Thanks. I just cancelled an alarm for like 3 hours from now. I hope I remember to check back in time tomorrow to reset!

I wish I would have known that before getting up at 3:30 and scrambling outside and waiting for it.

I woke up around 100 AM EST and checked the status...saw the delay and Chokey's post and updated the first page post and the one on page 102.   Turned off my alarm for 330 AM EST and went back to bed.

Your devotion to seeing these launches is admirable.

Here is a nice article on the Hakuto-R mission:

Japanese commercial moon lander, UAE rover ready for launch on SpaceX rocket


Engineers from the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai prepare to integrate the Rashid rover on ispace’s Hakuto-R lander. Credit: MBRSC

Can someone give an approximate elevation (degrees above horizon) where the re-entry burn will start?

It will be coming in from the east so that direction is roughly 85 - 90 degrees azimuth.

I will include that information in my launch post in post #45 on page 102.

LOL thanks.

I'll be doing the same thing tomorrow morning.

Fairing recovery is relatively close at 546km. Not sure where the re-entry burn will start, but it will be high and close, maybe even high enough to have rising Sun reflection for some jelly fish viewing.

Launch Hazard Areas for #ispace M1 mission from CCSFS SLC-40, valid for NET 30 Nov 08:39 UTC, alternatively 01 to 05 Dec based on issued NOTMAR/NOTAM. LZ-1 landing for booster 1073.5. Estimated fairing recovery position approximately 546km downrange. https://t.co/ccdtLakv8j pic.twitter.com/GXYsDseHJF

Raul  (@Raul74Cz) November 29, 2022

Attached File

After further inspections of the launch vehicle and data review, we're standing down from tomorrow's launch of @ispace_inc's HAKUTO-R Mission 1; a new target launch date will be shared once confirmed

SpaceX  (@SpaceX) December 1, 2022

Fairing recovery ship Bob appears to be returning to land.


Gav Cornwell@SpaceOffshore

HAKUTO-R Mission 1 delay might be a few days at least, based on initial movements of fairing recovery ship Doug.

Vessel appears to have left its holding point and is heading west towards Florida at 9 knots.

Yep, Bob is on his/him/hers/she/they way back to the Port.
No real reason for the scrub other than technical, weather front moved through late this aft and has since petered out.  Warm, calm and dry weather predicted for the next 10 days.

Woot !!!

"SpaceX is expected to roll a Falcon 9 rocket back into its hangar at Cape Canaveral for troubleshooting, postponing the planned launch of a Japanese commercial moon lander for an unspecified period. SpaceX provided no details about the reason for grounding the rocket."

Source

Excellent action if true.  As the leader in first stage reuse, never before seen problems are always a possibility.

Take the time needed to prevent a mission failure.

There is a ton of finger pointing and blaming going on about it right now. SpaceX launch team is pissed.

Huh, not a common occurrence with that outfit. But certainly something that happens with space launches every now and then.

I don't know what it looks like when you get a multimillion dollar payload to orbit and nothing is working. But it's an outcome that would rather be avoided.

STS-51-A sent out 2 good ones and picked up 2 bad ones to bring back for repairs and be launched again later. It's the flight that took the famous for sale sign picture during a space walk.

Are there media reports about it?   I have no insight but SpaceX has a good track record.  I believe that Starship will kill many with their questionable landing technique and they have shown some tendency to not anticipate failure points.

Ah yes, heard about that on a Scott Manley video.

I really like his channel. For some reason finding out that there was (or likely still is) a printer on the International Space Station affected my sanity more than I'm comfortable with.

None. SpaceX employees are threatened with their jobs for disclosing any information about ongoings inside the company, that is up to their PR/media dept. and nobody else to disclose.
Scuttlebut is mostly coming from contractors that work SXS and have close friends that have crossed over. People talk when they work together and it's a pretty tight knit community regardless of who you work for.
The gripe at the Cape is the focus on BC and the company is not too worried about F9 launches falling out of pace, they are pushing very hard on the Starship program and lots of experienced hands have been sent out to Boca.
Even the construction out at Roberts has noticeably slowed down because the work force keeps getting shuffled back and forth.

There is no rush to deadlines for the F9 cadence like their used to be.

Gav Cornwel@SpaceOffshore.    Doug should arrive back at Port Canaveral at midnight tonight, as SpaceX stands down for an undetermined period from the HAKUTOR-R Mission 1

The OneWeb launch was delayed for "additional pre-launch checks."

