Space Coast, FL – On November 5, 2020 at 1824 EST, SpaceX delivered a Lockheed Martin Global Positioning System satellite. The name of the satellite is Sacagawea, or GPS III SV04. This is the fourth GPS satellite of this newer, modern version.
A Scrub
The first attempt of the launch was aborted on October 2, 2020. The auto abort system safely shut down the ignition sequence at ~3 seconds to lift off.
Unexpected pressure rise in the turbomachinery gas generator.
– Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO
After an investigation, SpaceX found that there was an early start on 2 of the Merlin engines. Engine 1 and 2. These engines were replaced ahead of the launch new launch date.
The Success of GPS III SV04
This mission marked SpaceX’s 101st successful launch. The Falcon 9 rocket booster B1062.1 made it’s first flight and successful landing on the Of Course I Still Love You autonomous drone-ship.
SpaceX has currently been unhindered in automation and reusability. A few more months left in the year with a decent amount of launches left to go. We haven’t hit that 48 launches in 1 year yet, but 2021 is looking to be that year. More improvements are being made daily and we can expect less delays and scrubs due to tech/mechanical for next year.
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