Saturday, July 23, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
SAMPEX
1992-038A
The first SMEX was SAMPEX, the Solar and Anomalous Magnetospheric Particles Explorer. It carried a set of experiments from a team lead by the University of Maryland, and was built in-house at NASA-GSFC.
The 158 kg satellite was a box + 2 panels 0.86m in diameter and 1.5m long. It studied trapped radiation in the magnetosphere, solar flare composition, cosmic rays, and precipitating electrons.
LEICA is a high resolution mass spectrometer for low energy particles in an approximate range of 0.2-10 MeV/nucleon. MAST measures isotopic composition with a mass resolution of 0.3 amu in the 15-300 MeV/nucleon range; PET measures H and alpha in the same range and electrons in 0.4-30 MeV. HILT detects particles in the 10-200 MeV/nucleon range.
Launch was at 1419 on 1992 Jul 3 by Scout S215C from Space Launch Complex 5 at Vandenberg AFB into a 550 x 657 km x 82 deg orbit. SAMPEX was still operating in 1994. POCC was at GSFC with a Science Ops Center at Maryland. In 2010, SAMPEX was being operated by the Bowie State control center in Maryland.
| SAMPEX | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 Jul 3 | 1419 | Launch by Scout | SLC5 |
| T+1:24 Stage 1 burnout | |||
| T+1:28 St 1 sep | |||
| T+1:28 St 2 burn | |||
| T+2:09 St 2 burnout | |||
| T+2:20 Fairing sep | |||
| T+2:22 St 2 sep, St 3 burn | |||
| T+3:10 St 3 burnout | |||
| T+9:54 St 3 sep | |||
| 1429 | T+9:59 St 4 burn | ||
| 1429 | T+10:32 Stage 4 burnout | ||
| 1430 | T+11:36 Stage 4 sep | ||
| 1434 | T+14:56 SAMPEX Yo-yo despin | ||
| 1997 Oct | SAMPEX control to Bowie, MD | ||
| 2004 Jun 30 | end of sci ops | ||
| 2004 Dec 27 | Observed large X-ray flare | ||
| 2005 Jan 20 | Observed GLE event | ||
| 2005 Mar | Still operational | ||
| 2010 Aug | Still operational | ||
USA-223
2010-063A
Probable SIGINT launched by Delta IV Heavy as NROL-32.
| NROL-32 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 Nov 21 | 2258:00 | Launch by Delta IVH | SLC37B |
| T+0:50 CBC throttle down | |||
| T+1:23 Max Q | |||
| T+3:55 CBC strapon throtle down | |||
| T+4:03 CBC shutdown | |||
| T+4:06 Strapon CBC sep | |||
| T+5:33 MECO 78smi alt | |||
| T+5:41 Stage 1 sep | |||
| T+5:54 SES-1 158 km? | |||
| 2304? | T+6:57 Fairing sep | ||
| 2310? | T+12:55? SECO-1 | 200 x 1600? x 29? | |
| 2010 Nov 22 | |||
| 0013? | T+1:15? SES-2 | ||
| 0020? | T+1:22? SECO-2 | 1000? x 36300? x 26? | |
| 629.2 214 x 35678 x 26.5 (UN) | |||
| 0508? | T+6:10? SES-3 | ||
| 0511? | T+6:13? SECO-3 | 35870? x 35870? x 7.1 | |
| 0518? | T+6:20? Stage 2 sep | ||
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Galaxy 4R
2000-020A
HS-601HP satellite to replace Galaxy 4 at 99W. Distribute video and comms and broadband internet pipe. Galaxy 6, 7 and 11 will relocate.
Galaxy 4R developed XIPS engine problems in June 2003. It was retired in 2009.