I am all for delays that help mission success and I often caution to avoid "get-there-itis."

With the OneWeb delay I am wondering if there is a wider problem that is becoming apparent.

There was a scheduled Starlink launch out of Vandenberg a few weeks ago that has disappeared.

The Hakuto launch is being delayed by something.  

Three delays (two being longer and odd) in less than a month.  Weather apparently not a factor.

Big shot bosses are at BC cracking the whip. The focus is on BC and will be until the BFR launches.

Teams completed additional vehicle inspections and reviews; rocket and payload are looking good for launch of the @ispace_inc HAKUTO-R mission 1 targeted for no earlier than Sunday, December 11 at 2:38 a.m. ET https://t.co/PmCn77dXyZ

SpaceX  (@SpaceX) December 7, 2022

Mission:  Falcon 9, OneWeb 15

1) Background info: Source

"A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch 40 satellites into orbit for OneWeb, which is developing and deploying a constellation of hundreds of satellites in low Earth orbit for low-latency broadband communications. This will be the first launch of OneWeb satellites with SpaceX. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will return to Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. "

2) Launch window:    5:27 PM EST (8 December 2022)

3) Launch Site:   LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida

4) Launch direction:  South

5) Webcast viewing options:

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

b.  YouTube:



6)  Observation comments:    Sunset at the launch site is 5:26 PM with civil twilight at 5:52 PM EST.  These may be too late for good jellyfish events but I would look anyway.   You never know when something awesome may occur.

7) Launch preparations:

a.  Boats heading out.

Departure! Doug is heading ~600 km downrange to recover the fairing for the upcoming OneWeb-15 mission! https://t.co/icguJj64A8 pic.twitter.com/3vpnjQola5

Gav Cornwell  (@SpaceOffshore) December 4, 2022

Gav Cornwell@SpaceOffshore.     Departure! Doug is heading ~600 km downrange to recover the fairing for the upcoming OneWeb-15 mission!

b.   Satellites:


Artist depiction of a OneWeb satellite (Credit: TechCrunch)


Forty OneWeb satellites mounted on a dispenser before encapsulation inside a SpaceX payload fairing. Credit: OneWeb

c.  Ready for launch:  


SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket on pad 39A awaiting launch with 40 OneWeb satellites. Credit: Spaceflight Now

d.  Navigation warning:



Raul@Raul74Cz.     Launch Hazard Areas for #OneWeb-L15 mission from LC-39A NET 06 Dec 22:37 UTC, alternatively 07-12 Dec. B1069.4 LZ1 landing. Drop area (red) in case of boostback/stage2 failure. Fairing recovery north of Cuba ~605km downrange. S2 reentry in Indian Ocean. http://bit.do/LHA21

8) First stage return/ocean recovery/disposal:  Return to launch area Landing Zone 1

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
00:02:34   Boostback burn start
00:03:22   Boostback burn complete
00:03:33   Fairing deployment
00:06:04   1st stage entry burn start
00:06:21   1st stage entry burn complete
00:07:18   1st stage landing burn start
00:07:45   1st stage landing
00:08:31   2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1)
00:55:14   2nd stage engine starts (SES-2)
00:55:17   2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-2)
00:58:28   14 OneWeb satellites deploy
01:13:53   13 OneWeb satellites deploy
01:29:18   13 OneWeb satellites deploy

10)  Orbit destination:  ~86.9 degree inclination.  Operational altitude 1200 kilometers.  Insertion altitude mentioned as 600 kilometers in one source.

Weather is 90% GO for 5:27 p.m. EST launch.
Just by coincidence, Sunset is 5:27 p.m. locally.

This could make for some spectacular jellyfish viewing, going to try recording it.

SpaceX webcast is starting.

awesome boost back burn coverage

nailed it

Pretty good show. Was able to see the booster the whole way up and down.

Was the boostback burn visible to you and about what elevation (degrees above horizon) was the booster for the re-entry burn?

The livefeed I watched was fucking amazing!  Especially the booster return.

Ya, even the thrusters popping off were visible. Was only about 8 miles from the landing pad so dam near strait up for me so maybe > 70* idk.

Caught the entry burn and a bit of the landing burn on video, posted that one on YT.
Had the cam set on slow-mo mode for recording and it drove me nuts because it only took vids for about 30 seconds and I have to try to tie them together., had to fuck with the camera to get it back to normal mode.
Anyways, the entry burn starts at 58 seconds and the sonic boom is about 2 minutes later.
Home grown...

