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SpaceX launches Starlink Group 4-11 from Vandenberg
nasaspaceflight.com – 25 Feb, 2022
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket for the
Starlink Group 4-11 mission from SLC-4E at
Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
Falcon 9 took a total of 50 Starlink satellites to
orbit during the mission. Starlink is SpaceX’s
satellite constellation designed to provide
broadband internet around the globe. Each
Starlink satellite in the constellation consists of
one solar array and maneuvers using hall
thrusters. The first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket
landed on the autonomous spaceport drone
ship Of Course I Still Love You. The booster for
this mission was be B1063-4, which had flown
a total of three previous flights. Starlink Group
4-11 was the fourth mission for this booster.
The first flight for B1063-4 was the launch of
Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich on November 21,
2020 from SLC-4E. The booster subsequently
landed at LZ-4 (Landing Zone-4) minutes later.
The booster was then used on the Starlink V1
L28 mission, which launched on May 26, 2021.
This time, the booster launched from SLC-40 at
Cape Canaveral in Florida. It then landed on
the drone ship Just Read The
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Instructions downrange in the Atlantic Ocean.
The most recent launch for B1063-4 before
Starlink 4-11 was the launch of NASA’s DART
(Double Asteroid Redirection Test) payload
from SLC-4E on November 24, 2021.
The booster then landed on Of Course I Still
Love You in the Pacific. The launch site for the
mission, Space Launch Complex-4E (East), also
known as SLC-4E, was originally built as a
launch facility for the Atlas-Agena D rocket,
and was constructed along the neighboring
SLC-4W. Later on, the launch site was modified
for the Titan family of launch vehicles. SLC-4E
was the host of Titan IIID, Titan 34D, and Titan
IV launches. The final Titan launched in the
form of a Titan IV from SLC-4E on October 19,
2005. The site was then refurbished to be
capable of launching Falcon 9 rockets for
SpaceX. The company launched their first
mission from SLC-4E on September 29, 2013
with Falcon 9 v1.1. Neighboring SLC-4W was
demolished by SpaceX and is now Landing
Zone-4 . The most recent launch from SLC-4E
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 Space @ a glance
LIBRARY AND DOCUMENTATION DIVISION
was a Falcon 9 on February 2 on the NROL-87
mission for the National Reconnaissance
Office.
In preparation for the launch, Of Course I Still
Love You departed the Port of Long Beach in
California on February 22 while under tow by
Tug Scorpius. The recovery ships GO
Quest and NRC Quest will also be stationed
downrange of the launch site. NRC Quest will
recover the two payload fairing, while GO
Quest will provide support for the drone ship.
NRC Quest was previously used by SpaceX as
the Dragon 1 recovery ship on the West Coast.
Prior to launch day, Falcon 9 was rolled out
from the Horizontal Integration Facility and
erected on the pad. At 35 minutes prior to
liftoff, the launch autosequence started.
Simultaneously, fueling began on the Falcon 9
starting with RP-1 kerosene on both the first
and second stages. At the same time, LOX
(Liquid Oxygen) began flowing into the first
stage booster. The T-20 minute vent occurred
next. At the same point in the countdown, RP-1
loading was complete on the second stage.
Around 16 minutes prior to launch, LOX
loading on the second stage began.
In order to protect the nine Merlin 1D engines
on the Falcon 9, the first stage engines were
chilled down. This process prevents thermal
shock at ignition. The Merlin 1D engine is a gas-
generator cycle engine that runs on RP-1 and
LOX. Previous versions of that engine have
been used on past variants of the Falcon 9 and
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February 26, 2022
the first stage of the Falcon 1. At around T-4
minutes and 30 seconds, the TE (Transporter
Erector) retracted to 77.5 degrees for launch.
The TE at SLC-4E has a different design
compared to the ones at SpaceX’s other launch
sites at SLC-40 and LC-39A in Florida. A minute
prior to launch, the Falcon 9 entered a
milestone known as startup, when the vehicle
takes control of the terminal count. At T-3
seconds, the nine Merlin 1D engines ignited. At
T0, the holddown clamps on the launch pad
released the Falcon 9, and it began its journey
to low Earth orbit. Following the shutdown of
the nine engines on the second stage, the
second stage separated from B1063-4 at T+2
minutes and 40 seconds. The single Merlin
MVac engine on the second stage then ignited
as the second stage continued to ascend.
Seconds later, two stiffener rings at the end of
the MVac engines separated. Around eight
minutes 30 seconds after launch, booster
B1063 landed on Of Course I Still Love You,
situated in the Pacific Ocean. Shorlty after, the
Merlin MVac engine shut down, placing the
Starlinks into a 53.2 degree orbit. At T+53
minutes 39 seconds, the second stage will
reignite for a single second to place the stack
into their final Around one hour two minutes
after launch, the second stage of the Falcon 9
will release the 50 Starlink satellites into their
final drop-off orbit at 306 x 316 km. After
checkouts by SpaceX, the satellites will
individually raise their orbits to join the
operational satellites in higher orbits in the
Starlink constellation.
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 Space @ a glance
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Korea to launch Nuri-ho rocket for second time on June 15
donga.com – 26 Feb, 2022
Korea has tentatively scheduled the second
launch of ‘Nuri-ho,’ a Korean standard space
rocket, on June 15. The Science and ICT
Ministry said it has fixed the schedule after
confirm‎ing measures to address technical
issues with Nuri-ho at the 40th meeting of the
“working-level committee of space
development and advancement” on Friday.
The second launch was originally scheduled in
May but has been postponed by about a
month. The tentative dates of launch are June
16 to 23.
Nuri-ho is a three-stage Korean space rocket,
which is designed to put a 1.5 ton-class
commercial satellite into orbit 600 to 800
kilometers from the Earth. The rocket consists
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February 26, 2022
of four 75-ton liquid engines in its first stage, a
75-ton liquid engine in the second stage and a
7-ton liquid engine in the third stage. During
the first launch in October last year, fuel in the
third stage tank combusted prematurely,
causing the rocket to fail to put the dummy
satellite into the intended orbit. The ministry’s
launch investigation committee concluded that
support structures holding helium tanks inside
the third-stage oxidizer tank were loosened to
trigger the failure. Researchers at the Korea
Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and its
partners redesigned the tank to revise and
strengthen the support structures and cover of
manhole, which serves as the lid. If production
of this redesigned segment is completed, the
researchers will disassemble the 3-stage
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 Space @ a glance
LIBRARY AND DOCUMENTATION DIVISION February 26, 2022

engine that was assembled last year for the

second launch, before reassembling and
performing tests on its tightness. As they
estimate that this technical improvement work
will take about a month, they have decided to
postpone launch schedule to June.

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