SpaceX - Falcon 9 - Thuraya 4-NGS - SLC-40 - Cape Canaveral SFS - January 3, 2024

Launch Date: January 3, 2025 (ET)
Launch Time: 8:27 p.m. ET / January 4, 0127 UTC, 02:27 CET
Launch Window: January 4 til 12:53 a.m. ET
Launch Site: SLC-40
Targeted Orbit: Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO)
Launch Inclination: East
Launch Status: Thuraya 4-NGS was released nominal and is now on its GTO.

Mission: Thuraya 4-NGS
Launch Provider: SpaceX
Launch Contractor: Yahsat
Launcher System: Falcon 9 (Booster B1073)
Flight for the Booster: 20
Previous Flights: 19 - ES-22, ispace's HAKUTO-R MISSION 1, Amazonas-6, CRS-27, Bandwagon-1, GSAT-20, and 13 Starlink missions
Droneship: A Shortfall of Gravitas (ASOG)

Price: $69,75 million (without payload)
Diameter: 3,7 meters
Height: 70 meters
Payload to Orbit: 22,800 LEO / 8,300 GTO
Lift-Off Thrust: 7,607 Kilonnewtons
Fairing: Diameter 5,2 meter / Height 13 meter
Stages: 2

Countdown
Hr/Min/Sec Event
00:38:00 SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for propellant load
00:35:00 RP-1 (rocket grade kerosene) loading begins
00:35:00 1st stage LOX (liquid oxygen) loading begins
00:16:00 2nd stage LOX loading begins
00:07:00 Falcon 9 begins engine chill prior to launch
00:01:00 Command flight computer to begin final prelaunch checks
00:01:00 Propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure begins
00:00:45 SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for launch
00:00:03 Engine controller commands engine ignition sequence to start
00:00:00 Falcon 9 liftoff

LAUNCH, LANDING, AND DEPLOYMENT
All Times Approximate
Hr/Min/Sec Event
00:01:13 Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)
00:02:27 1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
00:02:30 1st and 2nd stages separate
00:02:38 2nd stage engine starts (SES-1)
00:03:16 Fairing separation
00:06:24 1st stage entry burn begins
00:06:50 1st stage entry burn ends
00:08:02 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1)
00:08:14 1st stage landing burn begins
00:08:39 1st stage landing
00:28:06 2nd stage engine starts (SES-2)
00:29:02 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-2)
00:35:28 Thuraya 4 deploys

SpaceX is targeting January 3, 2025, for a Falcon 9 launch of the Thuraya 4 NGS mission to a Geo Stationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Florida. Liftoff is targeted 8:27 p.m. ET / January 4, 0127 UTC, 02:27 CET, with a launch window which is open til January 4, 12:53 a.m. ET.

Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the autonomous droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Thuraya 4-NGS is part of Thuraya's transformational program to build a new and comprehensive ecosystem by upgrading all 3 segments, namely space, ground; products, and solutions:

Better capabilities - Supports multiple technologies (air interfaces) - Reconfigurable payload while in orbit (beams, channel size and bandwidth) - Provides a wide range of data rates above 1Mbps - Improved security and resilience

[Palletjack-svre]

Happy New Year to all. Thanks SA and SpaceX