December • Vega-C • Pléiades Neo 5 & 6Launch time: 0147 GMT (9:47 p.m. EST)Launch site: ZLV, Kourou, French Guiana
The long, tangled journey of a European rover to Mars takes another twist ... ... However, in the end, ministers decided that they would invest hundreds of millions of more euro into the project for Europe to develop its own entry, descent, and lander module for the vehicle. "I am very glad to say that we have found a positive way forward," Aschbacher said. "Europe will take responsibility, and a majority of the work will be done with European technology." NASA, he said, is expected to contribute a rocket for the mission, an engine for the descent module with adjustable thrust, and radioactive heating units. This exchange will be done via barter. So, for example, in exchange for a rocket launch, Europe might provide an Airbus Beluga aircraft to transport large cargo. The mission now has a launch date of no earlier than 2028, Aschbacher said. At this time, the only available US rocket capable of boosting the mission is SpaceX's Falcon Heavy booster, but the competition for the launch vehicle will not be held for a couple of years. At that time United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket and SpaceX's Starship may be options, as well as Blue Origin's New Glenn vehicle.
Arianespace @Arianespace[5/5] 🗓️ The new targeted launch date for #VV22 now is December 20;🗓️ The new targeted launch date for #VA259 –initially scheduled for December 14- now is December 13.
Quote from: Arianespace tweets[4/5] In order to secure both launch dates for #Ariane5 flight #VA259 and #VegaC flight #VV22, Arianespace decided to update its manifest, swapping the two missions: [5/5] 🗓️ The new targeted launch date for #VV22 now is December 20;🗓️ The new targeted launch date for #VA259 –initially scheduled for December 14- now is December 13. [Nov 25]
[4/5] In order to secure both launch dates for #Ariane5 flight #VA259 and #VegaC flight #VV22, Arianespace decided to update its manifest, swapping the two missions: [5/5] 🗓️ The new targeted launch date for #VV22 now is December 20;🗓️ The new targeted launch date for #VA259 –initially scheduled for December 14- now is December 13. [Nov 25]
EUMETSAT @eumetsatICYMI: We have a new launch date for #MTGI1 of 13 December! 📅You can find an updated timeline with all milestones over at our launch hub: https://bit.ly/3q2SJlB
Cross-post:Quote from: Salo on 11/28/2022 09:06 pmQuote from: EUMETSAT tweetEUMETSAT @eumetsatICYMI: We have a new launch date for #MTGI1 of 13 December! 📅You can find an updated timeline with all milestones over at our launch hub: https://bit.ly/3q2SJlB [Nov 28]Expanded link in the tweet:https://www.eumetsat.int/our-satellites/upcoming-launchesScroll down page to "MTG-I1 Milestones."The illustrated timeline shows launch on December 13 20:30 UTC.
Quote from: EUMETSAT tweetEUMETSAT @eumetsatICYMI: We have a new launch date for #MTGI1 of 13 December! 📅You can find an updated timeline with all milestones over at our launch hub: https://bit.ly/3q2SJlB [Nov 28]
EUMETSAT @eumetsatICYMI: We have a new launch date for #MTGI1 of 13 December! 📅You can find an updated timeline with all milestones over at our launch hub: https://bit.ly/3q2SJlB [Nov 28]
Vega C November 29, 2022Arianespace supporting the European Union’s Copernicus programme with Vega C- Arianespace today announces having signed a contract with the European Commission for the procurement of 5 Vega C launches.– Arianespace will launch five Sentinel satellites for the Copernicus programme, designed to give Europe continuous, independent and reliable access to Earth observation data. – Launches scheduled from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, between 2024 and 2026 boost new European light launcher Vega C’s backlog to 13.On November 29, 2022, Arianespace announced having signed with the European Commission (Directorate General for Defence, Industry and Space), a contract for the procurement of five launch services with Vega C for the Copernicus component of the European Union’s (EU) Space Programme.“I would like to thank the European commission, especially the DG DEFIS teams, along with ESA, for continuing to entrust us with the launch of the Sentinel satellites of the Copernicus Programme,” said Stéphane Israël, CEO of Arianespace. “To support the European Union’s ambitions and to ensure its sovereign access to Space is at the heart of our mission. This signature once again demonstrates the versatility and competitiveness to the new European light launcher Vega C, which backlog is now boosted to 13 launches.”Timo Pesonen, Director-General of DG DEFIS said: “Thanks to this new contract with Arianespace, the European Commission is securing Copernicus launches over the next six years. These launches will ensure that, with the support of ESA, the Copernicus constellation is replenished and new observation capacities are put into orbit. We look forward to this new partnership with Vega C and Arianespace, key for the implementation of the EU Space Programme”.The Sentinel satellites included in the contract are:Sentinel-1D , will be equiped with a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) to provide all-weather ocean and land high resolution multi-purpose observations. It will round out the initial capacity offered by the preceding Sentinel-1 satellites to offer a comprehensive response to the needs for environmental and security monitoring via space-borne radar systems. The satellite, weighing around 2.3 metric tonnes, will be placed in a