nailed it

Those boost back burn colors tho…..

Love it, every single time.

that was so cool

Yep, every landing still puts a smile on my face. Can't wait to see that big damn grain silo get caught like Mr Miyagi catching flies.

Pandering.

Well, it lands itself so probably a safe place for that.

Mission:  Falcon 9, Starlink 2-8

1) Background info: Source

"A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch another batch (49) of Starlink internet satellites. This mission will deploy the Starlink satellites into a high-inclination orbit inclined 70 degrees to the equator. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will land on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean."

2) Launch window:    12:26 PM PDT (3:26 PM EDT) (17 March 2023).

3) Launch site:   SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California

4) Launch direction:   South-southeast

5) Webcast viewing options:

a. SpaceX webcast (Starts about 5 minutes before liftoff)

b.  YouTube:



6)  Observation comments:    None

7)  Launch preparations:

a.  Boats heading out.


Gav Cornwell@SpaceOffshore.   Of Course I Still Love You droneship departed Long Beach last night and is heading downrange to support the upcoming Starlink 2-8 launch, NET Friday.

b.  Satellites:   Not found

c.  Ready for launch:   Not found

d.  Navigation warning:


Raul@Raul74Cz.  LHA map for #Starlink Group 2-8 from VSFB SLC-4E NET 17 Mar 19:01 UTC, alternatively 18 to 20 Mar based on issued NOTAM/NOTMARs. Booster planned landing with estimated fairing recovery 660km downrange. Stage2 debris reentry in South Pacific. PERMANENTLY_REMOVED

8) First stage return/ocean recovery/disposal:    Drone ship OCISLY

9) Launch to deployment events/timeline:      

Hours:Minutes:Seconds after lift-off.  Times approximate.  

00:02:27   1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
00:02:31   1st and 2nd stages separate
00:02:38   2nd stage engine starts (SES-1)
00:02:42   Fairing deployment
00:06:42   1st stage entry burn begins
00:07:01   1st stage entry burn ends
00:08:21   1st stage landing burn begins
00:08:41   2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1)
00:08:43   1st stage landing
00:15:22   Starlink satellites deploy

10)  Orbit destination:  "Starlink Shell 2; 570 km circular 70° low-Earth Orbit (LEO), initial orbit of 327 km x 339 km at 70°"

Mission:  Falcon 9, SES 18/19

1) Background info: Source

"A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch SES 18 and SES 19 communications satellites for SES of Luxembourg. SES 18 and 19, built by Northrop Grumman, will provide C-band television and data services over the United States. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean."

2) Launch window:    7:38 - 8:16 PM EDT (17 March 2023)

3) Launch Site:   SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida

4) Launch direction:  East

5) Webcast viewing options:

a. SpaceX webcast (Starts about 15 minutes before liftoff)

b.  YouTube:



6)  Observation comments:    Sunset is at 7:31 PM with civil twilight at 7:55 PM EDT.  Some jellyfish sighting may be possible with launch at the beginning of the launch window and improves towards the end of the launch window.

7) Launch preparations:

a.  Boats heading out.


Gav Cornwell@SpaceOffshore.   Departure! Bob is outbound from Port Canaveral to support the SES 18/19 mission! JRTI droneship left a few days ago.


Gav Cornwell@SpaceOffshore.   Departure! Just Read the Instructions droneship and tug Crosby Skipper are outbound to support the upcoming SES 18/19 mission - NET March 17th!

b.   Satellites:


The SES-18 and SES-19 satellites. (Credit: Advanced Television)



SES 18 [Northrop Grumman]

Note:  Another source had a different satellite.  Will attempt to confirm the accuracy of this photo.

c.  Ready for launch:  


Photo from everydayastronaut.com

d.  Navigation warning:


Raul@Raul74Cz.   Launch Hazard Areas for #SES-18/19 mission from CCSFS SLC-40, valid for NET 17 Mar 23:38 UTC, altern. 18 to 24 Ma based on issued NOTAM/NOTMAR. B1069.6 landing 672km downrange. Estimated fairing recovery position approx. 788km downrange.

8) First stage return/ocean recovery/disposal:  The first stage will land on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

9) Launch to deployment events/timeline:    

Hours:Minutes:Seconds after lift-off.  Times approximate.  

