Transcript of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches

And built and operated by the National Reconnaissance Office or NRO. This mission continues the NRO's cutting-edge capability of building and developing the US government's largest satellite constellation in history to deliver critical information that can only be obtained from the vantage point of space. Now, both the range and vehicle are currently green, and we are on track for an on-time lift-off at 07:53 PM Pacific Time. As a testament to that good weather, here's a beautiful ground-based live tracking shot of the moon from Vandenberg. Now, if needed, a backup opportunity for this launch is available on Friday, January 10th, starting at 7:34 PM Pacific Time. As a note, we will not be showing any stage 2 or payload deployment views at the request of our customer. But there's still a lot to cover. For now, let's meet our Falcon9 rocket.

Engine chill.

Falcon9 is a two-stage rocket developed and manufactured by SpaceX, known for its safe, reliable, and cost-effective access to space. It is also the first and currently the only orbital class rocket that is capable of reflight. Now, starting at the top of the vehicle is the payload fairing, which is a protective shell that encases the payload or satellite being sent to space. The fairings are made of a carbon composite material and have a 17-foot diameter, which creates the space to accommodate an average-sized fire truck. Now, the fairing, made up of two-halves, will separate and jettison away from the vehicle, exposing the payload once Falcon 9 reaches space. Now, Now, both payload fairing half supporting tonight's mission are flight proven, with one half flying for its 16th time and the other flying for its ninth time. Continuing down the vehicle, we have the second stage. The second stage is powered by a Stage one, RMP1 load is complete. Good call out there. The second stage is powered by a single Merlin vacuum engine or MVAC engine, which is optimized to perform in the vacuum of space. After stage separation, the MVAC engine will ignite and carry the payload to its final orbit.

That second stage is connected to the Falcon nine first stage via the black composite interstage, which houses the MVAC engine and the system that decouples the two stages during stage separation. And below that is the first stage, which is powered by nine Merlin 1D engines. These nine Merlin engines provide the initial thrust to lift 9 off the ground through the lower, thicker part of the atmosphere. There are eight engines arranged around one center engine and are collectively held in place by a structure called the octaweb. Each of these Merlin 1D engines delivers about 190,000 pounds of thrust at sea level, which gives Falcon 9 a combined 1.0 2.7 million pounds of thrust. Now, after stage separation, Stage 1, also called the booster, we'll return to Earth for recovery and reuse on a future mission using a combination of the Merlin sea level engines and the four titanium grid fins located near the top of the booster, which will guide the vehicle during its re-entry and landing. The Falcon 9 first stage is also equipped with four landing legs that will deploy just before landing and allow for vertical shutdown on a drone ship or a landing pad.

Falcon 9, things are pressurizing for strongback retract.

Good call out there. For today's mission, we'll be attempting to recover this booster on our drone ship, of course, I still love you, which you just saw on your screen there, which is currently stationed in the Pacific Ocean. Now, both the weather and vehicle continue to look good for today's launch out of Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Coming up shortly, the transporter erector, or a Te, will retract away from the Falcon rocket. Now, that Te is the large truss structure you see there next to the vehicle. First, we'll see those clamp- Strongback retract has started. There's that call out for Strongback retract. First, the clamp arms will open around the top of the second stage, following by retraction of the Te. Now, the first stage is connected to a launch mount at the base of the Te, but it's hinged and will retract away from the vehicle in preparation for launch. You may hear the Te referred to as the strong back from the launch team, and it does a lot of heavy lifting in the lead up to launch. It's designed to transport, raise, and support Falcon 9 at the launch pad. It's also equipped with umbilicals or flexible lines that are used to route the vehicle's fluid, power, and telemetry from the ground systems to the rocket and payload until Falcon 9 switches to internal power and clears the pad.

There you can see the strong back retracting away from the Falcon vehicle on your screen. At this point in the countdown, both the first and second stages are nearly fully loaded with 1 million pounds of rocket-grade kerosine fuel and liquid oxygen. Both the first and second stages should finish propellant loading about a minute apart from each other, with the first stage finishing up at the T minus 3 minute mark and the second stage finishing at around the T minus 2 minute mark. As you may have noticed, there are white clouds forming around the vehicle. Those clouds are comprised of the chilled gas above the locks tank that is vented overboard to maintain pressure in the tank is needed. When that vented oxygen mixes with the warmer California air, it condenses into clouds.

