Falcon 9 Block 5 | SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer A

Success

Falcon 9 Block 5 | SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer A

Launch probability: 80%

Tranche 1 Transport Layer A is one of six missions by the United States Space Force Space Development Agency (SDA) for the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) Tranche 1 Transport Layer constellation, which will provide assured, resilient, low-latency military data and connectivity worldwide to the full range of warfighter platforms from Low Earth Orbit satellites. The constellation will be interconnected with Optical Inter-Satellite Links (OISLs) which have significantly increased performance over existing radio frequency crosslinks. It is expected to operate over Ka band, have stereo coverage and be dynamically networked for simpler hand-offs, greater bandwidth and fault tolerance. This launch carries 21 satellites manufactured by Northrop Grumman.

Mission type: Government/Top Secret · Orbit: Polar Orbit

Rocket: Falcon 9 · Provider: SpaceX

Timeline

Times are relative to liftoff (T 0:00) and follow the current launch time.

  1. 38 minutes before liftoff: GO for Prop Load Launch director verifies go for propellant load
  2. 35 minutes before liftoff: Prop Load Start of propelland loading
  3. 35 minutes before liftoff: Stage 1 LOX Load Start of liquid oxygen loading in the first stage
  4. 16 minutes before liftoff: Stage 2 LOX Load Start of liquid oxygen loading in the second stage
  5. 7 minutes before liftoff: Engine Chill Start of engine chilling
  6. 1 minute before liftoff: Tank Press Fuel tanks are pressurized to flight levels
  7. 1 minute before liftoff: Startup The onboard computer takes control over the countdown and runs last checks
  8. 45 seconds before liftoff: GO for Launch Launch director verifies go for launch
  9. 3 seconds before liftoff: Ignition Start of the engine ignition sequence
  10. at liftoff: Liftoff First upwards movement of the rocket
  11. 1 minute 4 seconds after liftoff: Max-Q Maximum dynamic pressure
  12. 2 minutes 14 seconds after liftoff: MECO Cut-off of the main engine
  13. 2 minutes 18 seconds after liftoff: Stage 2 Separation Separation of the second stage from the first
  14. 2 minutes 25 seconds after liftoff: SES-1 First start of the second engine
  15. 2 minutes 31 seconds after liftoff: Booster Boostback Burn Startup Start of the booster boostback burn
  16. 3 minutes 4 seconds after liftoff: Fairing Separation Separation of the payload fairing
  17. 3 minutes 24 seconds after liftoff: Booster Boostback Burn Shutdown End of the booster boostback burn
  18. 6 minutes 9 seconds after liftoff: Entry Burn Startup Start of the atmospheric entry burn
  19. 6 minutes 21 seconds after liftoff: Entry Burn Shutdown End of the atmospheric entry burn
  20. 7 minutes 15 seconds after liftoff: Stage 1 Landing Burn Start of the first stage landing burn
  21. 7 minutes 19 seconds after liftoff: Stage 1 Landing Landing of the first stage

Launch pad

Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA · View on map (opens in new tab)

Watch

SpaceX SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer A