Thursday, April 5, 2012
Horizons 2
2007-063B
Horizons 2 Satellite LLC, a subsid of Horizons Satellite Holdings LLC, is a joint venture of JSAT and Intelsat (originally Panamsat), based in the US (incorporated in Delaware?).
Will replace SBS 6 at 74W; Orbital/Dulles Star 2. Launch by Ariane 5GS with medium fairing. RASCOM on an 1194H adapter on Sylda 5E, encapsulating Horizons on a 937VB5 adapter.
Mass 2304 kg launch, 1018 kg dry. 3.94 x 3.29 x 2.30m with 18.05m span.
In late 2011, Horizons 2 was moved to 85E to serve Intelsat's Russian customers.
| Horizons 2 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 Dec 21 | 2141:55 | Launch by Ariane 5GS L530 | CSG ELA3 |
| T+2:20 EAP sep | |||
| T+3:20 Fairing sep | |||
| 2151:37 | T+9:42 EPC MECO | 30 x 1730 x 7.3 | |
| 2151:43 | T+9:48 EPC sep | ||
| 2151:50 | T+9:55 EPS burn | ||
| 2208:25 | T+26:30 EPS MECO | ||
| 2210:25 | T+28:30 RASCOM sep | ||
| 2212:35 | T+30:40 Sylda 5 sep | ||
| 2214:25 | T+32:30 Horizons 2 sep | ||
| T+40:30 end of flight V180 | |||
| 2007 Dec 23 | 638.67 589 x 35786 x 5.5 | ||
| 2007 Dec 23 | LAM-1 | 7674 x 35938 x 2.6 | |
| 2007 Dec 26 | LAM-2 | 1210.97 26732 x 35779 x 0.5 | |
| 2007 Dec 27 | 1432.34 35650 x 35775 x 0.03 GEO 69.8W+0.9E/d | ||
| 2008 Jan 2 | mv in at 67.5W | ||
| 2008 Jan 5 | 1436.00 35778 x 35790 x 0.02 GEO 67.5W | ||
| 2008 Jan 17 | mv out | ||
| 2008 Feb 4 | 1437.58 35812 x 35818 x 0.0 GEO 74.1W+0.4W/d | ||
| 2008 Feb 9 | 1436.11 35785 x 35787 x 0.0 GEO 74.1W+0.01W/d | ||
| 2010 May 2 | 1436.11 35777 x 35796 x 0.0 GEO 74.0W | ||
| 2011 Dec 18 | 1436.08 35776 x 35796 x 0.0 GEO 74.0W | ||
| 2011 Dec 23 | move out | ||
| 2012 Jan 24 | 1418.29 35426 x 35448 x 0.3 GEO 75E+4.5E/d | ||
Monday, April 2, 2012
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Akari
2006-005A
ASTRO-F, the Infrared Imaging Surveyor (IRIS), has a 0.7m telescope cooled to do a 50-200 Mu m far infrared sky survey. It was named Akari ('light') after launch.
The spacecraft mass was 952 kg at launch. Its bus module supports cryostat and star trackers on a truss. The cryostat is 1.5m dia and 2.5m high, while the full satellite is 3.7m long, 1.8m dia, 5.7m span with 2 panels. The telescope has a SiC mirror, a focal plane cooled to 6K with FIR detectors cooled to 1.8K. The telescope beam was 21" at 60 microns.
Orbit 750 x 750 km x 97 deg.
The M-V-8 launch vehicle also carried CUTE-1.7 and a solar sail experiment 15.6m span, the Solar Sail Subpayload (SSP, soraseiru sabupeirodo). There were problems with the Sun sensor that delayed initial operations of Akari, and cover ejection was delayed to Apr 13. The ejectable telescope lid was 2.0m dia 0.4? high.