Sun-synchronous orbit with an altitude around 690 km. The launch is scheduled from the second half of 2024. In April 2021, Arianespace was selected for the launch of Sentinel-1C satellite, scheduled in the first half of 2023 on board Vega C. Arianespace previously launched Sentinel-1A in 2014 and -1B in 2016.Sentinel-2C will provide high-resolution optical imagery for land services. It will monitor variability in land surface conditions, and its wide swath width and high revisit time will support monitoring of Earth’s surface changes. The satellite, weighing around 1.2 metric tonnes, will be placed in a Sun-synchronous orbit with an altitude around 780 km. The launch is scheduled for mid-2024. Arianespace previously launched Sentinel-2A in 2015 and -2B in 2017.Sentinel- 3C will provide high-accuracy optical, radar and altimetry data for marine and land services. It measures variables such as sea-surface topography, sea- and land-surface temperature, ocean and land colours with high-end accuracy and reliability. The satellite, weighing around 1.2 metric tonnes, will be placed in a Sun-synchronous orbit with an altitude around 810 km. The launch is scheduled for 2024-2025.Sentinel CO2M-A and CO2M-B will carry a near-infrared and shortwave-infrared spectrometer to measure atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by human activity, providing the EU with a unique and independent source of information, to assess the effectiveness of policy measures, and to track their impact towards decarbonizing Europe and meeting national emission reduction targets. The measurements from the mission will reduce current uncertainties in estimates of emissions of carbon dioxide from the combustion of fossil fuel at national and regional scales. The satellites, each weighing around 1.5 metric tonnes, will be placed in a Sun-synchronous orbit. Both launches are scheduled for 2025-2026.Sentinel satellites are part of Copernicus, one of the flagships of the European Union Space Programme, which counts among the leading Earth Observation systems worldwide. Copernicus provides continuous, independent and reliable Earth observation data and services to public authorities, companies and citizens. It presently includes seven dedicated Sentinel satellites: Sentinel-1A radar imaging satellite, Sentinel-2A and -2B optical imaging satellites, Sentinel-3A and -3B for ocean and atmosphere monitoring; Sentinel-5P enables monitoring the quality of air, while Sentinel-6 is monitoring sea levels.Vega C, the new European light launcher, has been specifically upgraded to launch satellites of the class of the Copernicus component and is perfectly suited to serve the Earth Observation market because of its performance and versatility. With Vega C and Ariane 6, Arianespace is able to offer the best possible solutions to orbit all kind of payloads for any range of applications.Vega C is an ESA program carried out in cooperation between public institutions and industry across 12 European partner states. The prime contractor of Vega C, responsible for delivering to Arianespace a launcher “ready-to-fly” at the Guiana Space Center, is AVIO Spa (Colleferro, Italy).
Ariane 6 November 30, 2022Arianespace Ariane 6 to launch Intelsat satellites- Arianespace to launch two satellites onboard a dedicated Ariane 6 in 2025.– The contract repurposes a previous launch agreement and introduces one additional satellite.– IS-41 & IS-44 will expand Intelsat’s global connectivity and 5G reach.Arianespace signed a contract with longtime customer Intelsat to launch two satellite payloads, IS-41 and IS-44, using the heavy-lift Ariane 64 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana in 2025. This agreement repurposes a previous launch contract and adds one additional satellite.“We are honored, yet again, by our faithful longtime partner Intelsat with another significant contract,” said Stéphane Israël, CEO of Arianespace. “Intelsat is entrusting us with two highly sophisticated payloads for flight aboard our next generation heavy lift vehicle, the Ariane 64. What a tremendous vote of confidence in our team and our launcher! This special relationship goes back four decades and spans the entire Ariane line.”“Launched with the Ariane 6, these innovative satellites will extend Intelsat’s 5G global reach and Media neighborhoods with high-speed, dynamically-allocated connectivity across Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia for commercial and government mobility customers, as well as cellular network backhaul,” said David C. Wajsgras, CEO of Intelsat. “Without world-class, international aerospace partners like Arianespace, Intelsat would not be the global leader it is today.”Thales Alenia Space is manufacturing the IS-41 and IS-44 satellites, which are based on the innovative and flexible Space Inspire product line. The two software-defined satellites, fully reconfigurable in orbit, will collectively weigh close to 8000 kg at launch and will be placed into the requested geostationary transfer orbit.Ariane 6 has been designed from the outset to be scalable and able to integrate, during its life and on a regular basis, new technologies. Ariane 6’s incremental development is intended to regularly improve the performance of the launch solutions offered by Arianespace and always better fulfil the needs of both institutional and commercial customers. These developments are funded and managed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and implemented by Ariane 6’s launcher system prime contractor ArianeGroup.
