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International Space Flight (ESA, Russia, China and others) => ESA Launchers - Ariane, Soyuz at CSG, Vega => Topic started by: gongora on 02/02/2017 04:12 pm
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Discussion thread for SES-14 satellite
Q1-2018 on Ariane 5
NOTE: after some time, this thread became updates only and discussion is now at
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=44833
Press Release: Airbus Defence and Space to build SES-14 satellite [Feb. 16, 2015] (https://airbusdefenceandspace.com/newsroom/news-and-features/airbus-defence-and-space-to-build-ses-14-satellite/)
Airbus Defence and Space, the world’s second largest space company, has been awarded a contract by SES, one of the world’s leading satellite operators, to design and develop SES- 14, a highly innovative telecommunications satellite.
SES-14 is the first high-power satellite in the 4-tonne class. It will be based on Airbus Defence and Space’s ultra-reliable Eurostar platform in its E3000e variant, which exclusively uses electric propulsion for orbit raising (EOR), taking advantage of the reduction in mass that this technology enables with an exceptionally large payload.
The satellite combining power and flexibility will have a double mission. The first will be a wide-beam payload of C and Ku-band, covering the Americas plus a link to Europe. The other payload, called High Throughput Satellite (HTS) with numerous user beams, will combine an on-board processor with multi-beam coverage of the Americas and the North Atlantic.
“SES once again demonstrates its responsiveness in a changing market, and we are pleased to be able to provide them with our very best technological innovation for both the payload and the platform,” said François Auque, Head of Space Systems. “On SES-14, as on SES- 12, the mass saving from electric propulsion enables us to combine two high-capacity missions, equivalent to two conventional satellites in one satellite”.
Martin Halliwell, Chief Technical Officer, SES, commented: “The procurement of SES-14, is a boost to our offer to customers in the Americas and further solidifies SES’s positioning in dynamic and demanding markets. The new spacecraft combines a large footprint with a powerful hybrid capacity offer and significant spacecraft technology innovations. It will help us to capture important growth potential, address the needs of video and enterprise customers and support the development of Next Generation Video and Next Generation Data services. Furthermore, it complements O3b’s high throughput satellite capacity in the medium earth orbit and helps us to deliver a truly unique and integrated offering”.
SES-14 will carry seven antennas. It will have a take-off weight of 4,200 kg and an electric power of 16 kW. The satellite is scheduled for launch in late 2017 and its electric propulsion system will enable it to reach geostationary orbit in four months, depending on the type of launcher used. Its nominal operational position will be 47.5/48 degrees West. It has been designed to remain in service in orbit for more than 15 years.
SES-14 is the 12th Eurostar satellite and the second all-electric satellite ordered by SES to Airbus Defence and Space. Nine of these satellites are in operational service and two are under construction.
SpaceNews: SES Books Falcon 9 Launches for Two Newly Ordered Satellites[Feb. 25, 2015] (http://spacenews.com/ses-books-falcon-9-launches-for-ses-14-and-ses-16-govsat/)
Satellite fleet operator SES on Feb. 25 said two of the three satellites it ordered the previous week will be launched aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets in 2017... SES-14 and SES-16/GovSat satellites would be launched on separate Falcon 9 vehicles.
SES-14, under construction by Airbus Defence and Space of Europe, is expected to weigh 4,200 kilograms at launch.
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SpaceX rival Arianespace of Europe did not bid on either launch because both satellites are too heavy to fit into the lower position of the Ariane 5 rocket given the heavier upper-berth passengers that Evry, France-based Arianespace has booked for 2017.
An SES official confirmed that Arianespace did not bid for either of the two contracts. Satellites in the 4,000-kilogram class have limited launch options in today’s market. The Russian-built Proton rocket, marketed commercially by International Launch Services, typically launches satellites weighing 5,000 kilograms or more.
Via Satellite: Panasonic Contracts for SES Capacity to Expand Satellite IFC [02-26-2016] (http://)
Panasonic Avionics has struck two major, multi-year, High Throughput Satellite (HTS) capacity agreements with SES to serve aeronautical and other markets across the Americas. Panasonic Avionics contracted for capacity on the SES 14 and SES 15 satellites, which are set to launch in September and October 2017, respectively.
SES Upcoming Launches (https://www.ses.com/our-network/launches)
SES-14 at SES.com (https://www.ses.com/network/satellites/369) / SES 14 on Gunter's Space Page (http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/ses-14.htm)
SES switches SpaceX and Arianespace launches to mitigate cost of satellite failure
by Peter B. de Selding | Aug 28, 2017
PARIS — Satellite fleet operator SES, which this year has suffered both predictable satellite-launch delays and unpredictable satellite failures, on Aug. 28 said it would move a satellite from launch-service provider SpaceX to Arianespace to minimize revenue losses.
As a result, the SES-14 satellite will launch aboard an Ariane 5 ECA rocket early in Q1 of next year rather than a less-clear Q1 launch date offered by SpaceX. SpaceX instead will launch the heavier SES-12 satellite, up to now slated for an Ariane 5, on a Falcon 9 vehicle in Q1 2018.
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https://www.spaceintelreport.com/ses-switches-spacex-arianespace-launches-mitigate-cost-satellite-failure/ (https://www.spaceintelreport.com/ses-switches-spacex-arianespace-launches-mitigate-cost-satellite-failure/)
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NASA GOLD (Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk) payload is flying on SES-14.
GOLD Home Page (http://www.gold-mission.org)
CU LASP: Quick Facts: Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) (http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/missions-projects/quick-facts-gold/)
CU-Boulder to receive $36 million from NASA for space weather mission [Apr. 12, 2013] (http://www.colorado.edu/today/2013/04/12/cu-boulder-receive-36-million-nasa-space-weather-mission)
The University of Colorado Boulder will receive roughly $36 million from NASA to build and operate a space instrument for a mission led by the University of Central Florida that will study Earth’s upper atmosphere to learn more about the disruptive effects of space weather.
The mission, known as the Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk, or GOLD, involves imaging Earth’s upper atmosphere from a geostationary orbit some 22,000 miles above the planet. The mission is expected to have a direct impact on the understanding of space weather like geomagnetic storms that alter the temperature and composition of Earth’s atmosphere, which can disrupt communication and navigation satellites, affecting everything from automobile GPS and cell phone coverage to television programming.
The GOLD mission, which is being led by research scientist Richard Eastes of the University of Central Florida, will launch aboard a commercial communications satellite as a “hosted” payload. Such payloads, which are secondary to the satellite’s main objective, represent the most cost-effective way to reach geostationary orbit, said CU-Boulder aerospace engineer Mark Lankton of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, the GOLD project manager.
“LASP is extremely pleased to be working on this mission with Richard Eastes at the University of Central Florida, who we have been collaborating with for seven years,” said Lankton. “This mission is one of the first to involve a science instrument being launched on a communication satellite, which is a terrific idea and exactly the right way to run a quality mission on a smaller budget.”
The LASP instrument, known as an imaging spectrograph, weighs roughly 60 pounds and is about 2 feet long and about 1 foot tall and 1 foot wide – roughly the size of a microwave oven. It will launch aboard a commercial satellite built by SES Government Solutions in McLean, Va. The LASP instrument will be gathering data on Earth’s upper atmosphere in the far ultraviolet portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.
“GOLD’s imaging represents a new paradigm for observing the boundary between Earth and space,” said Bill McClintock, the deputy principal investigator on the CU-Boulder spectrograph and a senior research scientist at LASP. “It will revolutionize our understanding of how the sun and the space environment affect our upper atmosphere.”
A geosynchronous orbit is an orbit that completes one revolution in the same amount of time it takes for the Earth to rotate once on its polar axis. “We will be able to view almost a complete hemisphere of the Earth, almost all the time, with this orbit,” said Lankton.
The mission scientists will be looking for the effects of space weather on the upper atmosphere -- the ionosphere and thermosphere located roughly 50 miles to 350 miles above Earth – caused by the sun and Earth’s lower atmosphere, said Lankton. “The giant driver is the sun, including geomagnetic storms that can cause bright auroras and the disruption of satellite communications,” he said.
Lankton said the science team also will investigate the effects that atmospheric waves and tides from Earth’s lower atmosphere have on the thermosphere-ionosphere system. The mission will make use of other instruments gathering data on the sun, including LASP’s $42 million Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment flying on NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.
Roughly 40 LASP researchers will be working on the GOLD mission when it is at full strength, including five to 10 students, split about evenly between undergraduates and graduates, said Lankton. Other participants in the GOLD mission include the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, the University of California, Berkeley, Computational Physics Inc. of Springfield, Va., and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The GOLD mission is part of NASA’s new Heliospheric Explorer Program designed to provide space observations to study Earth’s ionosphere and thermosphere. The mission is slated for launch in 2017. NASA Explorer missions of opportunity, such as GOLD, are capped at $55 million each.
Contact:
William McClintock, 303-492-8407
[email protected]
Mark Lankton, 303-492-7915
[email protected]
Jim Scott, CU-Boulder media relations, 303-492-3114
[email protected]
NASA mission one step closer to launching into space [Feb. 1, 2017] (http://gold.cs.ucf.edu/nasa-mission-one-step-closer-to-launching-into-space/)
The Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission, led by University of Central Florida (UCF) scientist Richard Eastes, is scheduled to launch in late 2017 from Florida. Earlier this month [January 4], the LASP-built instrument was shipped to Airbus Defence and Space in Toulouse, France, for integration on the SES-14 communications satellite, on which it will be launched into space.
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FCC Licensing
SAT-PPL-20160918-00093 SES DTH do Brasil Ltda
On February 9, 2017, the Satellite Division granted, with conditions, the request of SES DTH do Brasil Ltda to access the U.S. market to
provide fixed-satellite service, including direct-to-home services, using the proposed SES-14 space station to be licensed by Brazil at the
47.5° W.L. orbital location.
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[2017-05-17 CU-LASP] GOLD installed on commercial communications satellite (http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/blog/2017/05/17/gold-installed-on-commercial-communications-satellite/)
Marking a significant milestone in the lead up to launch, GOLD was integrated onto the SES-14 satellite in preparation for a series of environmental tests at Airbus Defence and Space in Toulouse, France. Airbus DS is building the SES-14 satellite for SES GS. GOLD is scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center in late 2017.
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As a hosted payload, GOLD receives electrical power from the spacecraft, which also routes commands—originating at LASP—to the instrument and downlinks its images through a dedicated transponder.
Picture caption: The Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) instrument is hoisted up and installed onto the SES-14 commercial communications satellite, which is being assembled at Airbus Defence and Space in Toulouse, France. The LASP-built instrument is now slated to proceed through a series of environmental tests prior to launch in late 2017. (Courtesy Airbus DS)
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SES Investor Day 2017 presentation had list of upcoming satellites with approximate launch dates. Looks like this has moved to Q1-2018. Page 95 of attached document.
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SES filing to FCC on June 6 (http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/ib/forms/reports/swr031b.hts?q_set=V_SITE_ANTENNA_FREQ.file_numberC/File+Number/%3D/SATMPL2017060600083&prepare=&column=V_SITE_ANTENNA_FREQ.file_numberC/File+Number):
Launch of SES-14 is currently scheduled to occur in the first quarter of 2018
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SES switches SpaceX and Arianespace launches to mitigate cost of satellite failure
by Peter B. de Selding | Aug 28, 2017
PARIS — Satellite fleet operator SES, which this year has suffered both predictable satellite-launch delays and unpredictable satellite failures, on Aug. 28 said it would move a satellite from launch-service provider SpaceX to Arianespace to minimize revenue losses.
As a result, the SES-14 satellite will launch aboard an Ariane 5 ECA rocket early in Q1 of next year rather than a less-clear Q1 launch date offered by SpaceX. SpaceX instead will launch the heavier SES-12 satellite, up to now slated for an Ariane 5, on a Falcon 9 vehicle in Q1 2018.
