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Falcon 9 Iridium NEXT Mission 6

GFZ arranged a rideshare of GRACE-FO on a Falcon 9 with Iridium following the cancellation of their Dnepr launch contract in 2015. Iridium CEO Matt Desch disclosed in September 2017 that GRACE-FO would be launched on the sixth Iridium NEXT mission. The booster reuse turnaround was a record 4.5 months between flights.

Launch Information

Launch Date

Tuesday 22nd May 2018 at 19:47 UTC

Launch Pad

VAFB SLC 4E

Rocket

Falcon 9

Booster

B1043.2

Launch Success

Yes

Landing Attempt

No

Payloads

Payload
Customer
Manufacturer
Mass (kg)
Mass (lbs)
Orbit
Iridium NEXT 6

Iridium Communications

Thales Alenia Space

4300
9479.9
PO
GRACE-FO 1-2

NASA

DLR

1160
2557.4
PO

Launch Photos

All of these images are from the SpaceX Flickr page and all of them belong to SpaceX

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Falcon 9 Iridium NEXT Mission 6 Falcon 9 Iridium NEXT Mission 6 Falcon 9 Iridium NEXT Mission 6 Falcon 9 Iridium NEXT Mission 6 Falcon 9 Iridium NEXT Mission 6 Falcon 9 Iridium NEXT Mission 6
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Launch Livestream