It is January 7th 2018 at about 7:46 p.m. Local time at the launch site, or almost 1 a.m. Universal coordinated time on January 8th, you are looking at a live view of the Falcon nine rocket as it awaits, lift off from the space launch pad approximately 14 minutes from now.

Welcome to today's live Webcast of the Zuma Mission from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

My name is Brian most it and I'm a software engineer here at the headquarters in Hawthorne, California Today's primary mission is UMA, a payload built by Northrop Grumman and per our customers request, we will conclude coverage of the primary mission just following separation of the payload faring.

However, we will also show secondary mission coverage as we attempt the lands and recover another first stage back at landing Zone one.

Now today's launch will mark space X X first of the 2018 calendar year.

We wrapped up 2017 with 18 total launches.

This is the most that Space six has ever done in a single calendar year.

Zuma was originally slated to launch from 39 a a few miles north, but that Pat is currently undergoing preparation for the launch of Falcon Heavy.

So we move.

Zoom a few miles south to Slick 40 Space Launch Complex 40.

Having these two operational lot sites on the East Coast with enough commonality for swaps like this is very beneficial.

Now.

It is important to remember that Slick 40 was designed the long before the days that Falcon ever first flu.

So over the past year we have not only rebuilt Slick 40 but we have customized it for space X purposes.

This includes upgrading its to reinforce its structures, improved ground side systems and, just in general, make it so that it can replicate the operations that are occurring up north.

At 39 a.

Not together with 39 A and 40 and Vandenberg on the West Coast Space six now has three operational launch sites across the country.

Now having more launch sites means more opportunity for launching, which in general is beneficial because it increases our chances of higher launch case cadence.

Now, Zuma, the payload was made.

It's a Falcon nine, the launch vehicle some time ago, and all of those pre launch integrations occurred in the hangar, which is just adjacent to the pad that you see on screen.

All this integration happens while the vehicle is horizontal, and while it's made it to that transporter, Erector, or as you might hear us call it, the strong back on that is done horizontally so that we have ease of access so that we can work on the vehicle without having to go up very high.

Now, once it's ready to roll out, as we call it the Transporter, Erector lives up to its name and transports the vehicle out to the pad and directs it into the final configuration for launch that you see on your screen right then.

Now what's where Vertical were over 20 stories tall.

Now the first stage takes up about the 1st 2/3 closest to the ground, and in the second stage is that top bit with the fear ings that encapsulate Zuma.

Now we stage the rocket for the same reason that we want a better gas mileage vehicle.

If you're caring around less mass, your fuel is going to get you farther.

And so because the vehicle the rocket is mostly structure and within that structure is mostly propellants.

Once you use all that propellant, you don't need to carry around that empty structure anymore.

That's exactly what happens.

Once Falcon Falcon nine's first stage is nearly depleted, it heads back to the launch site after separation and second stage, then has less mass to carry on as it goes to deliver the payload to its final desired orbit.

One of the most important procedures that were conducting during this pre launch phase is the loading on propellants, and we say propellants.

We actually mean fuel and oxidizer, too critical components that are required for a combustion now, fuel, as you've heard us say before, for the vehicle is RP one or rocket propellant, one that's basically just rocket grade kerosene.

The oxygen, the oxidizer is oxygen itself, and oxygen is typically at a gas phase.

When it's under standard atmospheric temperature and pressure.

Now we supercool.

It's a liquid phase so that we have higher density.

Higher density means more mass in the same volume, which for us means more oxidizer within the same rocket.

So we're loading propellants.

We load those fuel first and then oxidizer, first stage first and then second stage second so that is currently underway.

We started about 50 minutes ago and it's still going on and we'll conclude for another few minutes here.

But that is going well.

Two other things we like to check before launch are the range and weather.

The range is responsible for all sorts of ground infrastructure, from tracking systems to clearing airspace, naval space and ground space.

They have given us the thumbs up and the range is green for this Zuma launch weather is not under our control, but all of the inclement conditions that Florida sometimes provides are not present.

Right now.

We don't have any upper altitude winds, no rain and no lightning threats of Florida's weather is green, so vehicle range and weather are all goods.

A go for launch today.

Now today is a two hour launch window.

So should anything arrives, we will resort to our backup launch window, which is tomorrow at approximately the same time.

Northrop Grumman, the manufacturer of today's bill, is one of the nation's leading aerospace and defense companies.

They've made stuff in market sectors, from airplanes to software to satellites to electron ICS and even some other technical service is now some of their best known products you may have heard of include Be, Too a Global Hawk in the very recent and very famous James Webb Space Telescope.

The north of Bremen is over 66,000 employees strong, and they work across the nation with bunch of mission partners to fly stuff just like today's mission.

Zuma.

Now they've been in the industry for over 50 years, so they have tons of experience, and their space missions include Earth observation, missile warning systems, defense even protected global communications and other space science and exploration endeavors.

Some of their recent particularly space missions include Aqua or a space based infrared system, other tracking and surveillance systems.

Mill Star You may have heard of advanced extra high frequency communication systems and the Shaun's X Ray Observatory, among many others.

Way we've all stared at the stars with wonder in our eyes, searching the sky for something more, searching the world for what else is out there.

I'm wondering what we could do to find it at Northrop Grumman.

That wonder is more than just a daydream way made it our passion.

We've cultivated a world of dreamers and doers of pioneers and protectors.

Our engineers have always pushed the limits of space, and we've revolutionized technology again and again.

We see limitations has challenges.

