NASA, European Companions Set to Launch Sentinel-6B Earth Satellite tv for pc

Launch timeline

Measuring 19.1 ft (5.82 meters) lengthy and seven.74 ft (2.36 meters) excessive (together with the communications antennas), the satellite tv for pc weighs in at round 2,600 kilos (1,200 kilograms) when loaded with propellant at launch.

The satellite tv for pc will elevate off from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg. If wanted, backup launch alternatives can be found on subsequent days, with the 20-second launch window occurring about 12 to 13 minutes earlier every day.

A bit of greater than two minutes after the Falcon 9 rocket lifts off, the principle engine cuts off. Shortly after, the rocket’s first and second levels separate, adopted by second-stage engine begin. The reusable Falcon 9 first stage then begins its automated boost-back burn to the launch website for a powered touchdown. About three minutes after launch, the 2 halves of the payload fairing, which protected the satellite tv for pc because it traveled by means of the ambiance, separate and fall safely again to Earth.

The first cutoff of the second stage engine takes place roughly eight minutes after liftoff, at which level the launch automobile and the spacecraft shall be in a brief “parking” orbit. The second stage engine fires a second time about 44 minutes later, and about 57 minutes after liftoff, the rocket and the spacecraft separate. Roughly seven minutes after that, the satellite tv for pc’s photo voltaic panels deploy. Sentinel-6B is predicted to make first contact with floor controllers about 35 minutes after separation (roughly an hour and a half after liftoff) — a significant milestone indicating that the spacecraft is wholesome.