Space Systems is officially targeting a NET July 2026 launch window for Poseidon Heavy Flight 9. This dedicated commercial flight operates under a high-priority logistics contract for the Kerbin Aeronautics and Space Administration (KASA). The critical operational objective is the precise delivery of the KASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter into a high-energy Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) vector.
This mission serves as the official return-to-flight and operational debut of our heavily upgraded V6 booster core cluster, implementing complex throttling procedures to guarantee structural safety margins. Notably, Flight 9 will mark our fleet's first-ever hot-staging sequence, separating the second stage while the center core is still firing. This upgrade eliminates coast-phase gravity losses, yielding a massive boost in upper-stage insertion performance.
Countdown Timeline
T-01:00:00 - Fuel and Liquid Oxygen Tanking underway
T-00:15:00 - Stages enter engine chill
T-00:03:15 - Fuel Load complete
T-00:02:15 - Booster Tanks Pressurization
T-00:00:02 - Ignition (27 Kerlin Engines Ignite)
T-00:00:00 - Excitment guarenteed
T+00:00:00 - Liftoff
T+00:00:55 - Max Q
T+00:02:22 - Side cores go to 3 engines for staging prep
T+00:02:25 - Side core shutdown and Side cores jettison
T+00:02:30 - Boost-back Burn Startup
T+00:03:35 - Boost-back Burn shutdown
T+00:04:47 - Center Core MECO (Most Engines Cutoff,1 Kerlin still running)
T+00:04:50 - Second stage Engine start 1
T+00:04:51 - Stage Separation
T+00:05:50 - Entry burn on Side cores
T+00:06:20 - Entry burn on center core
T+00:06:50 - Side cores landing burns
T+00:07:20 - Side Cores Landing burn shutdown
T+00:07:50 - Center core landing burn
T+00:08:30 - Center core landing burn shutdown
T+00:09:40 - Second Stage engine cutoff 1
T+00:45:50 - Second Stage engine Start 2
T+00:51:50 - Second Stage engine Cutoff 2
T+01:25:00 - Payload Deploy of the KASA Lunar Reconnaissance orbiter