Next launch: SpaceX ready to try new Falcon 9 Block 5?
Paul Brinkmann
Orlando Sentinel
4/19/2018
Now that SpaceX has successfully launched NASA’s TESS satellite into orbit, there’s a pause of at least two weeks in scheduled Florida launches until SpaceX may attempt its first launch of the Falcon 9 Block 5.
The Block 5 is an upgrade intended to allow each rocket to be reused up to 10 times with little refurbishment and up to 100 times with more refurbishment, according to an article on Teslarati.com, which said the current Falcon 9 can only be reused two or three times. SpaceX has moved the Block 5 to Florida after testing in Texas.
SpaceX is currently aiming for a departure from Kennedy Space Center “no earlier than” May 4, according to SpaceFlightNow.com, although the mission has been delayed a few times already.
That launch will carry a more routine communications satellite for the nation of Bangladesh, specifically for the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission. The satellite will help provide broadcasting and telecommunication in rural areas of Bangladesh and neighboring countries.
It’s called Bangabandhu 1, and it was built by a French firm, Thales Alenia Space. Thales has a U.S. arm also, with significant offices in Orlando and Melbourne.
The Bangabandhu launch is set for Kennedy Space Center, Launch Complex 39A. As of Thursday, SpaceX’s website said the launch time is to be determined. Bangabandhu is how Bengladeshi people refer to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of the People’s Republic of Bengladesh.
If the Bangabandhu launch is delayed, SpaceFlightNow.com says there’s a hard date of May 19 for a Falcon 9 mission carrying satellites for Iridium and the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) for NASA and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ).
In the meantime, there will be a fascinating launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, currently set for May 5, of NASA’s Insight Mars lander, which will listen for “marsquakes” in an attempt to learn about the core and crust of Mars.
SpaceX successfully launched and deployed NASA’s planet-hunting TESS satellite on Wednesday night, delighting scientists and space fans who anticipate the spacecraft may discover planets that could harbor life.
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pbrinkmann@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5660; Twitter is @PaulBrinkmann