Sentinel-1B launch from Kourou

Science & Technology / Space 

Date

Mon, Apr 25 2016 5:40 PM ART — Mon, Apr 25 2016 10:30 PM ART

About

Following a 24-hour delay due to a technical anomaly observed during the countdown on 24 April, which has now been resolved, the launch of Soyuz flight VS14 carrying Sentinel-1B is now planned for Monday, 25 April, at 23:02 CEST/21:02 UT

  European Space Agency

CubeSat launch replay

Replay of the CubeSat launch coverage from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Three CubeSats took advantage of the Soyuz rocket carrying the Sentinel-1B satellite into orbit on 25 April 2016. These small satellites, each measuring just 10×10×11 cm, were developed by teams of university students through the ‘Fly Your Satellite!’ programme, run by ESA’s Education & Knowledge Management Office in close collaboration with European universities. The three CubeSats are: OUFTI-1 from the University of Liege, Belgium, e-st@r-II from the Polytechnic of Turin, Italy, and AAUSat-4 from Aalborg University, Denmark. The rocket also carried Microscope from the French space agency, CNES.

  European Space Agency

Sentinel-1B launch replay

Replay of the Sentinel-1B launch coverage from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The second satellite in the Sentinel-1 mission lifted off on a Soyuz rocket on 25 April 2016 at 21:02 GMT (23:02 CEST) to provide ‘radar vision’ of Earth for Europe’s environmental Copernicus monitoring programme. As well as liftoff and acquisition of the signal indicating that Sentinel-1B has been delivered into orbit safely, the coverage also includes talks by experts highlighting the goals and benefits of this second Sentinel-1 satellite. Sentinel-1B joins its identical twin, Sentinel-1A, in orbit to deliver information for numerous services, from monitoring ice in polar seas to tracking land subsidence, and for responding to disasters such as floods. The launch of Sentinel-1B also provided an opportunity to give other smaller satellites a ride into space: three CubeSats developed by university students through ESA’s ‘Fly Your Satellite!’ programme and Microscope from the French space agency, CNES.

  European Space Agency

Sentinel-1B lifts off

Sentinel-1B lifted off on a Soyuz rocket, flight VS14, from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on 25 April 2016 at 21:02 GMT (23:02 CEST). With the Sentinel-1 mission designed as a two-satellite constellation, Sentinel-1B will join its identical twin, Sentinel-1A, which was launched two years ago from Kourou. Both satellites carry an advanced radar that images Earth’s surface through cloud and rain regardless of whether it is day or night. By orbiting 180° apart, global coverage and data delivery are optimised for the environmental monitoring Copernicus programme. The mission provides radar imagery for a multitude of services and applications to improve everyday life and understand our changing planet. Three CubeSats piggybacked a ride on Soyuz. These small satellites, each measuring just 10×10×11 cm, have been developed by university student teams through ESA’s Fly Your Satellite! effort. The other passenger is the Microscope satellite from France’s CNES space agency

   European Space Agency

Sentinel-1B ready for orbit

After Sentinel-1A, last 3 April 2014, Sentinel 1B will be launched next 22 April on a Soyuz rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The Sentinels, a new fleet of ESA satellites, are poised to deliver the wealth of data and imagery that are central to Europe’s Copernicus programme. By offering a set of key information services for a broad range of applications, this global monitoring programme makes a step change in the way we manage our environment, understand and tackle the effects of climate change, and safeguard everyday lives. The first in the series, Sentinel-1 carries an advanced radar instrument to provide an all-weather, day and night supply of imagery of Earth’s surface. Sentinel-1 is the result of close collaboration between the ESA, the European Commission, industry, service providers and data users. Designed and built by a consortium of around 60 companies les by Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence and Space, it is an outstanding example of Europe’s technological excellence

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http://www.esa.int

Launch of Resurs-P #3 on Russian Soyuz 2-1B

Launch of Resurs-P #3 on Russian Soyuz 2-1B 

A Soyuz 2-1B rocket will launch the third Resurs P3 Earth observation satellite from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on March 13.

The Resurs series of Earth observation satellites are being used for collecting remote data for Russian civilian Earth observation agencies and foreign customers. The Resurs-P satellites are based on their military counterparts and deliver a similar image resolution.

https://ruptly.tv

Soyuz launch halted just before engine start

The launch of a Russian Earth observation satellite aboard a Soyuz rocket has been rescheduled for Sunday after a countdown Saturday stopped less than 20 seconds before liftoff.

The Russian space agency — Roscosmos — said the launch was reset for 1856 GMT (2:56 p.m. EDT) Sunday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with the Resurs P3 remote sensing satellite, the third in a series of civilian-operated high-resolution imaging spacecraft designed look down on Earth from orbit.

Russia’s Tass news agency reported the abort occurred before ignition of the RD-107A and RD-108A engines on the Soyuz rocket’s four strap-on boosters and core stage.

