[JSR] Jonathan's Space Report, No. 768
Jonathan McDowell
jcm at planet4589.com
Thu Aug 22 17:24:58 EDT 2019
Jonathan's Space Report
No. 768 2019 Aug 22 Somerville, MA
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Space Station
---------------------------
Expedition 60 continues.
On Aug 6, the Canadarm-2 unberthed the S.S. Roger Chaffee (Cygnus NG-11)
from the Unity module at 1330 UTC and released it into orbit at 1615
UTC.
On Aug 7 at 1300 UTC, cubesats Aerocube-10a and Aerocube-10b were
deployed from the Nanoracks NRCSD-E deployer on Cygnus. The satellites
are nicknamed JimSat and DougSat respectively.
Sometime probably on Aug 7 the Hypergiant
SEOPS/Spaceflight Inc Slingshot deployer was also used to deploy four
cubesats: RTFSat (3U), from Northwest Nazarene University, NARSScube-2
(1U) from Egypt, Quantum Radar 3 (3U) from Hypergiant, and the
DARPA/Hypergiant ORCA 6U cubesat to test an intersatellite radio link.
Unfortunately the deployment time has not been made public.
On Aug 19 the Dextre arm unberthed the IDA-3 docking adapter from Dragon
CRS-18's trunk. On Aug 21 at about 1100 UTC Dextre soft docked IDA-3 to
the PMA-3 docking port. Then, at 1219 UTC, the Quest airlock was
depressurised and astronauts Hague and Morgan began spacewalk ISS
EVA-55, with spacesuits 3006 and 3008 and SAFER backpack units 18 and 13
respectively. The hatch was open at 1226 UTC and the astronauts went to
battery power a minute later. They connected cables to IDA-3 and
activated it; IDA-3 was firmlymated to PMA3 between 1443 and 1500 UTC.
At 1614 UTC Dextre released the IDA and at 1641 UTC the astronauts
removed its thermal cover (which was stuffed in a bag and returned to
the airlock). Two `hemi reflectors' were installed and after some final
connections the astronauts returned to the Quest airlock, with hatch
close at 1855 UTC and repressurization at 1859 UTC.
The PMA-3 port with its APAS adapter was designed for Shuttle dockings;
the IDA-3 converts it to be suitable for Crew Dragon and Starliner dockings.
On Aug 22 Roskosmos launched Soyuz MS-14 on a Soyuz-2-1a rocket. This
was the first launch of the comnbination and tested the interaction of
the modern rocket's digital control system with the old-fashioned Soyuz
spaceship's abort system. Soyuz MS-14 was launched without a crew,
but a humanoid robot Skybot F-850 'Fyodor' takes up one of the seats.
Soyuz MS-14 also carries 658 kg of cargo for ISS.
Blagovest
----------
On Aug 5 Russia launched a Proton-M with the Blagovest No. 14L military communications
satellite. The Briz-M upper stage delivered it to geosynchronous orbit. On Aug 20
it was drifting west over the Indian Ocean.
Ariane
------
Arianespace flew an Ariane 5 on Aug 6 placing the EDRS-C and Intelsat
IS-39 comms satellites in geotransfer orbit. By Aug 20 both satellites
were in near-GEO drift orbits. EDRS-C (European Data Relay Satellite),
to be located at 31E, has a laser communications payload. It also
carries a secondary Ka-band payload, Hylas 3, for Avanti Communications.
IS-39 will replace Intelsat 901 over the Indian Ocean.
Amos 17
-------
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 on Aug 6. No attempt was made to recover the
B1047 first stage, which was on its third flight. The second stage
placed the AMOS 17 communications satellite in geotransfer orbit. AMOS
17 is a Boeing 702MP satellite for Israel's Spacecom. By Aug 19 it was
on station in GEO at 13.8E.
AEHF-5
------
ULA's Atlas V flight AV-083, using the powerful 551 model, was launched
on Aug 8. Centaur AV-083 made three burns to a high perigee GTO to drop
off the strategic US military communications satellite AEHF 5. After the
second burn, a 12U cubesat called TDO was ejected into geotransfer
orbit. TDO, for the USAF Space and Missile Command, tests satellite and
space debris tracking technologies.
By Aug 21, AEHF 5 was in a 24870 x 35300 km orbit.
