[JSR] Jonathan's Space Report, No. 742
Jonathan McDowell
jcm at planet4589.com
Sat Nov 25 00:24:15 EST 2017
Jonathan's Space Report
No. 742 2017 Nov 25 Somerville, MA
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Apologies for the increasing delay between issues (due to pressure of work).
International Space Station
---------------------------
Expedition 53 continues.
On Oct 10 Bresnik and Vande Hei made spacewalk EVA-45. They lubricated
the new Canadarm-2 LEE-A installed on the previous outing, and
replaced a camera group on the CP9 position on the P1 truss.
The airlock was depressurized at 1149 UTC and repressurized at 1822 UTC.
Progress MS-07 was launched on Oct 14 and docked with the Pirs module on
Oct 16 at 1104 UTC. It carried 1382 kg of dry cargo and 1167 kg of
propellant and other 'wet' cargo; this is a slight increase on earlier
missions. The cargo includes an antenna for an experiment called ICARUS
which is to be installed on a spacewalk.
On Oct 20 Bresnik and Acaba made spacewalk EVA-46. They carried out
various maintenance tasks including replacement/upgrade of external
camera equipment and removal of insulation on spare equipment (to allow
its future robotic installation). Acaba's SAFER backpack malfunctioned
at 1707 UTC; he returned to the airlock while Bresnik wrapped up
remaining tasks. The airlock was depressurized at about 1144 UTC and
repressurized at 1836 UTC.
On Oct 24 the NanoRacks KABER deployer was used for the first time.
KABER is used for 50 kg class satellites; it was extracted from the Kibo
airlock by the Canadarm-2/Dextre robot arm combo (in contrast to the
cubesat deployers which use the smaller JAXA JEM-RMS arm). The US Army's
Kestrel Eye II-M imaging satellite was ejected into orbit. KABER was
returned to the airlock and the SIMPL satellite, from the
infelicitously-named NovaWurks Inc., was attached to it. SIMPL was then
deployed on Oct 27. It is a test of the 'satlet' concept and was
assembled on board ISS on Oct 25 from a set of six smaller HiSat-PAC
units and two solar arrays, delivered to the station on Cygnus OA-4 in
2015. SIMPL also carries the QIKcom-1 US Naval Academy amateur radio payload.
On Nov 12 OrbitalATK launched the Cygnus OA-8 cargo mission, SS Gene Cernan,
on an Antares 230 from the Wallops MARS (Mid Atlantic Regional Spaceport).
The Cernan arrived at ISS on Nov 14. It carried the EcAMSat and TechEdSat-6
cubesats which were then loaded into the NRCSD-13 package launched previously.
NRCSD-13 was taken outside the Kibo airlock by the JEM RMS on Nov 20
and EcAMSat, ASTERIA and Dellingr were deployed, with TechEdSat-6 and
OSIRIS-3U following the next day. TechEdSat-6 will demonstrate semi-controlled
reentry with an exobrake.
ASTERIA is a JPL/MIT 6U cubesat with a 6-cm optical telescope
(actually a Zeiss camera lens and a CMOS detector); it will study exoplanets.
Congratulations to MIT's Sara Seager for getting ASTERIA to space!
The ASTERIA project replaced an earlier study for a 3U version called Exoplanetsat.
On Nov 4 the MBSU (main bus switching unit) that had been repaired
inside ISS was taken outside again via the Kibo airlock with the SPDM
Dextre robot arm and stored on the ESP-2 platform. Dextre was also used
to exchange the location of two spare units on the ISS on Nov 17. A
spare UTA was oved from ESP-2 to ELC-1, while the remaining spare robot
arm LEE was moved from ELC-1 to ESP-2; it will be swapped with the
active Canadarm-2 LEE-B in a spacewalk next year.
VRSS-2
------
The second Venezuelan Remote Sensing Satellite, VRSS-2, also named
Antonio Jose de Sucre (or just Sucre for short) was launched on Oct 9
into a sun-synchronous orbit in the 1030 local time plane by China for
ABAE, the Bolivaran Agency for Space Activities and MPPEUCT (Ministry of
People's Power for University Education, Science and Technology). The
satellite was built in China and uses the CAST-2000 bus; it has a mass
of 942 kg. It is named after the revolutionary general and president of
Bolivia ad Peru, Antonio Jose de Sucre (1795-8130). In Chinese it is
known as 'Venezeula Yaogan Weixing er hao'.
Iridium-3
----------
The third batch of Iridium-Next low orbit communications satellites
were placed in orbit by a SpaceX Falcon 9 on Oct 9. The first stage, B1041,
landed on the barge Just Read The Instructions off the coast of California.