After initial checkout Akari began a sky scan which lasted 550 days and surveyed 94 percent of the celestial sphere. On 2007 Aug 26 the satellite used up its 170 liters of liquid helium and the 68-cm main telescope began to warm up from its 6-Kelvin operational temperature. In 2008 the Akari infrared observatory began a new phase of its mission. On the ground an international team began production of the source catalogs, which would supersede the 20-year-old IRAS point source catalog and serve as finding lists for new observatories like Herschel. Meanwhile, in space, Akari's shorter wavelength detectors were still operating well thanks to mechanical coolers which keep the focal plane at about 40 Kelvin. The Infrared Camera system developed by a team led by the University of Tokyo takes images in the traditional K, L and M bands as well as the MIR-S and MIR-L bands at 7-11 and 15-25 microns. Akari's other instrument system, the Far IR Surveyor, which was developed by Nagoya University, had four channels returning brightness and spectral information between 50 and 180 microns; it was retired after cryogen depletion.
| ASTRO F | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 Feb 21 | 2128:00 | Launch by M-V-8 | USC |
| T+1:15 St 1 sep, 50 km? | |||
| T+1:15 St 2 burn | |||
| T+2:31? St 2 burnout 150 km | |||
| T+3:06 Fairing sep | |||
| T+3:20 St 2 sep | |||
| T+3:22 St 3 nozzle extend, spring jettison | |||
| T+3:25 St 3 burn 225 km? | |||
| 2133 | T+5:09 St 3 burnout 305 km | ||
| T+5:57 180 deg pitch begins | |||
| T+7:02 Pitch complete | |||
| Spinup? | |||
| 2136 | T+8:39 St 3 sep | ||
| 2145 | T+17:20 CUTE-1.7 sep from St 3. | ||
| 2146 | T+18:20 Sail deploy from St 3 | ||
| T+1:50:00 Solar panels deployed | |||
| 94.82 301 x 781 x 98.2 | |||
| Orbit raise | |||
| 2006 Apr 13 | 0755 | Cover jettison | |
| 2007 Aug 26 | 0833 | LHe depleted | |
| 2011 May 24 | Power supply malfunction | ||
| 2011 Jun | Science ops ended | ||
| 2011 Nov 9 | 98.8 693 x 706 x 98.3 | ||
| 2011 Nov 11 | 97.71 596 x 701 x 98.3 | ||
| 2011 Nov 24 | 96.08 441 x 700 x 98.3 | ||
| 2011 Nov 24 | end of ops | ||
| 2012 Jan 17 | 96.05 439 x 698 x 98.3 | ||
Payload:
- 0.67m telescope
- Cryostat with 170 liters of LHe
- IRC IR cameras (3): NIR (K,L,M), 10 mu, 20 mu
- IRC/NIR 10' FOV, 1.5" pixels
- IRC/MIR-S, 256 x 256 Si:As at 7-11 mu
- IRC/MIR-L, 256 x 256 SiAs at 15-25 mu, 10' FOV, 2"/pix
- FIS, Far IR Surveyor, 50-200 mu.
- 60-micron channel, 30"/pixel, 20x2
- Wide-S channel, 50-100 mu for FTS
- Wide-L channel, 100-200 mu with FTS
- 170-micron channel, 50"/pix, 15x2
Monday, March 26, 2012
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Michibiki 1
2010-045A
QZS-1, Quasi Zenith Satellite System developed for Advanced Space Business Corp, a JAXA/industry consortium to provide enhanced nav and comm services in Japan, with GNSS augmentation service. ASBC shut down in 2007 and was replaced by a government non-profit foundation, SPAC.
Satellite orbit 35786 x 35786 x 45. TTC from Okinawa; sat over 135E.
QZSS in Japanese is Jun Ten Cho. Named 'Michibiki' ('guiding', 'showing the way'). Spacecraft derived from the ETS-8 bus. Mass 4100 kg wet, 1800 kg dry, box + 2 panels. Size 2.9 x 3.1 x 6.2m with 25.3m span.