[...]
https://www.spaceintelreport.com/ses-switches-spacex-arianespace-launches-mitigate-cost-satellite-failure/
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Just for info, #VA241 will be L5101 with Al Yah 3 & SES-14
https://twitter.com/DutchSpace/status/913725899857649665
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Small update, #Ariane5 #VA241 planned for 24th of January 2018 with Al Yah 3 & SES-14
https://twitter.com/dutchspace/status/921406239598432266
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Co-payload Al Yah 3
Thread: Orbital Selected by Yahsat to Build Al Yah 3 Communications Satellite (http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=35613.0)
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http://www.csgpreparationlancement.com/ariane/ariane-5-vol-212-arrivee-du-navire-mn-colibri/
Launcher's components have arrived at French Guiana. Launch is scheduled for January 18th.
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http://www.csgpreparationlancement.com/ariane/ariane-5-vol-212-arrivee-du-navire-mn-colibri/ (http://www.csgpreparationlancement.com/ariane/ariane-5-vol-212-arrivee-du-navire-mn-colibri/)
Launch is scheduled for January 18th.
No, the quoted article says "fin janvier 18" which translates as "end January 2018"
This one : http://www.air-cosmos.com/le-satellite-ses-14-pret-au-depart-pour-la-guyane-103705 (http://www.air-cosmos.com/le-satellite-ses-14-pret-au-depart-pour-la-guyane-103705) says January 25 launch
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Al Yah 3 will be shipped to its French Guiana launch site this week, and launch is expected in early 2018. Learn more about the satellite: bit.ly/2Ab22Hh
https://twitter.com/orbitalatk/status/935272281147879425
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I wish we got sheets like this for every payload.
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Orbital ATK Delivers Al Yah 3 Commercial Communications Satellite to Launch Site
Company’s First Hybrid Electric Propulsion GEOStar-3 Satellite Scheduled for January Launch from Kourou, French Guiana
Dulles, Virginia 30 November 2017 – Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, today announced that the Al Yah 3 satellite has arrived at its launch site in Kourou, French Guiana, for its upcoming launch on an Arianespace rocket in January 2018. Al Yah 3, built for Al Yah Satellite Communications Company PrJSC (Yahsat), a leading global satellite operator, is the first hybrid electric propulsion GEOStar-3™ satellite to be completed by Orbital ATK. The satellite was built at the company’s satellite manufacturing facility in Dulles, Virginia, and shipped to the launch site on November 28. Al Yah 3 will extend Yahsat’s commercial Ka-band coverage to an additional 600 million users across Africa and Brazil.
Al Yah 3 is an all Ka-band high-throughput and light-weight satellite that sets a new standard for affordability and payload flexibility in its class. The spacecraft will provide affordable broadband communications to 60% of Africa’s population and more than 95% of Brazil’s population.
“Today’s delivery highlights the teamwork and cooperation between Orbital ATK and Yahsat that brings us one step closer to advancing our customer’s goals,” said Amer Khouri, Vice President of the Commercial Satellite Business at Orbital ATK. “With the satellite now in Kourou, we look forward to working with both Yahsat and Arianespace to prepare for a successful launch in January.”
“Al Yah 3 is a significant milestone in realizing our vision at Yahsat. Extending our affordable broadband services to 60% of the people in Africa and more than 95% in Brazil to bridge the digital divide and enable a more connected world is core to our strategy. We look forward to the successful launch of Al Yah 3 and thereafter furthering our ambitions via future missions to support more growth for YahClick, and for our other business lines such as commercial in-flight connectivity,” said Marcus Vilaca, Chief Technology Officer at Yahsat.
The GEOStar-3 platform is the newest, highest power and most advanced platform in the flight-proven GEOStar product line. The spacecraft bus features an increase in both battery capacity and solar array power, enabling the GEOStar-3 to provide up to 8 kilowatts of power to the payload. The hybrid electric propulsion system provides the benefits of higher power and greater payload capability while maintaining cost-effective launches and a faster path to orbit than all electric systems.
About Orbital ATK
Orbital ATK is a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies. The company designs, builds and delivers space, defense and aviation systems for customers around the world, both as a prime contractor and merchant supplier. Its main products include launch vehicles and related propulsion systems; missile products, subsystems and defense electronics; precision weapons, armament systems and ammunition; satellites and associated space components and services; and advanced aerospace structures. Headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, Orbital ATK employs approximately 13,000 people across the U.S. and in several international locations. For more information, visit www.orbitalatk.com.
About Yahsat
Yahsat is a leading global satellite operator, providing multipurpose satellite solutions for broadband, broadcast, government and communications use across the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Central and South West Asia. Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and wholly owned by Mubadala Investment Company, the investment vehicle of the Government of Abu Dhabi, Yahsat is the first company in the Middle East and Africa to offer Ka-band services including YahClick, Yahsat Government Solutions, YahLink and Yahlive via its Al Yah 1 and Al Yah 2 satellites. With the launch of Al Yah 3, Yahsat’s commercial Ka-band coverage will be extended to an additional 20 markets, reaching 60% of Africa’s population and over 95% of Brazil’s population. For more information, visit www.yahsat.ae.
https://www.orbitalatk.com/news-room/release.asp?prid=310 (https://www.orbitalatk.com/news-room/release.asp?prid=310)
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Activities are in motion for our first #Ariane5 launch of 2018: Al Yah 3, one of Flight #VA241’s two satellite passengers, arrived in French Guiana today via ✈️ @yahsatofficial @OrbitalATK
https://twitter.com/arianespaceceo/status/936259346262093847
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Orbital ATK ships tardy Al Yah 3 satellite for January launch (http://spacenews.com/orbital-atk-ships-tardy-al-yah-3-satellite-for-january-launch/)
The hybrid satellite, equipped with a chemical propulsion system to reach orbit and electric thrusters for station-keeping once in place, slipped almost a year past its initial completion date, a delay Orbital ATK attributed to Al Yah 3 being the first of its kind.
Al Yah 3 is Orbital ATK’s first satellite built on GEOStar-3, the company’s new platform for satellites needing more power than what Orbital ATK spacecraft typically provide. As a high-throughput satellite, Al Yah 3 is also more complicated than a traditional telecommunications satellite. Al Yah 3 has 53 Ka-band spot beams for broadband and connectivity services split between Africa and Brazil.
Amer Khouri, Orbital ATK’s vice president of commercial satellite business, told SpaceNews Nov. 30 that Al Yah 3, weighing some 3,500 kilograms, is “the largest and most complicated [satellite] we have ever built.”
Al Yah 3 is 11 months late, Khouri said, mainly because of the need to qualify new technology such as the larger power system and the new propulsion subsystem.
The delays also forced launch provider Arianespace to juggle its schedule, pushing one of seven Ariane 5 missions planned for 2017 out to next year.
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Keeping up the mission cadence: first Ariane 5 for launch in 2018 begins its integration process
The first Ariane 5 for liftoff in 2018 has begun its build-up process, kicking off preparations for another busy year of Arianespace launch activity from its French Guiana operational base.
This heavy-lift vehicle will be used for Flight VA241, which will deliver the Al Yah 3 spacecraft for Yahsat (the Al Yah Satellite Communications Company PrJSC), based in the United Arab Emirates at Abu Dhabi, along with another relay satellite.
The Arianespace mission’s designation signifies Ariane’s 241st flight since the European-built series of launch vehicles began operation in 1979.
Integration of the Ariane 5 is following well-established procedures at the Spaceport, with its cryogenic core stage positioned over one of two operational launch tables. This is being followed by the mating of two solid propellant boosters in the Spaceport’s Ariane 5 Launcher Integration Building – clearing the way for an initial vehicle “top-off” with installation of its combined cryogenic upper stage and equipment bay atop the core stage.
Al Yah 3: a hybrid electric propulsion satellite
Ariane 5 will then be made ready for transfer to the Spaceport’s Final Assembly Building, where it will receive the two satellite passengers.
Al Yah 3 was built by Orbital ATK at the U.S. company’s satellite manufacturing facility in Dulles, Virginia. It was shipped to the launch site on November 28.
This relay platform will extend the commercial Ka-band coverage for Yahsat to an additional 600 million users across Africa and Brazil.
Al Yah 3 is the first hybrid electric propulsion GEOStar-3™ satellite to be completed by Orbital ATK. The spacecraft’s hybrid electric propulsion system is designed to provide higher power and greater payload capability, while maintaining cost-effective launches and a faster path to orbit than all-electric systems.
http://www.arianespace.com/mission-update/first-ariane-5-2018/ (http://www.arianespace.com/mission-update/first-ariane-5-2018/)
Photo caption:
The cryogenic core stage for Flight VA241’s Ariane 5 is shown suspended over its mobile launch table in the Spaceport’s Launcher Integration Building (photo at left). In the image at right, one of two solid propellant boosters is transferred for its mating to the Ariane 5 core stage.
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All-electric @SES_Satellites -14 sat built by @AirbusSpace leaves Toulouse for Europe's S. America spaceport; Jan 25 @Arianespace Ariane 5 launch to 47.5degW. 4,400kg, 16kW, C- & Ku-, wide-beam & HTS + NASA's GOLD atmospheric science payload.
https://twitter.com/pbdes/status/944154706737319937 (https://twitter.com/pbdes/status/944154706737319937)
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.@Airbus-built #HTS SES-14 has arrived in French Guiana for a January launch by an @Arianespace 5 vehicle! The #satellite hosts @NASA's GOLD atmospheric science payload & will serve thriving #video, #maritime and #aeronautical markets across the Americas. http://bit.ly/2l0GzYD
https://twitter.com/SES_Satellites/status/944219653894819841 (https://twitter.com/SES_Satellites/status/944219653894819841)
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Ariane 5 December 22, 2017
Both satellites for Arianespace’s first launch of 2018 are in French Guiana
As another year of successful Arianespace launch activity draws to a close, both satellites for its first mission of 2018 are now in French Guiana – positioning them for liftoff January 25 from the Spaceport on a heavy-lift Ariane 5.
Arriving today was SES-14 for Luxembourg-based telecommunications satellite operator SES, which was flown into Félix Eboué Airport near the French Guiana capital city of Cayenne. Once it is transferred by road to the Spaceport, it will join the mission’s other payload: Al Yah 3 for Al Yah Satellite Communications Company PrJSC, located in the United Arab Emirates at Abu Dhabi.
The January 25 mission to geostationary transfer orbit is designated Flight VA241 in Arianespace’s launcher family numbering system, signifying the 241st flight of an Ariane series launch vehicle.
SES-14 will rely on electric propulsion and will be equipped with an electric plasma propulsion system for orbit raising and in-orbit maneuvers.
C- and Ku-band coverage with SES-14
To be positioned at 47.5 degrees West, SES-14 will serve Latin America, the Caribbean, North America and the North Atlantic region with its C- and Ku-band wide beam coverage as well as Ku-band high throughput spot beams coverage.
The relay platform’s C-band wide beams are designed to expand the reach of SES’s second cable neighborhood in Latin America, while its Ku-band high throughput spot beams will serve the dynamic aeronautical market and other traffic-intensive applications such as maritime, cellular backhaul or broadband services. Ku-band wide beams on the spacecraft also will serve growing direct-to-home and VSAT services in the Americas and the North Atlantic.
The spacecraft also has a NASA-funded hosted payload for the Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission, which is to deepen scientists’ understanding of the nearest reaches of space. GOLD will provide unprecedented imaging of the Earth’s upper atmosphere from geostationary orbit, and will be the first mission with a cadence fast enough to study the daily weather of the thermosphere-ionosphere rather than its long-term climate.
Al Yah 3 undergoes pre-launch processing at the Spaceport
With SES-14’s arrival in French Guiana, the satellite will join Flight VA241’s other passenger, Al Yah 3, which is undergoing pre-launch preparations in the Spaceport’s S5 payload processing facility.
Al Yah 3 is the first hybrid electric propulsion GEOStar-3 satellite to be completed by Orbital ATK. It was built at the U.S. company’s satellite manufacturing facility in Dulles, Virginia, and shipped to the launch site on November 28.
