Iridium-3
Falcon 9 Block 4
SpaceX
Mission
Iridium-3
Type: Communications
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will deliver 10 satellites to low Earth
orbit for Iridium, a global leader in mobile voice and
data satellite communications. This is the third set of 10
satellites in a series of 75 total satellites that SpaceX will
launch for Iridium’s next generation global satellite
constellation, Iridium® NEXT.
Location
Space Launch Complex 4E
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
710 rockets have launched from Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA.
Rocket
Falcon 9 Block 4 – SpaceX
- Family: Falcon
- Length: 71 m
- Diameter: 3.65 m
- Launch Mass: 546 T
- Low Earth Orbit Capacity: 22800 kg
The Falcon 9 Block 4 was manufactured by SpaceX with the first launch on 2015-12-22. Falcon 9 Block 4 has 12 successful launches and 0 failed launches with a total of 12 launches. The Full Thrust variants first stage includes all systems necessary for an operational re-use of stages while the second stage is operated as an expendable rocket stage.
Landing
The first stage of the Falcon 9 landed on the ASDS, JRTI, stationed of the west coast.
Just Read the Instructions – JRTI
First (Marmac 300) and third (Marmac 303) ASDS barge, Just Read the Instructions (JRTI) is currently used to recover Falcon 9 and Heavy boosters in the Altantic Ocean.
Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship – ASDS
An autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS) is an ocean-going vessel derived from a deck barge, outfitted with station-keeping engines and a large landing platform. Construction of such ships was commissioned by aerospace company SpaceX to allow for recovery of rocket first-stages at sea for high-velocity missions which do not carry enough fuel to return to the launch site after lofting spacecraft onto an orbital trajectory.
Agency
SpaceX – SpX
- Type: Commercial
- Abbreviation: SpX
- Administration: CEO: Elon Musk
- Founded: 2002
- Launchers: Falcon | Starship
- Spacecraft: Dragon
- Country: USA
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. SpaceX operates from many pads, on the East Coast of the US they operate from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and historic LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. They also operate from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, usually for polar launches. Another launch site is being developed at Boca Chica, Texas.