Stage one LOX, LOX is complete.

Good call out there. Now, at T minus 60 seconds, Falcon 9 will be in startup, and this means that the rocket's autonomous internal flight computers will have taken over the launch countdown. Just inside of T minus 2 seconds, we'll light the M1D engines for lift off. Now, the payload continues to be healthy, and the Falcon 9 team is currently tracking no issues on the rocket. Whether is still looking green and the range is ready to support We're at T0 of 07:53 PM Pacific Time. With that, we're proceeding into the final moments of terminal count. Coming up shortly, we should hear a call out that stage 2 locks loading will be complete on our vehicle. That should happen in just about 15 seconds from now. Now, as a reminder, the white clouds around the vehicle are completely normal and are comprised of the chilled gas in the LOX tank that is vented overboard so that we can backfill and maintain pressure in the tanks.

Stage 2 LOX loading is complete.

There's that call out for Stage 2 LOX loading completion. The Falcon 9 rocket on your screen is now loaded with 1 million pounds of fuel and oxidizer. In just about 30 seconds from now, we- Ground gas closeouts. Good call out there. In about 25 A few seconds from now, we should hear the call out that Falcon 9 is in startup, which is when the vehicle's autonomous flight computers will have taken over the launch countdown.

Falcon 9 is in startup.

There's that call out for Falcon9 startup. Coming up in just a few moments, the Launch Director or LD, will give the final go for launch. Ld is go for launch. There's that final go from the Launch Director. With that, let's sit back and watch as Falcon takes the NRL 153 mission to space.

T minus 30 seconds. T minus 15 seconds. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Ignition. Lift off of the Falcon 9. Go, SpaceX. Go, NROL 153. Vehicle is pitching down range.

Stage one propulsion is nominal.

At T plus 30 seconds and counting, Falcon9 has successfully lifted off from Slick 4E We at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Now, coming up shortly, the vehicle will be passing through MAX Q, which is the point in the mission profile where the vehicle experiences the greatest amount of aerodynamic pressure.

Falk 9 is supersonic.

Now, it doesn't look like we're going to catch it in the view today, but as many of you know, there are multiple wildfires currently burning around the Southern California area. Our thoughts go out to those-Max Q. Good call out there for Max Q. Our thoughts go out to those affected by the fires, and we here at SpaceX want to give a huge thank you to the firefighters working to put them out, as well as the other emergency crews and-Firmer and telemetry nominal. As well as the emergency crews and volunteers working to keep everyone safe. We heard that good call out there for Max Q, which again is when the vehicle experiences the greatest amount of aerodynamic stress. Now, coming up next, we'll have three events happening in quick succession starting with-Max Q. Good A good call out there. We'll have three events happening in quick succession, starting with MECO, followed by StageSEP and SES1. Main engine cutoff or MECO is where all nine Merlin 1D engines shut down to slow the vehicle down in preparation for stage separation, which is where the first stage separates from the second stage. Followed by this, the MVAC engine on the second stage will light, which is called out as second engine start 1 or SES1.

Now, this engine burn lasting several minutes will propel the second stage and the payload to orbit. In addition to these three major events, the fairing haves will separate about 30 seconds after SES1, so keep an eye out for all of these events coming up starting in about 10 seconds from now. As a reminder, we will not have any views of Falcon 9 second stage or the payload at the request of our customer.

Main engine cut off.

Stage separation confirmed.

And backognition.

And good series of back-to-back callouts there, which again were Miko, followed by stage separation and then SES1. Now, coming up shortly, we should hear a callout for fairing separation, but as a reminder, we will not be showing it on screen. Both payload faring haves supporting tonight's mission are flight-proven, with one half flying for its 16th time and the other half flying for its ninth time.

Faring separation confirmed.

