Featured image credit: SpaceX
Lift Off Time | January 13, 2022 – 15:25:39 UTC | 10:25:39 EST |
|---|---|
Mission Name | Transporter-3, the third SpaceX dedicated small satellite rideshare mission |
Launch Provider | SpaceX |
Customer | Numerous |
Rocket | Falcon 9 Block 5, booster B1058-10 |
Launch Location | Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40), Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, USA |
Payload mass | Unknown |
Where did the satellites go? | Sun-Synchronous Orbit |
Did they attempt to recover the first stage? | Yes |
Where did the first stage land? | Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) |
Did they attempt to recover the fairings? | The fairing halves will be recovered from the water ~665 km downrange by Bob |
Were these fairings new? | Yes |
This was the: | – 136th Falcon 9 launch – 76th Falcon 9 flight with a flight proven booster – 80th re-flight of a booster – 2nd re-flight of a booster in 2022 – 102nd booster landing – 28th consecutive landing (a record) – 2nd launch for SpaceX in 2022 – 78th SpaceX launch from SLC-40 – 2nd orbital launch attempt of 2022 |
Where to watch | Official Replay |
How Did It Go?
SpaceX successfully launched their third dedicated small satellite rideshare mission from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40), from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, in Florida. The Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket lofted 105 satellites into a Sun-Synchronous Orbit. This marked SpaceX’s second launch of 2022, averaging over one launch per week thus far.
SuperDove
Being launched on Transporter-3 are 44 SuperDove satellites, which are part of Planet’s SkySat constellation. The SuperDove is an upgraded version of the Dove, which will increase the resolution offered by the constellation. Planet currently offers a 72 cm resolution, but after their satellites are upgraded, the resolution will be under 50 cm.
The SuperDoves satellites have an upgraded camera. The camera is more color accurate, producing a better and sharper image. This means they provide more accurate surface reflection values. The new satellites also feature additional bands. This will allow them to better monitor agriculture, leading to new machine learning applications.
Capella Satellites
Capella Space, a company providing Earth data on demand, will be launching their next satellite on this mission. The 100 kg (220 lb) satellite dubbed “Sequoia” will be part of their Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) constellation.
Sequoia will aid in disaster relief, mapping areas for agriculture and infrastructure advancement, as well as security. It has the unique capability to detect sub 0.5 meter changes in the Earth’s surface.
Key Features:
- Has the ability to deliver high-contrast, low noise, sub 0.5 meter imagery to the public
- 3.5 meter mesh reflector and and a 400W solar array
- Thermal systems can aid in taking longer images up to 4000 km long
- Large reaction wheels allow fast satellite movement for a larger range of imaging capabilities
- A very high downlink rate of 1.2 Gbps to allow faster image download
- Real-time tasking abilities through Inmarsat
Capella section by Alex Crouch.
Other Payloads
SpaceX is also launching a number of other payloads on this mission. This includes Kepler, Guardian, Exolaunch, Nanoracks, Satellogic, Spaceflight, and a large number of other payloads.
What Is Falcon 9 Block 5?
The Falcon 9 Block 5 is SpaceX’s partially reusable two-stage medium-lift launch vehicle. The vehicle consists of a reusable first stage, an expendable second stage, and, when in payload configuration, a pair of reusable fairing halves.
First Stage
The Falcon 9 first stage contains nine Merlin 1D+ sea level engines. Each engine uses an open gas generator cycle and runs on RP-1 and liquid oxygen (LOx). Each engine produces 845 kN of thrust at sea level, with a specific impulse (ISP) of 285 seconds, and 934 kN in a vacuum with an ISP of 313 seconds. Due to the powerful nature of the engine, and the large amount of them, the Falcon 9 first stage is able to lose an engine right off the pad, or up to two later in flight, and still be able to successfully place the payload into orbit.
The Merlin engines are ignited by triethylaluminum and triethylborane (TEA-TEB), which instantaneously burst into flames when mixed in the presence of oxygen. During static fire and launch the TEA-TEB is provided by the ground service equipment. However, as the Falcon 9 first stage is able to propulsively land, three of the Merlin engines (E1, E5, and E9) contain TEA-TEB canisters to relight for the boost back, reentry, and landing burns.
Second Stage
The Falcon 9 second stage is the only expendable part of the Falcon 9. It contains a singular MVacD engine that produces 992 kN of thrust and an ISP of 348 seconds. The second stage is capable of doing several burns, allowing the Falcon 9 to put payloads in several different orbits.
For missions with many burns and/or long coasts between burns, the second stage is able to be equipped with a mission extension package. When the second stage has this package it has a grey strip, which helps keep the RP-1 warm, an increased number of composite-overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs) for pressurization control, and additional TEA-TEB.
Falcon 9 Booster
The booster that supported Transporter-3 is B1058. B1058 had supported nine previous flights, making its designation for the Transporter-3 mission B1058-10.
Following stage separation, the Falcon 9 successfully conducted 3 burns. These burns softly touched down the booster on SpaceX’s landing zone LZ-1.
Falcon 9 Fairings
The Falcon 9’s fairing consists of two dissimilar reusable halves. The first half (the half that faces away from the transport erector) is called the active half, and houses the pneumatics for the separation system. The other fairing half is called the passive half. As the name implies, this half plays a purely passive role in the fairing separation process, as it relies on the pneumatics from the active half.
