Current Issue


[For STOP PRESS edition click HERE]


Jonathan's Space Report
No. 837                                                        2024 Sep 25    Somerville, MA
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

International Space Station
---------------------------

Expedition 71 continued until Sep 23. Crew in early Sep were Oleg Kononenko (ISS commander), Nikolai Chub, Matthew
Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, Aleksandr Grebyonkin, Tracy
Dyson, Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams.

The Cygnus NG-21 cargo ship fired its engines for a 19 min, 1.1m/s ISS reboost burn on Aug 22.
The burn was scheduled at 1721 UTC.

The Progress MS-28 cargo ship fired its engines for a 18min, 2.0 m/s ISS reboost burn on Aug 28
and again on Sep 5 for a 13 min, 1.4m/s reboost.

Seven 1U cubesats were deployed from the JAXA J-SSOD No. 31 deployer on Aug 29 -
four of them from Japanese organizations (Sakura, Emma, Sagansat0, Wisseed Sat) and
three from Australia's Curtin University (Binar 2 to 4).

Starliner undocked from IDA-2 at 2204 UTC Sep 6, with no crew aboard. It performed 
its deorbit burn at 0317 UTC Sep  7 and jettisoned the service module at 0318 UTC.
Starliner landed at White Sands Missile Range at 0401:35 UTC.

Soyuz MS-26 was launched on Sep 11 with astronauts Ovchinin, Vagner and Pettit.
It docked with the Rassvet module 3h later.

Soyuz MS-25 undocked on Sep 23, with Kononenko, Chub and Dyson. It
landed in Kazakhstan at 1159 UTC Sep 23. Kononenko and Chub had been in space for 373d 20h.

Expedition 72 began on Sep 23, with Suni Williams (ISS commander), Barry Wilmore,  Matthew
Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, Aleksandr Grebyonkin, Aleksey Ovchini, Ivan Vagner, and Don Pettit.

Chinese Space Station
----------------------

The Chinese Space Station made a 3.2 m/s reboost on Sep 17.
The Shenzhou 18 crew have been in orbit for 152 days.

Starlink launches
-----------------

Starlink Group 8-6 (21 sats) was launched from Canaveral on Aug 28.
Starlink Group 8-10 (21 sats) was launched from Canaveral on Aug 31.
Starlink Group 9-5 (21 sats) was launched from Vandenberg on Aug 31.
Starlink Group 8-11 (21 sats) was launched from Canaveral on Sep 5.
Starlink Group 9-6 (21 sats) was launched from Vandenberg on Sep 13.
Starlink Group 9-17 (20 sats) was launched from Vandenberg on Sep 20.
Starlink Group 9-8 (20 sats) was launched from Vandenberg on Sep 25.

The first stage from Group 8-6, B1062.23, caught fire and was destroyed
shortly after landing on A Shortfall of Gravitas.


Transporter-11
--------------

It has been confirmed that the GNA-3 satellite is owned by the Swedish defense research agency FOI.

The ION tug has released four Spire Global Lemur-2 satellites and the Sedna-1 satellite for AAC ClydeSpace.

Gushenxing-1
-------------

Galactic Energy (Xinhe Dongli) launched a Gushenxing-1 from the Dongfeng
Hangtiangang barge at about 123.2E 36.4N in the Yellow Sea on Aug 29 to
a sun sync orbit with 1330 local time descending node.  The payloads
were three Yunyao-1 GNSS-RO meteorology satellites, the Jitianxing A-03
imaging satellite from  Jitian Xingzhou Space Technology of Suzhou, the
Suxing 1-01 imaging satellite from Taicang Yangtze River Delta Research
Inst. and the Tianfu Gaofen 2 imaging satellite from Xiamen Tianwei Tech
Co Ltd.

SAST launches
--------------

On Sep 3 SAST launched a CZ-4B with the second group of Yaogan 43 satellites. They are possibly
military comm satellites.

On Sep 5 SAST launched a CZ-6 with 10 autonomous-driving-support comm satellites for Geely.

On Sep 20 SAST launched a CZ-2D with six wide field imaging satellites for Chuanguang Satellite.

CALT launches
-------------

On Sep 19 CALT/Beijing launched a CZ-3B with two Beidou navigation satellites.

EXPACE launches
---------------

On Sep 20  EXPACE/CASIC launched a KZ-1A with four Tianqi IoT data relay communications satellites.


Vega VV24
---------

Arianespace launched the final base-model Vega, flight VV24, on Sep 4, placing the Sentinel 2C
satellite in sun-sync orbit.

