Star gazing

August 2018[304] F9 B5
B1051[305] KSC LC-39A SpX-DM1[306] LEO (ISS) NASA (CCD)
Demonstration mission to ISS for NASA with an uncrewed Dragon 2 capsule.[307]
August 2018[308] F9 VAFB SLC-4E SAOCOM 1A[309][310]
ITASAT-1[311] SSO

• CONAE
• ITA

Originally intended to be launched in 2012.[312]
August 2018[313] F9 CC 39A or 40 Telkom 4[314] GTO Telkom Indonesia
September 2018[272] F9 CC 39A or 40 GPS IIIA-01 MEO U.S. Air Force
Initially intended for a Delta IV launch.[315]
August 2018[272][295] F9 VAFB SLC-4E Iridium NEXT66–75[144] PolarLEO Iridium Communications
Final mission of the Iridium NEXT contract
2018[307]
(after DM1) F9 B5[307] KSC LC-39A Crew Dragon in-flight abort test[316] Suborbital NASA (CCD)
A Falcon 9 first stage will propel the Dragon 2 test capsule in a sub-orbital flight to conduct a separation and abort scenario in the transonic regime at Max Q, i.e. under the worst structural stress conditions of a real flight.[317] The spacecraft will then splash down in the ocean with traditional parachutes.
October 29, 2018[318] F9 ♺ VAFB SLC-4E RADARSAT Constellation[319] SSO Canadian Space Agency
The mission will reuse a previously flown booster.[320]
November 16, 2018[272] F9 CC 39A or 40 SpaceX CRS-16[134] LEO (ISS) NASA (CRS)
December 2018[304] F9 B5[307] KSC LC-39A SpX-DM2[306] LEO (ISS) NASA (CCD)
Dragon 2 will carry its first crew of NASA astronauts on a 14-day mission to the ISS. SpaceX's competitor, Boeing's CST-100 Starliner, is planning its first manned flight to the ISS sometime in 2019-2020.[321]

 

Q4 2018[322] F9 CC 39A or 40 GiSAT-1[322] GTO Global-IP
Late 2018[272] Heavy[323][324] KSC LC-39A ArabSat 6A[325] GTO ArabSat
Satellite construction finished in April 2018.[326]
Late 2018[327] F9 CC 39A or 40 PSN-6[328] GTO PSN
2018[329] F9 CC 39A or 40 Es'hail 2[330] GTO Es'hailSat
2018[331] F9 VAFB SLC-4E SARah 1[332][331] SSO Federal Intelligence Service
Phased-array-antenna satellite intended to upgrade the German SAR-Lupesurveillance satellites.[333]
2019[edit]
Date and time (UTC) Version,
Booster[a] Launch site Payload Orbit Customer
Early 2019[334] F9 CC 39A or 40 GPS IIIA-02[335] MEO U.S. Air Force
SpaceX's first launch of an EELV-class payload.[335]
February 1, 2019[274] F9 CC 39A or 40 SpaceX CRS-17[134] LEO (ISS) NASA (CRS)
May 2019[274] F9 CC 39A or 40 SpaceX CRS-18[134] LEO (ISS) NASA (CRS)
October 2019[274] F9 CC 39A or 40 SpaceX CRS-19[134] LEO (ISS) NASA (CRS)
H2, 2019[336] F9 CC 39A or 40 JCSat-18[337] / Kacific 1 GTO JSAT
Kacific
Early 2019[338] F9 ♺ CC 39A or 40 AMOS-17 GTO Spacecom
The mission will reuse a previously flown booster,[339] and constitutes a free launch compensation provided to Spacecom following the loss of the AMOS-6 satellite.[340]

 

2019[341] F9 CC 39A or 40 GPS IIIA-04[342] MEO U.S. Air Force
2019[308] F9 VAFB SLC-4E SAOCOM 1B[309], SAOCOM-CS[343], SARE-1B 1–4[344] SSO CONAE
2019[345] F9 VAFB SLC-4E SARah 2/3[332][345] SSO Federal Intelligence Service
2019[346] F9 CC 39A or 40 SXM 7[271] GTO Sirius XM
2019[347] F9 CC 39A or 40 ALINA Moon landing[348] Moon transfer PTScientists
The Autonomous Landing and Navigation Module (ALINA) will land near the Apollo 17 landing site and deploy two Audi lunar rovers. They will try to locate NASA's Lunar Roving Vehicle and stream images back to Earth using a small 4G base station on ALINA developed by Nokia and Vodafone Germany.[349]

 

All this bad weather is not only frustrating but it's dangerous to my wallet as well. I've had time to think about the present mount that I have [a Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro] which my Telescope is attached to and is a great mount, but it is starting to "creak" a little as it's load capacity is around 55lbs. So I'd made the Bank Manager have a breakdown by buying a Skywatcher EQ8 and Tripod/Pier that has a load capacity of 110lbs giving me lots of "room" to add extra kit on without worrying about overloading it. It should arrive tomorrow, via Fedex, but FedEx said because it was so heavy that they wanted to deliver it on a pallet [extra charges of course]. The Dealer who've I've bought the Mount from has persuaded FedEx to turn it into two parcels instead of the one. The only snag to that is FedEx might deliver one parcel on day and the other the next day.........that would be two days of hanging around I'm hoping for the best and that I can have "fun" tomorrow putting the new mount together and setting it up in the Observatory.........then all I will need is some clear skies.

 

Hi Gail. unfortunately I'm stuck in limbo land due to wait for various specialist bits and pieces to arrive. The tripod



weighs nearly 80lbs. While the computerised mount that fits on top........

weighs roughly the same and both are in the Observatory fitted together


Getting the 12 inch Telescope onto the mount is a two man job as the Telescope is both heavy and awkward to hold in place while clamping it onto the mount

and can be dangerous, so it should be on the mount on Friday. There's also two 20lbs counterweights to go on, so the whole thing weighs in at around 200lbs. I'm hoping all the bits and pieces will have arrived by Monday and then it will be up and running on the Tuesday, but it will need calibrating and adjusting to get everything working as it should.......which is going to be "interesting"!

 

Hi Gail, yep, I'm looking forward to using it all, but there's been lots going on otherwise with a new Leather Suite ordered and arriving on Monday, while I've had to take the saw to the old Suite and take it down to the Tip. There's a new carpet for the Lounge, stairs and top passage due as well, plus I'm waiting for delivery of other stuff The garden is looking lush and bursting at the borders but I've still got 50 or 60 plants to go into them, and I've still got several hundred plants to pot on for the local gardening club sales, the Shineyland Open Day, and friends and neighbours...........Oh, for the quiet life.

 

Well, with help I've managed to get the Telescope onto the Mount and attached all the cables and devices so that it's ready to operate. Unfortunately I need to recalibrate everything and I'm not sure if the actual position of the Telescope and Tripod is in exactly the ideal spot and might require moving a foot towards the centre of the Observatory. If so, I will take the Telescope off the Mount, move the Tripod more central and then put the Telescope back. Of course I couldn't do that without help but I will have that on Sunday as a Handyman is coming to help me remove the external Kitchen door frame, replace it with a new one and then rehang the heavy Kitchen door, so he can give me a hand with the Telescope.