Dec. 20 • Vega-C • Pléiades Neo 5 & 6Launch time: 0147 GMT (9:47 p.m. EST)Launch site: ZLV, Kourou, French Guiana
Avio @Avio_GroupThe new targeted launch date for #VegaC's next launch is December 20 🚀 #StayTuned for #VV22 #VC02
Pléiades Neo, Countdown has Commenced!The launch of the final two satellites in French Guyana on 20th December 2022 - 22h47 - Kourou time (21st December – 1h47 UTC / 21st December – 2h47 CET) represents the completion of the Pléiades Neo constellation and the dawn of a new era in very high-resolution Earth observation. Now really is the moment the stars align!
ESA highlights in 2023...Launch of Juice mission to Jupiter from Europe’s Spaceport, French GuianaLaunch window: 14-30 April 2023...Launch of Sentinel-1C, third Copernicus Sentinel-1 satelliteLaunch window: May-June 2023...
Europe’s bid to deliver a return-to-Earth service for in-orbit transportation and research projects is rapidly taking shape, with teams working on the Space Rider spacecraft gearing up for a series of drop tests in 2023. Drop tests with small-scale models will be followed by a full-scale test in anticipation of inaugural flight towards the end of 2024.
CEOS EO HANDBOOK – MISSION SUMMARY - KOMPSAT-7 Full Name Korea Multi-Purpose Satellite -7 aka Arirang-7 Status ApprovedMission Agencies KARI [Lead Agency (Korea Aerospace Research Institute)] , KAI [Cooperating Agency (Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd.)] Launch Date Sep 2023
“Due to launch in 2024, Proba-3 is ESA’s precision formation flying mission,” comments Damien Galano, ESA’s Proba-3 project manager. “By maintaining their relative position against one another for up to six hours per orbit at a nominal 144 m apart, the ‘Occulter’ spacecraft will cast a shadow onto its ‘Coronagraph’ counterpart to form an artificial solar eclipse in space, so that the Sun’s faint outer atmosphere or corona can be studied freely.
Proba-3 facts and figuresLaunch date: 2024
Galileo FOC FM25-FM26Launch TimeNET December, 2023
5⃣more @CopernicusEU Sentinel satellites now have a ticket to space🚀A contract signed today between @esa & @Arianespace has ensured rides into orbit for Sentinel-1D, Sentinel-2C, Sentinel-3C, the Copernicus Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide-A & -B satellites:
Launches secured for five Sentinel satellites07/12/2022ESA / Applications / Observing the Earth / CopernicusA contract signed today between ESA and Arianespace has ensured rides into orbit for five Copernicus Sentinels: Sentinel-1D, Sentinel-2C, Sentinel-3C, and the Copernicus Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide-A and -B satellites. All the satellites will be launched on Vega-C rockets from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana and are scheduled to take place between 2024 and 2026.The contract not only marks an important milestone in the continuity of the Sentinel missions and the European Union’s Copernicus programme, but also Europe’s autonomous access to space.It follows the European Union’s Framework Contract for Launch Services with Arianespace, signed on 29 November 2022.ESA signed today’s contract with Arianespace in the name of and on behalf of the European Union, represented by the European Commission.Copernicus is the largest provider of Earth observation data in the world – and key to the success of the programme is the suite of Sentinel satellite missions developed by ESA.The first three Sentinel missions were each designed to operate as a pair of identical satellites, orbiting 180 degrees apart for optimal repeat observations of the planet and data delivery.Each mission carries different instruments to deliver a wealth of data to feed a range of environmental services offered through the Copernicus programme, which helps address some of today’s toughest environmental challenges such as food security, rising sea levels, diminishing ice, natural disasters, and the overarching issue of the climate crisis.To ensure continuity of data, the Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-3 missions were each conceived as four-satellite missions; first the A and B satellites working in tandem and subsequently replaced by the C and D satellites.Copernicus Sentinel-1A has been in orbit since 2014, followed by Sentinel-1B which was launched in 2016. However, Sentinel-1B came to an end this year owing to a technical issue so will be replaced by Sentinel-1C, which will be launched in the first half of 2023 on a Vega-C rocket.This new contract covers the launch of Sentinel-1D in the second half of 2024.Carrying advanced radar technology to provide an all-weather, day-and-night supply of imagery of Earth’s