Boeing Satellite Orbited for DirectTV By Zenit-3SL From SeaLaunch Satellite Will Provide High-Definition TV Signals Covering United States
A 6.5-ton satellite for DirectTV made by The Boeing Co. [BA] was lofted into orbit by a Zenit-3SL rocket rising from the Sea Launch Odyssey launch platform in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
The satellite went into geosynchronous transfer orbit, heading for a final position at 99.2 degrees West longitude.
Boeing acquired a signal from the spacecraft at the Hartebeesthoek Tracking facility in South Africa, which Boeing reported means the satellite is healthy and operating normally.
The satellite, a Boeing 702, will provide high-definition TV programming and local channels to subscribers in the United States.
This adds to capacity formed by launching DirectTV10 last year. All told, DirectTV now will have capacity for 150 national high-def channels and 1,500 local channels.
It was the ninth satellite Boeing built for DirectTV, with the first one orbited in 1993.
DirectTV 11 is the second of three next-generation Boeing-built satellites to expand coverage.
Astrium, Krunichev, To Build Russian Communications Satellite For RSCC
The Khrunichev Space Center and Astrium will build an Express AM4 communications satellite for the Russian Satellite Communications Co., or RSCC.
That bird, the largest Express satellite so far, is to be delivered in late 2010 for launch into space where it will go to 80 degrees East.
The new sat will add to 11 others that RSCC currently operates in geostationary orbit.
It will be an Astrium Eurostar E3000 model that will be launched on a Proton rocket.
The bird will have 53 transponders including those using the L, C, Ku and Ka bands, with 10 antennae covering the Russian Federation and nearby nations.
Khrunichev Space and Astrium may get more satellite-building business from RSCC, stemming from production of this bird that will have a 15-year life.
SBIRS Passes Tests, Set For Launch Late Next Year
The Space-Based Infrared System that warns of enemy missile launches is passing tests to help keep the program on track for a launch late next year, Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT] said.
The geosynchronous orbit (GEO) satellite is moving through the tests, so that someday the system will be able to support missile defense, technical intelligence and battlespace characterization.
Pentagon leaders have said it is critical for the United States to gain greater space situational awareness, in the wake of China using a ground-based interceptor missile last year to demolish one of its own satellites, proving that it can take out U.S. military and commercial satellites at will.
As well, China painted a U.S military satellite with a laser to disable the bird.
The SBIRS test phase, known as Baseline Integrated System Test (BIST), is conducted at Lockheed Martin’s Space Systems facilities in Sunnyvale, Calif., to characterize the overall performance of the GEO-1 satellite and establish a performance baseline prior to entering environmental testing.
The first phase of BIST, which included the GEO-1 spacecraft in an expanded configuration, was completed Jan. 23. Following the successful test, the team assembled the satellite into the flight configuration, including the GEO-1 bus and payload and other critical subsystems. A comprehensive test of the integrated satellite is now underway.
Upon completion of BIST in May, the team will integrate the SBIRS solar arrays, deployable light shade, and thermal blankets and then prepare for acoustic and pyroshock testing where the integrated spacecraft will be subjected to the maximum sound and vibration levels expected during launch into orbit.
Prior to the start of environmental testing, the team also will conduct a major test to validate that the SBIRS ground components and the GEO satellite can work together during launch and on-orbit operation.
The first highly elliptical orbit (HEO) payload has demonstrated that its performance meets or exceeds specifications, according to Lockheed. The test team safely pushed system performance so that data collection and processing results exceeded government specifications in over 95 percent of cases. Payload sensitivity, initial report time, pointing accuracy, potential for supporting unplanned missions, efficiency and safety were all largely improved.
The SBIRS team is led by the Space Based Infrared Systems Wing at the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif.
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Sunnyvale, Calif., is the SBIRS prime contractor, with Northrop Grumman Corp. [NOC] unit Electronic Systems, Azusa, Calif., as the payload subcontractor. The Air Force Space Command operates the SBIRS system.
Lockheed is currently under contract to provide two HEO payloads and two GEO satellites, as well as the ground-based assets to receive and process the infrared data.
Giove-B Satellite For European Galileo GPS System Set For April 27 Launch; Satellite To Lift Off On A Soyuz April 27 From Baikonur Cosmodrome
The Giove-B European navigation satellite, part of the future Galileo constellation, arrived at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a giant Antonov AN-124 cargo plane.
That satellite will be launched on a Soyuz shuttle rocket April 27.
The satellite now is undergoing checkout, and the Soyuz launch vehicle is advancing through the integration process.
Giove-B was delivered to Baikonur March 13 along with its ground support equipment.
The satellite and associated equipment were then transported about 9.3 miles to the clean room at the Starsem Payload Processing Facility, using the Cosmodrome internal rail system.
After being unloaded from its protective shipping container, the satellite was powered up and linked to the ground support equipment for checkout.
Also at the Cosmodrome, pneumatic testing for the Soyuz propulsion system has been performed, followed by the integration of the four Soyuz first stage boosters with its central core.
GIOVE-B is the second in-orbit validation spacecraft for Galileo.
It is designed to test novel, key technologies for the Galileo network, including the triple-channel transmission of navigation signals.
The satellite carries a high-precision passive master clock, which Starsem stated is the most accurate clock ever flown in space, and the spacecraft will be able to transmit MBOC (multiplexed binary offset carrier) signals in accordance with a recent agreement for European/U.S. space-based navigation systems.