As an all Ka-band high-throughput and light-weight satellite, Al Yah 3 will provide affordable broadband communications to 60 percent of Africa’s population and more than 95 percent of Brazil’s population
http://www.arianespace.com/mission-update/payloads-for-first-2018-launch/ (http://www.arianespace.com/mission-update/payloads-for-first-2018-launch/)
Photo caption:
Al Yah 3 is shown during preparations in the Spaceport’s S5 payload processing facility.
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Why NASA Is Exploring The Edge Of Our Planet
NASA Goddard
Published on Jan 5, 2018
The Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk, or GOLD, instrument launches aboard a commercial communications satellite in January 2018 to provide the most comprehensive observations of the ionosphere we’ve ever had.
Above the ozone layer, the ionosphere is a part of Earth’s atmosphere where particles have been cooked into a sea of electrically-charged electrons and ions by the Sun’s radiation. The ionosphere is co-mingled with the very highest — and quite thin — layers of Earth’s neutral upper atmosphere, making this region an area that is constantly in flux undergoing the push-and-pull between Earth’s conditions and those in space. Increasingly, these layers of near-Earth space are part of the human domain, as it’s home not only to astronauts, but to radio signals used to guide airplanes and ships, and satellites that provide our communications and GPS systems. Understanding the fundamental processes that govern our upper atmosphere and ionosphere is crucial to improve situational awareness that helps protect astronauts, spacecraft and humans on the ground.
This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from the Scientific Visualization Studio at: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12817
Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Joy Ng
Music credits: ‘Faint Glimmer’ by Andrew John Skeet [PRS], Andrew Michael Britton [PRS], David Stephen Goldsmith [PRS], ‘Ocean Spirals’ by Andrew John Skeet [PRS], Andrew Michael Britton [PRS], David Stephen Goldsmith [PRS] from Killer Tracks.
https://youtu.be/aLMkB9jsgoo?t=001
https://youtu.be/aLMkB9jsgoo
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http://www.arianespace.com/mission-update/arianespace-mission-preparations/
Arianespace’s busy 2018 kicks into gear with key preparation milestones for the year’s first Ariane 5 and Soyuz missions
French Guiana’s Spaceport is busy with activity as preparations advance for Arianespace’s initial Ariane 5 and Soyuz missions of 2018, which will set the stage for up to 14 flights this year using its family of launchers.
The Ariane 5 mission – designated Flight VA241 in Arianespace’s numbering system – will deliver the SES-14 and Al Yah 3 satellites to geostationary transfer orbit on January 25.
Its heavy-lift vehicle (delivered by ArianeGroup as production prime contractor) currently is inside the Spaceport’s Final Assembly Building, having been transferred from the Launcher Integration Building atop a mobile launch table earlier in the week.
With Ariane 5 in position at the Final Assembly Building, the launcher is ready to receive its two satellite passengers, which have undergone their own pre-flight preparations inside the Spaceport’s S5 payload processing facility. The forthcoming integration activity will be followed by final verifications and subsequent rollout to the ELA-3 complex for liftoff.
Payload profiles for Flight VA241 with Ariane 5
Arianespace is orbiting SES-14 for Luxembourg-based telecommunications satellite operator SES. The spacecraft will serve Latin America, the Caribbean, North America and the North Atlantic region with its C- and Ku-band wide beam coverage, as well as Ku-band high-throughput spot beams coverage. It was produced by Airbus.
SES-14 also has a NASA-funded hosted payload for the Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission, which is to deepen scientists’ understanding of the nearest reaches of space by providing unprecedented imaging of the Earth’s upper atmosphere from geostationary orbit.
Flight VA241’s Al Yah 3 passenger will be operated by Al Yah Satellite Communications Company PrJSC, which is located in the United Arab Emirates at Abu Dhabi. Once in orbit, the Orbital ATK-built, all-Ka-band spacecraft will provide affordable broadband communications to 60 percent of Africa’s population and more than 95 percent of Brazil’s population.
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VA241 launch art
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Launch kit attached.
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http://www.arianespace.com/press-release/flight-va241-arianespace-to-launch-ses-14-and-al-yah-3-for-ses-and-yahsat-to-serve-their-ambitious-goals/
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January 19, 2018
Launcher build-up completed: SES-14 and Al Yah 3 are integrated for Arianespace’s next Ariane 5 liftoff
The Ariane 5 for Arianespace’s upcoming mission from French Guiana is now complete following integration of its two satellite passengers: SES-14 for operator SES and Yahsat’s Al Yah 3 – both of which will be delivered to geostationary transfer orbit on a flight planned for January 25.
Encapsulated in the ogive-shaped protective fairing, SES-14 has been positioned atop Al Yah 3 – which was installed on the launcher’s cryogenic core stage during previous activity inside the Spaceport’s Final Assembly Building for Ariane 5.
These successive integration steps enable a new series of preparation milestones to begin. They include the launch readiness review on January 23, which is to be followed by Ariane 5’s rollout to the ELA-3 launch zone the next day.
Liftoff is scheduled during a 45-min. launch window opening January 25 at 7:20 p.m. local time in French Guiana, with the two spacecraft to be deployed on a flight lasting 35 minutes.
Ariane 5 will deliver a total payload lift performance of more than 9,100 kg. during the mission – with this combined mass factoring in SES-14 and Al Yah 3, plus the launch vehicle’s dual-passenger dispenser system and satellite integration hardware.
Next week’s mission is designated VA241, marking the 241st flight using an Ariane vehicle since this European series of launchers entered service in 1979. It kicks off another busy year of activity for Arianespace, which has the objective of performing as many as 14 missions in 2018 with its full launcher family – consisting of the heavy-lift Ariane 5, medium-lift Soyuz and lightweight Vega.
http://www.arianespace.com/mission-update/launcher-build-up-completed-ses-14-and-al-yah-3-are-integrated-for-arianespaces-next-ariane-5-liftoff/
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Getting close to launch, logo's placed on the fairing #Ariane5 #VA241 #CSG @SES_Satellites @NASAGOLD
https://twitter.com/dutchspace/status/955502955062538243
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Do we have the serial number of this launcher?
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Do we have the serial number of this launcher?
According to Gunter's Space Page, the serial number is VA-241/5101.
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https://youtu.be/FWH8c82cFP8
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https://youtu.be/YaWZRbds3ow (https://youtu.be/YaWZRbds3ow)
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Momentum is building for Flight #VA241, #Arianespace’s first mission in 2018! Today’s readiness review cleared the #Ariane5 for tomorrow’s rollout to the ELA-3 launch zone. Liftoff is scheduled on January 25.
https://twitter.com/arianespaceceo/status/955872900904640512
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January 23, 2018
MEDIA ADVISORY M18-015
NASA Media Call Previews Upcoming Mission to Explore Atmospheric Border
NASA’s new GOLD mission observes airglow to research this dynamic region of space and how it interacts with the upper atmosphere
NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EST Wednesday, Jan. 24, to discuss the upcoming launch of the agency’s mission to study where Earth’s atmosphere meets space.
The Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission is NASA’s first science mission to fly as a hosted instrument aboard a commercial communications satellite launching from French Guiana. The launch window opens at approximately 5:20 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 25.
Teleconference participants are:
•Elsayed Talaat, heliophysics chief scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington
•Richard Eastes, principal investigator at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado (CU) Boulder
•Susan Batiste, systems engineer at LASP/CU
•Katelynn Greer, GOLD research scientist at LASP/CU
For information to participate in the call, media should email their name and affiliation to Karen Fox, [email protected] by 12:45 p.m. Jan. 24.
The teleconference will stream live at:
https://www.nasa.gov/live
For visuals to support the briefing, mission video and other media resources, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/mediaresources
Live launch coverage will begin on NASA Television and the agency’s website at 5 p.m. Jan. 25. Coverage will include live-streaming from the Guiana Space Centre launch site and briefings from LASP and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
GOLD will seek to understand what drives change in this region of the upper atmosphere where terrestrial weather in the lower atmosphere interacts with the tumult of solar activity from above, as well as Earth’s magnetic field. Resulting data will improve forecasting models of space weather events that can impact radio communications and GPS signals, as well as satellites and astronauts in space.
The instrument will fly on SES-14, built by Airbus for SES S.A., a Luxembourg-based satellite operator. LASP built the instrument, and the mission is led by the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
To learn more about the GOLD mission, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/gold
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January 23, 2018
Arianespace’s year-opening Ariane 5 flight is approved for launch
The first Arianespace mission in 2018 has been given the “green light” for its January 25 liftoff following today’s successful launch readiness review, which was conducted at the Spaceport in French Guiana.
This milestone confirmed that the Ariane 5 launcher and its dual-satellite payload – consisting of SES-14 and Al Yah 3 – are flight-ready, along with the Spaceport’s infrastructure and the network of downrange tracking stations.
With approval granted, Ariane 5 is cleared for rollout tomorrow from the Final Assembly Building to the ELA-3 launch zone – where it will be readied for liftoff on Thursday during a 45-minute launch window that opens at 7:20 p.m. local time in French Guiana. The launch vehicle is supplied to Arianespace by ArianeGroup as production prime contractor.
Two telecommunications satellite passengers
Arianespace is orbiting SES-14 for Luxembourg-based telecommunications satellite operator SES. This Airbus Defence and Space-produced spacecraft – based on the E3000 EOR (Electric Orbit Raising) version of the Eurostar E3000 platform – will serve Latin America, the Caribbean, North America and the North Atlantic region with its C- and Ku-band wide beam coverage, as well as Ku-band high-throughput spot beams coverage.
SES-14 also has a NASA-funded hosted payload for the Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission, which is to deepen scientists’ understanding of the nearest reaches of space by providing unprecedented imaging of the Earth’s upper atmosphere from geostationary orbit.
The SES-14 satellite is in Ariane 5’s upper payload position, to be released first at 27 minutes into the mission.
Al Yah 3 will be operated by Yahsat, which is located in the United Arab Emirates at Abu Dhabi. Once in orbit, the all-Ka-band spacecraft – built by Orbital ATK using its new GEOStar-3 hybrid platform – will provide affordable broadband communications to 60 percent of Africa’s population and more than 95 percent of Brazil’s population.
As the lower payload on Ariane 5, Al Yah 3 is to be deployed by Ariane 5 at 35 minutes after liftoff.
The January 25 mission is designated VA241, denoting the 241st flight using an Ariane vehicle since this European series of launchers entered service in 1979. It opens a busy year of activity for Arianespace, which will perform as many as 14 missions in 2018 with its full launcher family – consisting of the heavy-lift Ariane 5, medium-lift Soyuz and lightweight Vega.
http://www.arianespace.com/mission-update/va241-launch-readiness-review/
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https://youtu.be/h800YD5fJPs
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https://youtu.be/JSc12MxcGI0
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Preparations are continuing at the Spaceport: #Ariane5 has moved to the launch zone for its January 25 dual-payload mission at the service of @SES_Satellites and @yahsatofficial #VA241
https://twitter.com/arianespaceceo/status/956259800916119554
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Moved for live coverage.
Due to GOLD on board even NASA TV is going to cover this launch from 22:00 UTC onwards! ;)
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January 24, 2018
Ariane 5 is in the launch zone for Arianespace’s year-opening mission
The Ariane 5 for Arianespace’s Flight VA241 has reached the launch zone in French Guiana, positioning this vehicle for tomorrow’s dual-payload mission with the SES-14 and Al Yah 3 telecommunications satellites.
Riding atop a mobile launch table, Ariane 5 today completed its transfer from the Spaceport’s Final Assembly Building – where its two passengers were integrated – to the dedicated ELA-3 launch complex. This paves the way for tomorrow’s liftoff, which is planned during a 45-min. launch window that opens January 25 at 7:20 p.m. local time in French Guiana.
Today’s rollout from the Spaceport’s Final Assembly Building marked one of the final milestones in preparations for Flight VA241, which will kick off Arianespace’s 2018 launch activity. The company is planning up to 14 missions this year using the heavy-lift Ariane 5, medium-lift Soyuz and lightweight Vega.
