Falcon 9: Formosat 5 (August 24)

[Dr Mordrid]

Just 14 days and once more unto the breach, dear friends.

The first week of September SpaceX will launch the USAF's X-37B orbital spy spaceplane from the Cape.

Formosat 5

Type: hi-res Earth observation satellite
Owner: National Space Organization (NSPO), Taiwan

Falcon 9 core: 1038
Launch pad: Vandenberg SLC-4E
Launch date: August 24
Launch time: 1150-1234 PDT, 1450-1534 EDT,1850-1934 UTC
Stage landing: ASDS Just Read the Instructions

Orbit: 720 km sun synchronous
Inclination: 98.28°
Mass: 475 kg (1,047 lb)
Mission life: 5+ years



Stream

[Dr Mordrid]

Perfect launch, near dead center on the landing, highest first stage apogee yet, and the Formosat 5 satellite is healthy and has phoned home.

@elonmusk
Falcon 9 boost stage on droneship Just Read the Instructions https://t.co/fZTPmwsnOz
>
Touchdown:
Vertical Velocity (m/s): -1.47
Lateral Velocity (m/s): -0.15
Tilt (deg): 0.40 ​
Lateral position: 0.7m from target center
>
Max velocity: Mach 6.9
Max altitude: 247 km
Highest so far, but velocity matters much more

ASDS Just Read the Instructions

[Fat Tone]

It's a pretty lightweight load as they go so couple that with the continuing booster refinements we'd expect to see improving numbers. Elon has since updated the Max velocity to 7.9 which is even more impressive.