Both fairing halves are equipped with cold gas thrusters and a parafoil which are used to softly touch down the fairing half in the ocean. SpaceX used to attempt to catch the fairing halves, however, at the end of 2020 this program was canceled due to safety risks and a low success rate. On Transporter-3, SpaceX will attempt to recover the fairing halves from the water with their recovery vessel Bob.
In 2021, SpaceX started flying a new version of the Falcon 9 fairing. The new “upgraded” version has vents only at the top of each fairing half, by the gap between the halves, whereas the old version had vents placed spread equidistantly around the base of the fairing. Moving the vents decreases the chance of water getting into the fairing, making the chance of a successful scoop significantly higher.
An active Falcon 9 fairing half (Credit: Greg Scott) 
Falcon 9 passive fairing half (Credit: Greg Scott) 
Half of the fairing being taken off Go. Navigator. (Credit: Lupi) 
A passive fairing half being unloaded from Shelia Bordelon after the Starlink V1.0 L22 mission (Credit: Kyle M)
Transporter-3 COUNTDOWN
All times are approximate
| HR/MIN/SEC | EVENT |
|---|---|
| 00:38:00 | SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for propellant load |
| 00:35:00 | RP-1 (rocket grade kerosene) loading underway |
| 00:35:00 | 1st stage LOX (liquid oxygen) loading underway |
| 00:16:00 | 2nd stage LOX loading underway |
| 00:07:00 | Falcon 9 begins engine chill prior to launch |
| 00:01:00 | Command flight computer to begin final prelaunch checks |
| 00:01:00 | Propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure begins |
| 00:00:45 | SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for launch |
| 00:00:03 | Engine controller commands engine ignition sequence to start |
| 00:00:00 | Falcon 9 liftoff |
Transporter-3 LAUNCH, LANDING, AND DEPLOYMENT
All times are approximate
| HR/MIN/SEC | EVENT |
|---|---|
| 00:01:12 | Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket) |
| 00:02:15 | 1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO) |
| 00:02:19 | 1st and 2nd stages separate |
| 00:02:26 | 2nd stage engine starts |
| 00:02:32 | Boostback burn begins |
| 00:03:47 | Fairing deployment |
| 00:06:36 | 1st stage entry burn begins |
| 00:08:26 | 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO) |
| 00:08:27 | 1st stage landing |
| 00:55:22 | 2nd stage engine restarts |
| 00:55:24 | 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-2) |
| 00:59:38 | UNICORN-2E deploys |
| 00:59:51 | DELFI-PQ, EASAT-2, and HADES deploy |
| 01:00:25 | UNICORN-2D, STALLA-2A, and GRIZU-263A deploy |
| 01:02:10 | UNICORN-1 and UNICORN-2A deploy |
| 01:02:49 | PION-BR1, MDQUBESAT-1, SATLLA-2B, and UNICORN-2TA1 deploy |
| 01:02:55 | ETV-A1 deploys |
| 01:03:04 | HYPSO-1 deploys |
| 01:03:16 | Gossamer Piccolomini deploys |
| 01:03:28 | DEWA-SAT 1 deploys |
| 01:03:47 | NuX-1 deploys |
| 01:04:15 | BRO-5 deploys |
| 01:05:36 | Challenger and SANOSAT-1 deploy |
| 01:05:48 | FOSSASAT-2E5 and FOSSASAT-2E6 deploy |
| 01:06:01 | FOSSASAT-2E2, WISESAT-2, FOSSASAT-2E3, and PILOT-1 deploy |
| 01:06:27 | FOSSASAT-2E1, WISESAT-1, FOSSASAT-2E4, and LAIKA deploy |
| 01:06:32 | First SuperDove deploys |
| 01:06:51 | First LEMUR-2 deploys |
| 01:07:13 | KEPLER-17 deploys |
| 01:07:19 | Second LEMUR-2 deploys |
| 01:07:31 | Ororatech deploys |
| 01:08:09 | Tevel-4 and Tevel-5 deploy |
| 01:08:35 | Tevel-1, Tevel-2, and Tevel-3 deploy |
| 01:10:27 | KEPLER-19 deploys |
| 01:11:01 | MDASat-1a deploys |
| 01:11:13 | IRIS-A deploys |
| 01:11:25 | KEPLER-18 deploys |
| 01:11:39 | KEPLER-16 deploys |
| 01:12:03 | LEMUR-2-DJIRANG deploys |
| 01:12:28 | LEMUR-2-MIRIWARI deploys |
| 01:12:44 | MDASat-1b deploys |
| 01:12:58 | MDASat-1c deploys |
| 01:13:27 | Tevel-6, Tevel-7, and Tevel-8 deploy |
| 01:21:07 | Last SuperDove deploys |
| 01:21:30 | First ICEYE satellite deploys |
| 01:22:08 | Second ICEYE satellite deploys |
| 01:22:20 | Umbra-02 deploys |
| 01:23:02 | Ukrainian Satellite Sich deploys |
| 01:23:31 | Spaceflight customer satellite deploys |
| 01:24:30 | ION SCV-004 Elysian Eleonora deploys |
| 01:27:04 | Spaceflight customer satellite deploys |
