An ocean-monitoring spacecraft sits atop a Falcon 9 launch vehicle awaiting liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base on Sunday morning, when the rocket manufacturer also intends to try to land the space booster on a barge in the ocean.
Liftoff from Space Launch Complex-4 on South Base is planned at 10:42 a..m., with the mission having essentially one chance each day to get off the ground to place the satellite where it needs to be in space.
Rocket manufacturer SpaceX — Space Exploration Technologies —also intends to make history by attempting to land the rocket’s first stage on a drone ship floating in the ocean.
While the landing plans are drawing attention, delivery of the Jason-3 satellite is the primary purpose for the mission — and the customer paying the cost of the launch.
In readiness for Sunday’s departure, crews spent this week attaching the Jason-3 satellite to the two-stage, 229.6-foot-tall rocket and conducting final chores before departure.
“The Falcon 9 rocket and Jason-3 spacecraft are ready, the launch team is prepared and excited to be here at Vandenberg, and we’re poised to launch this important mission for our nation,” said Tim Dunn, NASA launch director for this mission.
Weather is not expected to pose a problem for a Sunday launch attempt, according to Lt. Joseph Round, launch weather officer at Vandenberg, who cited zero concerns.
However, conditions aren’t quite as good if the launch slips to Monday.
On Friday, SpaceX crews rolled the now-horizontal rocket from its hangar to the launch pad deck in anticipation of erecting the Falcon 9 to its vertical launch position Saturday, Dunn added.
The launch pad is visible on South Base south of Ocean Avenue from several vantage points around the Lompoc Valley.
Jason-3 is an international partnership, with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration contributing $180 million toward the mission.
The European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites provided approximately $119 million, and CNES, the French space agency, paid $68 million toward the cost, officials said.
From its place approximately 800 miles high, Jason-3 will collect what officials called the most accurate measurements of global sea levels
“Think of it — a satellite that is orbiting the Earth more than 1,300 kilometers away is able to tell us the height of the sea surface with an accuracy of less than two inches,” said Jim Silva, Jason-3 program manager for NOAA.
“To paraphrase from Charlotte’s Web, ‘That is some satellite.’”
The satellite will assist in assorted ways, including forecasting hurricanes, El Nino and other extreme weather events, officials said.
This is the next in a series of spacecraft that have collected ocean data since the early 1990s.
Once the second stage and satellite are separated, SpaceX intends to attempt to land the rocket’s first stage on the drone ship floating in the ocean southwest of Vandenberg.
Because of the potential barge landing, the typical launch weather forecast had extra information — sea state of 10 to 13 feet.
“The sea state is good for surfing, and a little bit high for landing, but we don’t anticipate that’s going to be a major problem,” said Hans Koenigsmann, vice president of mission assurance for SpaceX. “I’m pretty hopeful.”
He said the return likely won’t be visible from land because the barge is expected to be too far beyond the horizon.
Officials with SpaceX — founded by Elon Musk, who also started the Tesla Motor Company — chose to try for the barge landing because the firm does not yet have environmental approval to touch down at Vandenberg, Koenigsmann said.
“Future missions will see a land landing, hopefully,” he said.
Successful landings, like the one achieved last month following a Florida launch, are crucial as SpaceX attempts to re-use the rocket’s first stages in an effort to reduce the costs of sending satellites and humans to space.
Prior to the Friday afternoon press conference, Koenigsmann said, he visited the launch pad.
“I took a look at the vehicle, kicked the tires … I can say, this is great-looking vehicle,” Koenigsmann said. “Everything’s in working order, and I’m looking forward to the launch on Sunday.”
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