Hybrid- and fully-electric propulsion for Ariane 5’s payloads
Flight VA241 will be carrying a payload estimated at approximately 9,120 kg. This total factors in the two satellite passengers’ combined liftoff mass, as well as hardware for Ariane 5’s dual-payload deployment system.
Riding in Ariane 5’s upper position, SES-14 is to be deployed first in the flight sequence, with its separation occurring 27 minutes after liftoff. The spacecraft – produced by Airbus Defence and Space for operator SES based on the E3000 EOR (Electric Orbit Raising) version of its Eurostar E3000 platform – will serve Latin America, the Caribbean, North America and the North Atlantic region with its C- and Ku-band wide beam coverage, as well as Ku-band high-throughput spot beams coverage.
SES-14 also has a NASA-funded hosted payload for the Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission, which is to improve understanding of the thermosphere-ionosphere.
Completing the mission will be the separation of Ariane 5’s lower passenger, Al Yah 3, which will occur 35 minutes after the flight begins. Built by Orbital ATK using its new GEOStar-3 hybrid platform, the satellite will be operated by Yahsat to provide affordable broadband communications to 60 percent of Africa’s population and more than 95 percent of Brazil’s population. The GEOStar-3 platform’s hybrid design uses traditional chemical propulsion to reach orbit in a matter of days, and then performs station-keeping operations for 15 years or more with electric propulsion, resulting in an optimum mass-efficient system.
http://www.arianespace.com/mission-update/va241-ariane-5-rollout/
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Due to GOLD on board even NASA TV is going to cover this launch from 22:00 UTC onwards! ;)
I'll only be covering the Arianespace webcast tonight.
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Due to GOLD on board even NASA TV is going to cover this launch from 22:00 UTC onwards! ;)
I'll only be covering the Arianespace webcast tonight.
Most likely it will just a rebroadcast of the Arianespace one.
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The launch kit shows a 44 second coast between EPC shutdown and ESC-A second stage separation/ignition. Has such a long coast occurred before?
- Ed Kyle
You may have read it wrong, Ed.
Main Engine Cut Off is at H0+8 minutes, 51 seconds (T+8 minutes, 43.7 seconds) while second stage ignition is at H0+9 minutes, 1 second (T+8 minutes, 53.7 seconds); stage separation takes place three seconds before second stage ignition.
In conclusion, all three events occur within ten seconds.
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#Ariane5 has moved to the launch zone with the SES-14 #satellite! Visit our media gallery to see more close-up images before today's launch: bit.ly/2ncrzb8 @Arianespace
https://twitter.com/ses_networks/status/956611094927245314
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One hour and counting.
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Webcast has technically started with a static screen.
http://www.arianespace.com/mission/ariane-flight-va241/
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Now testing the webcast's English soundtrack for the time being.
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webcast started, with a tone.
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English sound check.
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That tone is really annoying!
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Hello,
Apogee 45 000 km, is this the first launch in a super synchronous transfer orbit from Kourou?
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Hello,
Apogee 45 000 km, is this the first Launch in a super synchronous transfer orbit from Kourou?
That is right.
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That tone is really annoying!
Mute button doesn't even work for me!
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That tone is really annoying!
Mute button doesn't even work for me!
I had the same problem - refresh the page. First time I've ever had to take an aspirin as a result of watching a launch webcast.
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#Ariane5 has moved to the launch zone with the SES-14 #satellite! Visit our media gallery to see more close-up images before today's launch: bit.ly/2ncrzb8 @Arianespace
(https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=42215.0;attach=1472802;image)
https://twitter.com/ses_networks/status/956611094927245314
Lol, love the 2x4's, zip ties and duct tape holding together the test bits for a 100+ million $ satellite.
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The actual webcast should start within a few minutes.
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Sound checks are finally over.
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NASA coverage has started, talking about GOLD.
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One minute to start of coverage.
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From the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, Arianespace presents live coverage of the first Ariane 5 launch of 2018. Two satellites for SES World Skies, NASA, and YahSat will be lofted to a geosynchronous transfer orbit.
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Here we go!
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Tonight's commentator is Joshua Jampol.
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Stéphane Israël explaining tonight's upcoming events.
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Have drone footage.
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T-12 minutes. Ariancespace CEO speaking.
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T-11 minutes.
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Ariane 5ECA specs.
T-9 minutes.
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Passengers.
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T-9 minutes. Looks like a nice place!
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Anybody else getting both the English and French commentary over top of each other?
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8 minutes and counting.
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T-8 minutes. Bridge to Kourou.
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T-7 minutes. The Synchronized Sequence began seven seconds ago.
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T-7 minutes.
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Playing the Launch Campaign video.
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T-6 minutes. Weather at Kourou remains favorable.
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T-6 minutes. Launch campaign video.
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T-5 minutes. Both satellites should be on internal power.
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T-5 minutes.
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T-4 minutes. Final tank pressurization underway in both the EPC and ESC-A stages.
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T-4 minutes.
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T-3 minutes. The cryogenic swing arms will retract from the launch vehicle about 12 seconds before T0, which is also the time that the hydrogen burn igniters are lit underneath the Vulcain 2 main engine.
We are green board.
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NASA TV hosts talking about the synergy between the GOLD hosted payload (on SES 14) and the soon-to-be-launched ICON satellite, which will be sampling directly the region of the iono-thermosphere that GOLD is studying from GEO.
Also talking about the Parker Solar Probe, studying the other side of the solar-atmospheric interactions.
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Board is green.
T-3 minutes.
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1700 people working, from 40 companies and 9 countries.
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T-2 minutes. Still proceeding towards the planned liftoff time at 22:20:07.3 UTC.
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T-2 minutes.
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T-60 seconds and counting. The Jupiter Control Room spectators are now outside to watch the night launch.
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T-1 minute.
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T-45. Go Ariane, Go SES, Go Al Yah.
T-30 seconds. Pad water deluge system has started.
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T-15.
T-10, 9, 8, we have engine start, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, booster ignition, and liftoff. Liftoff of the Ariane 5ECA rocket, the first of 2018, carrying the SES-14/GOLD and Al Yah 3 satellites into geosynchronous orbit for SES World Skies, NASA, and YahSat.
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Pitch and roll programs underway; the Ariane 5 heading due east away from the launch site.
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Liftoff!
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Good thrust on the Vulcain 2 engine and both SRBs.
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Beginning to pass through Mach 1 and eventually the period of maximum dynamic pressure.
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LAUNCH!!
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One minute into the flight.
Performance is nominal.
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T+1 minute.
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100 seconds in. Beautiful ascent so far.
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Coming up on SRB burnout at 2 minutes, 9 seconds. Jettison will occur 3 seconds later.
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T+2 minutes.
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Both SRBs have burnt out. And there's separation. Ariane 5 now running on just the Vulcain 2 engine.
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2 minutes, 40 seconds into the flight. Next major event will be payload fairing jettison at 3 minutes, 11 seconds.
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And we have payload fairing jettison. The Ariane 5 now weighs just 20% of its liftoff weight.
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Booster separation.
T+3 minutes.
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Altitude 120 kilometers, downrange 250 kilometers, velocity 2.45 kilometers per second.
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4 minutes into the flight.
All remains positive.
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Fairing separation.
T+4 minutes.
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Playing the SES-14 Presentation.
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Altitude 160 kilometers, downrange 440 kilometers, velocity 3 kilometers per second.
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T+5 minutes. SES 14 promo.
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T+6 minutes.
Less than three minutes left in the first stage powered flight.
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T+6 minutes.
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Playing the Al Yah 3 Presentation.
Altitude 194 kilometers, downrange 820 kilometers, velocity 4.3 kilometers per second.
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Natal AOS. Now 7 minutes, 15 seconds into the mission.
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T+7 minutes. Showing Al Yah 3 promo.
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T+8 minutes.
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Main Engine Cut Off coming up in about 10 seconds.
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And we have MECO. The Vulcain 2 engine has shut down on time.
Both stages have separated. And we have second stage engine start. This single burn of the HM-7B++ engine will last 15 minutes and 45 seconds.
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EPC separation.
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Altitude 196 kilometers, downrange 1,700 kilometers, velocity 7.02 kilometers per second.
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Galliot LOS expected.
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Prolonged telemetry drop...
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T+10 minutes. Into the second stage burn.
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Playing the Al Yah 3 Yahsat video.
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T+11 minutes.
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T+11 minutes. Al Yah Satellite Communications promo.
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T+12 minutes.
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Some worried looks? They should have been within Natal's telemetry coverage.
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Passed the 12-minute mark. Awaiting the regaining of telemetry.
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Playing the Al Yah 3 Orbital ATK video.
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T+13 minutes. Orbital ATK promo.
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13 and a half minutes into the flight. The Ascension tracking station should be tracking the vehicle.
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T+14 minutes. OA hosted Al Yah Sat engineers.
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If all is going well, there should be less than 10 minutes of powered flight remaining.
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T+15 minutes. Picked by Ascension Island.
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13 and a half minutes into the flight. The Ascension tracking station should be tracking the vehicle.
Commentator affirming Ascension picked up, but looks from Israël don't seem to confirm that.
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NASA had a station in Ascension until 1999, at which point ESA took over.
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Playing the SES-14 SES video.
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T+16 minutes. SES promo.
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T+17 minutes.
Still waiting to regain telemetry.
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T+17 minutes. 16 kW power.
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T+18 minutes, 12 seconds. Expected Libreville AOS.
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T+18 minutes.
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Playing the SES-14 NASA GOLD video.
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T+19 minutes. NASA GOLD promo.
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Customers seem expectant, so maybe it's just an ECA transmitter issue.
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T+20 minutes.
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T+20 minutes. GOLD measures the airglow above Earth.
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Over Libreville, no telemetry yet. 4 minutes of powered flight would remain if all's going well.
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Under three minutes of expected powered flight.
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T+21 minutes. GOLD could help in predicting storms in the future.
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Playing the SES-14 Airbus Defence and Space video.
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T+22 minutes. Airbus Defence and Space promo.
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T+22 minutes, 49 seconds. Expected Malindi AOS.
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T+23 minutes. Great music!
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T+24 minutes. SECO-1 should occur in about 40 seconds.
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T+24 minutes. Picked up by Malindi.
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Commentator affirming Malindi has AOS.
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And the shutdown of the HM-7B++ engine should have occurred by now. The next few major events will involve the payload deployment sequence.
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ESC-A cutoff!
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T+26 minutes. Upcoming events.
+27 min 05 s SES-14 satellite separation
+33 min 22 s SYLDA separation
+35 min 07 s Al Yah 3 satellite separation
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Coming up on the scheduled separation of SES-14/GOLD.
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SES-14/GOLD should have separated by now.
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SES 14 separation!
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T+28 minutes.
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The second stage should be maneuvering to jettison the Sylda 5 DPAF.
Playing another SES-14 video.
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30 minutes into the mission.
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T+30 minutes. Sylda separation in 3 minutes 22 seconds.
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Playing another Al Yah 3 video.
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I guess Malindi can get SES-14's signals soon even if the ECA isn't transmitting. Something's off though, the DDO is certainly not calling out any event even if the commentator says everything is proceeding as planned.
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T+32 minutes.
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Jettison of the Sylda 5 DPAF should have occurred at this point. All that's left is to deploy the Al Yah 3 spacecraft, if everything is going well.
Now 33 minutes, 20 seconds into the mission.
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Sylda separation. Haven't heard confirmation yet.
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No SYLDA separation callout.
The main screen in Jupiter still shows ECA burning.
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T+35 minutes. Al Yah 3 should have separated from the second stage.
Now waiting for AOS of both satellites.
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No celebration, no movement in Jupiter. Al-Yah-3 should have separated.
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Al Yah 3 should be separated by now. Awaiting confirmation.
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There are 58 launches within Arianespace's manifest at this time.
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Everyone on the phone or looking around, DDO looking down to his table.
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Showing drone video. Still waiting for confirmation.
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Break in coverage, awaiting for confirmation.
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Taking a commercial break while waiting for official confirmation.
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We don't need another Zuma. I'm sure it'll be fine, this is an adaptor they've used lots of times. Not some knock off NG adaptor (joke).
