SpaceX Successfully Launches US Space Force GPS into Orbit
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A dramatic halt just two seconds prior to SpaceX's launch in early October kept the space company's Falcon 9 rocket firmly on the ground.
Yesterday, Elon Musk's space company finally carried out the follow-up launch, and it was a success.
Falcon 9 is bringing the U.S. Space Force's new military satellite up to space.
SEE ALSO: SPACEX COMPLETES 100TH SUCCESSFUL FALCON FLIGHT WITH ITS LATEST STARLINK LAUNCH
Thursday's launch marked a good day for the military space agency, the U.S. Space Force, as it saw its GPS III satellite lifted off into space.
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/LI4O0TNmL8
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 5, 2020
Originally due to liftoff in late September, the launch was then pushed back to October 2nd. It was almost set to go blazing up into orbit when the entire launch was stopped just two seconds before liftoff.
This unexpected push back brought on further delays, such as NASA's Crew-1 astronaut launch, which experienced issues with two of its engines.
Falcon 9 leaps off the pad to deliver GPS III into orbit. #NoScrubNovember can officially begin. #SpaceX pic.twitter.com/2VEJAXFJoT
— Julia (@julia_bergeron) November 6, 2020
The issues appeared to lie in the "masking lacquer" that had unexpectedly blocked a valve line, meaning two of the nine Merlin rocket engines tried to fire early. These engines were exchanged for new ones, and thus yesterday's launch was possible.
As it stands, the GPS III Space Vehicle 04 is currently on its way into orbit.
The fairing halves from the launch will try to be collected thanks to SpaceX's two ships.
Next up for SpaceX's launches is the aforementioned Crew-1 launch, which has a new launch date of November 14th.
Yesterday's launch has been shared widely on Twitter and other social media sites, along with the hashtag #NoScrubNovember. This follows on from a United Launch Alliance (ULA) failure to launch on November 4th, who declared a scrub, pushing back the launch by 48 hours. Let's see if today sees liftoff for ULA.
Good burn. You can see from the trajectory where this is now headed. 24 mins to S/C Sep, including a spin up. pic.twitter.com/Zk8vugCGbz
— Chris B - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) November 6, 2020
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