SpaceX Falcon 9 carries Iridium satellites to orbit and frightens LA in process

by | Dec 26, 2017 | Launches, Satellites, Seradata News, SpaceX

Inhabitants of Los Angeles saw a strange sight in the sky on the night of 22 December 2017 (local time). Some thought it was a UFO or weird atmospheric phenomenon. However, the eery white light and clouds could be explained by the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying its Iridium payload, as planned, from the Vandenberg launch site in California, at 0127 GMT on 23 December 2017.

Ten 860 kg Iridium Next spacecraft (033 – 042), built by Thales Alenia Space, were carried to a near-polar orbit as part of a new constellation of low Earth orbit communications satellites. The flight marked the 18th launch attempt by SpaceX in 2017, a record for the firm, which eventually plans to launch 30-40 times per year. The launch incorporated a previously used first stage without landing legs and steerable grid fins. This was then intentionally not recovered, in effect making the Falcon 9V1.2 an expendable rocket on this flight.

Falcon 9 launch of Iridium satellites was seen over LA in December 2017. Courtesy: Obsballona.net

About Seradata

Seradata produce the renowned Seradata database. Trusted by over 100 of the world’s leading Space organisations, Seradata is a fully queryable database used for market analysis, failure/risk assessment, spectrum analysis and space situational awareness (SSA).

For more information go to https://www.seradata.com/product/

Related Articles

Viasat completes US$6.3 billion Inmarsat acquisition in a major satcom merger

Global Fixed Service Satellite (FSS) operator Viasat Inc has closed its long awaited acquisition of Inmarsat, a British satellite telecommunications Read more

Falcon 9 launches from Vandenberg with 52 Starlink Group 2-10 satellites aboard

A Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 rocket was launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 0602 GMT on 31 Read more

North Korean Chollima-1 maiden launch ends in second stage failure – sets off neighbours’ alarms

North Korea attempted to orbit a military reconnaissance satellite Malligyeong-1 using its new Chollima-1 rocket from a pad at the Read more

Fleet Space raises US$33 million for satellite enabled mineral exploration

Australian newspace company Fleet Space Technologies has secured AUS $50 million (US $33 million) in a Series C fundraising round Read more

Smaller orders: launches for Haven-1 space station and its Vast-1 mission, for EWS-1 prototype; sat contracts for Zeno and Orbit Fab

Commercial space station operator Vast has signed a contract with SpaceX for the launches of its first space station and Read more

Long March 2F launches “Taikonaut” trio to Chinese Space Station on Shenzhou 16

A Long March 2F/G (Y16) launched Shenzhou 16 with three Chinese astronauts ("Taikonauts") on board on their way to the Read more

GSLV Mk II puts up NVS-01 navsat

An Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) GSLV Mk II rocket (GSLV 2 CUSP 4) was successfully launched from Satish Dhawan Read more

Russia launches Kondor-FKA radar satellite

On 2114 GMT on 26 May 2023, a Soyuz 2-1a/Fregat launched a Kondor-FKA No 1 satellite for Roscosmos. The 1,050 Read more

Categories

Archives

Tags

nasaspacexecoreviewsissesaArianespacevideochina25virgin galacticfalcon 9ULARoscosmosFalcon 9v1.2FT Block 5DGAevaaviation weekspacewalkaressoyuzIGTBeidouawardsInternational Space StationspaceBlue OriginSatellite broadcastingrussiamoonStarlinkCargo Return VehicleRocket LabresearchboeingmarsblogAirbus DSOneWeborionISROspaceshiptwoimpacthyperboladelayjaxamarsdemocratgoogle lunar prizerocketlunarhypertextobamaEutelsatlaunchVegatourismconstellationbarack obamafiguresSESnorthspaceflightthales alenia spacenode 2fundedRaymond LygoIntelsat2009romeAtlas VExpress MD-2dassault aviationss2Elon MuskLockheed MartinaviationLucy2008wk2sstlukradiotestmissilesuborbitaldocking portexplorationVirgin OrbitinternetAriane 5 ECAChina Manned Space EngineeringSLSsts-122missile defensenewspapercotsgalileospace tourismflight2010Ariane 5Express AMU 1spaceportbuildspace stationaltairNorthrop GrummanElectronshuttleProton Minternational astronautical congressscaled compositesIntelsat 23CosmosLauncherOneEuropean Space Agencyhanleybudgetrulesnew yorksoyuz 2-1aLong March 4CLong March 2D/2Ariane 6shenzhouatvspace shuttleVietnamcongressMojaveboldenInmarsatOrbital ATKnew shepardLong March 2CGuiana Space CenteriaccnesksclawsSpace Systems/LoralUK Space AgencyLong March 4BprotonUS Air ForceILSApollodarpaTalulah RileydragonastronautusabasepicturelanderAstriumSkyloneuSSLVega Clunar landerfiveeventfalconSea LaunchWednesdayinterview50thSNCAprilKuaizhou 1ASpace InsuranceTelesat7linkatlantisLong MarchcustomersuccessorFalcon 9v1.2 Block 5