Thakur
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla – At 10:49 p.m. EST (0349
GMT) Space Exploration Technologies, more commonly
known as “SpaceX”, got “Two for the price of one” as
the company launched two satellites — on a single
Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket.
The ABS/EUTELSAT-1 mission
had been provided with at least a 70 percent chance of
favorable weather conditions for liftoff.
With a launch window extending some 45 minutes (as opposed to the more common, “instantaneous” launch window the company sees so frequently), the aerospace company had no difficulties getting the two-stage booster off the pad at Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 and into the Florida skies.
While the launch of a communications satellite might, at first glance, not appear to be that important, this perception changes with the fact that the F9 rocket actually ferried two satellites into the black.
This marks the first dual payload that the company has ever attempted.
It’s all part of what could be a big year for SpaceX.
As mentioned, the ABS/EUTELSAT-1 mission consists
of two communications satellites, EUTELSAT 115 West
B (also called Satmex 7 ) and the Asia Broadcast Satellite
(ABS 3A), to fly into the black of space.
The launch saw a rare start on the first launch attempt
and at the opening of the launch window at 10:49 EST
(0349 GMT on March 2) on Sunday, March 1.
This evening’s launch was the third that SpaceX has
conducted in just the first two months of this year — and it suggests that the amount of flights that SpaceX is able to carry out is steadily increasing.
The launch marked one of the few times that SpaceX
managed to conduct the launch at the very opening of the
launch window – on the first attempt. Photo Credit: Mike
Howard / SpaceFlight Insider
The two satellites that comprise the payload for this mission were detailed on SpaceFlight Insider as follows:
EUTELSAT 115 West B will be placed into an orbital
position of 114.9° West where it will serve to extend coverage from as far north as Alaska and
Canada, all the way down to South America.
Eutelsat’s website also notes that the satellite will provide “unique” coverage to the Galapagos and Easter Island.
The latest spacecraft in Eutelsat’s fleet is designed to
provide greater capacity to reach markets that already
have, or are projected to have, increased growth in terms of data, video, mobility and government uses across the Americas.
The spacecraft was built by the
Boeing Defense and Space, and it will be the first all-electric (technically plasma) satellite that Eutesat will have on orbit.
It has been produced to help decrease the amount of mass that the booster will be required to send aloft.
EUTELSAT 115 West B will provide Ku-band resources
via three fixed beams which will cover the region from the State of Alaska to Patagonia.
The spacecraft has 12 C-Band and 34 Ku-Band transponders. It is hoped that the satellite will advance coverage across a region that covers all the way from Canada down to South America.
The services that the satellite will provide to private,
commercial and government customers, according to
Eutelsat, include video services which include occasional use Direct to Home (DTH) and DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television).
A semi-hemispheric C-band
beam will provide coverage that is meant to be optimized so as to provide services such as cellular, video, distribution and mobility.
ABS 3A will be located at 3 degrees
West and will connect the Americas, Europe, Africa as
well as the Middle East via C and Ku-band coverage.
It will carry this out in a similar fashion to that of EUTELSAT 115 West B — by three C-band beams as well as a global beam.
ABS 3A will also have four Ku-band beams that will cover Europe, South Africa and across the Americas.
ABS 3A is a Boeing satellite; it too is an all-electric propulsion spacecraft, based off of the 702SP design.
The ABS 3A spacecraft has a total of 24 transponder
Read more at
http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/missions/commercial/two-price-one-spacex-makes-history-launch-abseutelsat-1/
GMT) Space Exploration Technologies, more commonly
known as “SpaceX”, got “Two for the price of one” as
the company launched two satellites — on a single
Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket.
The ABS/EUTELSAT-1 mission
had been provided with at least a 70 percent chance of
favorable weather conditions for liftoff.
With a launch window extending some 45 minutes (as opposed to the more common, “instantaneous” launch window the company sees so frequently), the aerospace company had no difficulties getting the two-stage booster off the pad at Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 and into the Florida skies.
While the launch of a communications satellite might, at first glance, not appear to be that important, this perception changes with the fact that the F9 rocket actually ferried two satellites into the black.
This marks the first dual payload that the company has ever attempted.
It’s all part of what could be a big year for SpaceX.
As mentioned, the ABS/EUTELSAT-1 mission consists
of two communications satellites, EUTELSAT 115 West
B (also called Satmex 7 ) and the Asia Broadcast Satellite
(ABS 3A), to fly into the black of space.
The launch saw a rare start on the first launch attempt
and at the opening of the launch window at 10:49 EST
(0349 GMT on March 2) on Sunday, March 1.
This evening’s launch was the third that SpaceX has
conducted in just the first two months of this year — and it suggests that the amount of flights that SpaceX is able to carry out is steadily increasing.
The launch marked one of the few times that SpaceX
managed to conduct the launch at the very opening of the
launch window – on the first attempt. Photo Credit: Mike
Howard / SpaceFlight Insider
The two satellites that comprise the payload for this mission were detailed on SpaceFlight Insider as follows:
EUTELSAT 115 West B will be placed into an orbital
position of 114.9° West where it will serve to extend coverage from as far north as Alaska and
Canada, all the way down to South America.
Eutelsat’s website also notes that the satellite will provide “unique” coverage to the Galapagos and Easter Island.
The latest spacecraft in Eutelsat’s fleet is designed to
provide greater capacity to reach markets that already
have, or are projected to have, increased growth in terms of data, video, mobility and government uses across the Americas.
The spacecraft was built by the
Boeing Defense and Space, and it will be the first all-electric (technically plasma) satellite that Eutesat will have on orbit.
It has been produced to help decrease the amount of mass that the booster will be required to send aloft.
EUTELSAT 115 West B will provide Ku-band resources
via three fixed beams which will cover the region from the State of Alaska to Patagonia.
The spacecraft has 12 C-Band and 34 Ku-Band transponders. It is hoped that the satellite will advance coverage across a region that covers all the way from Canada down to South America.
The services that the satellite will provide to private,
commercial and government customers, according to
Eutelsat, include video services which include occasional use Direct to Home (DTH) and DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television).
A semi-hemispheric C-band
beam will provide coverage that is meant to be optimized so as to provide services such as cellular, video, distribution and mobility.
ABS 3A will be located at 3 degrees
West and will connect the Americas, Europe, Africa as
well as the Middle East via C and Ku-band coverage.
It will carry this out in a similar fashion to that of EUTELSAT 115 West B — by three C-band beams as well as a global beam.
ABS 3A will also have four Ku-band beams that will cover Europe, South Africa and across the Americas.
ABS 3A is a Boeing satellite; it too is an all-electric propulsion spacecraft, based off of the 702SP design.
The ABS 3A spacecraft has a total of 24 transponder
Read more at
http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/missions/commercial/two-price-one-spacex-makes-history-launch-abseutelsat-1/
