[JSR] Jonathan's Space Report, No. 701
Jonathan McDowell
jcm at planet4589.org
Sat Sep 6 11:50:06 EDT 2014
Jonathan's Space Report
No. 701 2014 Sep 6 Somerville, MA
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International Space Station
---------------------------
Expedition 40 is continuing with ISS in a 410 x 419 km x 51.7 deg orbit.
ISS Commander is Steve Swanson (NASA); flight engineers are FE-1 Aleksandr
Skvortsov (Roskosmos), FE-2 Oleg Artemev (Roskosmos), FE-4 Max Suraev (Roskosmos),
FE-5 Reid Wiseman (NASA), FE-6 Alexander Gerst (ESA).
The SS Janice Voss cargo freighter was unberthed from the Harmony nadir port
at 0914 UTC Aug 15 and released by Canadarm-2 at 1040 UTC. It was deorbited
around 1233 UTC Aug 17 and reentered at 1315 UTC over the S Pacific.
On Aug 18 astronauts Skvortsov and Artemev made spacewalk VKD-39 from the Pirs
module. The airlock was depressurized at 1340 UTC and the hatch opened at 1402 UTC.
At 1423 UTC Artemev hand-launched the 1U cubesat Chasqui-1, a joint Peruvian-Russian
project. Chasqui-1 was built by the Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria in Lima and
the Yugo-Zapadniy gosudarstvenniy universitet (Southwest State University) in Kursk.
The crew also worked with materials exposure experiments;
they installed the EXPOSE-R2 experient on Zvezda's URM-D-II boom, and on Poisk they
retrieved Panel 2 of the Vinoslivost experiment and swapped out the SKK-1-M2 cassette
for the new SKK-2-M2; they also installed the new BKDO experiment to study the
effects of rocket thruster plumes impinging on the station. Finally a Biorisk exposure
canister was retrieved from Pirs, and the astronauts went back inside to close the
Pirs hatch at 1913 UTC and repressurize the airlock at about 1916 UTC.
On Aug 19 the JEM RMS arm picked up the Nanoracks cubesat packages from the Kibo airlock
and began deploying the PlanetLabs Flock-1b cubesats. (Thanks to Henry Hallam for
providing deploy times). Electrical problems with the deployer meant that deploys
were suspended after Aug 21. Two pairs of cubesats were accidentally deployed
on Aug 23 and Sep 5 without being commanded; PlanetLabs was able to contact and command
them without problems.
WorldView-3
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DigitalGlobe's WorldView-3 high resolution imaging satellite was
launched Aug 13 into a 612 x 614 km x 98.0 deg, 1015LTDN sun-synchronous
orbit by an Atlas V 401 rocket, serial AV-047. The Centaur stage
restarted to use up its extra propellant by accelerating to an escape
trajectory to solar orbit. WV-3 has an imager with 0.3m ground
resolution in addition to multispectral and 3.7-micron IR cameras.
Digital Globe was formerly EarthWatch Inc, and merged with the former
Space Imaging Inc. (GeoEye) in 2012, which itself absorbed EOSAT in 1996
and OrbImage in 2006, completing the consolidation of the first
generation of US commercial imaging companies.
Digital Globe satellites
------------------------
Operated Resolution
EOSAT Landsat 5 1984 Mar - 2001 Jul (to USGS) 30m
EOSAT Landsat 4 1985 Sep - 2001 Jun (from NOAA) 30m
EOSAT Landsat 6 1993 Oct (launch failure) 15m
OrbImage OrbView-1 1995 Apr - 2000 Apr 10 km (lightning sensor)
OrbImage OrbView-2 1997 Aug - 2010 Dec 1 km SeaWIFS
OrbImage OrbView-3 2003 Jun - 2011 Mar 1m
OrbImage OrbView-4 2001 Sep (launch failure) 1m
GeoEye GeoEye-1 2008 Sep - present 0.4m
EarthWatch EarlyBird 1997 Dec (failed on orbit) 3 m
EarthWatch QuickBird 1 2000 Nov (launch failure) 1 m
EarthWatch QuickBird 2 2001 Oct - present 0.6m
SpaceImaging Ikonos 1 1999 Apr (launch failure) 1 m
SpaceImaging Ikonos 2 1999 Sep - present 1 m
DigitalGlobe WorldView-1 2007 Sep - present 0.5m
DigitalGlobe WorldView-2 2009 Oct - present 0.5m
DigitalGlobe WorldView-3 2014 Aug - present 0.3m
Gaofen
------
China's Gaofen-2 high resolution imaging satellite was launched on Aug 19 into
a 608 x 631 km x 98.0 deg, 1020 LTDN sun-synchronous orbit aboard
a CZ-4B rocket from Taiyuan. (Gaofen-1 was launched using a CZ-2D from Jiuquan).
Poland's BRITE-P2 'Heweliusz' (Hewelius) astronomy nanosatellite was carried as a secondary
payload. It is named after astronomer Jan Heweliusz (aka Jan Howelcke) (1611-1687).
