A minor anomaly this week is that SpaceX had started to attempt to launch the Nusantara Lima communications satellite for Indonesia last weekend and finally got good enough weather last night, right at the end of the possible launch windows. When a similar thing happened a few years ago at the start of October, somebody came up with the name Scrubtober. Maybe we should call this year's run Scrubtember?
It's somehow settling to get normalcy back. The launch was at 9:56PM EDT. The trajectory was close to due East, and the sounds of the booster reached us about three full minutes after ignition. We've had launches with stronger rumbles, those that cause our back doors to rattle for longer periods. They're always good and welcome.
This was the 23rd launch and landing for this booster, B1078, and the landing was as smooth as usual. The satellite is headed for the Geosynchronous orbit where it will undergo testing. Nusantara Lima is expected to start operations in 2026 after the testing. PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN), Indonesia's first satellite-based private telecom company, will use the spacecraft to beam service to customers across Indonesia's 17,000 islands, as well as in neighboring countries.
Our next launch is Sunday evening, No Earlier Than 6:11PM EDT, when SpaceX will launch another of those Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA. If you're in southern California, you get the next launch before ours, on Saturday afternoon, NET 9:21AM PDT.
Wow, SpaceX launched in September? Gee, I thought BO or ULA would be lighting the sky with their wunderrocketen by now.
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