoils to help them glide down to a soft landing for recovery.

• 

• 

• 

•