00:02:32  1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
00:02:36  1st and 2nd stages separate
00:02:44  2nd stage engine starts (SES-1)
00:03:21  Fairing deployment
00:06:36  1st stage entry burn begins
00:07:00  1st stage entry burn ends
00:08:17  2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO)
00:08:24  1st stage landing burn begins
00:08:45  1st stage landing
00:26:17  2nd stage engine starts (SES-2)
00:27:04  2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-2)
00:32:15  SES-18 deploys
00:37:25  SES-19 deploys

10)  Orbit destination:  Geosynchronous transfer orbit

On a boat named Doug.

RocketLab launch from Wallops at 6:38pm EDT.

52 more Starlinks are on-orbit.

In other launch news:

Bruno: still confident in a Vulcan launch in May. A little more than halfway through qualification testing of BE-4; likely the pacing item for launch.

— Jeff Foust (@jeff_foust) March 15, 2023

Cornell: "I'm not sure if we're going to release the details" of the NS-23 investigation, "it's something that we have to coordinate with the FAA."

"We are looking to get back into flight with New Shepard by the end of this year."

Michael Sheetz  (@thesheetztweetz) March 15, 2023

"Cornell: "I'm not sure if we're going to release the details" of the NS-23 investigation, "it's something that we have to coordinate with the FAA.""

I may be skeptical but that sounds like they are trying to hide something.

couple of minutes

Nailed the landing - dead center

Per usual, they nailed it. So cool to watch

Nice view of the first and second stages plus the fairing halves.

Congrats to @SpaceX team for launching 2 rockets within 4 hours! pic.twitter.com/kT5T01lxjt

Elon Musk  (@elonmusk) March 18, 2023

Absolutely, I mean Blue Origin has always been low information about anything it's doing.  But the part of coordinating the release with the FAA part seems like BS. Everyone knows there was an anomaly, how would it help their tourist business to keep it hush.  Just don't see why the FAA would care if Blue shared the report.

Just seen that this afternoon about SpaceX lease ending and new tenants and wondered where the new landing facilities will be.  One of the spaceflight Youtube channels do flybys of the cape and don't seem to be noticing any construction it seems cause they have a good eye for changes in the area.

Been away from the site for awhile and just noticed this thread and post and got me thinking again about the LZ's.

It will likely cost much less to give up the lease and not lease other property and build LZ's and just move the drone ships off the coast and recover close to home.  The water is plenty deep enough 3 miles off shore for the drone ships to operate.

I did not consider that but perhaps they will create new landing pads closer to the launch pad.   That would shorten the turnaround time using the boats.  The percentage that return to land is small.

Since 2020, 13/113 launches from KSC/CCSFS have been RTLS (two of those were falcon heavy w/dual side booster recoveries).  I'm sure they would like to retain the scheduling flexibility and quicker turn around that RTLS provides with their ever increasing launch cadence, but I wonder how difficult it is from a regulatory standpoint to get a new LZ approved?

I haven't seen when the lease on SLC-13 with LZ-1/2 actually expires. If it isn't until the end of the year, Space X may just be willing to accept the gap in RTLS until Starship becomes operational.  Seems like worst case are some increased costs and a launch schedule that gets temporarily slowed down a bit by only having two drone barges as recovery options.

Starship may take years to be operational like Falcon 9 is.  It may take even longer to become man-rated.   Falcon 9 may be around a long time.

Sidebar question here as a curiosity:

What’s to prevent you from launching and recovering in International Waters? If the tech would do it, could Elon go Sovereign Citizen?

I also expect Falcon 9 to be around for quite a while as I would bet money it will take years to get Starship man rated.  Even if starship gets to orbit this year, I could see it taking at least another year to get certified for DOD/NRO launches. All that being said, I also believe space x will begin using it for starlink next year as long as they are able to recover and reuse booster.

Thanks for keeping this thread updated, it's a great resource.

View from the second stage following last week's launch of SES-18 and SES-19 to a geosynchronous transfer orbit pic.twitter.com/GbSbq6ob2m

SpaceX  (@SpaceX) March 20, 2023

Sea Launch did 30 some starting in the late 90's which included the original XM radio and quite a few DirecTV satellites as well.