There was that call out for a successful faring separation. We'll be attempting to retrieve these faring haves again today once they fall back to Earth with our recovery vessel, Lauren Cee. We're currently at the T+3.5 minute mark into today's mission. Now, the next major milestone coming up in just under three minutes from now will be the entry burn of the Falcon 9 booster as it continues on its journey towards our drone ship called, Of course I Still Love You, currently stationed in the Pacific Ocean. Now, to start the entry burn, we'll be relighting three of the M1D engines, which is similar to pumping the brakes to slow down the vehicle as it passes back into the Earth's atmosphere. We need to slow down the vehicle to reduce re-entry forces, which then-Vehicles are on a nominal trajectory. Good call out there, which then helps us recover and reuse the first stage. Now, during the entry burn, Falcon 9 is decelerating by firing its Merlin engines, but it's still moving incredibly fast. This causes the vehicle to fly through Merlin's exhaust gasses, also known as the rocket's plume, which depositss a layer of soot on the vehicle surface.

That soot comes from the carbon-based fuel that Falcon 9 uses, and with each flight, the soot builds up a little more on the outside of the vehicle. Now, to give you an idea of how fast the rocket is traveling, keep an eye on the booster's telemetry at the bottom left-hand corner of your screen, which displays the current speed and altitude of the rocket. Now, reusability is key to lowering the cost of space flight, which enables more investments in critical space infrastructure. The Falcon 9 first stage that is supporting today's mission is performing an entry burn for its 22nd time tonight. This booster previously launched several NRL missions, as well as Sara-1, the surface water and ocean topography or SWAT satellite, transporters 8 and 9, bandwagon 2, and 13 Starlink missions. The payload The flying haves supporting tonight's mission are also flight-proven, with one half flying for its 16th time and the other half flying for its ninth time. Now, we should be hearing that call out for the entry burn in just under a minute from now. As a reminder, we are only showing views of our Falcon 9 first stage at the request of our customer.

We should hear that call out for the Falcon 9 first stage entry burn in just about five 20 seconds from now.

Stage 1, entry burn startup.

There's that call out for the Falcon 9 entry burn startup. This burn is set to last about 20 seconds and again is slowing down the vehicle in preparation for its final burn and landing.

Entry burn, shutdown.

There you heard the call out for the completion of the Falcon9 first stage's entry burn. Now, coming up next will be the first stage landing burn, which we'll start about a minute from now. Now, the Merlin engines on the Falcon9 first stage are optimized for sea level, and these achieve 190,000 pounds of thrust each during ascent and descent.

At lift off- Stage one, FTS is safe.

Good call out. At lift off, Falcon nine's first stage has thrust greater than 5,747 airplanes at full power. Now, the Mvac engine, which is located on the second stage which we are not showing views of, possesses a much wider nozzle and is optimized to 220,500 pounds of thrust in vacuum. Coming up next in about 30 seconds, we'll have the landing burn of the Falcon 9 first stage. Now, the landing burn is the final burn of the Falcon 9 booster, and it's used to reduce the remaining- Stage one transphonic. Good call out there.

Stage two, FTS is safe.

That landing burn is the final burn of the Falcon 9 booster used to reduce the remaining speed of the vehicle in order to allow for a soft shutdown on our drone ship.

Stage one landing burn.

And there was that call out for the start of the Falcon 9 first-stage landing burn.

Landing like a boy. Stage one landing confirmed.

There you have it. Successful landing of our Falcon9 booster on our drone ship, Of course I Still Love You, in the Pacific Ocean. As a reminder, this was the 22nd launch and landing for this first stage. Now, as a reminder, we will not be showing any stage 2 or deployment views at the request of our customer. With that landing of the Falcon 9 booster, we'll be bringing today's webcast to a close. Good call out there. But before we go, we have some additional updates for those impacted by the fires in Southern California. For Starlink customers, Starlink is offering free service in the area indicated here on the map until February 10th. The Starlink and T-Mobile teams have also enabled basic texting through our direct-to-sell X, so you can now text loved ones, text 911, and receive emergency alerts to your DTC-enabled cell phone. Make sure to follow @starlink on X for updates as we work with local response teams on further opportunities to help, and check starlink. Com/lawildfires for more information. Thank you to our customer for entrusting us with today's mission, and we'd also like to thank the Range and FAA for their support.

If you're interested in more launch coverage, be sure to check spacex. Com/launches, and follow @spacex on X for the most up-to-date information. Thanks for tuning in, and we'll see you again soon.