Launch mass is 3668 kg, BOL 2216, dry mass 1895 kg. Size is 4.0 x 3.6 x 2.7m, 26m span.
| Galaxy IV-R | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 Apr 19 | 0029 | Launch by Ariane 42L V129 | CSG ELA2 |
| T+2:20 PAL sep | |||
| T+3:14 St 1 sep | |||
| T+3:17 St 2 burn | |||
| T+4:05 Fairing sep | |||
| T+5:26 St 2 sep | |||
| T+5:31 St 3 burn | |||
| 0047 | T+18:40 St 3 MECO | ||
| 0050 | T+20:48 St 3 sep | ||
| T+20:52 St 3 avoidance maneuver | |||
| T+22:37 end of V129 mission | |||
| 219 x 32007 x 7.0 | |||
| 2000 Apr 19 | 559.49 219 x 32007 x 7.0 | ||
| 2000 Apr 20? | LAM-1 | ||
| 2000 Apr 21 | 566.40 587 x 32009 x 7.0 | ||
| 2000 Apr 23? | LAM-2 | ||
| 2000 Apr 24 | 740.30 5683 x 35776 x 4.2 | ||
| 2000 Apr 25 | 1600? | LAM-3 | |
| 2000 Apr 27 | 1435.70 35765 x 35792 x 0.1 GEO 67.4W+0.05W | ||
| 2000 May 1 | GEO 67W | ||
| 2000 May 26 | 1436.09 35785 x 35787 x 0.0 GEO 73.0W | ||
| 2000 Jun | Move to 99W | ||
| 2000 Jun 25 | 1436.09 35785 x 35787 x 0.0 GEO 99.0W | ||
| 2000 Oct 18 | 1436.10 35785 x 35787 x 0.0 GEO 99.0W | ||
| 2003 Jul 3 | 1436.11 35773 x 35799 x 0.0 GEO 99.0W | ||
| 2006 Aug 4 | 1436.04 35780 x 35790 x 0.0 GEO 99.0W | ||
| 2006 Sep | Move to 77W | ||
| 2006 Oct 2 | 1436.06 35777 x 35794 x 0.1 GEO 76.8W | ||
| 2009 Mar 29 | 1436.11 35773 x 35799 x 2.5 GEO 76.9W | ||
Radarsat 1
1995-059A
The CSA's Radarsat was built by Spar Aerospace. The 4.2m long, 2.8m wide spacecraft bus, built by Ball and based on the RME satellite, carried a large solar array and a 15 x 1.5m C-band synthetic aperture radar. It had a mass of 2750 kg. The radar has a 500 km swath width and can be steered electronically, with a fine (8-m resolution) 50 x 50 km area mode and a scan (100 m resolution) 500 x 500 km mode. It is intended to image the Arctic region and Canada, and will also improve maps of the Antarctic. 15 percent of the observing time is allocated to the US in return for the launch. Radarsat is to be operated by the Canadian Space Agency from the Radarsat Control Center at St Hubert, Quebec. Radarsat was launched into a 6am/6pm sun-synchronous orbit for continuous solar array illumination.
In Sep 1997 the satellite was flipped in orientation (yaw) to begin the Antarctic-1 mapping mission, imaging to the left of the satellite track.
The MDA company operates Radarsat. The Dept. Foreign Affairs and the military DND does tasking for surveillance to MDA; commercial tasking is done directly by MDA, while civil tasking is sent to MDA by CSA.
Payload:
- C-band 1.5 x 15m SAR radar, 5.3 GHz
| Radarsat | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 Nov 4 | 1422 | Launch by Delta 7920-10 | V SLC2W |
| SRM 1-9 sep | |||
| 1426 | Stage 1 sep | ||
| 1426 | Delta stage 2 burn | ||
| 1427 | Type 10 fairing sep | ||
| 1432? | Delta stage 2 cutoff | 190? x 784 x 98.6 | |
| 1523? | Delta stage 2 MES2 | ||
| Delta stage 2 MECO2 | |||
| 1526 | Delta stage 2 sep | ||
| 1552 | Solar array deploy | ||
| 1615 | SAR begin deploy | ||
| 1995 Nov 4 | 100.57 783 x 787 x 98.6 | ||
| 1995 Nov 4 | 1540? | Delta SES-3 | |
| SECO-3 | 786 x 1462 x 98.6 | ||
| 1995 Nov 4 | 1608? | Delta SES-4 | |
| Delta/SURFSAT SECO-4 | 934 x 1494 x 100.64 | ||
| 1995 Nov 7 | 100.57 783 x 787x 98.6 | ||
| 1995 Nov 15 | Begin orbit adjust | ||
| 1995 Dec 16 | In operational orbit | ||
| 1995 Dec 16 | 100.70 791 x 792 x 98.6 | ||
| 1997 Sep 9 | Reorient satellite | ||
| 1997 Sep 11 | Begin Antarctic-1 mission (AMM) | ||
| 2002 Nov | safemode, AOCS problem | ||
| 2002 Dec 24 | Resume ops | ||
| 2011 Mar 31 | 100.70 791 x 792 x 98.6 | ||
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
GSAT-2
2003-018A
GSAT-2 launch mass was 1823 kg, 840 kg dry. Prop was MMH/MON-3. Size 2.4 x 1.6 x 1.5m with 9.6m span. Launch 2003 May by GSLV-D2 into GTO; LAM to GEO at 48E.