Mission:   Falcon 9, Starlink 5-5

1)  Mission Description:  "A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launched another batch (56) of Starlink internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean."  

2) Launch window:   11:43 AM EDT (24 March 2023)

3) Launch Site:   SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida

4) Launch direction:  Southeast

5) Webcast viewing options:

a.   SpaceX webcast (Starts about 5 minutes before liftoff)

b.  YouTube:



6)  Observation comments:    None.

7) Launch preparations:

a.  Boats heading out.


Gav Cornwell@SpaceOffshore.  Mar 20.  Departure! Doug and ASOG droneship are outbound from Port Canaveral to support Starlink 5-5.

b.  Satellites:


A side-by-side comparison of the Starlink V1.5 and the Starlink V2 Mini satellites. Credit: SpaceX / Spaceflight Now

c.  Ready for launch:  


Credit:  SpaceFlightNow.com

d.  Navigation warning:


Raul@Raul74Cz.   LHA map for #Starlink Group 5-5 from CCSFS SLC-40 NET 24 Mar 15:33 UTC, alternatively 25 to 30 Mar based on issued NOTAM/NOTMARs. B1067.10 planned landing with estimated fairing recovery ~660km downrange. S2 debris reentry area south of Cape Town.

8) First stage return/ocean recovery/disposal:    Recover on drone ship ASOG.

9) Launch to deployment events/timeline:    

Hours:Minutes:Seconds after lift-off.  Times approximate.  

00:02:27  1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
00:02:31  1st and 2nd stages separate
00:02:37  2nd stage engine starts (SES-1)
00:02:45  Fairing deployment
00:06:11  1st stage entry burn begins
00:06:30  1st stage entry burn ends
00:08:05  1st stage landing burn begins
00:08:26  1st stage landing
00:08:40  2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1)
00:54:48  2nd stage engine starts (SES-2)
00:54:30  2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-2)
01:05:16  Starlink satellites deploy

10)  Orbit destination:   530 km circular low-Earth orbit at 43 degrees inclination.  Insertion orbit 298 x 339 km at 43 degrees

The first stage landing video from both the first stage and the boat was good.

Yeah, great video up and down.

Mission:   Falcon 9, Starlink 5-10

1)  Mission Description:  "A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launched another batch (56) of Starlink internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean."  

2) Launch window:   4:01 PM EDT (29 March 2023)

3) Launch Site:   SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida

4) Launch direction:  Southeast

5) Webcast viewing options:

a.   SpaceX webcast (Starts about 5 minutes before liftoff)

b.  YouTube:



6)  Observation comments:    None.

7) Launch preparations:

a.  Boats heading out.

Bob departs Port Canaveral with droneship JRTI to support the upcoming Starlink 5-10 mission currently scheduled for Wednesday @SpaceOffshore pic.twitter.com/alRrVhLFpw

Jerry Pike  (@JerryPikePhoto) March 25, 2023

Jerry Pike@JerryPikePhoto.    Bob departs Port Canaveral with droneship JRTI to support the upcoming Starlink 5-10 mission currently scheduled for Wednesday @SpaceOffshore

b.  Satellites:


A side-by-side comparison of the Starlink V1.5 and the Starlink V2 Mini satellites. Credit: SpaceX / Spaceflight Now

c.  Ready for launch:  


Credit:  Stephen Marr

d.  Navigation warning:


Raul@Raul74Cz.   LHA map for #Starlink Group 5-10 from CCSFS SLC-40 NET 29 Mar 20:11 UTC, alternatively 30 Mar to 04 Apr based on issued NOTAM/NOTMARs. B1077.4 planned landing with estimated fairing recovery ~660km downrange. S2 debris reentry area south of Cape Town.

8) First stage return/ocean recovery/disposal:    Recover on drone ship JRTI.

9) Launch to deployment events/timeline:    

Hours:Minutes:Seconds after lift-off.  Times approximate.  

