On April 11, 2024, at 14:25 UTC a SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base. The launch vehicle carried into Sun-Synchronous Orbit the Weather System Follow-on – Microwave Space Vehicle. This payload is a US Department of Defense weather satellite, which is officially named USSF-62 mission.
Liftoff of USSF-62 – SpaceX’s 12th National Security Space Launch on a Falcon rocket pic.twitter.com/PPryxZnOCE
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 11, 2024
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The satellite
The Weather System Follow-on – Microwave (WSF-M) spacecraft is a next-generation military weather satellite. The vehicle is meant to address three high-priority gaps in space-based environmental monitoring. Thus, the satellite will measure winds on the surface of the ocean, measure the intensity of tropical cyclones, and characterize charged particles in orbit.
The spacecraft carries two sensors. The Microwave Imager is a passive sensor that makes measurements in various microwave frequencies. This sensor is the heart of the satellite, allowing it to gather the abovementioned weather data. It will also be able to measure sea ice, soil moisture, and snow depth. The sensor also features a 1.8 m antenna, one of the most visible features of the spacecraft. Additionally, the spacecraft carries the Energetic Charged Particle sensor for space weather measurements.
Ball Aerospace, a division of BAE Systems Inc. after the acquisition in February 2024, is the manufacturer of the satellite. The vehicle is based on the Ball Configurable Platform, which has already accumulated decades of successful operation on many satellites. The microwave sensor also uses proven technology.
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The flight
The satellite arrived at Vandenberg Space Force Base in early February 2024 from Ball Aerospace’s campus in Boulder, Colorado. The spacecraft underwent pre-launch testing and then met its SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The booster used is B1082, which already launched two Starlink missions out of Vandenberg. The turnaround time was ~56 days.
Lift-off took place at 14:25 UTC on April 11, 2024. The second stage deployed the spacecraft into its Sun-Synchronous Orbit approximately 55 minutes later, after performing two burns. Meanwhile, the first stage returned to the launch site and landed on Landing Zone 4, marking the 17th land landing in California.
Additionally, if everything has gone according to plan, the fairing halves splashed down under parachutes and the GO Beyond recovery ship retrieved them from the water.
The WSF-M satellite will soon begins its service. It will augment the capabilities provided by the legacy Defense Meteorological Satellite Program. However, it will not do so alone for long. The Space Force awarded Ball Aerospace a contract for a second satellite in the series, due for launch later in the decade.
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An NSSL launch with flight-proven rocket parts
Notably, USSF-62 was among the trio of missions awarded to SpaceX in May 2022 under the NSSL Phase 2 Order Year 3, totaling $309.7 million in value. In February 2024, SpaceX successfully launched USSF-124, with plans to potentially launch the SDA-Tranche 1 satellites later this year.
“We’re absolutely thrilled be out here on the Central Coast, with a superb team primed and ready to launch the USSF-62 satellite. It has an important mission ahead of it and we’re excited for flight-proven Falcon 9 to deliver the satellite to orbit,” said Col. Jim Horne, senior materiel leader for Space System Command’s Launch Execution Delta.
The use of a flight-proven booster for National Security launch is becoming more and more a standard, but this mission features a new “first” for a NSSL launch: the payload fairings are flight-proven, previously supporting the USSF-52 mission last December.
Also Horne: “On this mission, we’re using a first-stage booster whose history is purely commercial, having launched two Starlink missions, in additional to a flight-proven fairings, which is a first for a National Space Security Launch.”
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