Meanwhile Iridium has begun to deorbit the first generation Iridium satellites;
Iridium 8 reentered on Nov 24.
D-SAT
-----
The D-SAT cubesat from D-Orbit of Italy was launched in June to
demonstrate a solid motor deorbit system. The satellite was in a 496 x
508 km x 97.4 deg orbit. The motor was fired at 2018 UTC on Oct 2;
however a misalignment of the motor with the satellite centre of gravity
apparently caused the vehicle to tumble during the burn, and instead of
achieving an estimated 180 m/s retrograde to put it in a -117 x 507 km
deorbit path, the burn contributed 51 m/s posigrade and 40 m/s out of
plane, raising perigee 190 km and leaving D-SAT in a 506 x 686 km x 97.6
deg orbit, increasing its expected orbital lifetime.
SES-11
------
The SES-11 satellite was launched to geotransfer orbit by Falcon 9 on
Oct 11. The launch reused first stage B1031, which landed on the barge
Of Course I Still Love You off the coast of Florida.
SES-11 is owned by Luxembourg-based SES (possibly, technically, by
its UK subsidiary SES Satellite Leasing). Part of the payload is being
leased to Echostar which will market it as Echostar 105.
QZSS-4
------
The fourth Quasi Zenith Satellite System payload, Michibiki 4, was
launched on Oct 9 into inclined synchronous orbit to provide navigation
services for Japan.
Sentinel-5 Precursor
--------------------
The ESA Sentinel series for Earth environmental monitoring has another
member. Sentinel-5P is a dedicated satellite operating as a precursor
to the Sentinel-5 payloads slated to fly attached to future weather satellites.
The main instrument is the Tropomi spectrometer to study atmospheric
chemistry at high spatial and temporal resolution.
QUASAR
------
What is probably the 20th QUASAR data relay and communications satellite for the
US National Reconnaissance Office was launched to geostationary transfer
orbit on Oct 15. The satellite was named USA 279 and the launch was code-named NROL-52.
Kosmos-2521
-----------
Russia reported that the satellite-inspector completed a series of
proximity operations experiments and returned to the Kosmos-2519 host
satellite on Oct 26, in a 650 x 667 km orbit. Shortly afterwards a new
object (2017-037E, 42986) was cataloged in a 554 x 664 km orbit; its
nature is unknown.
Koreasat-5A
-----------
Koreasat-5A (Mugunghwa 5A ho) was launched by Falcon 9 on Oct 30. It is
a Thales Alenia Space/Cannes Spacebus 4000B2 with a launch mass of
around 3700 kg and a Ku-band communications/broadcasting payload for KT
Sat (formerly Korea Telecom).
Planet Express
--------------
On Oct 31 ten satellites for Planet were sent into sun-synchronous
orbit. Four were Dove cubesats forming the Flock-3m sub-constellation.
Six were 100-kg-class Skysat satellites; the Skybox/Terra Bella company
that developed the Skysat constellation was acquired by Planet in April.
The satellites were launched by Orbital's Minotaur-C rocket. This is
basically a rebranded Taurus XL rocket - the name change is apparently
at least partly because of embarrassment at the rocket's previous high
failure rate. Orbital reports that there are improvements to the Taurus
incorporated from the rest of the Minotaur fleet, including design
improvements to the fairing. The '-taur' in the Minotaur name comes from
the fact that the original Minotaur I was MINuteman+TAURrus, a Minuteman
first stage with Taurus/Pegasus upper stages, so the Minotaur and Taurus
lineages are closely coupled in any case.
Mohammed VI-A
-------------
Morocco's first spy satellite was launched on Nov 8. It is based on the
Pleiades/AstroSat-1000 bus used for France's comparable system.
JPSS-1
------
The first satellite in the Joint Polar Satellite System weather satellite program was
launched on Nov 18 by a Delta 2. JPSS-1, which has a similar design to
Suomi-NPP, will be called NOAA-20 when it enters operation. The Delta
second stage also deployed five cubesats.
Beidou-3
--------
Following five experimental Beidou-3 satellites, the first two operational
vehicles on the Beidou-3 constellation were launched into medium
(12-hour) orbit on Nov 5.
FY-3D
-----
China launched the Fengyun-3D polar orbit weather satellite on Nov 14.
The launch also orbited a small commercial imaging satellite for HEAD Aerospace of Beijing.
CZ-6
----
The second ChangZheng-6 was launched on Nov 21 to place three Jilin-1 Video satellites
into orbit for the Harbin based Chang Guang Satellite Technology Ltd. The CZ-6 is the
smallest of the CZ-5/6/7 new-generation CALT launch vehicle family.