A live video of the Soyuz launch attempt showed two servicing masts pulling away from the rocket in the final minute of the countdown. Moments after the second mast retracted into launch position, a puff of vapor appeared at the base of the rocket, and the Soyuz resumed venting boil-off from its liquid oxygen tanks.

A brief statement issued by Roscosmos late Saturday said the last-minute abort will not affect other launches planned for March. The Baikonur Cosmodrome is in the midst of a busy week of launches, including Monday’s liftoff of a Proton rocket with Europe’s ExoMars orbiter and lander, followed by the March 18 launch of a Soyuz booster with a three-man crew for the International Space Station.

The Resurs P3 satellite is set to launch on the Soyuz-2.1b version of Russia’s venerable rocket, featuring a modernized digital avionics and an upgraded RD-0124 third stage engine, replacing the decades-old analog control system and RD-0110 engine used on earlier generations of the Soyuz.

The Soyuz-2.1b rocket topped with the Resurs P3 Earth observation satellite sits on the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Credit: Roscosmos

Built by TsSKB Progress of Samara, Russia, the 5,920-kilogram (13,051-pound) Resurs P3 spacecraft is set to begin a five-year mission in orbit 475 kilometers (295 miles) above Earth.

Russian government agencies responsible for agriculture, the environment, emergency situations, fisheries, meteorology and cartography will be consumers of data from Resurs P3, which will join two similar satellites — named Resurs P1 and Resurs P2 — launched in June 2013 and December 2014.

Data from the Resurs satellites aid in disaster response, help authorities update maps, track pollution, track ice in maritime shipping lanes, and detect fields of illegal drugs, according to TsSKB Progress.

Like its predecessors, Resurs P3 carries narrow and wide field of view cameras for close-up snapshots with a top resolution of about 1 meter, or 3.3 feet, and wide-angle images scanning a larger swath of Earth in one pass.

Roscosmos says hyperspectral imagery from Resurs P3 could help gauge the maturity of wheat fields, measure activity of micro-organisms in the water, and the salinity of soil.

http://spaceflightnow.com

PSLV poised to launch with Indian navigation satellite

Live webcast from India begins at 1000 GMT (5 a.m. EST)

An Indian navigation satellite is counting down to liftoff Thursday aboard a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, heading for a perch more than 22,000 miles over Africa to grow the country’s independent space-based positioning fleet.

The sixth spacecraft in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System is scheduled for launch at 1030 GMT (5:30 a.m. EST) Thursday from the Satish Dhawan Space Center, an island spaceport about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Chennai on India’s east coast.

The 44-meter (145-foot) PSLV XL, boosted by six enlarged strap-on solid rocket motors, will soar east from the launch base over the Bay of Bengal, surpassing the speed of sound in less than a minute on more than 2 million pounds of thrust.

The launcher will shed its six boosters in the first 92 seconds of the mission, then release its solid-fueled first stage just shy of the two-minute mark.

A Vikas second stage engine will ramp up to 180,000 pounds of thrust and consume 42 metric tons — more than 90,000 pounds — of toxic liquid hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide propellants in about two-and-a-half minutes, then the PSLV’s third stage solid rocket motor will ignite at an altitude of 135 kilometers (83 miles).

A twin-engine fourth stage is responsible for injecting the IRNSS 1F spacecraft into an elliptical “sub-geosynchronous transfer orbit” with an apogee, or high point, nearly 20,700 kilometers (nearly 13,000 miles) above Earth.

Controllers at the Indian Space Research Organization’s ground station in Hassan, India, will take over command of the 1,425-kilogram (3,141-pound) satellite soon after its deployment from the PSLV’s fourth stage at 1050 GMT (5:50 a.m. EST)

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The PSLV is moved to the Second Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Center ahead of the launch of IRNSS 1F. Credit: ISRO

Solar panels on the IRNSS 1F satellite should unfurl after Thursday’s launch to begin generating electricity.

Four firings of the IRNSS 1F satellite’s orbit adjust engine will steer the spacecraft into a circular geostationary-type orbit nearly more than 35,700 kilometers (about 22,300 miles) up.

IRNSS 1F’s destination is an orbital slot at 32.5 degrees east longitude over Africa, where its velocity will match the rate of Earth’s rotation.

The satellite is joining five other IRNSS platforms launched by India since 2013. A seventh IRNSS spacecraft is due for liftoff in April to finish the network.

India placed four of the satellites into geosynchronous orbits with ground tracks tilted to the equator, causing their orbits to oscillate between 28 degrees north an south latitude.

IRNSS 1F is the second satellite to be launched into geostationary orbits closer to the equator. Once in service, its orbital inclination will be 5 degrees.

The IRNSS 1G spacecraft in preparation for an April liftoff will be the third Indian navigation satellite in an equatorial orbit.

The IRNSS 1F spacecraft before encapsulation inside the PSLV’s payload fairing. Credit: ISRO

ISRO says the navigation system will provide positioning data to users with an accuracy of better than 20 meters — about 66 feet — over India and neighboring regions.