D2 had 10t of extra prop in stage 1, and improved strapon and stage 2 engines. Mass 414t at launch. The S139 first stage has four L40H strapons. GS2 is 11.6l 2.8d with 39.3t prop of UH25/N2O4 and 804 kN thrust. GS3 is cryo, 8.7l 2.9dia. The payload adapter was also made lighter, for a total gain of 485 kg; the lower-than-design Isp of the 12KRB represented a loss of 200 kg.
Launch from SDSC-SHAR (Satish Dhawan Space Center). Azimuth 104 deg.
The satellite carried SOXS, a solar X-ray spectrometer.
| GSAT 2 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 May 8 | 1128 | Launch by GSLV D2 | |
| T-4.8s L40H ignite | |||
| T+0:0 S139 ignite | |||
| T+1:47 S139 burnout | |||
| T+2:29 L40H burnout 69km | |||
| T+2:30? GS-2 MES | |||
| T+2:33? S139 sep | |||
| T+3:48? Fairing sep | |||
| T+4:46? GS-2 MECO | |||
| T+4:50 GS-2 sep 131 km | |||
| 1132 | T+4:50 GS-3 burn 11:45 5.4 km/s | ||
| 1144 | T+16:35? GS-3 MECO | ||
| 1144 | T+16:37 GS3 sep 198 km | 180 x 36000 | |
| 2003 May 9 | LAM-1 | 8850 x 36000 x 7.4 | |
| 2003 May 9 | 801.1 8826 x 35562 x 7.4 | ||
| 2003 May 10 | 0600 | LAM-2 41min | 1384.0 34000 x 36000 x 0.3 |
| 2003 May 11 | 0520 | LAM 79s | |
| 2003 May 11 | 1436.81 33601 x 37999 x 0.3 | ||
| 2003 May 12 | Solar array deploy | ||
| 2003 May 23 | 1436.13 35782 x 35791 x 0.0 GEO 48.0E | ||
| 2003 May 27 | 1436.11 35783 x 35790 x 0.0 GEO 48.0E | ||
| 2003 Dec 19 | 1436.15 35713 x 35861 x 0.1 GEO 48.0E | ||
| 2004 Feb 11 | 1436.08 35775 x 35797 x 0.0 GEO 48.0E | ||
| 2011 May 4 | 1436.00 35767 x 35802 x 0.4 GEO 48.1E | ||
Monday, July 18, 2011
SJ-11-03
2011-030A
The SJ shi yihao 03 xing (11-03) satellite was launched in Jul 2011.
| SJ11-3 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 Jul 6 | 0428:04 | Launch by CZ-2C | |
| 0438? | (T+10m) Stage 2 sep | ||
| 4 sep motor covers sep | |||
| 2011 Jul 6 | 98.71 690 x 703 x 98.2 | ||
IceSat
2003-002A
EOS Laser ALT-1, or ICESAT (Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite), launched to 705 x 705 x 94. ICESAT is built by Ball Aerospace/Boulder under an IDIQ contract with the BCP-2000 (Ball Commercial Platform) bus. ICESAT will study the Greenland and Antarctice ice sheets.