YG-30-02
--------
The 2nd triplet YG-30 group was launched on Nov 24. The three satellites are believed
to perform signals intelligence for the Chinese military.
Table of Recent Orbital Launches
----------------------------------
Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL. Catalog Perigee Apogee Incl Notes
Sep 7 1400 X-37B OTV-5 Falcon 9 Kennedy LC39A Spaceplane 52A S42932 350?x 350?x 43?
Sep 11 1923 Amazonas 5 Proton-M/Briz-M Baykonur LC200/39 Comms 53A S42934 35785 x 35790 x 0.0 GEO 58.3W
Sep 12 2117 Soyuz MS-06 Soyuz-FG Baykonur LC1 Spaceship 54A S42937 192 x 240 x 51.6
Sep 22 0002 Kosmos-2522 Soyuz-2-1B/Fregat Plesetsk LC43-4 Nav 55A S42939 19130 x 19160 x 64.8
Sep 24 0549 USA 278 Atlas V 541 Vandenberg SLC3E Sigint 56A S42941 2100?x 37800?x 62.8
Sep 28 1852 Asiasat-9 Proton-M/Briz-M Baykonur LC200/39 Comms 57A S42942 35780 x 35792 x 0.1 GEO 121.6E
Sep 29 0421 YG-30 01 zu 01 xing ) Chang Zheng 2C Xichang Sigint 58A S42945 592 x 601 x 35.0
YG-30 01 zu 02 xing ) Sigint 58B S42946 592 x 601 x 35.0
YG-30 01 zu 03 xing ) Sigint 58C S42947 594 x 601 x 35.0
Sep 29 2156 BSAT-4a ) Ariane 5 ECA Kourou ELA3 Comms 59B S42951 35772 x 35801 x 0.0 GEO 103.8E
Intelsat-37e ) Comms 59A S42950 20673 x 35773 x 0.2
Oct 9 0413 Sucre Chang Zheng 2D Jiuquan Imaging 60A S42954 655 x 668 x 98.0 1030 LT SSO
Oct 9 1237 Iridium 133 ) Falcon 9 Vandenberg SLC4E Comms 61A S42955 612 x 626 x 86.6
Iridium 127 ) Comms 61B S42956 612 x 626 x 86.6
Iridium 122 ) Comms 61C S42957 612 x 626 x 86.6
Iridium 129 ) Comms 61D S42958 612 x 626 x 86.6
Iridium 119 ) Comms 61E S42959 612 x 626 x 86.6
Iridium 107 ) Comms 61F S42960 612 x 626 x 86.6
Iridium 132 ) Comms 61G S42961 612 x 626 x 86.6
Iridium 136 ) Comms 61H S42962 612 x 626 x 86.6
Iridium 139 ) Comms 61J S42963 612 x 626 x 86.6
Iridium 125 ) Comms 61K S42964 612 x 626 x 86.6
Oct 9 2201 Michibiki 4 H-2A 202 Tanegashima Nav 62A S42965 35889 x 36070 x 40.4
Oct 11 2253 SES-11 Falcon 9 Kennedy LC39A Comms 63A S42967 304 x 40500 x 27.8
Oct 13 0927 Sentinel-5P Rokot Plesetsk LC133 Rem.Sens. 64A S42968 808 x 847 x 98.7 1330 LT SSO
Oct 14 0846 Progress MS-07 Soyuz-2-1A Baykonur LC31 Cargo 65A S42971 185 x 219 x 51.6 Docked ISS
Oct 15 0728 USA 279 Atlas V 421 Canaveral SLC41 Comms 66A S42949 1096 x 35809 x 18.7
Oct 24 0945 Kestrel Eye II-M ISS, LEO Imaging 98067NE S42982 400 x 407 x 51.6
Oct 27 0915 SIMPL ISS, LEO Tech 98067NF S42983 400 x 407 x 51.6
Oct 30 1934 Koreasat-5A Falcon 9 Kennedy LC39A Comms 67A S42984 285 x 50185 x 22.0
Oct 31 2137 Skysat-8 ) Imaging 68F S42992 500 x 527 x 97.4
Skysat-9 ) Minotaur-C 3210 Vandenberg 576E Imaging 68E S42991 500 x 527 x 97.4
Skysat-10 ) Imaging 68D S42990 500 x 527 x 97.4
Skysat-11 ) Imaging 68C S42989 500 x 527 x 97.4
Skysat-12 ) Imaging 68B S42988 500 x 527 x 97.4
Skysat-13 ) Imaging 68A S42987 500 x 527 x 97.4
Flock 3m-1) Imaging 68G S42993 500 x 526 x 97.4
Flock 3m-2) Imaging 68H S42994 500 x 531 x 97.4