Japan's first Quasi-Zenith Satellite System craft (Jun tenchou eisei shogou ki,
\uni{ 準天頂衛星システム}{ }
QZSS 1), was launched on Sep 11. QZSS 1 is named 'Michibiki' ('guiding light'). It carries an L-band navigation payload to augment GPS and a C-band payload for communications; the satellite's special inclined geosynchronous orbit will spend time directly overhead Japan, providing a better signal to receivers whose view of GEO satellites on the southern horizon is blocked by tall buildings. The satellite is 4100 kg wet, 1800 kg dry and was built by Mitsubishi Electric (MELCO) at Kamakura. The satellite is controlled by JAXA from a ground station on Okinawa. The H-IIA rocket put QZSS in a roughly 280 x 280 km x 31.8 deg parking orbit at 1129 UTC; after a second burn at 1141 UTC the satellite was deployed into a 280 x 35336 km x 31.8 deg path; the on board engine will circularize the trajectory and increase the inclination.| QZS | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 Sep 11 | 1117:00 | Launch by H2A 202 | TNSC |
| T+1:33 SRB burnout 45 km | |||
| T+1:47 SRB sep 54 km | |||
| T+4:18 PLF sep 150 km 2.6 km/s | |||
| T+6:42 MECO 228 km | |||
| 1123 | T+6:50 St 1 sep 223 km | ||
| 1123 | T+6:59 SEIG-1 236 km 5.2 km/s | ||
| 1129 | T+12:36 SECO1 288 km 7.7 km/s | 280 x 280? x 31.8 | |
| 1141 | T+24:43 SEIG-2 256 km 7.7 km/s | ||
| 1144 | T+27:36 SECO2 254 km 10.2 km/s | 280 x 35336 x 31.8 | |
| 1145 | T+28:27 St 2 sep, 275 km , 10.2 km/s | ||
| 2010 Sep 12 | 250 x 36150 x 31.9 | ||
| 0302 | AEF-1 67 min | 6785 x 35969 x 36.6 | |
| 2010 Sep 13 | |||
| 0426 | AEF-2 88 min | 1333.21 31528 x 35967 x 40.8 | |
| 2010 Sep 14 | |||
| 0321 | AEF-3 7 min | ||
| 2010 Sep 14 | 1442.80 35869 x 35965 x 41.0 | ||
| 2010 Sep 16 | 1521.70 35916 x 38975 x 41.0 | ||
| 2010 Sep 17 | 1422.22 32046 x 38982 x 41.0 | ||
| 2010 Sep 20 | 1422.69 32065 x 38982 x 41.0 | ||
| 2010 Sep 27 | 1436.04 32605 x 38964 x 41.0 | ||
| 2010 Oct 2 | 1436.08 32607 x 38964 x 41.0 GSO 120.7E | ||
Payload:
- L-band helical array antenna
- L1-SAIF antenna, QZSS L1 nav signal SBAS PRN 183
- Laser reflector
- C-band antenna
Friday, March 23, 2012
ROSAT
1990-049A
The ROSAT (Rontgensatellit) X-ray observatory, launched in Jun 1990, was similar to NASA's Einstein observatory but with improved spatial and spectral resolution. It carried nested X-ray mirrors which focused radiation onto a PSPC (Position Sensitive Proportional Counter, similar to the Einstein IPC) and an HRI (High Resolution Imager, supplied by the US team that built the similar instrument on Einstein). A separate but coaligned extreme ultraviolet telescope, the Wide Field Camera (WFC), was built by the UK Leicester University group. The mission was operated by MPE in Germany in collaboration with NASA and the UK. The first six months of the mission saw an all sky survey by the PSPC instrument. At the end of the survey, a power failure caused the spacecraft to lose attitude control and accidentally point at the Sun, which severely damaged the PSPC-C instrument then in the focal plane and degraded the WFC. Fortunately a backup PSPC and the HRI were available to support continued operations in the pointed phase, which was opened to astronomers across the world.
| ROSAT | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 Jun 1 | 2147:59 | Launch by Delta 6920 | CC LC17A |
| T+0:55 SRM 1-6 burnout | |||
| T+1:00 SRM 7-9 burn | |||
| T+1:02 SRM 1-6 sep | |||
| T+1:56 SRM 7-9 burnout | |||
| 2149:56 | T+2:02 Final 3 Castor sep | ||
| 2152:25 | T+4:24 Thor cutoff | ||
| 2152:30 | T+4:32 Thor sep | ||
| T+4:38 Delta burn | |||
| 2152 | T+4:43 Fairing sep | ||
| 2159:07 | T+11:09 SECO-1 299 km | 200? x 580? x 53 | |
| 2226:00 | T+38:02 Delta circ burn, 12s | ||
| 2226:12 | T+38:14 SECO-2 | ||
| 2231 | T+43:00 Delta sep | 577 x 584 x 53.0 | |
| 2226 | T+1:39:10 SES-3 evasive | ||
| T+1:39:15 SECO-3 | |||
| 2237 | T+1:50:10 SES-4 depletion | ||
| T+1:50:31 SECO-4 | 454 x 557 x 52.51 | ||
| 1991 Jan 25 | Power failure | ||
| 1991 Feb 10 | Pointed phase | ||
| 1991 May 13 | Y axis gyro failed | ||
| 1991 Aug 3 | Sky survey completion patch | ||
| 1991 Aug 13 | Completed sky survey | ||
| 1994 Jul | PSPC-B retired | ||
| 1998 Apr 28 | Star tracker failed | ||
| 1998 Sep 20 | Pointed at sun, HRI damaged | ||
| 1998 Oct 28 | end of ops | ||
| 1998 Dec 6 | PSPC observations | ||
| 1998 Dec 18 | PSPC observations ended | ||
| 1999 Feb 12 | Decommissioned | ||
| 2011 Oct 23 | 0150? | Reentered over Andaman Sea/China? | |
Payload:
- XRT 0.84m aperture Wolter I X-ray Telescope Zerodur/Au, 4 shells, f=2.4m
- WFC 0.58m aperture XUV Wide Field Camera, Ni-Al/Au mirrors f=0.52m 0.04-0.2 keV (60-300A)
- PSPC-C Position Sensitive Proportional Counter, 0.1-2.4 keV
- PSPC-B Position Sensitive Proportional Counter.