Did that bitch splash down yet?

Fortunately we were able to see a few deployments.  I am not sure why they have video problems when in ground station coverage.

Then I wondered why they can't use their Starlink system to provide 100% coverage.   In this case the deployment altitude of 600 kilometers is higher than the Starlink satellites around 540 kilometers.

Maybe if they add some antenna for T-Mobile phone reception they can add an aft facing antenna for launch coverage.

anyone know the launch trajectory on the iSpace Mission?

we're about 25 miles due south of the cape and yes it was a great launch.  sun was at right angle to iluminate all the exhaust and reflect off the vehicles

Raising hand...I do, I do.  See my post #45 on the previous page (102).

I always thought they should stack up an old Shuttle, light the bitch up, and try an RTLS.  Use a volunteer CDR and PLT.  Find two guys who don’t give a shit if they die.  GoPro every angle of it.  Good stuff.

My detailed discussion of the ispace HAKUTO-R Mission 1 launch is on page 102, post #45.

Got up to pee @2:25 and decided to stay up.
Another beautiful launch and loud landing.
Not going to mess with it now, but I did record it. Great audio if anything.

2 vids up and headphones are recommended. You'll have to suffer to the end of the second video for the sonic boom recording, it was awesome !

I watched it on my phone in bed.   It looked like there was some good lighting of the first stage plume just after the boost back burn started, but they did not show ground-based video at that time.

Got a good capture of the sonic booms about 40 seconds after it landed.

Got some decent footage of the first stage plume, stage sep and a bit of RCS bursts from the first stage with some jellyfish action. Good liftoff audio too.
Sounds great with headphones. There was virtually no noise pollution at that time this morning to spoil the audio.

Mission:  Falcon 9, SWOT

1) Background info: Source

"A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission for NASA. SWOT is a science mission jointly developed by NASA and CNES, the French space agency, to measure how much water is in Earth’s oceans, lakes, and rivers. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will return to Landing Zone 4 at Vandenberg Space Force Base"

SWOT Overview

2) Launch window:    3:46:40 AM PST (16 December 2022)

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

4) Launch direction:  South-southwest

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.   US West Coast SpaceX fairing recovery ship NRC Quest is sailing ~430 km downrange to recover the fairing for the upcoming SWOT mission from VSFB.

b.   Satellite:


The SWOT water-tracking satellite was encapsulated in its payload fairing on Dec. 8. It will now go atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in preparation for a launch targeting Dec. 15, 2022.    Credit: USSF 30th Space Wing/Joshua Duff


SWOT is encapsulated in Falcon 9’s payload fairing. (NASA)


Illustration of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography, or SWOT, satellite orbiting Earth. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

c.  Ready for launch:  


Gav Cornwell Retweeted.    Jack Beyer@thejackbeyer.    Falcon 9 B1071 standing tall at SpaceX's SLC-4 during remote camera setup today ahead of tomorrow mornings launch of the #SWOT satellite for NASA and CNES. @SLDelta30.      @NASASpaceflight

d.  Navigation warning:



Gav Cornwell Retweeted.  Raul@Raul74Cz.     LHA map for #SWOT mission from VSFB SLC-4E NET 15 Dec 11:46 UTC, altern.16 to 18 Dec. LZ-4 landing for booster. Estimated fairing recovery position ~433km downrange. Issued S2 debris reentry area in Pacific Ocean inconsistent with launch azimuth. http://bit.do/LHA21

8) First stage return/ocean recovery/disposal:  Return to launch area Landing Zone 4

9) Launch to deployment events/timeline:      

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

00:02:16 1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
00:02:20 1st and 2nd stages separate
00:02:27 2nd stage engine starts
00:02:33 Boostback burn start
00:02:58 Fairing deployment
00:03:28 Boostback burn complete
00:06:02 1st stage entry burn start
00:06:14 1st stage entry burn complete
00:07:06 1st stage landing burn start
00:07:35 1st stage landing
00:08:24 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1)
00:43:22 2nd stage engine starts (SES-2)
00:43:27 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-2)
00:52:28 SWOT deploys

[b]10)  Orbit destination:[/]  Operational altitude 77.6 degree inclination initially at 857 kilometers.

SWOT launch date now 16 December 2022