jayanji
Contributor
- Joined
- 10 Mar 2012
- Messages
- 975
- Reaction score
- 737
A communications payload owned by the Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES will ride the first launch of an upgraded Falcon 9 rocket in mid-2015, SES officials said Friday.
The decision comes after a review of the risks of launching the SES 9 satellite with rocket engines operating at higher thrust for the first time.
“We have a very stringent protocol to validate all these sorts of either new launchers or upgrades to existing launchers,” said Karim Sabbagh, president and CEO of SES.
SpaceX plans to launch the telecom satellite on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in June or July, and the launcher’s nine Merlin 1D main engines will produce more power than on previous flights.
The closely-held Hawthorne, Calif.-based launch company has not disclosed what physical upgrades are present in the more powerful engines, or how much additional thrust the powerplants will generate.
The nine Merlin 1D booster engines are arranged in an “octaweb” pattern on the base of the Falcon 9 rocket, and a single Merlin engine optimized for firing in space powers the Falcon 9’s second stage.
Read more
SES 9 will be parked in geostationary orbit at 108.2 degrees east longitude, where it will hover over the Asia-Pacific, broadcasting direct-to-home television and linking maritime customers in the Indian Ocean.
The decision comes after a review of the risks of launching the SES 9 satellite with rocket engines operating at higher thrust for the first time.
“We have a very stringent protocol to validate all these sorts of either new launchers or upgrades to existing launchers,” said Karim Sabbagh, president and CEO of SES.
SpaceX plans to launch the telecom satellite on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in June or July, and the launcher’s nine Merlin 1D main engines will produce more power than on previous flights.
The closely-held Hawthorne, Calif.-based launch company has not disclosed what physical upgrades are present in the more powerful engines, or how much additional thrust the powerplants will generate.
The nine Merlin 1D booster engines are arranged in an “octaweb” pattern on the base of the Falcon 9 rocket, and a single Merlin engine optimized for firing in space powers the Falcon 9’s second stage.
Read more
SES 9 will be parked in geostationary orbit at 108.2 degrees east longitude, where it will hover over the Asia-Pacific, broadcasting direct-to-home television and linking maritime customers in the Indian Ocean.
