SpaceX Falcon 9 launches debut dual satellite mission

[bananas]

Source: NASASpaceflight.com

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket made its sixteenth launch Sunday, carrying a pair of commercial communications satellites in the company’s first dual launch to a geosynchronous transfer orbit.

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The satellites aboard the Falcon 9 are Asia Broadcast Satellite’s ABS-3A spacecraft, and Eutelsat 115 West B for French telecommunications company Eutelsat. Constructed by Boeing Satellite Systems, both spacecraft are based on the company’s new BSS-702SP bus.

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The 702SP has a significantly reduced mass compared to its predecessors, enabling two spacecraft to be launched by rockets which would normally only be able to carry one.

The mass savings have primarily been achieved through the use of electric propulsion for orbit-raising manoeuvres which eliminates the need to carry a chemical apogee motor or the propellant which accounts for a significant portion of the launch mass of most geosynchronous spacecraft.

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Read more: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/03/spacex-falcon-9-debut-dual-satellite-mission/

[bananas]

1. SpaceX's Falcon 9 Rocket Launches All-Electric Satellites

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/spacexs-falcon-9-rocket-launches-all-electric-satellites-n315356

SpaceX's Falcon 9 Rocket Launches All-Electric Satellites

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A SpaceX rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Sunday to put the world's first all-electric communications satellites into orbit. The 22-story-tall Falcon 9 booster soared off its seaside launch pad at 10:50 a.m. ET, the third flight in less than two months for the California-based launch company.

Perched on top of the rocket were a pair of satellites, built by Boeing and owned by Paris-based Eutelsat Communications and Bermuda-based ABS. Eutelsat and ABS shared satellite manufacturing and launch costs.

The satellites are designed to reach and maintain their orbits using lightweight, all-electric engines rather than conventional chemical propulsion systems. That enabled the two spacecraft to be launched aboard one medium-sized Falcon 9 rocket. The disadvantage of electric propulsion is that it will take the satellites months to reach their operational orbits about 22,300 miles (35,800 kilometers) above Earth.

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— Reuters
First published March 1 2015, 9:29 PM

[NutmegYankee]

2. The only downside to an ion propulsion system is 4-6 months needed to get into position.

But if you have the time, far cheaper in the long run.