Talk:SES-8

Sources on the launch, and effect of the launch on the US commercial commsat industry
Here are some sources. Don't have time to work them into the article right now:
 * SpaceX satellite launch is a potential game-changer, USA Today, on morning of the scheduled launch
 * Which way to space?, Washington Post, on morning of the scheduled launch

More: here is another source. I've put this one into the article to support the supersynchronous orbit claim, and the root cause of the second stage failure to reignite on the previous Falcon 9 Flight 6 flight. As of now, it has not yet been used to reflect on the notable sea change in the industry due to the (soon-to-be demonstrated) capability of SpaceX to do launches into Geostationary orbits, at much lower prices than the traditional government space programs of the U.S., Europe, Russia and India which have supplied launch services to the commercial commsat market in previous decades. —N2e (talk) 13:34, 28 November 2013 (UTC)

Launch Anomalies
On Nov 25th 2013 the launch was stopped 2 times, both times appear to have been caused by a battery sending bad telemetry data (Source: Webcast) After the first Abort, they Recycled the countdown. They then had the issue again and Aborted the launch. Because of time constraints on the Launch Window the launch was scrubbed for the 25th. Upon the Scrub, they had an anomaly with trying to raise the Strongback, which was resolved before the end of the webcast. This info should be incorporated into the main article, I am just not experienced enough to do it. B787 300 (talk) 23:42, 25 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Just to clarify, those were anomalies with the initial launch attempt on 25 Nov, not with the launch itself. It is normal for launch procedures to have a large number of check points along the way, and the launch attempt is typically delayed, or scrubbed entirely, depending on the anomaly seen and how fast launch engineers and management can assess the situation.  In the event, SpaceX did not launch on the first two launch attempts, did some cleanout work to eliminate a bit of contaminant oxygen that had gotten in the ground-based TEA/TEB first stage ignitor system, and then did launch successfully on the third launch attempt, on 3 Dec 2013.  Cheers. N2e (talk) 13:43, 4 December 2013 (UTC)

FAA-imposed launch day restrictions
This article in Florida Today indicates that a part of the restrictions on launching in the past week has been due to FAA restrictions due to high holiday airline traffic around the US Thanksgiving holiday. After the scrub on Monday, 25 Nov, the FAA would not allow a launch attempt on Tues or Weds, nor on Sunday the 1st of Dec. Here's the link: SpaceX targets Monday evening for Falcon 9 launch, Florida Today, 30 Nov 2013. Cheers. N2e (talk) 05:13, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

Article needs an image or two
This article would be improved with an image or two: of the satellite, or of the launch, or of the mission patch, or ....

Here is a source for the mission patch. I have no idea about what can be successfully wiki-image-licensed for use, or might be usable under limited fair use.
 * SES-8 mission patch

— Cheers. N2e (talk) 17:57, 10 December 2013 (UTC)