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Commentary is off the air while we wait for confirmation.
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I'm sure it's a coincidence, but this Emirati gentleman's video just started when the telemetry mysteriously disappeared... :o
Being facetious here to vent off tension, don't take it wrong ;)
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Did anybody recognize there were no refreshing numbers on the screen since upper stage ignition?
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Did anybody recognize there were no refreshing numbers on the screen since upper stage ignition?
That was what happened. If there was a contingency that occurred, the problem could have involved the second stage. Just speculating.
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Did anybody recognize there were no refreshing numbers on the screen since upper stage ignition?
Yes. The commentator appears to have basically continued with the script... at times being unclear about whether he was just reading lines or getting data/info from someone. Eventually he acknowledged that they were not getting confirmation.
Must to tough to know how to handle the situation (though you'd think they might have a plan).
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Certainly concerning no news have been provided yet: Malindi should be in range of the satellites for hours after separation, and they certainly should have started transmitting something.
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Launch video
https://youtu.be/YRAUifLwRRY (https://youtu.be/YRAUifLwRRY)
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Did anybody recognize there were no refreshing numbers on the screen since upper stage ignition?
Yes. The commentator appears to have basically continued with the script... at times being unclear about whether he was just reading lines or getting data/info from someone. Eventually he acknowledged that they were not getting confirmation.
Must to tough to know how to handle the situation (though you'd think they might have a plan).
It was quite weird, since it was clearly visible not as many frontal shots of the officials were being provided live, and something was amiss - yet he insisted on calling out events as though they were confirmed, saying clearly several times there was AOS from all downrange stations (not true since Galliot LOS)
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The yellow line on the green flight path also stopped at that time.
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We're now 50 minutes Mission Elapsed Time.
Still awaiting confirmation of successful spacecraft AOS, or an official announcement of a launch contingency.
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Ariane 5 ECA launches SES-14 & Al Yah 3 satellites
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR3D1Fxk0P8
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To let you guys know: around the time telemetry was lost, the velocity indicator showed that the Ariane 5 was travelling more than 7 kilometers per second, which is near orbital velocity.
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That is the normal speed at Vulcain 2 shut-down.
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Looks like they lost telemetry after EPC seperation. The yellow line and green circle are on top of each of other at that point. The next minute, the Green circle (expectation of where they should be) has moved ahead of the yellow line.
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To let you guys know: around the time telemetry was lost, the velocity indicator showed that the Ariane 5 was travelling more than 7 kilometers per second, which is near orbital velocity.
Yes, but just barely so and at ~200 km... a lot of dV to go. Of course, TLM loss doesn't need to mean the engine shut down then.
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I don't have a screencap, unfortunately, but Stéphane Israël posted and then deleted a tweet stating that SES-14 had separated successfully. That's not promising.
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Unfortunately, ladies and gentlemen, there has been a contingency on the VA-241/5101 mission. While preliminary results have not found the cause of the contingency, an investigation will start in the coming days to find the cause and prevent it from happening again on future launches.
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Webcast resumed. Stéphane Israël speaking.
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Lost telemetry soon after ESC-A ignition. Customers do not have contact with satellites.
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Webcast just came to a close.
I'm ZachS09, and I'll see every one of you next time. Good night.
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Will provide information as soon as they have it. Stephane Israel apologising on behalf of Arianespace.
-
Webcast ending.
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This ends a run of 82 consecutive successful launches, over almost fifteen years. Only Delta II is on a longer run.
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Bummer...
Really sad moment for European industry, not that Ariane 5 had hit her stride and was extremely reliable and almost profitable. Not to mention ramifications for JWST...
Media-wise, I thought Arianespace commentators had gotten a hint for not calling out successful unconfirmed events with the first Galileo Soyuz-Fregat launch. Guess not.
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:(
Hopefully they can create a successful contingency plan
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This is going to put a big dent in the JWST schedule.
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This is going to put a big dent in the JWST schedule.
Not to mention Galileo FOC, Bepi-Colombo... :( :(
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SES-14 was switched to Ariane from Falcon 9 because SES wanted it on-orbit earlier. Ouch!
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Bah... Thanks for the coverage fellas... Chin-up Arianespace
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This is going to put a big dent in the JWST schedule.
Not to mention Galileo FOC, Bepi-Colombo... :( :(
Galileo uses the Ariane-5ES. Different upper stage. Last time the ECA failed, the next Ariane-5G (with ESC upper stage) launched only 3 months later. The next ECA launch was more than two years later. Hopefully for Bepi-Colombo it will not be that long this time.
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Can FH launch JWST?
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Can FH launch JWST?
If I'm SpaceX, I wouldn't want to touch that payload with a ten foot pole. The political liability would be too almost too much. I'm sure ULA would love the chance though.
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This is going to put a big dent in the JWST schedule.
Not to mention Galileo FOC, Bepi-Colombo... :( :(
Galileo uses the Ariane-5ES. Different upper stage. Last time the ECA failed, the next Ariane-5G launched only 3 months later.
Yes, but it wasn't even a upper stage issue, ECA or otherwise, which caused the failure. It was the Vulcain 2 engine on the first stage.
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This ends a run of 82 consecutive successful launches, over almost fifteen years. Only Delta II is on a longer run.
Shhh! Knocking on wood. They've still got one left. Don't jinx it! I'm not really superstitious, but this is rocketry.
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This is going to put a big dent in the JWST schedule.
Not to mention Galileo FOC, Bepi-Colombo... :( :(
Galileo uses the Ariane-5ES. Different upper stage. Last time the ECA failed, the next Ariane-5G launched only 3 months later.
Bad example, Rosetta (A5-G+) lost its window to Wirtanen because of the failure.
Of course, that failure involved the Vulcain-2 (core stage engine), so not necessarily the same - and as you mention the A5-G flew again in a few months. The only ECA failure up to now was also the first ECA launch and the first Vulcain-2 to fly, so standdown times need not be indicative for the situation now, after 15 years and 63 successful launches.
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This is going to put a big dent in the JWST schedule.
Not to mention Galileo FOC, Bepi-Colombo... :( :(
Galileo uses the Ariane-5ES. Different upper stage. Last time the ECA failed, the next Ariane-5G launched only 3 months later.
Yes, but it wasn't even a upper stage issue, ECA or otherwise, which caused the failure. It was the Vulcain 2 engine on the first stage.
AFAIK, Vulcain 2 was at that time only used on the ECA. ECA was the next gen version with the G versions being phased out. So, since G versions used the older, proven Vulcain engine, they could proceed with G launches. The next ECA launch wasn't until early 2005.
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Can FH launch JWST?
I would go with a Delta IV. I don't know what left in the pipe right now...
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SES-14 was switched to Ariane from Falcon 9 because SES wanted it on-orbit earlier. Ouch!
If SES-14/GOLD stayed true to the original plan of launching atop a Falcon 9, SES-12 would have been in this situation.
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Can FH launch JWST?
I would go with a Delta IV. I don't know what left in the pipe right now...
JWST is still a year+ out -- I'll bet that Ariane will have finished their fault investigation over this launch and will be back flying by then. Will be a much closer thing for BepiColumbo, though, and it's launch window is limited by orbital mechanics so the backup situation might be significantly more dire . . .
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AFAIK the only things that's known are:
1) that there was a break in the com-link with the launcher just after 2th stage engine start.
The communication wasn't restored.
2) AFAIK both satellites haven't communicated back to groundstations (jet?)
This communication link failure is definetly a big anomaly, but the launch sequence is programed inside the upperstage. If only the com-link failed; the launch sequence continues and eventually the satellites would send data to the ground.
I think this is a very nasty situation because both the current status and cause are unknown.
Most likely the ground tracking network/ orbit clasification is required to clear up the situation.
I really hope satellite signals will be received.
I don't know if the Ariane 5ES uses the same launch vehicle control system. So I can't judge the extend of the concequences of this launch anomaly.
Thanks for covering this launch. Let's hope for the best.
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If propulsion ended when telemetry was lost, where would we expect the stack to reenter? Last velocity reported was about 7 Km/sec.
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If propulsion ended when telemetry was lost, where would we expect the stack to reenter? Last velocity reported was about 7 Km/sec.
Presumably in the same place where the Core stage was going -- Gulf of Guinea off the coast of Africa in the Atlantic Ocean.
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Well, this is major crap.
Am I correct that SES/Al Yah would have had their own telemetry by now if the flight were successful?
I'll add the transcribed statement by Stephane Israel here:
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AFAIK the only things that's known are:
1) that there was a break in the com-link with the launcher just after 2th stage engine start.
The communication wasn't restored.
2) AFAIK both satellites haven't communicated back to groundstations (jet?)
This communication link failure is definetly a big anomaly, but the launch sequence is programed inside the upperstage. If only the com-link failed; the launch sequence continues and eventually the satellites would send data to the ground.
I think the LOS is more likely a symptom of a sudden, catastrophic failure of the second stage as a whole, rather than a telemetry issue.
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Probably unrelated, but...
Signal for the jettison of the separation retros in the ECA should arrive at around the same time as telemetry is lost: T+9:17 for the retro jettison vs T+9:27 for the LOS.
Check it in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQLIoozjZwI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQLIoozjZwI)
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Sad for Arianespace, what a streak they had until this one. :(
I hope they can bounce back quickly.
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Can FH launch JWST?
Comical. Even with this failure Ariane 5 is a well proven launcher, FH has never flown. No comparison.
Also too early to speculate about JWST impact, they could fix the issue and have another string of successes before that launch next year. Or they could be grounded a long time looking for the cause.
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Can FH launch JWST?
Clearly no, as the launch is part of ESA's contribution to the project.
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Something I noticed during the live broadcast was one screen they were showing the upper stage coasting and from the flight control room screens it was under power... I can't rely on this too much since they like to show generic canned video clips of events...
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Something I noticed during the live broadcast was one screen they were showing the upper stage coasting and from the flight control room screens it was under power... I can't rely on this too much since they like to show generic canned video clips of events...
MCC screens show the animation for the last point of known telemetry. Broadcast goes on with simulation, although the telemetry status can be checked on the graphs / figures.
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Can FH launch JWST?
No vertical integration
No pad access.
No continuous air purge
no continuous GN2 purge
Delta IV can.
Why do people think everything a nail and Falcon the only hammer available?
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Something I noticed during the live broadcast was one screen they were showing the upper stage coasting and from the flight control room screens it was under power... I can't rely on this too much since they like to show generic canned video clips of events...
MCC screens show the animation for the last point of known telemetry. Broadcast goes on with simulation, although the telemetry status can be checked on the graphs / figures.
I don't see the broadcast video cutaway of looking from behind the controllers in the above video and the screen shot I seem to recall...
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Can FH launch JWST?
Delta IV can.
Why do people think everything a nail and Falcon the only hammer available?
Faring isn't large enough. JWST was built around the Ariane 5. JWST is Ariane 5 and Ariane 5 only without major structural modifications, and with the budget already overrun, it's Ariane 5 or bust. Likely will face delay as they re-asses the risk along with ArianeSpace.
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Can FH launch JWST?
No vertical integration
No pad access.
No continuous air purge
no continuous GN2 purge
Delta IV can.
Why do people think everything a nail and Falcon the only hammer available?
Could a Medium 5, 4 do it or would it need a Heavy?
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Can FH launch JWST?
No vertical integration
No pad access.
No continuous air purge
no continuous GN2 purge
Delta IV can.
Why do people think everything a nail and Falcon the only hammer available?
Could a Medium 5, 4 do it or would it need a Heavy?
The Heavy version would do the job; if, and only if, the telescope was built to launch atop Delta.
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Apparently a bad, bad day.
My condolences to all involved- Launch provider, both Satellite operators, NASA and LASP...
I hope they find root cause quickly, this will be another obstacle for JWST.
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AFAIK the only things that's known are:
1) that there was a break in the com-link with the launcher just after 2th stage engine start.
The communication wasn't restored.
2) AFAIK both satellites haven't communicated back to groundstations (jet?)