“With the operationalization of five spacecraft, proof-of-concept of an independent regional navigation satellite system over India has been demonstrated for the targeted position accuracy of better than 20 meters (66 feet) over 24 hours of the day,” ISRO officials wrote in an information kit for Thursday’s launch.

“With the launch and operationalization of IRNSS 1F, the sixth in the constellation, better position accuracy will be provided,” the ISRO press kit said.

Each IRNSS satellite designed for a 12-year lifetime and carries L-band and S-band navigation signal transmitters. A C-band transponder aboard each spacecraft helps generate location estimates for the satellites, and a rubidium atomic clock keeps time aboard each platform.

Retro-reflectors aboard the IRNSS spacecraft are also available for laser ranging, according to ISRO.

India is one of several space powers developing their own navigation systems.

Japan is working on a domestically-built regional satellite navigation network similar to India’s, and China is launching satellites for its Beidou system, which should provide global positioning reach by 2020.

Europe’s Galileo navigation program is also launching satellites regularly, also eyeing completion as a global navigation provider by 2020.

The U.S. military’s Global Positioning System and Russia’s Glonass fleet are the only two navigation constellations currently offering worldwide coverage.

http://spaceflightnow.com

Live video: SpaceX launch from Cape Canaveral with SES-9 satellite

Tue, Mar 1 2016 8:35 PM ART — Tue, Mar 1 2016 10:05 PM ART

About

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will deliver SES-9, a commercial communications satellite for SES, to a Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO). SES is a world-leading satellite operator that provides satellite-enabled communications services to broadcasters, Internet service providers, mobile and fixed network operators, and business and governmental organizations worldwide using its fleet of more than 50 geostationary satellites. SpaceX is targeting an evening launch of SES-9 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The approximately 90-minute launch window opens on February 25 at 6:46 pm ET. The satellite will be deployed approximately 31 minutes after liftoff.

 SpaceX

Launch update

Unfortunately upper-level winds continue to exceed acceptable limits and are expected to get worse as we approach tonight’s launch window, so we are forgoing today’s launch attempt. Winds are forecast to exceed acceptable limits through Thursday. Our team will continue working with the Air Force’s Launch Weather Officer to evaluate the best available opportunity for flight in the coming days.

http://livestream.com

SpaceX Falcon 9 launch scrubs for third time

 James Dean, FLORIDA TODAY

Computers automatically abort a Falcon 9 launch attempt at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016. SpaceX

A Falcon 9 rocket lit its engines Sunday night but failed to get off the pad as SpaceX scrubbed its third attempt in five days to launch a commercial communications satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

No new target date was immediately set, but the Eastern Range said a fourth attempt to launch the SES-9 satellite would not occur before Tuesday.

CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter that a low thrust alarm led computers to cut off the rocket’s nine Merlin 1D main engines about a second before it would have lifted off from Launch Complex 40.

That was caused in part, Musk said on Twitter, by the rocket sitting on the pad an extra 35 minutes longer than expected, after a boat wandered into its flight path.

“Hold, hold, hold!” an Eastern Range safety officer called shortly before a planned 6:46 p.m. liftoff.

No description of the boat was given, but Musk said helicopters were scrambled to clear it from the hazard area.

The launch time was pushed back to 7:21 p.m.

The wait caused liquid oxygen loaded into the rocket’s propellant tanks to heat up, and a “helium bubble triggered (the) alarm,” Musk said.

“The engineering team has a chance to determine what changes if any then need to make before we proceed into another launch countdown,” SpaceX engineer John Insprucker said during the company’s launch Webcast.

The mission's first two launch attempts, on Wednesday and Thursday, scrubbed after SpaceX said it was having trouble keeping the rocket’s liquid oxygen supply chilled to near its freezing point. It's a more dense form of the propellant used by an upgraded version of the Falcon 9 now trying to launch for the second time.

The liquid oxygen appeared to be behaving Sunday until after the boat entered the picture and delayed the liftoff

The nearly 12,000-pound SES-9 satellite, built by Boeing, is the heaviest yet that a Falcon 9 will try to boost to an orbit more than 22,000 miles over the equator.

After the launch, SpaceX has said it will try to land the first-stage booster on a ship stationed 400 miles down range, but that success is unlikely.

http://www.floridatoday.com

Launch of Russian Proton-M Rocket with Eutelsat 9B

A Russian Proton-M rocket has launched this evening from Baikonur in Kazakhstan at 22:20 UTC, January 29th 2016. The rocket carried the Eutelsat 9B communications satellite into orbit. Eutelsat 9B will provide television and communications for Europe, as well as host the EDRS-A payload for the European Space Agency. European Data Relay System (EDRS) is a planned constellation of GEO satellites to relay information between Earth and orbiting spacecraft.

http://eutelsat9b.imgondemand.com