- HRI High Resolution Imager (SAO/Murray)
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Astra 1G
1997-076A
HS-601HP satellite, launch by ILS Proton. It is colocated with the other Astra 1 satellites. The second HS-601HP, it features GaAs solar cells with 7 kW power. In Mar 1998 it took over digital TV broadcast traffic from Astra 1F.
| Astra 1G | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 Dec 2 | 2310 | Launch by Proton 382-02/DM3 No. 2L | KB LC81 |
| 2312 | Stage 1 sep T+2:07 | ||
| 2315 | Stage 2 sep T+5:35 | ||
| 2315 | Fairing sep T+5:44 | ||
| 2315 | 8S812 burn T+5:40 | ||
| 2139 | 8S812 shutdown T+9:38 | ||
| 2319 | Stage 3 sep | 180? x 200? x 51.6 | |
| 2320 | T+10:44 PB (perekhodnikiy blok) sep | ||
| 1997 Dec 3 | 0026? | DM burn 1 | |
| MECO-1 | 200? x 36000? x 51.5? | ||
| 0530? | DM burn 2 | ||
| MECO-2 | |||
| 1997 Dec 3 | 0551 | T+6:41 Blok-DM sep | |
| 1997 Dec 3 | 841.70 10316 x 35972 x 12.4 | ||
| 1997 Dec 5 | 1400? | LAM-1 | |
| 1997 Dec 9 | 1399.32 34118 x 36008 x 0.3 | ||
| 1997 Dec 11 | 0700? | LAM-2 | |
| 1997 Dec 17 | 1436.13 35755 x 35818 x 0.0 GEO 24.6E+0.01W | ||
| 1997 Dec 30 | 1438.90 35014 x 36668 x 0.0 GEO 19.2E+0.7W | ||
| 1998 Feb 24 | 1436.12 35772 x 35802 x 0.0 GEO 19.2E | ||
| 1999 Oct 18 | 1436.02 35722 x 35848 x 0.0 GEO 19.2E | ||
| 2000 Jun 13 | 1436.06 35755 x 35816 x 0.1 GEO 19.2E | ||
| 2006 Oct 28 | 1436.16 35777 x 35797 x 0.1 GEO 19.2E | ||
| 2009 Mar 22 | 1436.11 35773 x 35800 x 0.0 GEO 19.2E | ||
Kosmos 2475
2011-064A
Three Glonass M launched by Proton-M with a Briz-M upper stage: Nos. 43, 44 and 45.
GLONASS 745 replaced 712 on 2011 Dec 8.
| Glonass-M | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 Nov 4 | 1251:41 | Launch by Proton-M | KB LC81 |
| T+2:07? Stage 1 sep | |||
| T+3:18? Fairing sep | |||
| T+5:38? Stage 2 sep | |||
| 1301 | T+9:40? Stage 3 MECO | ||
| 1301:25 | T+9:53? Stage 3 sep | -469 x 200 x 51.5 | |
| 1302:54 | Briz MES-1 248s | ||
| 1307:02 | Briz MECO-1 | 199 x 200 x 51.5 | |
| 1323:46 | MES-2 931s | ||
| 1339:18 | MECO-2 | 200? x 5000? x 52.5? | |
| 1538:55 | MES-3 886s | ||
| 1553:41 | MECO-3 | ||
| 1555? | DTB sep | 313 x 19107 x 52.53 | |
| 1829:30 | MES-4 641s | ||
| 1840:11 | MECO-4 | 19142 x 19204 x 64.8 | |
| 1841:22 | Briz sep | ||
Friday, March 16, 2012
Soyuz TMA-02M (Eridanus)
2011-023A
Crew: Sergey Volkov, Kdr (Ex28 FE); Mike Fossum, BI-2 (Ex28 FE, Ex29 CDR); Satoshi Furukawa, BI-1 (Ex28 FE).
