Descrizione : Falcon 9 Block-3

Four launches within the first 50 days of the year is an impressive accomplishment, and that`s exactly what SpaceX is aiming to do in dawn`s twilight Sunday morning, Feb. 18, targeting liftoff of their last Block-3 variant Falcon 9 rocket to launch a satellite for Spain at 6:16 a.m. PST (14:16 UTC) from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Sunrise will occur at 6:44 a.m., which means the Falcon 9 will launch in darkness, but should ascend into sunlight as it roars through the upper atmosphere on the power of its nine Merlin 1D+ engines to deploy the $180 million, 3,000-pound (1,400 kg) Paz radar-imaging satellite into low-Earth orbit. A rideshare payload of two SpaceX Starlink test satellites for the worldwide internet program are also onboard the rocket.

So don`t freak out again SoCal like you did when Iridium-4 launched last December, which saw the setting sun illuminate the rocket`s expelled gas to create a dazzling sight in the twilight. People were calling 911, the Los Angeles Fire Dept had to post a media advisory and even the Los Angeles mayor had to take to Twitter to calm people down. It`s not a conspiracy missile launch, nor is it aliens or the start of WWIII. It`s just another SpaceX launch, and you should start getting used to it, as the company`s launch tempo is only expected to increase.

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SPACEX FALCON 9 FT · PAZ · TINTIN A&B · DEMOSAT