Inmarsat-6 F2

Falcon 9 Block 5

SpaceX

Launch Status

Success

Sat • Feb 18th, 2023
3:59 AM UTC

Mission

Inmarsat-6 F2

Type: Communications
Launch Cost: $52,000,000

Inmarsat-6 is the sixth generation of satellites for the London-based global mobile satellite communications operator Inmarsat. It consists of a dual mission to augment both L-band and Ka-band Global Xpress services.

Airbus Defence and Space has been awarded a contract by Inmarsat to design and develop the first two Inmarsat-6 (I-6) mobile communications satellites, creating the most versatile mobile services satellites in its fleet.

The two I-6 satellites are based on Airbus Defence and Space’s Eurostar platform in its E3000e variant, which exclusively uses electric propulsion for orbit raising. The satellites take advantage of the reduction in mass that this electric propulsion technology enables for a dual payload mission, with an exceptionally large next generation digitally processed payload.

I-6 F1 and F2 both carry a large 9 m aperture L-band antenna and nine multibeam Ka-band antennas, and feature a high level of flexibility and connectivity. A new generation modular digital processor provides full routing flexibility over up to 8000 channels and dynamic power allocation to over 200 spot beams in L-band. Ka-band spot beams are steerable over the full Earth disk, with flexible channel to beam allocation.

Trajectory

View the rocket launch trajectory, velocity, altitude, thrust and much more at FlightClub.io

Location

Space Launch Complex 40

Cape Canaveral, FL, USA

879 rockets have launched from Cape Canaveral, FL, USA.

Rocket

Falcon 9 Block 5 – SpaceX

Family: Falcon
Length: 70 m
Diameter: 3.65 m
Launch Mass: 549 T
Low Earth Orbit Capacity: 22800 kg

The Falcon 9 Block 5 was manufactured by SpaceX with the first launch on 2018-05-11. Falcon 9 Block 5 has 156 successful launches and 0 failed launches with a total of 156 launches. Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The Block 5 variant is the fifth major interval aimed at improving upon the ability for rapid reusability.

Core Landing

B1077 has successfully landed on ASDS JRTI after its third flight.

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.

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