Launch News SpaceX Iridium-NEXT Flight 7 (4:39 a.m. PDT/11:39 UTC)

[Nicholas Kang]

Mission Press-Kit is available here.

SpaceX is targeting Wednesday, July 25 for the launch of ten Iridium NEXT satellites from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. This is the seventh set of satellites in a series of 75 total satellites that SpaceX will launch for Iridium’s next generation global satellite constellation, Iridium® NEXT. The instantaneous launch opportunity is at 4:39 a.m. PDT, or 11:39 UTC, and the satellites will begin deployment about an hour after launch. A backup instantaneous launch opportunity is available on Thursday, July 26 at 4:33 a.m. PDT, or 11:33 UTC.

Following stage separation, SpaceX will attempt to land Falcon 9’s first stage on the “Just Read the Instructions” droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

Live webcast:

Weather forecast:

90% Go!

[ame="https://twitter.com/IridiumBoss/status/1021813569803808768"]Matt Desch on Twitter: "Good news! Your haiku and music is working. Latest weather forecast shows a 90% probability now - the surface winds are improving. Rocket and payload should be ready as well. Let’s go!… https://t.co/z0WvxvTywA"[/ame]

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Wow, that was a foggy launch.

 

[ADSWNJ]

Nailed the Block 5 landing in a very heavy Pacific Ocean swell. Didn't get the fairing though, but overall a big success with both primary and secondary missions.

 

[Andy44]

Have they caught any fairings intact yet? As opposed to fishing them out of the water? (Has that even been done?)

 

[Unstung]

SpaceX has fished fairings out of the water but hasn't catched any yet. Mr. Steven was recently upgraded for this.
[ame="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1017807493311811584"]SpaceX on Twitter: "Mr. Steven—now with more net. SpaceX’s fairing recovery vessel has been fitted with a 4x larger net ahead of its next recovery attempt targeted for later this month. https://t.co/cjXvzg1H70… https://t.co/njH8oQUSpu"[/ame]