00:02:28  1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
00:02:31  1st and 2nd stages separate
00:02:38  2nd stage engine starts (SES-1)
00:02:46  Fairing deployment
00:06:12  1st stage entry burn begins
00:06:31  1st stage entry burn ends
00:08:04  1st stage landing burn begins
00:08:24  1st stage landing
00:08:37  2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1)
00:54:50  2nd stage engine starts (SES-2)
00:54:06  2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-2)
01:04:52  Starlink satellites deploy

10)  Orbit destination:   530 km circular low-Earth orbit at 43 degrees inclination.  Insertion orbit 298 x 339 km at 43 degrees

webcast has started

It sounds windy

Winds    36012G19KT

nailed it

Mission:  Falcon 9, SDA Tranche 0

1) Background info: Source

"A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch around 10 Tranche 0 demonstration satellites for the U.S. military’s Space Development Agency. The launch is the first of two Falcon 9 missions to carry SDA demonstration spacecraft for a future constellation of military missile tracking and data relay satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will return to Landing Zone 4 at Vandenberg."

2) Launch window:    7:29 AM PDT (10:29 AM EDT) (2 April 2023).

3) Launch site:   SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California

4) Launch direction:   Southerly

5) Webcast viewing options:

a. SpaceX webcast (Starts about 15 minutes before liftoff)

b.  YouTube:



6)  Observation comments:    None

7)  Launch preparations:

a.  Boats heading out.


Gav Cornwell@SpaceOffshore.    Departure! West Coast fairing recovery ship NRC Quest is outbound from the Port of Long Beach to support the Transport and Tracking Layer mission.

b.  Satellites:   Article discussing these satellites

c.  Ready for launch:  


A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands vertical on its launch pad at Vandenberg Space Force Base, awaiting liftoff with the first 10 satellites for the U.S. military’s Space Development Agency. Credit: SpaceX


Credit: SpaceX

d.  Navigation warning:


Raul@Raul74Cz.   LHA map for #SDA-0A mission from VSFB SLC-4E NET 30 Mar 14:29 UTC, altern. 31 Mar to 05 Apr based on issued NOTAM/NOTMARs. LZ-4 landing for booster 1075.2. Estimated fairing recovery position approx. 490km downrange. S2 reentry area south of Cape Town.

8) First stage return/ocean recovery/disposal:   The first stage will land on Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) at Vandenberg Space Force Base.

9) Launch to deployment events/timeline:      

Hours:Minutes:Seconds after lift-off.  Times approximate.  

00:02:17  1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
00:02:20  1st and 2nd stages separate
00:02:28  2nd stage engine starts (SES-1)
00:02:33  Boostback burn start
00:03:02  Fairing deployment
00:03:28  Boostback burn end
00:06:09  1st stage entry burn start
00:06:25  1st stage entry burn complete
00:07:15  1st stage landing burn start
00:07:48  1st stage landing

10)  Orbit destination:  ~80 degree inclination orbit.

had to do it to em’ pic.twitter.com/ZM0gXFMwTC

— \uD83D\uDCF8Trevor Mahlmann (@TrevorMahlmann) March 30, 2023

Webcast is live.

Launch abort at T-03 seconds.

Launch may be 31 March at the same time.

Tune in tomorrow kids, same bat time. Same bat channel.

SpaceX@SpaceX

Falcon 9 had an auto abort just prior to T-0. Vehicle and payload are in good health; teams are resetting for a launch attempt tomorrow, March 31 at 7:29 a.m. PT

UPDATE: SpaceX will not make an attempt for SDA's Tranche 0 launch today (3/31), as previously scheduled. They are working quickly to resolve issues discovered during yesterday's launch attempt. We will provide add'l updates as soon as possible. #SemperCitius pic.twitter.com/YMpdc8gvpf

Space Development Agency  (@SemperCitiusSDA) March 31, 2023

My family and I watched this launch while at Kennedy Space Center. It was windy, supposedly near upper limits. All went well. It was very exciting to be so close to the launch site.

Standing down from today’s launch of the @SemperCitiusSDA Tranche 0 mission to allow more time for vehicle preparations. Targeting no earlier than April 1 for next liftoff attempt

SpaceX  (@SpaceX) March 31, 2023

Now targeting Sunday, April 2 at 7:29 a.m. PT for Falcon 9's launch of the @SemperCitiusSDA Tranche 0 mission to low-Earth orbit. Weather is 90% favorable for liftoff pic.twitter.com/wKWKiiOF3F

SpaceX  (@SpaceX) April 1, 2023

webcast has started

Not great weather for seeing the launch.