A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted launched the U.S. Space Force called USSF-62 mission from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Credit: SpaceX
Credit: SpaceX
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TechTranscript
00:00 [Countdown]
00:03 T-minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, ignition.
00:14 And a lift out to Falcon 9, go US-N62, go spacex.
00:20 [Engine noise]
00:24 Vehicle is pitching downrange.
00:26 [Unintelligible]
00:30 [Engine noise]
00:52 [Engine noise]
00:56 T-plus 40 seconds into flight, Falcon 9 on its way.
01:00 [Unintelligible]
01:01 With US Space Force 62.
01:03 Good callouts there, power and telemetry nominal.
01:06 Propulsion is nominal, we're into the throttle bucket.
01:09 We're throttling down the nine Merlin engines.
01:12 We prepare for the period of maximum dynamic stress coming up in about 10 seconds.
01:16 [Unintelligible]
01:19 Faster than a speeding bullet, we've gone supersonic.
01:29 Max Q.
01:30 Max Q callout, we're through the period of maximum stress on the vehicle.
01:34 We have throttled the Merlin engines back up to full power.
01:40 Now coming up, we're going to have four events.
01:46 We're going to get main engine cut off, all nine Merlins will shut off.
01:50 We'll then get stage separation where the first stage pushes itself away from the second stage.
01:55 And then the second stage engine will start a few seconds later.
01:58 A Merlin vacuum engine on stage two will ignite.
02:01 That will boost the payload into low Earth orbit.
02:04 [Unintelligible]
02:07 We will then have a same time, the boost back burn start.
02:11 Falcon 9's first stage is going to ignite three engines,
02:14 orient itself and start to head back to land on land,
02:17 right back in Vandenberg next to where it lifted off.
02:26 Coming up on main engine cut off.
02:42 Stage separation confirmed.
02:48 And back ignition.
02:51 Stage one boost back start up.
02:54 You've seen it, the first stage heading away under the power of its three engines.
02:58 The second stage vacuum engine is lit for second stage engine start one.
03:03 A nice view there of the Vandenberg coastline.
03:06 A little bit of the white contrail visible from where we left Earth on slick floor east.
03:13 The first stage boost back continuing.
03:15 That will go for another half a minute.
03:17 We're coming up on fairing deployment next.
03:22 Fairing separation confirmed.
03:26 We've got call out that the fairing has successfully separated.
03:30 You're looking right now a view, the first stage continues under the power of three Merlin engines.
03:36 It will continue to rise towards Apogee before descending back down towards the landing zone at Vandenberg.
03:43 Second stage meanwhile in the middle of its six minute burn on its way into the parking orbit.
03:49 Stage one boost back shut down.
03:52 All right, we've had a successful boost back burn.
03:55 We've shut down the three engines.
03:57 The stage nitrogen thrusters now beginning to reorient the first stage.
04:02 And the flight computer has commanded the large titanium grid fins to slowly begin deploying now that the boost back burn is over.
04:11 So right now we've had a great launch.
04:13 First stage has done its job so far.
04:16 It's on the way back.
04:17 Second stage is running at full power.
04:20 We're getting great views from space.
04:22 And we're getting ready now for first stage to come back to landing zone.
04:26 Anikos, why don't you take us through the sequence of events we've got coming up.
04:31 Thanks, John.
04:32 You are watching a live webcast for USSF 62.
04:37 We are delivering a payload that is part of space-based environmental monitoring SBEM system,
04:43 which works with civil and international partners to achieve their mission of delivering environmental and tactical intelligence to warfighters.
04:51 Today we will be attempting to recover the Falcon 9 back on land at landing zone four.
04:57 And in just a few minutes, the booster will execute an entry burn.
05:01 And following that will be the landing burn.
05:03 Both burns are meant to slow the booster down rapidly just before landing.
05:08 And if we do have a successful landing today, that will mark the 279th landing of a Falcon 9 booster.
05:17 And again, as I mentioned, in order to make its way back to land, Falcon 9 does have two more burns to execute.
05:22 The next one coming up is the entry burn, where three of the Merlin engines will reignite.
05:28 And this just helps to slow the stage down as it reenters the upper parts of the Earth's atmosphere.
05:35 And then the final burn for the first stage is the landing burn.
05:38 And that's a single engine burn, which will bring the vehicle speed down very rapidly in order to softly touch down back on Earth.
05:48 Falcon 9 is equipped with four hypersonic grid fins positioned near the top of the first stage.
05:54 And during this portion of flight, stage one is using nothing but the grid fins for steering as it returns to Earth.
06:01 And these grid fins orient the rocket during reentry, and they help to guide the rocket during its descent.
06:08 Now, currently we are seeing a view of the second stage, but occasionally you will see on the first stage nitrogen gas bursts for attitude control,
06:16 which you can see there now on the left side of your screen.
06:19 And these are basically used to position the vehicle as it heads back towards land.
06:26 Stage one entry burn startup.
06:29 And there's confirmation we have just lit three of the Merlin 1D engines on the first stage.
06:34 You can see now we are rapidly slowing the vehicle down as it enters the Earth's atmosphere.
06:39 And this burn should last just around 20 seconds.
06:45 Stage one entry burn shutdown.
06:48 And there we go. There's confirmation of shutdown of the entry burn on the first stage.
06:53 The Falcon 9 first stage is also equipped with four landing legs, and those are made out of state of the art carbon fiber with an aluminum honeycomb.
07:01 And they are placed symmetrically around the base of the rocket, and they will deploy just prior.
07:06 Stage one FTS has saved.
07:08 Those legs will deploy just prior to landing.
07:11 Speaking of landing, we are just about 60 seconds away from that.
07:14 We are traveling over 2,000 kilometers per hour.
07:18 This really puts into perspective the deceleration.
07:21 In the span of just less than a minute, we will have reduced from twice the speed of a jet all the way down to zero.
07:28 You just heard that call out. Stage one is now traveling slower than the speed of sound as it heads towards land.
07:35 We can see the California coast just below there on the left side of your screen.
07:39 Heading back towards landing zone four.
07:43 There you go. Wow. Great tracking shot of that landing burn.
07:46 You can see that center E9 engine has now lit.
07:49 We are slowing the vehicle down very rapidly.
07:54 Should be seeing those landing legs deploy any second now.
08:02 Stage one landing leg deploy.
08:11 Stage one landing confirmed.
08:13 And there you have it. We have successfully made the 279th landing of an orbital class rocket.
08:20 Stage two FTS has saved.
08:22 Coming up next, we will have the second stage engine cutoff or SECO one.
08:26 And following that, we will enter into just about a 40-minute coast phase as the vehicle ascends to its target orbit.
08:36 On your screen now is a live view of the EMVAC engine continuing its burn.
08:46 EMVAC shutdown.
08:49 And there we go. Just had confirmation of EMVAC shutdown.
08:52 So with that, we are going to head into the coast phase.