Launch set for US-European ocean-monitoring satellite

For example, SpaceX launched a commercial satellite last April for Turkmenistan that required the rocket to carry its cargo to 22,000 miles above the surface – 10 times higher than the ISS.

Sunday’s launch and landing of a fresh rocket – SpaceX is saving the December 21 stage for posterity – nonetheless would help burnish Musk’s corporate image with a second consecutive milestone, after a spectacular explosion of a Falcon 9 last June, said Marco Caceres, senior space analyst for Teal Group Corp., a defense and aerospace analysis company based in Fairfax, Va.

The Falcon 9 rocket with Jason-3 bolted atop was rolled out from a processing hangar at Vandenberg AFB to the SLC 4 launch pad on Friday, Jan. 15 after it passed the Launch Readiness Review.

The SpaceX Jason-3 launch is targeted for a 1:42 a.m. EST launch from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The first rocket that SpaceX landed won’t be reused, as the company considers it too special to launch back into space.

Being able to land at sea also gives the company flexibility to recover rockets used on more demanding missions, such as launching heavy satellites, when boosters do not have enough fuel left to reach land.

More than 90 percent of the heat being trapped in the Earth system by the greenhouse effect is going into the ocean, said Jason-3 program scientist Laury Miller, chief of NOAA’s Laboratory for Satellite Altimetry in Washington, D.C.

Unfortunately, live video of the landing attempt is not likely to be provided this time around. Right now, there’s a 100 percent chance of favorable weather conditions that day, but if for some reason the Falcon 9 can’t take off, another attempt will be made on Monday. Like NASA did when Jason-2 launched, the solar-powered Jason-3 will ride alongside its forefather for half a year to ensure consistency between instruments. “It will continue the ability to monitor and precisely measure global sea surface heights, monitor the intensification of tropical cyclones and support seasonal and coastal forecasts”, NASA explained.

Koenigsmann said SpaceX does not yet have the environmental approvals needed to attempt a landing on pads at Vandenberg.

The cost of the mission, including five years of operation, was put at $180 million. He then added in a lyric from the late, great David Bowie: “Until we see you next time, I encourage you to look forward and to look up, for the stars look very different today”.

Be Civil – It’s OK to have a difference in opinion but there’s no need to be a jerk. Let us know in the comments.