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SpaceX to launch EchoStar satellite in early January

It appears that SpaceX has definitely scheduled a launch of an EchoStar communications satellite for either January 8 or 9, and that this launch will follow the launch of 10 Iridium satellites in December.

If this schedule happens has now indicated, SpaceX will launch a lot of rockets over the next two months.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 
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"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

3 comments

  • Edward

    I count three SpaceX launches expected in January in addition to the one in December. Iridium payload in December, and Echostar-23, SES-10, and CRS-10 payloads in January.
    http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/launch-schedule/

    Perhaps the coming year will give them their desired 18-launch cadence.

    As Robert’s linked article points out, there seems to be some pressure to launch certain satellites, especially when government-imposed deadlines are involved. However, the penalties for missing these deadlines may be financial rather than losing licenses to operate, so the pressure may not cause people to launch when it is unsafe (for the payload).

  • mkent

    18 launches per year isn’t going to cut it. According to NASAspaceflight.com, SpaceX has 36 launches on their manifest between now and the end of 2017. The most they’ve ever successfully launched in any calendar year is eight.

    I’d be worried if I were one of their customers.

  • Ron

    Has there been a final reason for the launch pad explosion?

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