Jielong-1
---------
The Changzheng Houjian YG (China Long March Rocket Co), a
commercialization subsidiary of the government CALT launch vehicle
manufacturer, carried out its first orbital launch on Aug 17. The
Jielong-1 (Smart Dragon 1) four-stage solid rocket put three satellites
in sun-synchronous orbit.
Qiancheng-1 01 xing is an imaging satellite for Qiancheng Exploration Tech Co (Beijing).
Xingshidai-5 is a test satellite for Guoxing Aerospace (Chengdu), using a Weina MN10 bus.
Tianqi-2 is a satellite for Guodian Gaokeji (Beijing) for IoT data relay.
Zhongxing-18
------------
The Zhongxing-18 (Chinasat-18) C/Ku/Ka-band communications sat, using
the enhanced DFH-4E bus, was launched by CZ-3B S/N Y58 on Aug 19 to
geotransfer orbit. However, it was announced that the payload was
malfunctioning following its separation from the upper stage.
Electron 8
----------
The 8th Rocket Lab Electron launch from New Zealand placed the BlackSky Global 4
imaging satellite in orbit together with three 6U cubesats: the signals
intelligence (spectrum monitoring) BRO-ONE for the Breton company Unseen
Labs and two Pearl White technology cubesats for USAF Space Command.
On this flight, the kick stage does not appear to have been cataloged
and may have been deorbited. Although RocketLab videos describing Electron
tout its ability to deorbit and not leave junk around, most and possibly
all of the previous Electron flights have actually left their kick stages up.
Flight Kick stage Current orbit
----------- ---------------- -----------------------
Electron 1 Failed to orbit -
Electron 2 43164 2018-010B 488 x 529 km x 82.9 deg
Electron 3 43692 2018-088C 495 x 516 km x 85.0 deg
Electron 4 43851/53? 2018-104C/F? Unclear (more unid track objects than missing payloads)
Electron 5 44074 2019-016B 410 x 428 km x 39.5 deg
Electron 6 44427 2019-026C 494 x 510 km x 40.0 deg
Electron 7 44365/68? 2019-037A/D? Unclear (more unid track objects than missing payloads)
Electron 8 Deorbited? Number of unid tracked objects same as number of payloads
GPS
---
The second GPS Block III satellite, nicknamed Magellan, was launched on
Aug 22 aboard a Delta 4 from Cape Canaveral. The Delta 4 second stage
deorbited itself south of South Africa at the end of its first orbit.
Chandrayaan-2
-------------
Chandrayaan-2 made its translunar injection burn at 2051 UTC Aug 13,
raising apogee to 408,000 km. Lunar orbit insertion occurred around 0330
UTC Aug 20 into a 114 x 18072 km x 87.8 deg orbit.
Table of Recent Orbital Launches
----------------------------------
Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL. Catalog Perigee Apogee Incl Notes
Jul 11 0153 FalconEye 1 Vega CSG ZLV Imaging F05 -6175? x 75?x 98.5?
Jul 12 1230 Spektr-RG Proton-M/DM-03 Baykonur LC81/24 Astronomy 40A 500 x1240000 x 51.6
Jul 20 1628 Soyuz MS-13 Soyuz-FG Baykonur LC1/5 Spaceship 41A S44437 200 x 211 x 51.6
Jul 22 0913 Chandrayaan 2 GSLV-3 Satish Dhawan Lunar 42A S44441 133 x 45171 x 21.4
Jul 25 0500 CAS-7B ) Shuang Quxian 1 Jiuquan Comms 43 S44443 280 x 299 x 42.7
Hangtian KKG Fazhang sat) Tech 43
Jul 25 2201 Dragon CRS-18 Falcon 9 Canaveral SLC40 Cargo 44A S44446 203 x 386 x 51.6