Spacecraft 11F732A47 No. 702, launch on 11A511U-FG No. I15000-037, and flight ISS 27S. Mass 7102 kg (SA 2900, BO 1273, PAO 2929).
Late on Jun 8 there were some problems with the orientation thrusters, but the approach was carried out successfully.
| TMA2M | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 Jun 7 | 2012:45 | Launch by Soyuz FG | |
| 2021:30 | Blok I sep | ||
| 2011 Jun 8 | |||
| 0005:29 | DV1 16.5m/s 41.1s | ||
| 0044:28 | DV2 13.1m/s 33.0s | ||
| 2133:29 | DV3 1.4m/s 20.5s | ||
| 2011 Jun 9 | |||
| 1922 | DV4 | ||
| 1945s | DV | ||
| 2054 | 940m range | ||
| 2058 | Flyaround under way | ||
| 2106 | Complete flyaround, station at 200m | ||
| 2109 | Final approach 100m | ||
| 2117:53 | Docked with Rassvet | ||
| 2011 Jun 10 | 0034 | HO | |
| 2011 Nov 21 | 1940 | HC | |
| 2300:17 | Undocked from Rassvet | ||
| 2303 | Stationkeeping for RODK autopilot test at 50m | ||
| 2310? | Sep burn | ||
| 2011 Nov 22 | |||
| 0132:20 | Deorbit 4:16 115.2m/s | -14? x 407 x 51.6 | |
| 0136:37 | DO CO | ||
| 0159:12 | BO sep | ||
| 0159:14 | SA/PAO sep | ||
| 0202:04 | Entry | ||
| 0225:10 | Landed in Kazakstan 51 02 55.08N 67 11 03.5E | ||
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
DirecTV-12
2009-075A
Boeing 702 satellite for DirecTV. Mass 5900 kg. 3700 kg BOL. 8.0 x 3.3 m, 48.1m span.
| DTV12 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 Dec 29 | 0022:00 | Launch by Proton-M/Briz-M | KB LC200/39 |
| T+2:00 St 1 sep | |||
| T+5:26 St 2 sep | |||
| T+5:48 PLF sep | |||
| 0031 | T+9:36 St 3 sep | -386 x 173 x 47.97 | |
| 0033 | T+11:50 MES-1 | ||
| 0037 | T+15:51 MECO-1 | 133 x 273 x 48 | |
| 0127 | T+1:05:58 MES-2 | ||
| 0145 | T+1:23:15 MECO-2 | 245 x 5000 x 46.8 | |
| 0348 | T+3:26:35 MES-3 | ||
| 0400 | T+3:38:14 MECO-3 | ||
| 0401 | T+3:39:04 DTB sep | ||
| 0402 | T+3:40:31 MES-4 | ||
| 0408 | T+3:46:16 MECO-4 | 405 x 35816 x 45.6 | |
| 0913 | T+8:51:25 MES-5 | ||
| 0919 | T+8:57:43 MECO-5 | 5120 x 35786 x 20.7 | |
| 0932 | T+9:10:00 Briz-M sep | ||
| 1145:20 | SOZ-7 | ||
| 1145:35 | SOZ-7 CO | ||
| 2009 Dec 30 | 727.43 5089 x 35740 x 20.6 | ||
| 2010 Jan 5 | 982.27 11698 x 41010 x 9.7 | ||
| 2010 Jan 6 | 1189.36 20535 x 41078 x 3.5 | ||
| 2010 Jan 8 | 1356.23 27381 x 41035 x 0.8 | ||
| 2010 Jan 10 | 1705 | LAM | 1409.51 29492 x 41036 x 0.1 |
| 2010 Jan 15 | 1435.72 32651 x 38907 x 0.2 GEO 76.0W | ||
| 2010 Jan 26 | 1437.75 33894 x 37743 x 0.2 GEO 69.7W | ||