BepiColombo
------------

The BepiColombo probe made a 165 km altitude flyby of Mercury on Sep 4 at 2148 UTC. In its
passage through Mercury's gravitational sphere of influence from Sep 4 0441 UTC to Sep 5 1459 UTC
it changed its solar orbit from 0.31 x 0.58 AU x 5.8 deg to 0.31 x 0.47 AU x 4.3 deg.

Starshield
----------

The third Starshield launch, NROL-113, was launched by Falcon 9 on Sep 6.

Chinese spaceplane
------------------

The Chinese spaceplane (possible X-37 analog) completed its third flight with a landing on Sep 6.
TLE analysis suggests landing at the airbase in the Lop Nor region at circa 0110 UTC Sep 6.

Polaris Dawn
------------

Dragon Resilience (C207) has begun its third flight on a private mission, Polaris Dawn.
This was the second flight to be
funded by Jared Isaacman following the Inspiration 4 mission, which also used Resilience,
and the first in the Polaris Program.

Joining Isaacman as commander were Kidd Potteet  (Mission Pilot) and
SpaceX engineers Anna Menon  (MS and medical officer) and Sarah Gillis
(MS).

Polaris Dawn was launched on Falcon 9 from KSC on 2024 Sep 10 to an
elliptical 196 x 1200 km x 51.6 deg orbit. Early on Sep 11 the orbit
apogee was boosted to 1400 km, higher than that of Gemini XI, and at the
first post-burn apogee at 0111 UTC Sep 11 they achieved the highest
geocentric distance for humans since the flight of Apollo 17 in 1972.
Orbit lowering burns began around 1200 UTC Sep 11 to a 192 x 730 km orbit.

The Dragon cabin was depressurized at 1044 UTC Sep 12 for the first
spacewalk by private astronauts. The hatch was opened at 1049 UTC. The
airlock was depressurized below 5 kPA for 33m 25s, and the hatch was
open for 26m 40s. Isaacman ventured outside for 8 min then returned to
the cabin; then Gillis went outside for 7 min and returned. Poteet and
Menon remained in the cabin.  Repressurization of the airlock began at
1116 UTC and was complete by 1154 UTC.

Dragon jettisoned its trunk at 0635 UTC Sep 15 and carried out the
deorbit burn at 0641 UTC. It splashed down in the Tortuga recovery area
at 83.0W 25.1N at 0737 UTC.


Chamran-1
---------

On Sep 14 the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps launched a Qaem-100 from Shahroud,
placing the 60 kg Chamran-1 satellite in orbit.


LDPE-2
-------

The LDPE-2 mission (2022-144) has deployed another classified satellite, USA 399, in a GEO drift orbit
with unknown parameters.

BlueBird
--------

On Sep 12 SpaceX launched five 1500 kg BlueBird direct-to-cell comms satellites for AST Space
Mobile. These are similar to the BlueWalker 3 test satellite launched in 2022.

Angara
------

On Sep 17 Russia launched an Angara-1.2 from Plesetsk, placing two small Ministry of Defense satellites
in orbit. They are rumoured to be designated OO-MKA.

Galileo L13
------------

On Sep 17 SpaceX launched two Galileo navigation sats for the EU.

Kineis
------

Rocket Lab launched an Electron on Sep 20 with five 30 kg IoT satellites for the French company Kineis.
After deploying the payloads at 0006 UTC the kick stage made a small perigee lowering burn at about 0040 UTC.

Jielong-3
----------

On Sep 24 the China Long March Rocket Co. launched a Jielong-3 from the Dongfeng Hangtian ship off the coast
of Haiyang, placing 8 satellites in orbit:
  Jitianxing A-01, imaging sat for Jitian Xingzhou Kongjian Jishu YG (Suzhou)
  Fudan-1, science sat for Fudan University, Shanghai, with X-ray solar flare spectrometer
  Luojia 4-01 (Yuxing 2-05), imaging sat for Wuhan U., Hubei, dedicated to studying environmental effects on health
  Shenqi (Tianyi-41), C-band radar satellite for Zhangye Xingzuo (Zhangye, Gansu)
  Tianyan-15, for tests of imaging technology.
  Xingshidai-15, an imaging satellite for Guoxing Yuhang Keji (Chengdu).
  Xingshidai-21 and 22, a pair of lasercom test satellites for Guoxing Yuhang Keji (Chengdu) and HiStarlink (Shanghai).