This communication link failure is definetly a big anomaly, but the launch sequence is programed inside the upperstage. If only the com-link failed; the launch sequence continues and eventually the satellites would send data to the ground.
I think this is a very nasty situation because both the current status and cause are unknown.
Most likely the ground tracking network/ orbit clasification is required to clear up the situation.
I really hope satellite signals will be received.
I don't know if the Ariane 5ES uses the same launch vehicle control system. So I can't judge the extend of the concequences of this launch anomaly.
Thanks for covering this launch. Let's hope for the best.
So *IF* there has been no actual communication any of the payloads, were all the updates after the telemetry drop just lies?? (all updates after page mid-page 7 in this thread)
Because they certainly did not make it sound like they were just reading off a timeline printed up ahead of time. >:(
(This reminds me of the Indian launch last year where we were getting announcement after announcement that thing were nominal, when they clearly were not)
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Theoretical question: is there an FTS on the ESC-A second stage?
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SpaceflightNow reporting sources saying the payloads are in *some* orbit.
https://twitter.com/SpaceflightNow/status/956690661906026496 (https://twitter.com/SpaceflightNow/status/956690661906026496)
Stephen Clark: "With the benefit of its electric thruster orbit-raising package, the SES 14 telecom satellite with NASA's GOLD science instrument is expected to be able to reach its planned position in geostationary orbit.
The status of the Al Yah 3 satellite, which has a conventional chemical orbit-raising engine, has not been confirmed."
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With the benefit of its electric thruster orbit-raising package, the SES 14 telecom satellite with NASA's GOLD science instrument is expected to be able to reach its planned position in geostationary orbit.
The status of the Al Yah 3 satellite, which has a conventional chemical orbit-raising engine, has not been confirmed.
https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/01/25/va-241-mission-status-center/ (https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/01/25/va-241-mission-status-center/)
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So *IF* there has been no actual communication any of the payloads, were all the updates after the telemetry drop just lies?? (all updates after page mid-page 7 in this thread)
Because they certainly did not make it sound like they were just reading off a timeline printed up ahead of time. >:(
(This reminds me of the Indian launch last year where we were getting announcement after announcement that thing were nominal, when they clearly were not)
It was a simulation after telemetry was lost. Nothing nefarious, that is pretty standard.
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SpaceflightNow reporting sources saying the payloads are in *some* orbit.
https://twitter.com/SpaceflightNow/status/956690661906026496 (https://twitter.com/SpaceflightNow/status/956690661906026496)
Stephen Clark: "With the benefit of its electric thruster orbit-raising package, the SES 14 telecom satellite with NASA's GOLD science instrument is expected to be able to reach its planned position in geostationary orbit.
The status of the Al Yah 3 satellite, which has a conventional chemical orbit-raising engine, has not been confirmed."
Most welome news. If that is correct, then the second stage must have provided nearly the velocity intended before the anomaly occured.
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Faring isn't large enough. JWST was built around the Ariane 5. JWST is Ariane 5 and Ariane 5 only without major structural modifications, and with the budget already overrun, it's Ariane 5 or bust. Likely will face delay as they re-asses the risk along with ArianeSpace.
Not really. It was built around Delta IV. The Delta IV fairing could work, with the little intrusions.
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So *IF* there has been no actual communication any of the payloads, were all the updates after the telemetry drop just lies?? (all updates after page mid-page 7 in this thread)
Because they certainly did not make it sound like they were just reading off a timeline printed up ahead of time. >:(
(This reminds me of the Indian launch last year where we were getting announcement after announcement that thing were nominal, when they clearly were not)
It was a simulation after telemetry was lost. Nothing nefarious, that is pretty standard.
Obviously, but phrased very deceptively. How else would you interpret the comment relayed on page 9: "Commentator affirming Malindi has AOS." ?
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So *IF* there has been no actual communication any of the payloads, were all the updates after the telemetry drop just lies?? (all updates after page mid-page 7 in this thread)
Because they certainly did not make it sound like they were just reading off a timeline printed up ahead of time. >:(
(This reminds me of the Indian launch last year where we were getting announcement after announcement that thing were nominal, when they clearly were not)
It was a simulation after telemetry was lost. Nothing nefarious, that is pretty standard.
Obviously, but phrased very deceptively. How else would you interpret the comment relayed on page 9: "Commentator affirming Malindi has AOS." ?
I wholly agree. One thing is that the show must go on and seem cheery, but after several minutes of lost telemetry I would have expected at least the aknowledgement that commentary was based on expected events, and certainly not callouts that tracking stations were acquiring signals. Very poor commentary.[/size]
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Arianespace just released a statement saying both satellite providers have AOS of their respective payloads.
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Faring isn't large enough. JWST was built around the Ariane 5. JWST is Ariane 5 and Ariane 5 only without major structural modifications, and with the budget already overrun, it's Ariane 5 or bust. Likely will face delay as they re-asses the risk along with ArianeSpace.
Not really. It was built around Delta IV. The Delta IV fairing could work, with the little intrusions.
Jim, I suggested the Delta IV as well but I'm uncertain about the production run. Any insight?
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Hmmm... it sounds like maybe on orbit, but not the correct orbit? What could potentially be the cause of that?
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Hmmm... it sounds like maybe on orbit, but not the correct orbit? What could potentially be the cause of that?
Stage 2 guidance or propulsion.
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Arianespace just released a statement saying both satellite providers have AOS of their respective payloads.
http://www.arianespace.com/press-release/va241/
Ariane 5 launch VA241 for SES-14 and Al Yah 3: Update
The launcher’s liftoff took place on January 25, 2018 at 7:20 pm. A few seconds after ignition of the upper stage, the second tracking station located in Natal, Brazil, did not acquire the launcher telemetry. This lack of telemetry lasted throughout the rest of powered flight.
Subsequently, both satellites were confirmed separated, acquired and they are on orbit. SES-14 and Al Yah 3 are communicating with their respective control centers. Both missions are continuing.
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I am so laughing it this turns out to be faulty antenna. ;D
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Hmmm... it sounds like maybe on orbit, but not the correct orbit? What could potentially be the cause of that?
Exactly. Could still be in some kind of unstable LEO for all we know.
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Hmmm... it sounds like maybe on orbit, but not the correct orbit? What could potentially be the cause of that?
Exactly. Could still be in some kind of unstable LEO for all we know.
They were at 195 km altitude and 7.02 Km/s velocity at TLM cutoff. If it was a propulsion problem, they could be in a (really) low orbit.
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I am so laughing it this turns out to be faulty antenna. ;D
Very well could have just been a telemetry problem. Once the orbits of the satellites are assessed we should know.
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Hmmm... it sounds like maybe on orbit, but not the correct orbit? What could potentially be the cause of that?
Exactly. Could still be in some kind of unstable LEO for all we know.
If ESC-A was able to release SES-14, then the Sylda, then Al Yah-3 it must have worked to some degree.
If the engine failed right when the telemetry was lost the sats probably would be lost by now.
(Edit: If someone knows better, please correct me!)
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Since it took so long for the satellite control centers to find the two satellites, they are almost assuredly in the wrong orbit. How wrong will determine if this is recoverable or not.
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Hmmm... it sounds like maybe on orbit, but not the correct orbit? What could potentially be the cause of that?
Exactly. Could still be in some kind of unstable LEO for all we know.
They were at 195 km altitude and 7.02 Km/s velocity at TLM cutoff. If it was a propulsion problem, they could be in a (really) low orbit.
Would need more than a minute or two more of powered flight to loft the descending trajectory and achieve orbit. Good to remember the low T/W ratio of a fully fueled ECA, and the low relative velocity to the suborbital core stage so soon after sep.
Edit: Press release was deleted and formatting updated and then re-posted a couple minutes later.
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Hmmm... it sounds like maybe on orbit, but not the correct orbit? What could potentially be the cause of that?
Exactly. Could still be in some kind of unstable LEO for all we know.
If ESC-A was able to release SES-14, then the Sylda, then Al Yah-3 it must have worked to some degree.
If the engine failed right when the telemetry was lost the sats probably would be lost by now.
(Edit: If someone knows better, please correct me!)
The core stage burns for an eternity compared to most launchers, so it might be in an orbit that the payloads could at least stabilize themselves and maybe in a few years get a rescue mission to boost them up. That being said, I'm still hopeing for a faulty datastream and the orbits are good.
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Strange that the objects (ECA, sats and adaptor) have not yet been tracked.
Usually happens within two hours of launch.
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Strange that the objects (ECA, sats and adaptor) have not yet been tracked.
Usually happens within two hours of launch.
If they are in the wrong orbit, it may take a while to figure out what orbit they are in.
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Success!
"Stéphane Israël
@arianespaceceo
41m41 minutes ago
VA241 update: lack of telemetry after ignition of the upper stage lasted the rest of powered flight. Both satellites confirmed separated, acquired, on orbit. SES-14 and Al Yah 3 communicating with their respective control centers. Both missions continuing"
https://twitter.com/arianespaceceo/status/956698000004395008
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Strange that the objects (ECA, sats and adaptor) have not yet been tracked.
Usually happens within two hours of launch.
If they are in the wrong orbit, it may take a while to figure out what orbit they are in.
Yep. With nominal launch, the trajectory is known in advance and tracking assets can be pointed correctly. Could be a symptom of off-nominal performance.
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Success!
"Stéphane Israël
@arianespaceceo
41m41 minutes ago
VA241 update: lack of telemetry after ignition of the upper stage lasted the rest of powered flight. Both satellites confirmed separated, acquired, on orbit. SES-14 and Al Yah 3 communicating with their respective control centers. Both missions continuing"
https://twitter.com/arianespaceceo/status/956698000004395008
Too early to say that. It's also just a repost of the Arianespace press-release: http://www.arianespace.com/press-release/va241/
That is what has been discussed right now, what kind of orbit did the ESC-A deploy them in? Nominal planned or lower than expected?
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My head is spinning. Many thanks to Steven and Zach for the great coverage. Obviously we need to keep following this one up.
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Too early to say that. It's also just a repost of the Arianespace press-release: http://www.arianespace.com/press-release/va241/
Yes, they did not say if they were in the correct orbit. At 7 km/s at 200 km, that is 0.8 km/s short of orbit, so the ESC-A must have continued for at least that amount of delta-V.
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Yahsat's press release a copy-paste from ArianeSpace.
http://www.journeyofpride.com/ariane-5-launch-va241-for-ses-14-and-al-yah-3-update/
OrbATK (builder of Al Yah-3) then retweeted it.
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The BBC's science correspondent Jonathan Amos sums up the current situation very well.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42623297
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So all good then? In the end, I mean :o
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So all good then? :o
Losing telemetry isn't good, and we don't know if the orbits are nominal. But definitely better than the alternatives.
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Yahsat's press release just a copy-paste from ArianeSpace.
http://www.journeyofpride.com/ariane-5-launch-va241-for-ses-14-and-al-yah-3-update/
OrbATK (builder of SES-14) then retweeted it.
At least they didn't refer all questions to SpaceX.
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OrbATK (builder of SES-14) then retweeted it.
Correction, OATK build Al Yah 3. Airbus built SES-14.
I saw further up in the thread that this was the first SSTO mission for Ariane. Does anyone know why this mission was SSTO? I didn't hear a technical reason for why on the live stream. I was under the impression a super synchronous orbit could help reduce the Delta-V if an inclination change was required (like a SpaceX mission from Florida), but that clearly isn't the reason this time.
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OrbATK (builder of SES-14) then retweeted it.
Correction, OATK build Al Yah 3. Airbus built SES-14.
I saw further up in the thread that this was the first SSTO mission for Ariane. Does anyone know why this mission was SSTO? I didn't hear a technical reason for why on the live stream. I was under the impression a super synchronous orbit could help reduce the Delta-V if an inclination change was required (like a SpaceX mission from Florida), but that clearly isn't the reason this time.
Probably so that SES-14 could get on station faster since it's an all electric bird.
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Yahsat update, in arabic I think.
http://www.journeyofpride.com/ar/%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AB-%D8%AE%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%AE-%D8%A3%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%86-5-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%85/
"The carrier rocket was launched satellite Eliah 3 on 25 January 2018 at 7:20 pm. After a few seconds of launching the rocket, the upper part of the engine did not receive the second tracking station, located in Natal-Brazil, telemetry data.