We see the unknown as something on Lee undiscovered, and we system engineer beyond what's impossible because we believe there's no such thing.

Northrop Grumman has the finest teams and technology, always working to push forward from scientific pioneering to global service to making history.

Our team strive for innovation every day, and we've never lost our passion, never lost our wonder from what comes next.

In these final moments before lift off, the vehicle was undergoing something that we call engine chill.

Now, as I mentioned earlier, oxygen naturally wants to be at a gas phase.

We want to coerce it into the liquid phase, and to do so, we need to supercool it well that oxygen becomes very, very, very cold, and the engine is not as cold as the oxygen that will flow through it.

So in order to reduce any thermal stress that might be imposed upon the engine, we try to chill the engine ahead of time so that we don't have as much of a thermo Grady int.

Now.

You may remember, we retract the strong back to around 50 degrees a few minutes before in previous Webcast.

We're gonna just prime the actuators and then retract it fully.

At T minus zero in these final seconds were topping off the liquid oxygen and then at T minus one minute the onboard flight computers will take full control of the vehicle and transition and all the way from start up through terminal countdown.

So let's listen into that.

Now Stage two lakhs of clothes out for flight vehicles and cell phone gas course and started A F.

T s is ready for launch.

Falcon nine's and start up stage two tanks pressing for flight Falcon nine and Zuma are go for launch.

Demon is 30 seconds.

Stage one tanks pressing before T minus 15 seconds.

Stand by for terminal count.

Nine seven six five for three two What mission?

Power and telemetry nominal and you see on your screen we have had successful liftoff of Falcon nine carrying Zuma.

We have cleared the tower, so we're now coming up on two events that is going supersonic and Max Q.

A.

Maximum aerodynamic pressure is when we're at the point of maximum stress on the vehicle.

From that point on, we're going through thinner and thinner atmosphere, so stress will continually decrease.

And we've just passed Max Q.

So again, that means that as we ascend higher and higher atmospheres thinner and we do not need to have a CZ much stress on the vehicle now we're gonna go through four events here in rapid succession, and those are in order.

Mico stage separation SCS one and the boost back burn now.

Mico stands for main engine cut off.

That's when the first stage stops firing.

There follows stage separation when first and second stage depart from each other.

S.

E s one is the third event that stands for second engine start.

That's when second stage begins firing.

And then the fourth event in that sequence is the boost back burn.

That's when first stage begins firing again to start its trajectory back to landing his own one.

Now, that sequence will occur about 15 seconds in duration, starting about 15 seconds from now.

I was saying this is our CNN countdown.

Please.

That relinquish control came here.

Please matter states confirm Stage one is a twit.

Now we've had successful confirmation of again.

Miko stage separation, second engine start and the boost back burner.

Next major milestone is faring separation.

That should occur any second.

Now, we're not gonna show video video coverage of it, but we will confirm that the feelings have separated.

Meeting that Zuma and second stage are the only vehicles continuing on to their final orbit stage.

Want Bruce back?

Shut down!

All right, so we'll address the fairing deployment here in a second once we have more information.

But for now, we're gonna shift our transition back to the focus on the secondary mission, which is the landing and recovery of the first stage.

Now it is night time, so we're looking at a black screen, but we should be able to see some burning of the second and third burns here in the landing sequence.

Quick sidebar.

We did get successful confirmation that the feelings did deploy.

So the primary mission has concluded up to this point successfully.

And now Zuma and second stage are continuing on to their final orbit.

So we will focus back to the secondary mission now, which is this three burn phase of the landing of the first stage?

now, we already saw the boost back burn and got confirmation of that.

The two remaining burns are the reentry burn and the landing burn.

Now the second is the re entry burn, and that is solely intended to decelerate the vehicle so that we go through the atmosphere subject to as little stress as possible.

As I mentioned earlier, heat and pressure can accumulate that Thermal stress is very severe.

As you go through the denser and denser atmosphere, you want to be going as slowly as possible.

So we perform a reentry burn just prior and during reentry so that we have as little stress as possible on the vehicle.

Now that will happen at about T plus six minutes and 17 seconds.

And that reentry burn will last for about 15 seconds, will tune into that stage one entry burn it started and stage one entry baron shut down.

And as you just heard and saw, we had successful startup in shutdown of the re entry burn the second of three burns in the face to get back to landing Zone one.

Now the third and final one, as it is self named, is the landing burn this one last a little bit longer.

It's about 17 seconds in duration.

It's coming up in about 30 seconds.

Should get pretty good.

We should get pretty good footage of it coming down from the top of the screen.

And again, that's a 17 2nd burn.

So the legs deployed.

We touched down on the surface of landing Zone one here.

In this attempt, Stage one is trans sonic stage one.

Ladybird has started landing legs out, and the Falcon has landed.

Now was dark, but we saw some great popular reflection as the heat and the light from the engine reflected off of landing zone once you could see it as it deployed its legs and touchdown.

Now, with the transition from the successful deployment of the payload fear rings and the landing of the secondary mission that first stage well now conclude our coverage of the Zuma mission, we'd like to thank our customer Northrop Grumman.

We'd like to thank the United States Air Force in the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station range for all their support in every single mission.

We would additional like to thank the Federal Aviation Administration for their part in regulating and licensing every single one of these launches.

We would also like to thank you the viewer, for tuning in.

As always, If you are interested in learning more about what we do here, please visit our website space six dot com.

And if you're interested in joining our force space x dot com slash careers Please look for updates on all of our social media channels were gonna post updates regarding the upcoming missions.

Thanks again for joining us, and we'll see you next time.