The 300 kg ICESAT is mounted on the RH-DPAF (Reduced Height Dual Payload Attach Fitting) containing CHIPSAT. RH-DPAF consists of an upper cone/cylinder and a lower cone.
The GLAS lidar instrument is a 1-m telescope with a ND-YAG 0.5 and 1 micron laser. ICESAT is 3.1m tall, 1.9m in dia, with two 2.1 x 2.3m solar panels for an approx 6.5m span.
The first of ICESAT's 3 lasers failed after only 36 days due to a solder contamination problem. A second laser was activated in Sep 2003.
| ICESAT | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 Jan 13 | 0045:00 | Launch by Delta 7320-10 | V SLC2W |
| T+1:04 SRM1-3 burnout | |||
| T+1:39 SRM 1-3 sep 32 km | -6350 x 35? | ||
| T+4:24 MECO | |||
| T+4:32 St 1 sep | |||
| T+4:37 SES-1 121 km 4.830 km/s | -4900 x 150? | ||
| T+4:57 Fairing 135 km 4.892 km/s | -4830 x 170 ? | ||
| 0056:05 | T+11:05 SECO-1 | 185 x 597 x 93.96 | |
| 0144:50 | T+59:50 SES-2 | ||
| 0144:58 | T+59:58 SECO-2 | ||
| 0149:00 | T+1:04:00 Icesat sep | 585 x 591 x 94.0 | |
| 0205:00 | T+1:20:00 RH DPAF sep | 559 x 585 x 94.0 | |
| 0208:20 | T+1:23:20 Chipsat sep | 559 x 585 x 94.0 | |
| T+1:26:40 Stage 2 retro | |||
| T+1:46:40 SES-3 evasive | 561 x 583 x 94.0 | ||
| T+1:46:45 SECO-3 | 498 x 585 x 94.84 | ||
| T+2:06:40 SES-4 depletion | |||
| T+2:07:16 SECO-4 depletion | 198 x 546 x 97.30 | ||
| 2003 Jan 13 | 96.40 578 x 593 x 94.0 | ||
| 2003 Jan 20 | 96.39 577 x 593 x 94.0 | ||
| 2003 Jan 23 | 96.40 578 x 593 x 94.0 | ||
| 2214 | orbit raise | 96.50 584 x 598 x 94.0 | |
| 2003 Jan 26 | orbit raise | 96.59 588 x 602 x 94.0 | |
| 2003 Feb 8 | 96.61 590 x 601 x 94.0 | ||
| 2003 Feb 20 | GLAS turned on | ||
| 2003 Mar 12 | 96.61 594 x 598 x 94.0 | ||
| 2003 Mar 28 | GLAS laser failed (1 of 3), science suspended | ||
| 2003 Jul 2 | 96.61 594 x 598 x 94.0 | ||
| 2003 Sep 25 | Laser 2 activated | ||
| 2009 Apr | End of primary mission? | ||
| 2009 Oct 11 | Laser 3 failed, end of science data | ||
| 2010 Feb 24 | Attempts to restart lasers abandoned | ||
| 2010 Feb 24 | Decommissioning phase | ||
| 2010 Jun 23 | 96.59 592 x 597 x 94.0 | ||
| 2010 Jun 24 | Lower orbit | 96.33 572 x 593 x 94.0 | |
| 2010 Jul 1 | 96.33 572 x 593 x 94.0 | ||
| 2010 Jul 7 | 95.65 509 x 591 x 94.0 | ||
| 2010 Jul 8 | Lower orbit | 94.32 410 x 561 x 94.1 | |
| 2010 Jul 12 | Lower orbit | 93.08 265 x 584 x 94.0 | |
| 2010 Jul 15 | Lower orbit | 92.38 200 x 581 x 94.0 | |
| 2010 Aug 12 | 90.81 192 x 436 x 94.0 | ||
| 2010 Aug 30 | 87.16 128 x 139 x 94.0 | ||
| 2010 Aug 30 | Reentered over Barents Sea | ||
Payload:
- GLAS Geoscience Laser altimeter System, GSFC