SpaceX - Falcon 9 - MTG-S1/Sentinel-4A - LC-39A - Kennedy Space Center - July 1, 2025

Описание: Launch Date: July 1, 2025
Launch Time: 5:04 p.m. EDT, 2104 UTC, 23:04 CEST
Launch Window: 150 minutes - opens at 5:04 p.m. EDT
Launch Site: LC-39A - Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Targeted Orbit: Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO)
Launch Inclination: East
Launch Status: Nomina GTO Orbit Insertion - Booster landed successfully on the droneship.

Mission: MTG-S1/-Sentinel-4A
Launch Provider: SpaceX
Mission Customer: ESA
Launcher System: Falcon 9 (Booster: B1085)
Flight for the Booster: 9
Previous Flights of the Booster: 8 - Crew-9, RRT-1, Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1, Fram2, SXM-10, and three Starlink missions
Droneship: Just Read The Instructions (JRTI)

Price: $69,75 million (without payload)
Diameter: 3,7 m
Height: 70 meters
Payload to Orbit: 22,800 LEO / 8,300 GTO
Lift-Off Thrust: 7,607 kilonewtons
Fairing: Diameter 5,2 meters / Height 13 meters
Stages: 2

SpaceX targets July 1, 2025, for a Falcon 9 launch for ESA and the MTG-S1/Sentinel-4A mission to a Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) from LC-39A of the Kennedy Space Center. Liftoff is targeted for 5:04 p.m. EDT, 2104 UTC, 23:04 CEST with a 150-minute launch window.

This will be the ninth flight for the Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-9, RRT-1, Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1, Fram2, SXM-10, and three Starlink missions. After stage separation, the first stage will land on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Sentinel-4 is a European Earth observation mission supporting the EU Copernicus Programme. It is the first mission to monitor European air quality from geostationary orbit. Sentinel-4 is not a standalone satellite, but a type of instrument (ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared imaging spectrometer) mounted on satellites of the MTG-S series of the Meteosat programme in a two-missions-one-satellite approach.

Sentinel-4 will focus on monitoring of trace gas concentrations and aerosols in the atmosphere to support air-quality near-real-time applications, air-quality monitoring, and climate monitoring, specifically with a short revisit period over Europe.

The primary mission objective is to observe the concentration of air quality parameters in the atmosphere above Europe and North Africa, including ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, glyoxal, and formaldehyde. The information gathered will be used to inform decision-makers further.

For the detection and measurement of these atmospheric characteristics, two payload instruments have been designed: the Ultra-Violet and Near Infra-Red Multispectral Spectrometer (S4 UVN) and the Infra-Red Sounder (IRS). The two instruments will be embarked on two Eumetsat Meteosat Third Generation Sounder (MTG-S) satellites due to be launched in 2025 and 2034.

You will find more information about the trajectory and data on the day of the launch here: https://flightclub.io/live

Countdown
Hr/Min/Sec Event
00:38:00 SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for propellant load
00:35:00 RP-1 (rocket grade kerosene) loading begins
00:35:00 1st stage LOX (liquid oxygen) loading begins
00:16:00 2nd stage LOX loading begins
00:07:00 Falcon 9 begins engine chill prior to launch
00:01:00 Command flight computer to begin final prelaunch checks
00:01:00 Propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure begins
00:00:45 SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for launch
00:00:03 Engine controller commands engine ignition sequence to start
00:00:00 Falcon 9 liftoff

Launch, Landing, and Deployment

All Times Approximate
Hr/Min/Sec Event
00:01:12 Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)
00:02:28 1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
00:02:31 1st and 2nd stages separate
00:02:39 2nd stage engine starts (SES-1)
00:03:24 Fairing separation
00:06:11 1st stage entry burn begins
00:06:34 1st stage entry burn ends
00:07:59 1st stage landing burn begins
00:08:01 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1)
00:08:28 1st stage landing
00:26:54 2nd stage engine starts (SES-2)
00:28:00 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-2)
00:35:11 MTG-S1 deploys