This sixth and final member of the initially planned BRITE constellation carries
an R-band photometer.
GF-2 and WV-3 are in very similar orbits; GF-2 is currently following about an hour behind,
although as the periods are slightly different they will eventually lap each other.
GF-2 has 0.80m resolution with 48 km swath.
Galileo
--------
The first two Galileo FOC (Full Operational Capability) satellites, FM01
and FM02, were launched from the Centre Spatial Guyanais on Aug 22.
Soyuz put the payload stack on a suborbital trajectory. The Fregat stage
made a first burn to put the stack in elliptical transfer orbit, and
then began the coast to apogee. At apogee at 1605 UTC the Fregat made a
second burn intended to circularize the orbit at 23500 x 23500 km x 55.0
deg. The satellites separated from the Fregat-MT No. 1039 upper stage at
1615 UTC. Unfortunately the orbit actually reached was 13700 x 25900 km
x 49.7 deg, more elliptical than planned and with the wrong orbital
inclination, presumably due to a problem with the second Fregat burn.
The burn appears to have had the correct 1400 m/s magnitude but with an
attitude error of 145 degrees (with an uncertainty of at least 10 deg
since my guess at the pre-burn orbit parameters is speculative). Reports
on the Novosti Kosmonavitiki forum and on russianspaceweb.com indicate
that attitude control thrusters may have failed during the coast,
leaving Fregat pointing the wrong way at second main engine ignition.
For some reason its onboard computers did not sense the incorrect attitude.
The FOC satellites have a mass of 733 kg full 660 kg dry and are built
by OHB (Bremen) with navigation payloads by SSTL (Guildford) and a
propulsion system from Moog ISP (Niagara Falls) with eight 1N MONARC-1
hydrazine thrusters. (Moog ISP is the former Bell Aerospace, which built
the Agena engine). The earlier IOV test satellites were partly owned by
ESA, but the FOC satellites are owned by the European Union's GSA
(Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency), based in Prague. The FOC
satellites carry two rubidium and two hydrogen maser atomic clocks and
broadcast on L-band; they also carry the MEOSAR search and rescue
transponder payload.
Satellite FM01 is also called GalileoSat-5, GSAT-0201, and Doresa; it was to be in plane C2.
Satellite FM02 is also called GalileoSat-6, GSAT-0202, and Milena; it was to be in plane C7.
I estimate that the satellites have around 240 m/s delta-V capacity each, compared
to perhaps 600 to 1000 m/s needed to fully correct the orbits. By the rules laid out in previous JSRs,
I am scoring this Soyuz launch with a success weight of 40 percent for statistical
purposes (reached orbit but not the right one).
OCO-2
-----
The OCO-2 satellite raised its orbit from 690 km to its operational height of 700 km by Aug 3.
Foton-M
--------
Foton-M No. 4 landed in the Orenburg district on Sep 1 at 0918 UTC.
The geckos carried as part of the payload, however, were found to have died.
Kobalt'-M
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Russia's Kobal't-M No. 564 spy satellite, possibly codenamed Kosmos-2493
or Kosmos-2495 depending on which Russian statements you believe, landed
at around 1828 UTC on Sep 2 after 119 days in space.
CX1-04
------
A Chinese launch on Sep 4 put two small communications satellites in a
778 x 809 km x 98.5 deg, 0630 LTDN sun-synchronous orbit. The satellites
are Chuangxin-1 satellite 04 from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, for
message data relay, and Ling Qiao Tongxin Shiyan Weixing (Smart
Communications Test Satellite), a joint venture of Tsinghua University
and Xinwei Telecom for tests of multimedia data transmission. The CX-1
satellite is around 90 kg and the Ling Qiao is 135 kg. The CZ-2D second
stage lowered its orbit to 254 x 835 km after deploying the satellites.
LVDB
----
The launch vehicle database at http://planet4589.org/space/lvdb/index.html has been updated.
Table of Recent (orbital) Launches
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Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL.