Jul 26 0357 Yaogan-30 05 zu 01 xing ) Chang Zheng 2C Xichang Sigint 45A S44449 590 x 605 x 35.0
Yaogan-30 05 zu 02 xing ) Sigint 45B S44450 590 x 605 x 35.0
Yaogan-30 05 zu 03 xing ) Sigint 45C S44451 590 x 605 x 35.0
Jul 30 0557 Meridian-M No. 18L Soyuz-2-1A/Fregat Plesetsk LC43/4 Comms 46A S44453 985 x 39734 x 62.8
Jul 31 1210 Progress MS-12 Soyuz-2-1A Baykonur LC31 Cargo 47A S44455 185 x 218 x 51.6
Aug 5 2156 Kosmos-2539 Proton/Briz-M Baykonur LC81/24 Comms 48A S44457 35673 x 35851 x 0.0
Aug 6 1930 EDRS C ) Ariane 5 ECA Kourou ELA3 Comms 49A S44475? 217 x 35528 x 4.5
Intelsat IS-39 ) Comms 49B S44476? 231 x 35801 x 4.5
Aug 6 2323 AMOS 17 Falcon 9 Canaveral SLC40 Comms 50A S44479 215 x 35733 x 26.0
Aug 6 or 7? RTFSat ) Chaffee, LEO Tech 22G S44417 470 x 485 x 51.6
Quantum Radar 3 ) Tech 22F S44416 470 x 485 x 51.6
NARSScube-2 ) Tech 22H S44418 470 x 485 x 51.6
ORCA ) Tech 22E S44415 470 x 485 x 51.6
Aug 7 1300 Aerocube-10a ) Chaffee, LEO Tech 22D S44485 471 x 485 x 51.7
Aerocube-10b ) Tech 22C S44484 469 x 481 x 51.7
Aug 8 1013 AEHF 5 ) Atlas V 551 Canaveral SLC41 Comms 51A S44481 14366 x 35286 x 10.0
TDO ) Sp.Surv. 51B S44482 207 x 35259 x 26.4
Aug 17 0411 Qiancheng-1 01 ) Jielong-1 Jiuquan Imaging 52A S44486 532 x 559 x 97.6
Xingshidai-5 ) Tech 52 S44487? 529 x 559 x 97.6
Tianqi-2 ) Comms 52 S44488? 529 x 560 x 97.6
Aug 19 1203 Zhongxing-18 Chang Zheng 3B Xichang Comms 53A S44493 228 x 35879 x 28.4
Aug 19 1212 BlackSky Global 4) Electron Mahia Imaging 54 S44496? 531 x 558 x 45.0
Pearl White 1 ) Tech 54 S44497? 531 x 558 x 45.0
Pearl White 2 ) Tech 54 S44498? 531 x 558 x 45.0
BRO-ONE ) Sigint 54 S44499? 531 x 558 x 45.0
Aug 22 0338 Soyuz MS-14 Soyuz-2-1a Baykonur LC31 Spaceship 55A S44504 194 x 226 x 51.6
Aug 22 1306 GPS III SV02 Delta 4M+(4,2) Canaveral SLC37B Navigation 56A S44506 1199 x 20177 x 55.0
Table of Recent Suborbital Launches
-----------------------------------
Date UT Payload/Flt Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission Apogee/km Target
Jul 15? MRBM Target eMRBM? C-17, Kauai? Target 300? Alaska
Jul 15? Arrow 3 KV Arrow 3 Kodiak Interceptor 100? Intercept MRBM
Jul 24 Shahab RV Shahab 3 Iran Test 250? Iran?
Jul 26 Topol-E RV Topol' Kapustin Yar Reentry test 1000? Sary Shagan
Jul 22? MRBM Target eMRBM? C-17, Kauai? Target 300? Alaska
Jul 22? Arrow 3 KV Arrow 3 Kodiak Interceptor 100? Intercept MRBM
Jul 27? MRBM Target eMRBM? C-17, Kauai? Target 300? Alaska
Jul 27? Arrow 3 KV Arrow 3 Kodiak Interceptor 100? Intercept MRBM
Aug 1? Warhead Burkan-3 Yemen Weapon 300? Dammam, S. Arabia
Aug 7 1510? RV DF-31/41? Taiyuan Test 1000? Xinjiang
Aug 11 0607 SISTINE Black Brant IX White Sands UV Astronomy 259 White Sands
Aug 12 0944 RockSat-X 9 Terrier Imp.Mal. Wallops Island Education 154 Atlantic
.-------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Jonathan McDowell | |
| Somerville MA 02143 | inter : planet4589 at gmail |
| USA | twitter: @planet4589 |
| |
| JSR: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html |
| Back issues: http://www.planet4589.org/space/jsr/back |
| Subscribe/unsub: http://www.planet4589.org/mailman/listinfo/jsr |
'-------------------------------------------------------------------------'
More information about the JSR
mailing list