Interruption of the missile tracking data for the duration of the flight. Later, he was sure separation of satellites of the rocket to initiate the walk in space orbit control technical group. Right now is controlled by satellites SAS-14 kept him 3 through their respective command centers. We would like to confirm the progress of satellite access campaign happenings to tropical locations."
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Yahsat update, in arabic I think.
http://www.journeyofpride.com/ar/%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AB-%D8%AE%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%AE-%D8%A3%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%86-5-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%85/
"The carrier rocket was launched satellite Eliah 3 on 25 January 2018 at 7:20 pm. After a few seconds of launching the rocket, the upper part of the engine did not receive the second tracking station, located in Natal-Brazil, telemetry data.
Interruption of the missile tracking data for the duration of the flight. Later, he was sure separation of satellites of the rocket to initiate the walk in space orbit control technical group. Right now is controlled by satellites SAS-14 kept him 3 through their respective command centers. We would like to confirm the progress of satellite access campaign happenings to tropical locations."
That sounds like the Arianespace press-release. It's just been mangled by having first been translated to Arabic and then run through a machine translator back to English.
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That sounds like the Arianespace press-release. It's just been mangled by having first been translated to Arabic and then run through a machine translator back to English.
The post has "satellite access campaign happenings to tropical locations" which I think is new, but we already know the satellites are in a near equatorial orbit. If the apogee is low, this would mean greater use of ground stations near the equator.
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Digging about and found that SES is holding back a press release on mission success.
Other pages are 404, played around with the URL to get this.
Random, doesn't mean much, but still interesting (?).
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Some (I've found at least 2 so far) news sites are reporting that AFP (French news) was told that the satellites are not in the correct orbits:
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/ariane-5-satellites-orbit-not-location-031339516.html
But a source told AFP the satellites did not detach from the rocket in the correct place after the craft followed an "imperfect trajectory".
Arianespace said they were currently "repositioning the satellites in the right place using their propulsion systems" adding that the current status was "reassuring after strong concerns".
I can't find the original AFP source - but I also don't know French, so that isn't helping. But take it with a grain of salt til more reputable news sites pick it up.
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Some (I've found at least 2 so far) news sites are reporting that AFP (French news) was told that the satellites are not in the correct orbits:
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/ariane-5-satellites-orbit-not-location-031339516.html
But a source told AFP the satellites did not detach from the rocket in the correct place after the craft followed an "imperfect trajectory".
Arianespace said they were currently "repositioning the satellites in the right place using their propulsion systems" adding that the current status was "reassuring after strong concerns".
I can't find the original AFP source - but I also don't know French, so that isn't helping. But take it with a grain of salt til more reputable news sites pick it up.
It seems very unlikely that the payloads are *already* making orbit manuevers, unless they are in danger of imminent reentry. And the original story says: Arianespace, contacté par l'AFP, espérait toutefois un futur "repositionnement des satellites "... which means Arianespace hopes for a future repositioning of the satellites...
(as opposed to currently repositioning)
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What are the tracking solutions from Kourou? S-band, C-band, radar, visual are typical. How do you not know where the vehicle is even if you lose S-band? Do they just rely on a brief IIP traverse of Africa?
It's also interesting that the time between the two statements by Arianespace is equal to a LEO period.
Two inconclusive launches to start 2018. Blech.
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Still nothing on tracking.
NORAD IDs should be 43174, 75, 76 & 77. They'll give good confirmation of what we're dealing with here.
73 doesn't show up on most lists but is from the Chinese launch this morning.
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Posted a few hours ago, after the Arianespace update:
I'm told SES 14, with its fully electric propulsion system, will be able to reach its orbital station at geostationary altitude 22,000 miles over the equator. Still unclear whether or not Ariane 5 delivered SES 14 and Al Yah 3 to the targeted transfer orbit.
https://twitter.com/stephenclark1/status/956698707268964352
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It's still unclear whether it can be called a success or not.
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It's still unclear whether it can be called a success or not.
Yes true, the lack of contact with the satellites after they were predicted to separate and contact ground receivers is a little ominous. But things look a little better than they did when I went to bed last night, when it looked like the mission had been a total loss.
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It's a lesson we learned with the VS09 mission anomaly a couple of years back but it bears repeating: The commentators are usually reading from a prepared script and will tell us the planned events at the appropriate time. However, there is no guarantee that that event has happened or that there is any confirmation of which they are aware. I don't think that the VA241 commentator was aware of the anomaly and, even if they were, I doubt that they had the authority to diverge from their script to mention it.
I think, for the future, we need to agree that we base our assessment of 'mission success' on more than the Arianespace commentator saying 'mission success' because they may not know... or, if they do, they may not be permitted to say so.
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It's still unclear whether it can be called a success or not.
Yes true, the lack of contact with the satellites after they were predicted to separate and contact ground receivers is a little ominous. But things look a little better than they did when I went to bed last night, when it looked like the mission had been a total loss.
In Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_in_spaceflight#By_rocket) it is called a success, though. :/
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The definite call will be from Space Track of the USAF, but they haven't released the TLEs from this launch yet as of this moment.
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SES-14 owner @SES_Satellites: Off-target dropoff from @ArianeGroup @Arianespace Ariane 5 means all-electric propulsion to take 4 weeks longer than planned to get to GEO. Sat in good health, no other issues. Still awaiting word from @OrbitalATK & @yahsatofficial on Al Yah 3.
https://twitter.com/pbdes/status/956810114207543296
Sounds like the orbit is off target, although probably not by much if the extra time to GEO is "only" 4 weeks for an all ion thruster powered satellite.
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https://www.ses.com/press-release/ses-14-good-health-and-track-despite-launch-anomaly
Guiana Space Centre, Kourou, 26 January 2018 – Following the anomaly that occurred during the launch on an Ariane 5 rocket last night, SES announces that it has successfully established a telemetry and telecommand connection to its SES-14 spacecraft and is setting up a new orbit raising plan now. SES-14 would thus reach the geostationary orbit only four weeks later than originally planned. SES confirms that the spacecraft is in good health, all subsystems on board are nominal, and the satellite is expected to meet the designed life time.
SES-14 will be positioned at 47.5 degrees West to serve Latin America, the Caribbean, North America and the North Atlantic region with C- and Ku-band wide beam coverage and Ku-band high throughput spot beam coverage.
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Orbit data from Space Track are in:
43174/2018-012A: 232 x 43163 km x 20.64 deg.
43175/2018-012B: 232 x 43198 km x 20.64 deg.
43176/2018-012C: 169 x 42790 km x 21.01 deg.
43177/2018-012D: 235 x 43153 km x 20.64 deg.
Yes your eyes are not deceiving - the trajectory was so wrong that the satellites ultimately got pushed to 21 degrees inclination orbits! 😑
The planned orbit was 250 x 45234 km x 3.00 deg.
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Updates stay in this thread,
discussions go here: http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=44833.0 (http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=44833.0)
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NASA to be part of Ariane 5 anomaly investigation
http://spacenews.com/nasa-to-be-part-of-ariane-5-anomaly-investigation/
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new TLE (source celestrak):
AL YAH 3
1 43174U 18012A 18039.17423199 -.00000082 00000-0 00000+0 0 9998
2 43174 21.5526 244.2118 6248756 209.5298 353.4445 1.42826076 247
SES-14
1 43175U 18012B 18039.78902189 -.00000096 00000-0 00000+0 0 9992
2 43175 19.1399 228.0802 7421353 239.0858 293.1427 1.70452830 251
a step for Al Yah-3 :
6116 x 47741 km x 21.55 deg, Argument of perigee 209.5 deg
SES 14:
1255 x 45194 km x 19.14 deg, Argument of perigee 239.1 deg
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https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/962875395774341120
The Al Yah 3 and SES-14 satellites continue slow orbit raising, but without significant inclination change so far; current orbits 6111 x 47721 km x 21.5 deg and 1337 x 45374 km x 19.1 deg.
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The Al Yah 3 satellite put in the wrong orbit by the last Ariane launch is now approaching GEO; current orbit 22.5hr period, 20828 x 47262 km x 6.2 deg.
https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/964284086503247872
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CEO @Eutelsat says expects @yahsatofficial Al Yah 3 sat, put in bad orbit by @ArianeGroup Ariane 5 Jan 25, will be in service by midsummer.
https://twitter.com/pbdes/status/964436703447527424
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The misdelivered Ariane payloads continue heading to GEO. Here is average height vs time for the two payloads (and the rocket stage and SYLDA adapter). SES-14, using electric propulsion, is climbing steadily while the chem prop on AY3 makes big burns
https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/966913695858044929
Same story for the inclinations of the two satellites relative to the equator
https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/966913852834136064
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Independent Enquiry Commission announces conclusions concerning the launcher trajectory deviation during Flight VA241
http://www.arianespace.com/press-release/independent-enquiry-commission-announces-conclusions-concerning-the-launcher-trajectory-deviation-during-flight-va241/ (http://www.arianespace.com/press-release/independent-enquiry-commission-announces-conclusions-concerning-the-launcher-trajectory-deviation-during-flight-va241/)
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Independent Enquiry Commission announces conclusions concerning the launcher trajectory deviation during Flight VA241
http://www.arianespace.com/press-release/independent-enquiry-commission-announces-conclusions-concerning-the-launcher-trajectory-deviation-during-flight-va241/ (http://www.arianespace.com/press-release/independent-enquiry-commission-announces-conclusions-concerning-the-launcher-trajectory-deviation-during-flight-va241/)
The key para:
Investigations by the Independent Enquiry Commission showed that the trajectory anomaly resulted from an incorrect value in specifications for the implementation of the launcher’s two inertial reference systems. Given the special requirements of this mission, the azimuth required for the alignment of the inertial units was 70 degrees instead of 90 degrees, as is most often the case for missions to geostationary transfer orbit. This gap led to the 20-degree shift to the south in the launcher trajectory from the initial seconds of flight. The cause of the trajectory deviation, therefore, was due to a bad specification of one of the launcher mission parameters that was not detected during the standard quality checks carried out during the Ariane 5 launches’ preparation chain.
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How did a 20 degree offset from get go not trigger range safety and FTS?
https://twitter.com/toruonu/status/967648161404739584
It's a question that will be asked. Industry officials say a judgment was made that the rocket was performing well (except for trajectory) and that the danger to local population of debris from flight termination outweighed the dangers of continuing flight.
https://twitter.com/pbdes/status/967649386699411456
Interesting case study for AFTS?
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I started a discussion here yesterday but I was wrong. Posts were moved. There is an updates thread.
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=44833
More posts that were discussiony-in-nature happened. They were moved too.
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ESA HQ, Paris, 2 March 2018
Action plan approved for next Ariane 5 launches
After the release of the conclusions of the Ariane VA241 Independent Enquiry Commission on 22 February, the findings and recommendations were formally presented to a Steering Board on 28 February. The board included Daniel Neuenschwander, ESA Director of Space Transportation; Stéphane Israël, Arianespace CEO; and Alain Charmeau, ArianeGroup CEO.
As stated in the Arianespace press release of 23 February, the direct cause of the trajectory deviation on 25 January was an incorrect value provided to the launcher’s two Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs). Given the special requirements of this mission, the azimuth required for the IMU alignment was 70º but the usual value for geostationary transfer orbit missions of 90º was erroneously used instead. This difference led to the 20º shift to the south in the trajectory from the first seconds of flight.
The underlying reasons for the direct cause have been clearly identified: a need to strengthen the processes for establishing, verifying and approving the specific operational procedures involving the IMU reference frame.
Recommendations to improve processes and quality control have been made. Furthermore, additional recommendations to enhance end-to-end verifications of mission-specific parameters used during the launch campaign were made.
ArianeGroup and Arianespace presented their action plan in response to the Independent Enquiry Commission findings and recommendations.
