meow edition
Launch Time: Sunday, April 17 6:13 a.m. PT (instantaneous window)
Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMcmf1g4qSA
Weather Forecast: ???
Launch Site: Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E), Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
Landing Site: Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4)
Booster: B1071.2 (Prior missions: NROL-87)
Orbit: likely 63.5°
>Ted Molczan, an expert tracker of military satellites, told Spaceflight Now he’s “100 percent” sure the payloads on the NROL-85 mission launching Friday are the next pair of Intruder-class ship-locating spacecraft.
>The NROL-85 mission is “almost certainly” hauling the next pair Intruder, or NOSS, satellites into orbit, according to Marco Langbroek, a Dutch archaeologist and an expert in satellite movements.The Intruder satellites collect data used by the U.S. Navy and government intelligence agencies. “They geolocate shipping on the high seas, by detecting their radio/radar emissions,” Langbroek wrote on his website. “They always operate in close pairs.” What’s more, the time of Sunday’s launch closely matches the time the orbital plane of an older pair of Intruder satellites passes over Vandenberg, suggesting the two new spacecraft could be replacements, according to Langbroek. (https://spaceflightnow.com/2022/04/14/u-s-intelligence-gathering-payloads-awaiting-launch-on-spacex-rocket/)
>https://www.spacex.com/launches/
Launch Viewing Guide for California:
>https://www.spacelaunchschedule.com/category/vandenberg-rocket-launch-viewing/
Stats: 14th SpaceX launch of 2022, 147th F9 launch, 107th first-stage F9 landing, 87th reflown F9 first stage booster.
Launch Time: Sunday, April 17 6:13 a.m. PT (instantaneous window)
Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMcmf1g4qSA
Weather Forecast: ???
Launch Site: Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E), Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
Landing Site: Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4)
Booster: B1071.2 (Prior missions: NROL-87)
Orbit: likely 63.5°
>Ted Molczan, an expert tracker of military satellites, told Spaceflight Now he’s “100 percent” sure the payloads on the NROL-85 mission launching Friday are the next pair of Intruder-class ship-locating spacecraft.
>The NROL-85 mission is “almost certainly” hauling the next pair Intruder, or NOSS, satellites into orbit, according to Marco Langbroek, a Dutch archaeologist and an expert in satellite movements.The Intruder satellites collect data used by the U.S. Navy and government intelligence agencies. “They geolocate shipping on the high seas, by detecting their radio/radar emissions,” Langbroek wrote on his website. “They always operate in close pairs.” What’s more, the time of Sunday’s launch closely matches the time the orbital plane of an older pair of Intruder satellites passes over Vandenberg, suggesting the two new spacecraft could be replacements, according to Langbroek. (https://spaceflightnow.com/2022/04/14/u-s-intelligence-gathering-payloads-awaiting-launch-on-spacex-rocket/)
>https://www.spacex.com/launches/
Launch Viewing Guide for California:
>https://www.spacelaunchschedule.com/category/vandenberg-rocket-launch-viewing/
Stats: 14th SpaceX launch of 2022, 147th F9 launch, 107th first-stage F9 landing, 87th reflown F9 first stage booster.