surface, the Sentinel-1 mission delivers essential data to monitor sea ice, track icebergs and glaciers, subsidence, oil spills and much more.The contract also covers the launch of Sentinel-2C in mid-2024.Sentinel-2A was launched in 2015 and Sentinel-2B was launched in 2017.The satellites each carry an innovative wide swath high-resolution multispectral imager with 13 spectral bands to help monitor land cover change and planet growth, for example.The launch of Sentinel-3C, also included in the contract, is envisaged to take place in 2024–2025.Sentinel-3A was launched in 2016 and Sentinel-3B was launched in 2018. The satellites each carry a suite of cutting-edge instruments that measure Earth’s oceans, land, ice and atmosphere to monitor and understand large-scale global dynamics.The mission provides essential information in near-real time for ocean and weather forecasting.ESA is also developing six Copernicus Sentinel Expansion missions to address European Union policies and gaps in Copernicus user needs, expanding the current capabilities of the Copernicus programme.The contract also includes the launch of the first Copernicus Sentinel Expansion mission: the Copernicus Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide Monitoring (CO2M) mission.The CO2M satellites will each carry a near-infrared and shortwave-infrared spectrometer to measure atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by human activity.This will provide a unique and independent source of information to assess the effectiveness of policy measures, and to track their impact towards decarbonising Europe and meeting national emission reduction targets. CO2M-A and CO2M-B are scheduled to be launched in 2025–2026.The precise launch periods for the five satellites will be reviewed by Arianespace, ESA and the European Commission, based on the Arianespace launch manifest and the priorities for the Copernicus Programme.ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes, Simonetta Cheli, said, “ESA is thrilled to continue its collaboration with this trusted European launch service, which has been safely placing Europe’s precious Copernicus Sentinels in orbit for several years now. Beyond the reliability of the service, we warmly welcome Arianespace’s cooperative approach to assisting us with the busy Sentinel launch schedule.“This new contract to launch five Copernicus Sentinel satellites on the new Vega-C rockets is an important step in not only ensuring continuity of the Sentinel-1, -2, and -3 missions and the data they provide for applications and science, but also for the new CO2M mission.Arianespace’s Chief Executive Officer, Stéphane Israel, said, “One week after the signature of the Framework Contract with the European Commission (DG DEFIS), I am thrilled to ink, today, this specific contract with ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes, for five new Vega C launches.”“It underlines the ability of Vega-C to answer the needs of the Copernicus programme as well as Arianespace’s will to be up to its mission, to guarantee, together with ESA and the European Union, sovereign access to space for Europe.” Artist's view of Vega-C on the launch padArtist's view of Vega-C on the launch padSucceeding the Vega rockets, ESA’s Vega-C deliver increased performance, greater payload volume and improved competitiveness.Operating from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, this rocket extends Europe’s autonomy in space by supporting new mission possibilities, including return-to-Earth operations with ESA's reusable Space Rider re-entry vehicle. Vega-C features major enhancements from Vega: two new solid propulsion stages, an uprated upper stage and new fairing, and new ground infrastructure.Vega-C is a single body rocket nearly 35 m high with a mass at liftoff of 210 tonnes. It can place about 2300 kg in a reference 700 km-polar orbit. Using a new range of payload carriers, Vega-C can accommodate a mix of cargo shapes and sizes, ranging from CubeSats as small as one kilogram up to a single large payload such as a Sentinel satellite.ESA’s Director of Space Transportation, Daniel Neuenschwander, noted that Vega-C complements a new family of launch services together with today’s Ariane 5 and later Ariane 6 programmes to ensure Europe maintains flexible, competitive, and autonomous access to space.“The successful inauguration flight paved the way for Vega-C to win the confidence of European institutions and commercial customers. All the work done by ESA and our partners to realise this new and versatile launch system is delivering an optimal solution for a fast-changing market, starting with Earth Observation.”