The satellite will have a liftoff mass of 1,168 pounds (530 kg), and was built by an industrial consortium headed by Astrium GmbH (Germany) as satellite prime, and Thales Alenia Space (Italy) as subcontractor for satellite assembly, integration and test.
Giove-A was launched in December 2005. During its more than two years in orbit, its signals have been received around the world, allowing for testing and calibration of the satellite’s navigation data broadcasts.
Launch Schedule
2008
Date: March 11
Mission: STS-123
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Endeavour
Launched: 2:28 a.m. EDT
Landing: March 26 – 7:04 p.m. EDT
Description: The crew of space shuttle Endeavour has delivered the Japanese Kibo module and the Canadian two-armed robotics system, Dextre on the twenty-fifth mission to the International Space Station.
Date: May 16
Mission: GLAST
Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta II
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station – Launch Complex 17 – Pad 17-B
Launch Window: 11:45 a.m. to 1:40 p.m. EDT
Description: An heir to its successful predecessor — the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory — the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope will have the ability to detect gamma rays in a range of energies from thousands to hundreds of billions of times more energetic than the light visible to the human eye. Radiation of such magnitude can only be generated under the most extreme conditions, thus GLAST will focus on studying the most energetic objects and phenomena in the universe.
Date: May 25 +
Mission: STS-124
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Discovery
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center – Launch Pad 39A
Launch Time: 7:26 p.m. EDT
Description: Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-124 will transport the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module – Pressurized Module (JEM-PM) and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System (JEM-RMS) to the International Space Station.
Date: June 15
Mission: OSTM
Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta II
Launch Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base – Launch Pad SLC-2
Launch Time: 4:47 a.m. EDT/1:47 a.m. PDT
Description: The Ocean Surface Topography Mission on the Jason-2 satellite will be a follow-on to the Jason mission.
Date: July 15
Mission: IBEX
Launch Vehicle: Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL Rocket
Launch Site: Reagan Test Site, Kwajalein Atoll
Description: IBEX’s science objective is to discover the global interaction between the solar wind and the interstellar medium and will achieve this objective by taking a set of global energetic neutral atom images that will answer four fundamental science questions.
Date: Aug. 8 *
Mission: GOES-O
Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta IV
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station – Launch Complex 17
Description: NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are actively engaged in a cooperative program, the multimission Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite series N-P. This series will be a vital contributor to weather, solar and space operations, and science.
Date: Aug. 28 +
Mission: STS-125
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Atlantis
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center – Launch Pad 39A
Launch Time: 8:24 a.m. EDT
Description: Space Shuttle Atlantis will fly seven astronauts into space for the fifth and final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. During the 11-day flight, the crew will repair and improve the observatory’s capabilities through 2013.
Date: Sept. 14 +
Mission: TacSat-3
Launch Vehicle: Orbital Sciences Minotaur Rocket
Launch Site: Wallops Flight Facility – Goddard Space Flight Center
Description: NASA will support the Air Force launch of the TacSat-3 satellite, managed by the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Vehicles Directorate. TacSat-3 will demonstrate the capability to furnish real-time data to the combatant commander. NASA Ames will fly a microsat and NASA Wallops will fly the CubeSats on this flight in addition to providing the launch range.
Date: Oct. 16 +
Mission: STS-126
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Endeavour
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center – Launch Pad 39A
Description: Space Shuttle Endeavour launching on assembly flight ULF2, will deliver a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module to the International Space Station.
Date: Oct. 28
Mission: LRO/LCROSS
Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Atlas V
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station – Launch Complex 41
Description: The mission objectives of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite are to advance the Vision for Space Exploration by confirming the presence or absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at either the Moon’s North or South Pole.
Date: Dec. 1 *
Mission: SDO
Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Atlas V
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station – Launch Complex 41
Description: The first Space Weather Research Network mission in the Living With a Star (LWS) Program of NASA.
Date: Dec. 4 +
Mission: STS-119
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Discovery
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center – Launch Pad 39A
Description: Space Shuttle Discovery launching on assembly flight 15A, will deliver the fourth starboard truss segment to the International Space Station.
Date: Dec. 15
Mission: OCO
Launch Vehicle: Orbital Sciences Taurus Rocket
Launch Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base – Launch Pad SLC 576-E
Description: The Orbiting Carbon Observatory is a new Earth orbiting mission sponsored by NASA’s Earth System Science Pathfinder Program.
2009
Date: Feb. 1
Mission: NOAA-N Prime
Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta II
Launch Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base – Launch Pad SLC-2
Description: NOAA-N Prime is the latest polar-orbiting satellite developed by NASA/Goddard Spaceflight Center for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA uses two satellites, a morning and afternoon satellite, to ensure every part of the Earth is observed at least twice every 12 hours. NOAA-N will collect information about Earth’s atmosphere and environment to improve weather prediction and climate research across the globe.
Date: Feb. 16
Mission: Kepler
Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta II
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station – Launch Complex 17 – Pad 17-B
Description: The Kepler Mission, a NASA Discovery mission, is specifically designed to survey our region of the Milky Way galaxy to detect and characterize hundreds of Earth- size and smaller planets in or near the habitable zone.
Date: March 1
Mission: Glory
Launch Vehicle: Orbital Sciences Taurus Rocket
Launch Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base – Launch Pad SLC 576-E
Description: The Glory Mission will help increase our understanding of the Earth’s energy balance by collecting data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon in the Earth’s atmosphere and how the Sun’s irradiance affects the Earth’s climate.