Lijian-1
--------

CAS Space (Zhongke Tansuo Jishu) launched a Lijian-1 from Jiuquan on Sep 24, placing
5 satellites in orbit:
  AIRSAT-01/02 (Zhongke-1 01/02) radar satellites for Zhongke Weixing
  Jilin-1 SAR01A X-band radar sat for Chuanggang Sat Tech.
  Yunyao-1 21/22 GNSS-RO meteorology sats for Yunyao,

Errata
-------

I missed Starlink Group 10-7 from the narrative in the last issue, and wrote EOS-07 instead of EOS-08.
Also, ZX-4A launch site was Wenchang.
The data in GCAT are correct.

Table of Recent Orbital Launches
 ----------------------------------

Date UT       Name			          Launch Vehicle	 Site		 Mission  INTL.  Catalog  Perigee Apogee  Incl	 Notes
Aug?          USA 399                                                    LDPE 2, GSO       Unknown 22144K  -
Aug 16 1856   Transporter-11                     Falcon 9                 Vandenberg SLC4E Rideshare 149 590 x 595 x  97.8
Aug 20 1320   Starlink Group 10-5                Falcon 9                 Canaveral LC40   Comms    150  284 x 297 x 53.2
Aug 22 1225   ZX-4A                              Chang Zheng 7A           Wenchang         Comms    151A 220 x 35790 x 14.6
Aug 26        Lemur-2                                                     ION SCV012, LEO  Met      149  
Aug 27        Lemur-2                                                     ION SCV012, LEO  Met      149  
Aug 28 0654   Starlink Group 8-6                 Falcon 9                 Canaveral LC40   Comms    152  283 x 298 x 53.2
Aug 28        Lemur-2                                                     ION SCV012, LEO  Met      149  
Aug 29 0522   Yunyao-1 15                        Gushenxing-1            DFHT, Yellow Sea  Met      153  528 x 549 x 97.6
              Yunyao-1 16                                                                  Met      153
              Yunyao-1 17                                                                  Met      153
              Jitianxing A-03                                                              Imaging  153
              Suxing 1-01                                                                  Imaging  153
              Tianfu Gaofen 2                                                              Imaging  153
Aug 29 0945   Sakura                                                      ISS, LEO         Tech   98067WS
              Emma                                                                         Tech   98067WT
              Sagansat0                                                                    Tech   98067WU
              WisseedSat                                                                   Tech   98067WV
Aug 29 1120   Binar-2                                                     ISS, LEO         Tech   98067WW
              Binar-3                                                                      Tech   98067WX
              Binar-4                                                                      Tech   98067WY
Aug 29        Lemur-2                                                     ION SCV012, LEO  Met      149  
Aug 31 0743   Starlink Group 8-10                 Falcon 9                 Canaveral LC40  Comms    154   287 x 300 x 53.2
Aug 31 0848   Starlink Group 9-5                  Falcon 9                Vandenberg SLC4E Comms    155   282 x 292 x 53.2
ep  3 0115   Yaogan 43-02 01 to 06               Chang Zheng 4B          Xichang          Comms?   156   489 x 501 x 35.0
Sep  4 0150   Sentinel 2C                         Vega                    CSG ELV          Imaging  157A  776 x 780 x 98.6
Sep  5 1533   Starlink Group 8-11                 Falcon 9                 Canaveral LC40  Comms    158   288 x 302 x 53.2
Sep  5 1830   Geely Group 03  01 to 10            Chang Zheng 6            Taiyuan         Comms    159   553 x 564 x 50.0
Sep  6 0320   Starshield Group 1-3                Falcon 9                Vandenberg SLC4E Comms    160   300?x300? x 70
Sep 10 0923   Polaris Dawn                        Falcon 9                Kennedy LC39A   Spaceship 161A  196 x1400 x51.6
Sep 11 1623   Soyuz MS-26                         Soyuz-2-1a              Baykonur LC31   Spaceship 162A  
Sep 12 0852   BlueBird 1                          Falcon 9                Canaveral LC40  Comms     163C  505 x  522 x 53.0
              BlueBird 2                                                                  Comms     163D
              BlueBird 3                                                                  Comms     163A
              BlueBird 4                                                                  Comms     163E
              BlueBird 5                                                                  Comms     163B
Sep 13 0145   Starlink Group 9-6                  Falcon 9                Vandenberg SLC4E Comms    164   288 x 298 x 53.2
Sep 14 0558?  Chamran-1                           Qaem-100                Shahroud        Tech      165B  546 x 557 x 64.1
Sep 17 0701   Kosmos-2577                         Angara-1.2              Plesetsk        Imaging?  166A  328 x 344 x 96.8
              Kosmos-2578                                                                 Imaging?  166B  328 x 344 x 96.8
Sep 17 2250   Galileo FOC FM26                    Falcon 9                Canaveral LC40  Nav       167A 22941 x 23009 x 55.4
              Galileo FOC FM32                                                            Nav       167B 22948 x 23005 x 55.4
Sep 19 0114   Beidou DW 59                        Chang Zheng 3B          Xichang         Nav       168A 21182 x 22334 x 55.0
              Beidou DW 60                                                                          168B 21538 x 22199 x 55.0
Sep 20 0411   Jilin-1 Kuanfu 02B-01               Chang Zheng 2D          Taiyuan         Imaging   169A 531 x 547 x 97.6
              Jilin-1 Kuanfu 02B-02                                                       Imaging   169B
              Jilin-1 Kuanfu 02B-03                                                       Imaging   169C
              Jilin-1 Kuanfu 02B-04                                                       Imaging   169D
              Jilin-1 Kuanfu 02B-05                                                       Imaging   169E
              Jilin-1 Kuanfu 02B-06                                                       Imaging   169F
Sep 20 0943   Tianqi 29                           Kuaizhou 1A             Xichang         Comms     170A
              Tianqi 30                                                                   Comms     170B
              Tianqi 31                                                                   Comms     170C  841 x 854 x 44.9
              Tianqi 32                                                                   Comms     170D
Sep 20 1350   Starlink Group 9-17                 Falcon 9                Vandenberg SLC4E Comms    171   286 x 295 x 53.2
Sep 20 2301   Kineis 2A                           Electron                Mahia LC1A      Comms     172A  638 x 640 x 98.0
              Kineis 2B                                                                   Comms     
              Kineis 2C                                                                   Comms     
              Kineis 2D                                                                   Comms     
              Kineis 2E                                                                   Comms     
Sep 24 0231   Jitianxing A-01                     Jielong-3             DFHT, Yellow Sea  Imaging   173   484 x 501 x 97.4
              Fudan-1                                                                     Imaging   173
              Luojia-4 01                                                                 Imaging   173
              Shenqi                                                                      Radar     173
              Xingshidai-15                                                               Imaging   173
              Xingshidai-21                                                               Tech      173
              Xingshidai-22                                                               Tech      173
              Tianyan-15                                                                  Tech      173

