A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Space Development Agency’s second Tranche 0 from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
The first stage landed on Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) at Vandenberg shortly after separation.
Credit: SpaceX
The first stage landed on Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) at Vandenberg shortly after separation.
Credit: SpaceX
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TechTranscript
00:00 T-minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, ignition, engines full power, and liftoff of Space Shuttle
00:16 Stage Z, Zero-Z, go Falcon, go FCA.
00:23 Stage 1 propulsion is normal. Vehicle is pitching downrange.
00:52 We're now T-plus 40 seconds into the Space Development Agency's second Tranche Zero mission.
00:57 Power and telemetry nominal.
00:59 Falcon 9 has throttled down to prepare for max Q, which should occur within the next 30 seconds or so.
01:04 And max Q is the point at which the vehicle experiences the greatest amount of aerodynamic pressure as it ascends through the Earth's atmosphere.
01:10 Falcon 9 is supersonic.
01:24 Max Q.
01:26 And there's that callout for max Q, and everything is looking good with the rocket's trajectory so far.
01:31 Now we have five events coming up in rather quick succession, and these are MECO, stage separation, stage 1 flip, SES-1, and then the boostback burn.
01:39 MECO, also known as main engine cutoff, is when we shut down all nine Merlin 1D engines on the first stage.
01:46 Stage separation is when the first and second stages separate from one another, and this is followed by stage separation, when the first stage will flip over and conduct a boostback burn to fly back towards land.
01:58 SES-1, or second engine start 1, is when we ignite the single Merlin vacuum engine on the second stage.
02:03 Now as a reminder, we won't be showing any views of our second stage today at the request of our customer.
02:14 We should be seeing MECO in just about 15 seconds from now.
02:34 And MECO.
02:37 Stage separation confirmed.
02:46 And MECO.
02:48 Stage 1 boostback startup.
02:51 And there you heard, maybe even saw, those events that happened back to back, including MECO, or main engine cutoff, stage separation, stage 1 flip, SES-1, and second engine start 1, and the start of our boostback burn.
03:02 At the moment, the boostback burn is in progress, and will last for another 15 seconds or so.
03:10 And while that burn is in progress, we are expecting to hear the callout for fairing separation.
03:14 And as a reminder, at the request of our customer, we won't be broadcasting fairing separation, but we should still have audio confirmation of it.
03:21 Fairing separation confirmed.
03:23 And there's that callout confirming fairing separation.
03:28 Coming up in just a few moments, we should have the completion of the boostback burn on the first stage.
03:43 Stage 1 boostback shutdown.
03:46 And with the boostback burn done, our first stage is now headed back to Earth, and we'll be attempting its land landing in just a few minutes.
03:52 One of the nice things about land landings is we're not subject to ocean weather, and it's pretty convenient to land the first stage right next to where it lifted off.
04:00 However, our ability to execute a land landing is really dependent upon the customer's needs.
04:04 Both vehicles are following the nominal trajectory.
04:06 Their mission trajectory and performance needed by the satellite determines if we can return to land.
04:11 In order to complete today's land landing, the first stage has two more burns left.
04:15 Next up is the entry burn, which will help to slow the stage down as it reenters the upper part of the Earth's atmosphere.
04:23 If you're just joining us, we just had successful liftoff of Falcon 9 and the Space Development Agency's second Tranche Zero mission.
04:30 As the mission name suggests, today's customer is the SDA, or Space Development Agency.
04:35 After an on-time liftoff, we had successful main engine cutoff, stage separation, stage one flip, second engine start one, boostback burn, and fairing separation from the second stage.
04:48 We're now coming up on the second burn on our first stage today, the entry burn, which should start in just over a minute from now.
05:07 [Silence]
05:24 You're currently seeing live views of our Falcon 9 first stage as it descends back to Earth.
05:28 And from time to time, some of these views may show the hypersonic grid fins.
05:32 If that's not currently on your screen, these hypersonic grid fins help steer the vehicle during descent as we reenter Earth's atmosphere.
05:39 [Silence]
05:45 And there you can now see those grid fins.
05:48 [Silence]
05:54 Coming up in just a few moments, we should have the stage one entry burn start up.
06:03 Both stages continue to follow a nominal trajectory.
06:26 Stage one entry burn start up.
06:29 And there's that call out for the stage one entry burn start up, where we light engines at the bottom of the Falcon 9 first stage as it descends back to Earth.
06:37 And this burn will last just a few moments.
06:40 Stage one entry burn shut down.
06:43 Stage one FTS is safe.
06:45 And there's that confirmation of stage one entry burn shut down.
06:48 [Silence]
06:54 As a reminder, we'll be ending our webcast after Falcon 9 lands, and we won't be sharing any views from our second stage at the request of our customer.
07:03 Coming up in about, in just a few moments from now, we should have the landing burn start up on the Falcon 9 first stage.
07:17 Stage one transonic.
07:36 Stage one landing burn.
07:38 And there's that confirmation of landing burn start.
07:40 This burn should last just around 15 seconds or so.
07:44 Stage one landing leg deploy.
07:55 Stage one landing confirmed.
07:57 And there you have confirmation of landing of our Falcon 9 vehicle.
08:01 This was the 13th launch and landing of this booster, and our 222nd overall successful recovery of an orbital class rocket, including both Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy first stage landings.
08:11 As we mentioned earlier, at the request of our customer, we are concluding our webcast coverage early today.
08:16 We want to thank the Space Development Agency for entrusting us with today's launch, and a special thanks to the range and the Federal Aviation Administration for licensing support.
08:26 With today's launch, this marks SpaceX's 61st launch of 2023, matching last year's annual record with still four months to go before the end of this year.
08:36 Congrats to the SpaceX and Falcon teams for this record-breaking year.
08:39 And if you're looking for some added excitement this weekend, please tune in for our next Starlink launch set to lift off from Pad 39A in Florida at 7.50 p.m. Eastern Sunday evening.
08:49 The SpaceX and NASA teams are also looking to bring home the Crew-6 astronauts after a six-month stay at the International Space Station, just as soon as weather is favorable.
08:58 We'll bring you live coverage of their departure from the orbiting laboratory, as well as their return to Earth when they splash down off the coast of Florida.
09:04 And as always, our team is making progress with Starship down in Texas, getting ready for our second flight test of a fully integrated Starship.
09:11 Be sure to keep an eye on x.com/spacex for updates. Thanks again, and we'll see you soon.