Iridium-6 & GRACE-FO
Falcon 9 Block 4
SpaceX
Mission
Iridium-6 & GRACE-FO
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 sixth 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.
Sharing this launch is the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-on mission, which is a joint project of NASA and the German Research Centre for Geosciences. It’s goal is to track Earth’s water movement to monitor changes in underground water storage, the amount of water in large lakes and rivers, soil moisture, ice sheets and glaciers, and sea level caused by the addition of water to the ocean.
Location
Space Launch Complex 4E
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
700 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.
Agency
SpaceX
Type: Commercial
Abbreviation: SpX
Administration: CEO: Elon Musk
Founded: 2002
Launchers: Falcon
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.
