The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) GOES-R series constellation is expected to be ready soon, pending the successful launch of its GOES-U satellite in late June.
The project will be historic for many reasons, besides the fact that it will mark the first time a NOAA satellite will be transported to the area with a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
For the mission’s three previous satellite launches, NOAA chose United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Atlas V 541 rocket to deliver the modules to their orbital positions. The Atlas program has had a 100% success rate in its more than six hundred launches, at most. It recently sent astronauts to the International Space Station aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule.
So why this update on the final release of the GOES-R series project?It turns out that SpaceX beat ULA in the competition for the contract.
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“The other rocket corporations sign and sign the contract, and they give us ‘unbeatable’ (NTE) prices. When we check out to win a rocket for a specific project, we do a mini contest where we give them a “This is an opportunity to lower prices, let the ‘not exceed’ pass and satisfy the express needs of the project. In that case, Falcon Heavy won,” said Rex Engelhardt, NASA’s GOES-U project manager for the launch. Service Program, he told Space. COM.
Considered one of the “world’s toughest operational rockets,” the Falcon Heavy has 3 reusable Falcon engine cores, nine with 27 Merlin engines that can propel more than five million pounds (2. 3 million kilograms) at liftoff. Engelhardt said the Falcon Heavy only won on cost, but he also ticked all the boxes needed for the mission.
“We have worked to achieve the best value for money, which is accompanied by their ability to respond technically with functionality and sufficient fairing space,” said Engelhardt. “We have studied a lot and we have taken advantage of our capabilities to meet our pollution needs because GOES is a high-action product. Area vulnerable to contamination.
Each satellite built, similar in nature, is unique in its own way, as is each launch. The shift of rockets and launch suppliers also posed challenges. Several changes had to be made across the launch groups to bring GOES-U to the launch pad.
“Between the Rex team at Project Launch Services, Jagdeep Shergill’s Lockheed Martin team, and our team here at Goddard, we’ve done everything we can to minimize the differences so we don’t disappoint the apple basket with our GOES-U satellite. “John Deily, GOES-R flight assignment manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, said in a virtual press conference last month.
The most important adjustment for the teams is the difference in treatment: for the last three GOES-U satellites, which were introduced with the Atlas V rocket, the rocket booster was placed vertically on the launch pad and the payload was placed on the most sensitive part of it. In the case of the Falcon Heavy rocket, integration takes place in a hangar with the rocket booster on one side.
“It turned out that this spacecraft had some built-in features that didn’t provide a horizontal position in the fuel formula, meaning that the fuel formula has a period of time where it’s on its side. ]We came up with a plan and I had to replace it, so it was really a big deal,” Engelhardt said. “You have to put the satellite aside, and the fuel formula wasn’t designed for that, so that’s something we had to know how to manage. We have discovered answers to all this. We have all the plans in place.
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Don’t do it with a Falcon Heavy as well, a little extra bonus is added at launch. Having the boosters back will make the experience even more exciting and increase the length of the event for those attending or watching from home.
“It’s fun to look at the Falcon Heavy — it’s a big rocket, especially when you want to back up the thrusters,” Engelhardt said. “These thrusters will return to the launch site. A little less than 10 minutes after launch, they land, so it’s fun to watch. “
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