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Mirror Image Launch Streak: SpaceX Falcon 9 soars past NASA’s iconic Vehicle Assembly Building with flames naturally reflecting in the waters of Indian
River Lagoon, Titusville after launch of powerful Telstar 18 VANTAGE telecom satellite at 12:45 a.m.
EDT, September 10, 2018 from Space Launch
Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL - in this long duration exposure photo. Credit:
Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL – Space enthusiasts & Florida locals were treated to spectacular display of rocketry and added liftoff suspense for Monday’s midnight hour launch of the Telstar 18 VANTAGE telecomsat for Canadian based satellite operator Telstar – not knowing if the thunderclaps and storms would clear in time for a weather delayed blastoff in the wee hours of the morning as Sunday night turned to Monday middle-of-the-night, September 10.
Telestar 18v will serve hordes of customers across the vast Asia-Pacific region.
Check out our expanding and exclusive Space UpClose gallery of the launch and prelaunch photos. Click back again for more as the gallery grows.
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SpaceX
Falcon 9 launch of Telstar 18v telecomsat from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in
Florida at 12:45 a.m. EDT, September 10, 2018 –
in this remote camera view from pad 40. Credit: Ken
Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Liftoff of the hefty 7.7 ton Telstar 18
VANTAGE high throughput telecommunications satellite (HTS) which is
designed to serve the Asia Pacific region finally took place at 12:45 a.m. EDT
(0445 GMT) September 10 from seaside Space launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL – some 1
hour and 17 minutes later than planned from the original pre-midnight launch
time of 11:28 p.m. EDT Sunday, Sept. 9.
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SpaceX Falcon 9 launch of Telstar 18v telecomsat from Space Launch Complex 40
at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 12:45 a.m. EDT, September 10, 2018 –
as seen from the Indian River Lagoon, Titusville, with extended water
reflections. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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The SpaceX launch team
had to postpone the targeted liftoff three times hoping for a better weather
prognosis for launch of the SpaceX’s workhorse and upgraded Block 5 version of
their Falcon 9 booster on its 50th flight overall from Cape Canaveral. This also marked 16th SpaceX’s
16th launch of the year.
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Streak Shot! SpaceX Falcon 9 blazes trail to geostationary orbit
carrying massive Telstar 18 VANTAGE telecom satellite after launch at 12:45 a.m. EDT, September 10, 2018 from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral
Air Force Station, FL – seen in this long duration
exposure photo taken as the rocket soars past NASA’s iconic Vehicle
Assembly Building from the Max Brewer Bridge in
Titusville, Fl, through residual thin clouds with
extended water reflections in the Indian River Lagoon. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Just
minutes later the Falcon 9 first stage made a pinpoint rocket assisted landing
on the OCISLY droneship waiting hundreds of miles offshore in the Atlantic
Ocean.
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SpaceX
Falcon 9 launch of Telstar 18v telecomsat from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in
Florida at 12:45 a.m. EDT, September 10, 2018 –
in this remote camera view from pad 40. Credit: Ken
Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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The rocket put on a fabulous sky show that
delighted onlookers for many minutes around the space coast region and beyond after
the heavy thick cloud deck gave way to scattered thin clouds that barely obscuring
viewing.
Besides the always finicky Florida weather no
technical glitches were encountered during the terminal countdown for the two
stage 229-foot tall (70-meter) Falcon 9
rocket.
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SpaceX Falcon 9 launch of Telstar 18v telecomsat from Space Launch Complex 40
at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 12:45 a.m. EDT, September 10, 2018 –
as seen from the Indian River Lagoon, Titusville, with extended water
reflections. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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The satellite is healthy, deployed
its solar arrays and began on orbit thruster maneuvers as planned to reach its
designated final geostationary orbit (GEO) at an altitude of some 22,500 mi
(36,000 km) above Earth.
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SpaceX Falcon 9 launch of Telstar 18v telecomsat from Space Launch Complex 40
at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 12:45 a.m. EDT, September 10, 2018 – pierces
the overhead clouds as seen from the Indian River Lagoon, Titusville, with
extended water reflections. Credit: Ken
Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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In fact
this was the second of two SpaceX launches conducted for Telesat over a time
span about seven weeks apart at the Cape. The first being Telestar 19v on July
22.
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Downrange view of 9 Merlin 1D first stage engines firing as
the Space X Falcon 9 arcs over eastwards over the Atlantic Ocean following
liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 12:45 a.m. EDT, September 10, 2018. Credit:
Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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The launch utilized the third production unit of the upgraded
Block 5 version of the Falcon 9 to fly from the Cape and the fourth overall
including Vandenberg AFB.
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Artists
concept of Telstar 18v
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Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA,
Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK and more space and mission reports direct
from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and
Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.
Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com
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Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events
Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events
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Beautiful sunset view of
raised Falcon 9 upgraded Block 5 rocket at Space Launch Complex-40 for SpaceX night
launch of massive Telstar 18 VANTAGE comsat from Cape Canaveral
Air Force Station targeted for Sept 9, 2018. Credit: Ken
Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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