Sep 24 2333   AIRSAT-01                            Lijian-1                Jiuquan        Radar     174
              AIRSAT-02                                                                   Radar
              Jilin-1 SAR-01A                                                             Radar
              Yunyao-1 21                                                                 Meteo
              Yunyao-1 22                                                                 Meteo
Sep 25 0401   Starlink Group 9-8                   Falcon 9              Vandenberg SLC4E Comms     175


Table of Recent Suborbital Launches 
-----------------------------------

Blue Origin flew New Shepard flight NS-26 on Aug 29, with passengers Ephraim Rabin, Nicolina Elrick,
Eugene Grin, Robert Ferl, Karsen Kitchen and Eiman Jahangir becoming space travellers 699 to 704.

Date UT       Payload           Rocket              Site                 Mission       Apogee    Target

Aug 13 1000   RockSat-X         Terrer Imp. Mal.    Wallops I.           Education      164      Atlantic Ocean
Aug 26 0400   OAxFORTIS         Black Brant 9       White Sands          UV Astron      272      White Sands
Aug 29 1308   NS-26             New Shepard         W Texas              Priv.Sflt      104?     W Texas
Sep  2 0941   BOLT-1B           Black Brant VC      Andoya               Hypersonic     254      Norwegian Sea
Sep  3 1921   FURST             Black Brant IX      White Sands          Solar UV       300?     White Sands
Sep  6        Agni RV           Agni 4              Chandipur            Op. Test       600      Indian Ocean
Sep 15 0330   Warhead           Toufan              Yemen                Weapon         300?     Israel
Sep 25 0044   RV                DF-41?              Wenchang?            Test          1000?     Pacific Ocean

.-------------------------------------------------------------------------.
|  Jonathan McDowell                 |                                    |
|  Somerville MA 02143               |  inter : planet4589 at gmail       |
|  USA                               |  twitter: @planet4589              |
|                                                                         |
| JSR: https://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html                                 |
| Back issues:  https://www.planet4589.org/space/jsr/back                  |
| Subscribe/unsub: https://www.planet4589.org/mailman/listinfo/jsr         |
'-------------------------------------------------------------------------'