ESA Inspector General Toni Tolker-Nielsen expressed his satisfaction with the presented action plan, which not only addresses the current issue, but a general plan to improve processes and end-to-end verifications, in particular of the few parameters that are not verified because of their nature during the test on the Functional Simulator before each launch.
Thanks to the action plan of ArianeGroup and Arianespace, the reliability of the Ariane 5 launch system, which already had an outstanding series of mission successes establishing it as a market leader, will be further increased.
The actions will enable the next flight of this heavy-lift vehicle to be made this month.
The Steering Committee mandated the ESA Inspector General to monitor the satisfactory implementation of the action plan of ArianeGroup and Arianespace.
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ESA HQ, Paris, 2 March 2018
Action plan approved for next Ariane 5 launches
After the release of the conclusions of the Ariane VA241 Independent Enquiry Commission on 22 February, the findings and recommendations were formally presented to a Steering Board on 28 February. The board included Daniel Neuenschwander, ESA Director of Space Transportation; Stéphane Israël, Arianespace CEO; and Alain Charmeau, ArianeGroup CEO.
As stated in the Arianespace press release of 23 February, the direct cause of the trajectory deviation on 25 January was an incorrect value provided to the launcher’s two Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs). Given the special requirements of this mission, the azimuth required for the IMU alignment was 70º but the usual value for geostationary transfer orbit missions of 90º was erroneously used instead. This difference led to the 20º shift to the south in the trajectory from the first seconds of flight.
The underlying reasons for the direct cause have been clearly identified: a need to strengthen the processes for establishing, verifying and approving the specific operational procedures involving the IMU reference frame.
Recommendations to improve processes and quality control have been made. Furthermore, additional recommendations to enhance end-to-end verifications of mission-specific parameters used during the launch campaign were made.
ArianeGroup and Arianespace presented their action plan in response to the Independent Enquiry Commission findings and recommendations.
ESA Inspector General Toni Tolker-Nielsen expressed his satisfaction with the presented action plan, which not only addresses the current issue, but a general plan to improve processes and end-to-end verifications, in particular of the few parameters that are not verified because of their nature during the test on the Functional Simulator before each launch.
Thanks to the action plan of ArianeGroup and Arianespace, the reliability of the Ariane 5 launch system, which already had an outstanding series of mission successes establishing it as a market leader, will be further increased.
The actions will enable the next flight of this heavy-lift vehicle to be made this month.
The Steering Committee mandated the ESA Inspector General to monitor the satisfactory implementation of the action plan of ArianeGroup and Arianespace.
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Peter B. de Selding
@pbdes
Mar 2
Below is @esa statement on the Jan 25 Ariane 5 flight anomaly. The agency says it will not release the Independent Enquiry Commission's report, nor make commission members available to address questions.
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YahSat to make 50% insurance claim
An Arianespace rocket launched two satellites into incorrect orbits back on January 25th. In the aftermath, potential insurance claims were reported for what Arianespace described at the time as a “trajectory deviation anomaly”.
While there has been no formal word on either the SES-14 satellite or YahSat-3 craft it is now being reported that Abu Dhabi-based YahSat will be making an insurance claim that could reach 50 per cent of the craft’s insured value. Potentially, this could include the actual launch cost as well as the cost for building the craft.
https://advanced-television.com/2018/03/12/yahsat-to-make-50-insurance-claim/ (https://advanced-television.com/2018/03/12/yahsat-to-make-50-insurance-claim/)
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Five Questions For Arianespace CEO Stephane Israel
Mar 12, 2018 Thierry Dubois | Aviation Week & Space Technology
A recent mishap cast a shadow on the otherwise close-to-perfection reliability rate of the Ariane 5 launcher. Arianespace CEO Stephane Israel discussed the corrective action, along with the Ariane 6, market challenges and Europe’s doubt on reusability, with Aviation Week’s France bureau chief Thierry Dubois.
http://aviationweek.com/space/five-questions-arianespace-ceo-stephane-israel
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Tweet from Peter B. de Selding (https://twitter.com/pbdes/status/976106958204915712):
Yahsat expected to file $108-million claim for loss of life on Al Yah 3 satellite because of @Arianespace @ArianeGroup Ariane 5 off-target orbital injection.
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Finish! Al Yah-3 reached the GEO.
35856 x 35866 km x 0.0732°
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After the Ariane VA241 misdelivery in January, the Al Yah 3 satellite has reached geostationary orbit and arrived on station today at 20.1W. SES-14 still has a long way to go, currently in a 17854 x 50563 km orbit
https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/991853128940163073
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Eutelsat quarter report on 05/14/2018:
The Al Yah 3 satellite, on which Eutelsat is leasing capacity for its Konnect Africa project, was launched on 25 January 2018. The mission experienced some challenges during the launch stages resulting in a revised flight plan. Commercial service is expected to start in August 2018.
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180514005981/en/Eutelsat-Communications%C2%A0Third-Quarter-Month-2017-18-Revenues
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Yahsat Announces Successful Al Yah 3 Mission Completion (http://www.yahsat.com/en/news/2018/yahsat-announces-successful-al-yah-3-mission-completion)
30 MAY, 2018
Yahsat, a leading global satellite operator based in the UAE, has announced that its third satellite Al Yah 3, located at 20 °W has successfully completed its in-orbit testing, and is ready to support the launch of commercial services. The satellite will expand Yahsat’s Ka-band coverage to 19 additional markets across Africa covering 60% of the population and marks Yahsat’s first entry into Brazil where 95% of the population will have access to its satellite broadband services.
Masood M. Sharif Mahmood, Chief Executive Officer at Yahsat, said: “Access to the Internet is a key facilitator of social and economic progress. Today, broadband connectivity is playing an important role in creating new opportunities and in accelerating innovation. We are excited by the opportunity Al Yah 3 brings in our ability to deliver reliable and affordable satellite broadband services to parts of the world that need it the most, building upon our previous achievements as pioneers of such services across Africa, the Middle East and south-west Asia.”
The successful mission is the culmination of a project which has seen Al Yah 3 designed and built with Emirati engineers leading at every stage of the process in partnership with Orbital ATK. The engineers were critical in ensuring the successful end-to-end delivery of the satellite into orbit.
“It has been an incredible journey for us and a very proud moment for both Yahsat and for the UAE. Our engineers have been heavily involved in managing all aspects of the project, including design, development and launch. We are now focusing on the commercial launch of our services using Al Yah 3 over the coming weeks.” Mahmood added.
Al Yah 3, an all Ka-band satellite, and the first hybrid electric propulsion GEOStar-3™ satellite completed by Orbital ATK, was launched on an Ariane 5 rocket by Arianespace, on January 26th 2018.
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https://twitter.com/pbdes/status/1001818027153862656
30 May 2018
Peter B. de Selding
@pbdes
UAE's @yahsatofficial: IOT done, Al Yah 3 sat ready for service at 20degW; Ka-band in Africa/Brazil. @Eutelsat a customer in Africa. ~43% loss of rev capacity w/ 5-month, fuel-using trip to GEO slot after off-target @Arianespace Ariane 5 in Jan; $108M insurance claim likely. <emphasis added>
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https://twitter.com/pbdes/status/1001818027153862656
30 May 2018
Peter B. de Selding
@pbdes
UAE's @yahsatofficial: IOT done, Al Yah 3 sat ready for service at 20degW; Ka-band in Africa/Brazil. @Eutelsat a customer in Africa. ~43% loss of rev capacity w/ 5-month, fuel-using trip to GEO slot after off-target @Arianespace Ariane 5 in Jan; $108M insurance claim likely. <emphasis added>
??? what he means:" w/ 5-month, fuel-using trip to GEO slot after off-target @Arianespace Ariane 5 in Jan; " ?
the chemical fuel for the apogee-motor from Al-Yah 3 was about mid Februar over.
after that they used the XR-5 electric engines. about on 04/25/2018 reached Al-Yah 3 a orbit slightly over GEO and drifted without force one week 1°/day to his slot 20.1W and stopped on 05/01 or 05/02
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SES-14 TLE´s from yesterday
SES-14
1 43175U 18012B 18200.77289561 -.00000273 00000-0 00000+0 0 9990
2 43175 0.0561 276.4924 0001231 92.1046 168.1416 1.00272826 2105
SES-14 reach the GEO !
35781 x 35791 km x 0.0561 deg
actual position 39°W , slow drift to west
What is the test position?
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Test position is 39.0°W, but according latest TLE's SES-14 has left that position already, and could arrive at 47.5°W already on August 1.
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SES-14 arrival at 47.5°W confirmed by TLE, and two active DVB-S2 transponders reported already in Europe!
11531 V 30000 and 11675 V 30000.
The latter has channel ID "GLD01" in Schedule S at fcc.gov, maybe dedicated to GOLD payload of NASA?
Any sat-dx'er in the Americas getting these? It would confirm the use of a wide beam.
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SES-14 Goes Operational to Serve the Americas (https://www.ses.com/press-release/ses-14-goes-operational-serve-americas)
SES’s geostationary satellite with its wide-beam and high throughput capabilities will capture attractive growth opportunities in video, maritime and aeronautical markets across the Americas
Luxembourg, 4 September 2018 – SES announced today that the high-powered SES-14 satellite, positioned at 47.5 degrees West, is now serving Latin America, the Caribbean, North America, North Atlantic and West Africa.
The all-electric satellite, which has both C- and Ku-band wide-beam coverage and Ku-band high throughput spot beam coverage, is SES's second hybrid satellite to serve the Americas, with the first being SES-15.
SES-14's C-band and Ku-band wide beams and high throughput capabilities are serving various markets. The satellite is expanding the reach of SES’s second cable neighbourhood in Latin America, and provides new capacity for direct-to-home services. It is also delivering more high-speed connectivity to the dynamic aeronautical market and other traffic-intensive applications in the maritime and cellular backhaul markets.
The satellite also carries a hosted payload for NASA’s Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission. GOLD will provide unprecedented imaging of the Earth’s upper atmosphere from geostationary orbit to deepen scientists' understanding of the boundary between Earth and space.
SES-14 at 47.5 degrees West is replacing and augmenting services currently provided on NSS-806. The license to operate at this Brazilian orbital location was the result of SES’s successful participation in a spectrum auction in 2014.
Martin Halliwell, Chief Technology Officer at SES, said, “Thanks to the Airbus, Arianespace and SES teams, SES-14 is able to fulfil its planned satellite mission of bringing better picture quality TV content to people across Latin America, as well as delivering high-speed broadband services to airline passengers flying over the Americas and North Atlantic routes. Enterprises and communities within the region will also be able to access the reliable connectivity provided by SES-14. SES-14 is key to SES's future growth trajectory and is part of our ongoing strategy to develop innovative capabilities for specific and growing markets.”
SES-14 was launched on an Ariane 5 rocket from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. SES-14 was built by Airbus Defence and Space and is an all-electric satellite. The satellite also features a Digital Transparent Processor (DTP), which increases payload flexibility and will provide customised connectivity solutions to SES's customers.
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Mission Update: NASA’s GOLD Powers on for the First Time
October 2, 2018
NASA’s Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk, or GOLD, mission powered on the GOLD instrument for the first time after launch on Jan. 28, 7:23 p.m. EST. The systems engineers successfully established communication with the GOLD instrument and its detector doors opened when commanded. After their tests, the engineers powered off the instrument the same day, at 7:40 p.m. EST. The instrument will remain powered off until its host satellite, SES-14, reaches geostationary orbit and GOLD operations commence later this year.
GOLD will be at the forefront of exploring and understanding near-Earth space, which is home to astronauts, radio signals used to guide airplanes and ships, and satellites that provide our communications and GPS systems. The more we understand about this region, the more we can protect our assets in space. GOLD will explore a little understood area close to home, but historically hard to observe: the lowest reaches of space, a dynamic area in Earth’s upper atmosphere that responds both to space weather above, and the lower atmosphere below. GOLD will collect observations with a 30-minute cadence, much higher than any mission that has come before it. This enables GOLD to be the first mission to study the day-to-day weather of the upper atmosphere – the overlapping thermosphere and the ionosphere – rather than its long-term climate.