Falcon 9 B1077 completed its 6th launch and landing, sending the Intelsat Galaxy-37/Horizons-4 satellites to geostationary transfer orbit.
Launching midway through the 2-hour launch window due to weather around Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Booster 1077 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40, heading due East away from Florida.
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/GVP7zobtv3
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 3, 2023
Following the first stage portion of the flight, B1077 separated from the 2nd stage. Just before the entry burn, something not usually seen is lightning, but at roughly 80 km altitude, lightning was seen flashing in thunderstorms below over the Atlantic Ocean.
The droneship, ‘Just Read the Instructions,’ was clear of those storms, and the Falcon 9 made a smooth landing roughly eight-and-half-minutes after launch.
Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the Just Read the Instructions droneship pic.twitter.com/miU7GVqx3q
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 3, 2023
The second stage completed its first burn just over eight minutes into the flight and proceeded to coast for another ~18 minutes before the second stage lit back up and performed its last burn over the Gulf of Guinea for just under 1 minute.
The second stage and payload then coasted for another five minutes before the G-37/H-4 payload was deployed. The satellite will now use its onboard thrusters to continue its journey to geostationary orbit.
The fairings that protected the satellite made a fiery re-entry through the atmosphere before a parachute assisted splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean and will be plucked out of the water by the recovery ship Bob.
Recovery ship Bob with fairings aboard (Credit Richard Angle) and a view of fairing re-entry (Credit SpaceX)
Coming up next for SpaceX is the Starlink Group 6-8 mission. This launch is currently scheduled for no earlier than August 6th.
Catch a replay of the Galaxy-37/Horizons-4 launch below!
Questions or comments? Shoot me an email at rangle@teslarati.com, or Tweet me @RDAnglePhoto.
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