Jul 2 0956 OCO-2 Delta 7320 Vandenberg SLC2W Science 35A
Jul 3 1243 Gonets-M No. 18 ) Rokot Plesetsk LC133/4 Comms 36A
Gonets-M No. 19 ) Comms 36B
Gonets-M No. 20 ) Comms 36C
Jul 8 1558 Meteor-M No. 2 ) Soyuz-2-1B/Fregat Baykonur LC31 Weather 37A
Relek ) Space sci 37B
TDS-1 ) Tech 37H
SkySat-2 ) Imaging 37D
DX-1 ) Tech 37C
AISSAT-2 ) Comms AIS 37G
UKube-1 ) Tech 37F
Jul 10 1855 O3b No. 3 ) Soyuz ST-B/Fregat CSG ELS Comms 38D
O3b No. 6 ) Comms 38C
O3b No. 7 ) Comms 38B
O3b No. 8 ) Comms 38A
Jul 13 1652 SS Janice Voss Antares 120 Wallops MARS LA0 Cargo 39A
Jul 14 1515 Orbcomm OG2-3 ) Falcon 9 v1.1 Canaveral SLC40 Comms 40F
Orbcomm OG2-4 ) Comms 40E
Orbcomm OG2-6 ) Comms 40C
Orbcomm OG2-7 ) Comms 40B
Orbcomm OG2-9 ) Comms 40A
Orbcomm OG2-11 ) Comms 40D
Jul 18 2050 Foton-M No. 4 Soyuz-2-1A Baykonur LC31 Micrograv 41A
Jul 23 2144 Progress M-24M Soyuz-U Baykonur LC1 Cargo 42A
Jul 28 2328 GSSAP-1 ) Delta 4M+(4,2) Canaveral SLC37B Tracking 43A
GSSAP-2 ) Tracking 43B
ANGELS ) Tracking 43C
Jul 29 2347 Georges Lemaitre Ariane 5ES Kourou ELA3 Cargo 44A
Aug 2 0323 GPS 68 Atlas V 401 Canaveral SLC41 Navigation 45A
Aug 5 0800 Asiasat 8 Falcon 9 v1.1 Canaveral SLC40 Comms 46A
Aug 9 0545 Yaogan 20 Sat 1 ) Chang Zheng 4C Jiuquan Sigint 47A
Yaogan 20 Sat 2 ) Sigint 47B
Yaogan 20 Sat 3 ) Sigint 47C
Aug 13 1830 WorldView-3 ) Atlas V 401 Vandenberg SLC3E Imaging 48A
Centaur AV-047 ) Rocket stage 48B
Aug 18 1423 Chasqui-1 ISS, LEO Tech 98-67ET
Aug 19 0315 GaoFen 2 ) Chang Zheng 4B Taiyuan Imaging 49A
Heweliusz ) Astronomy 49B
Aug 19 1825 Flock 1b-24 ) ISS, LEO Imaging 98-67EU
Flock 1b-23 ) Imaging 98-67EV
Aug 20 0226 Flock 1b-26 ) ISS, LEO Imaging 98-67EW
Flock 1b-25 ) Imaging 98-67EX
Aug 20 0950 Flock 1b-15 ) ISS, LEO Imaging 98-67EY
Flock 1b-16 ) Imaging 98-67EZ
Aug 21 1337 Flock 1b-1 ) ISS, LEO Imaging 98-67FA
Flock 1b-2 ) Imaging 98-67FB
Aug 22 1227 Galileo FOC FM01 ) Soyuz ST-B CSG ELS Navigation 50A
Galileo FOC FM02 ) Navigation 50B
Aug 23 1944 Flock 1b-7 ) ISS, LEO Imaging 98-67FC
Flock 1b-8 ) Imaging 98-67FD
Sep 4 0015 Chuangxin 1-04 ) Jiuquan Comms 51A?
Ling Qiao ) Comms 51B?
Sep 5 0929 Flock 1b-17 ) ISS, LEO Imaging 98-67FF
Flock 1b-18 ) Imaging 98-67FE
Suborbital missions
-------------------
Japan's JAXA agency launched an S-520 rocket on Aug 17 to study the sporadic E layer in the ionosphere.
Jeffrey Lewis draws my attention to a launch from Taiyuan, China on Aug 7 claimed to
be of a hypersonic glide reentry vehicle. Based on images from the impact
site of one of the stages, the launch appears to have used a large
liquid fuelled booster, possibly a modified CZ-2C. The launch may have been endoatmospheric
(by the definition I use, apogee less than 80 km), so it is not included in my table for now.
Another military hypersonic glide test failed on Aug 25, this time a US Army mission
on a converted Polaris missile launched from Kodiak, Alaska. The missile went off
course and was destroyed shortly after launch.
On Sep 1 Brazil tested its first liquid propulsion system, the 5 kN LOX/ethanol EPL L5,
as a second stage on a VS-30 sounding rocket.
Table of Recent (suborbital) Launches
----------------------------------
Date UT Payload/Flt Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission Apogee/km
Jul 9 1200 Dummy satellite Angara-1.2PP Plesetsk LC35/1 Test 188
Jul 12 1620 Hwasong 6 RV? Hwasong 6? Chiha? Test 100?
Jul 12 1620 Hwasong 6 RV? Hwasong 6? Chiha? Test 100?
Jul 22 1910 NASA 36.289US Black Brant IX White Sands Solar EUV 320
Jul 23 Target Unknown Jiuquan? Test? 100?
Jul 23 Interceptor Unknown Korla? Test? 100?
Aug 4 1400 S-310-43 S-310 Uchinoura Technology 117
Aug 17 1010 S-520-29 S-520 Uchinoura Ionosphere 243
Aug 23 1313 Shark? Terrier Lynx Wallops Target 150?
Aug 25 0825? AHW FT2 STARS IV Kodiak Hypersonic 1?
Aug 28 0900 NASA 36.308GT Black Brant IX Wallops I. Test/Aeron. 350?
Sep 1 EPL-ME VS-30/EPL Alcantara Test 130?
.-------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Jonathan McDowell | |
| Somerville MA 02143 | inter : planet4589 at gmail |
| USA | twitter: @planet4589 |
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