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Hmm. Maybe this mysterious payload is a spysat aimed at North Korea? On Molniya orbit it will hang above Pyongyang for hours. Considering current tensions about NK's nuclear and rocketry programs, i wouldn't be surprised  if NRO wants to keep watchful eye on them. All of this is very "cloak and dagger" stuff :)

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5 hours ago, TheEpicSquared said:

How is the fairing and payload attached to the rocket? 
SpaceX uses horizontal assembly like Russia does, but NRO payloads are designed for VAB who spacex don't have, I assume its plenty of assembly to fit fairing with payload on rocket.

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1 hour ago, Scotius said:

Hmm. Maybe this mysterious payload is a spysat aimed at North Korea? On Molniya orbit it will hang above Pyongyang for hours. Considering current tensions about NK's nuclear and rocketry programs, i wouldn't be surprised  if NRO wants to keep watchful eye on them. All of this is very "cloak and dagger" stuff :)

I think Molniya orbits work with countries with significant East-West width.  Like Russia, USA, Canada (possibly China, but they manage with a single time zone).  Not so much with North Korea, but you could claim a China-watching Molniya was supposed to look at North Korea (and indeed spends plenty of time doing so).

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1 hour ago, Scotius said:

Hmm. Maybe this mysterious payload is a spysat aimed at North Korea? On Molniya orbit it will hang above Pyongyang for hours. Considering current tensions about NK's nuclear and rocketry programs, i wouldn't be surprised  if NRO wants to keep watchful eye on them. All of this is very "cloak and dagger" stuff :)

North Korea is at about the same latitude of northern California, no need for a Molniya orbit, those are for high-latitude locations like a big chunk of Russia and the poles. I'm quite NK already has it's own dedicated satellite in GSO run by the NSA and the rest of the security alphabet soup. Which also happens to be a good place to watch Russia, China, etc. Whatever this bird is, it's been in the pipes for quite a while, probably long before Lil' Kim popped up and started waving his big rubber sabre around.

Most of the articles I've seen say it's probably just a high-latitude comm relay, anyway. 

1 hour ago, magnemoe said:

How is the fairing and payload attached to the rocket? 
SpaceX uses horizontal assembly like Russia does, but NRO payloads are designed for VAB who spacex don't have, I assume its plenty of assembly to fit fairing with payload on rocket.

There was video of the rocket being raised this morning, so this payload was definitely the standard horizontal integration. IIRC SpaceX actually has plans to modify 39A (b?) specifically for vertical integration of future NRO payloads.

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8 minutes ago, insert_name said:

Seems to be a circular high inclination orbit on the payload faring. Could the booster do that within reason?

@tater said that NSF said that it's gonna be the shortest 1st stage burn ever, and I also read the second stage is going to re-enter "right away" over the Indian ocean, so I'm guessing the payload has its own boost stage and the whole thing is very light, lighter than a Dragon.

2 hours ago, StrandedonEarth said:

I wonder if they'll try any fairing recovery on this one.

We won't get to see separation, so.....

Maybe the fairing IS the payload.... :ph34r:

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Only one webcast this time? Interesting... maybe not enough people watching the technical-only.

I won't be watching this one live, sadly. Gotta catch up on my sleep. :P

Edited by Mitchz95
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2 hours ago, Mitchz95 said:

Only one webcast this time? Interesting... maybe not enough people watching the technical-only.

I won't be watching this one live, sadly. Gotta catch up on my sleep. :P

Or maybe it's because... this time, it's the people who are being watched... :sealed:

...and...

...they see you when you're sleeping, they know when you're awake...

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15 minutes ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

Or maybe it's because... this time, it's the people who are being watched... :sealed:

...and...

...they see you when you're sleeping, they know when you're awake...

...they know if you think the Earth is flat
...but it's round for goodness sake!...

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