Flock 3m-3) Imaging 68J S42995 500 x 532 x 97.4
Flock 3m-4) Imaging 68K S42996 500 x 523 x 97.4
Nov 5 1145 Beidou DW 24 ) Chang Zheng 3B/YZ1 Xichang LC3 Comms 69A S43001 21485 x 21614 x 55.0
Beidou DW 25 ) Comms 69B S43002 21541 x 22194 x 55.0
Nov 8 0142 Mohammed VI-A Vega CSG ZLV Imaging 70A S43005 620 x 673 x 98.0
Nov 12 1219 SS Gene Cernan Antares 230 MARS LA0B Cargo 71A S43006 200 x 299 x 51.6
Nov 14 1835 FY-3D ) Chang Zheng 4C Taiyuan Weather 72A S43010 798 x 812 x 98.7
HEAD-1 ) Imaging 72B S43011 798 x 809 x 98.7
Nov 18 0947 NOAA-20/JPSS-1 ) Delta 7920-10C Vandenberg SLC2W Weather 73A S43013 817 x 820 x 98.7
EagleSat ) Tech 73 S43016? 455 x 818 x 98.7
MakerSat-0 ) Tech 73 S43017? 454 x 818 x 97.7
RadFxSat ) Tech 73 S43018? 454 x 818 x 97.7
Buccaneer-RMM ) Tech 73B S43014 460 x 819 x 97.7
MiRaTa ) Tech 73C S43015 455 x 818 x 97.7
Nov 20 0805 EcAMSat ISS, LEO Sci 98-67NG S43019 399 x 407 x 51.6
Nov 20 1225 ASTERIA ISS, LEO Ast 98-67NH S43020 401 x 405 x 51.6
Nov 20 1702 Dellingr ISS, LEO Sci 98-67NJ S43021 401 x 405 x 51.6
Nov 21 0450 Jilin-1 Shipin 4 ) Chang Zheng 6 Taiyuan Imaging 74A S43022 532 x 545 x 97.5
Jilin-1 Shipin 5 ) Imaging 74B S43023 532 x 545 x 97.5
Jilin-1 Shipin 6 ) Imaging 74C S43024 532 x 545 x 97.5
Nov 21 0825 TechEdSat-6 ISS, LEO Tech 98-67NJ S43026 398 x 406 x 51.6
Nov 21 1140 OSIRIS-3U ISS, LEO Sci 98-67NJ S43027 395 x 409 x 51.6
Nov 24 1810 Yaogan-30 02 zu 01 xing ) Chang Zheng 2C Xichang Sigint 75A S43028 590 x 604 x 35.0
Yaogan-30 02 zu 02 xing ) Sigint 75B S43029 590 x 604 x 35.0
Yaogan-30 02 zu 03 xing ) Sigint 75C S43030 590 x 604 x 35.0
Table of Recent Suborbital Launches
-----------------------------------
Date UT Payload/Flt Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission Apogee/km Target
Sep 12 RV x4? Yars Plesetsk Test 1000? Kura
Sep 14 2157 RV Hwasong 12 Pyongyang-Sunan, N.K. Test 770 Pacific Ocean
Sep 14 2330? RV Hyunmoo-2A? Goseung, S Korea? Test 100? Sea of Japan
Sep 17 PTV Janus Wake Island Target 300? Kwajalein
Sep 20 RV x4? Yars Plesetsk Test 1000? Kura
Sep 25 Aegis Target Terrier Oriole South Uist Target 100? Atlantic
Sep 26 1530? Topol-E RV Topol'-E Kapustin Yar Test 1000? Sary Shagan
Oct 15 Aegis Target Terrier Oriole South Uist Target 100? Atlantic
Oct 15 Aegis KV SM-3-IB DDG-75, Hebrides Range Interceptor 100? Atlantic
Oct 26 Topol' RV Topol' Plesetsk Test 1000? Kura
Oct 26 RV Sineva Sub, Barents Sea Test 1000? Kura
Oct 26 RV Volna? Sub, Sea of Okhotsk Test 1000? Chiza
Oct 26 RV Volna? Sub, Sea of Okhotsk Test 1000? Chiza
Oct 30 CPS FE-1 STARS Kauai LC42 Test 1000? Kwajalein
Oct 30 1000 DEUCE Black Brant IX White Sands UV Astron 250? White Sands
Nov 4 1707 RV/Warhead Burkan 2H Yemen? Weapon 150? Riyadh
.-------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Jonathan McDowell | |
| Somerville MA 02143 | inter : planet4589 at gmail |
| USA | twitter: @planet4589 |
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