New and updated NASA Launch Schedule entries:https://www.nasa.gov/launchschedule/QuoteDate: November 2022Mission: Surface Water and Ocean Topography<snip>
Date: November 2022Mission: Surface Water and Ocean Topography<snip>
Reverberations of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: with Antonov aircraft unavailable, NASA and European partners on the SWOT mission are looking for new ways to ship the large spacecraft from Europe to Calif. for launch. NASA says US Air Force may provide an aircraft.
SWOT is now primed for its planned departure to the United States in early October, bringing to a close a year of unstinting efforts on the part of French and U.S. teams at Thales Alenia Space, the world leader in satellite altimetry. Over the last 12 months, the science payload supplied by JPL has been integrated with the spacecraft bus developed by Thales Alenia Space for prime contractor CNES. After these assembly operations, the teams conducted a series of functional and environmental tests on the satellite and its instruments to verify their ability to withstand the harsh conditions of launch and space.A U.S. Air Force C5-Galaxy freighter aircraft will be deployed specially to fly the two-tonne satellite and its shipping container from Nice Airport to Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) for a launch no earlier than 5 December atop a Falcon 9 vehicle operated by SpaceX.
The US Air Force embarks the oceanography satellite #SWOT in Nice, heading for the California space base. bfmtv.com/cote-d-azur/l-… through @BFMCotedazur
US Air Force C5 Galaxy cargo plane successfully delivered SWOT oceanography satellite in California, yesterday at 10PM local Time. Meant to revolutionize the fields of #oceanography and #hydrology, the satellite will be launched from Vandenberg by @SpaceX in December. Stay tuned!
NASA Kennedy KSC-20221013-PH-ANM01_0083The ground service equipment for the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite arrives at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Oct. 13, 2022. SWOT is the first mission that will observe nearly all water on Earth’s surface, measuring the height of water in the planet’s lakes, rivers, reservoirs, and the ocean. The satellite is set to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in December from Vandenberg’s Space Launch Center-4 East. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is managing the launch service. Photo credit: USSF 30th Space Wing/Anthony Mendez
NASA Kennedy KSC-20221016-PH-CNV01_0087 The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite arrives at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Oct. 16, 2022. SWOT is the first mission that will observe nearly all water on Earth’s surface, measuring the height of water in the planet’s lakes, rivers, reservoirs, and the ocean. The satellite is set to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in December from Vandenberg’s Space Launch Center-4 East. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is managing the launch service. Photo credit: USSF 30th Space Wing/Carlos Velasco
https://blogs.nasa.gov/swot/2022/11/08/international-swot-mission-now-targeting-dec-12-launch/NASA, the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), and SpaceX are now targeting Monday, Dec. 12, for the launch of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch SWOT from Space Launch Complex-4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.After considering the schedule for completion of the satellite build, transportation of the SWOT spacecraft from France to Vandenberg , and carrying out the remaining launch campaign tasks, the team determined that additional time was needed to conduct these activities and ready the satellite for launch.SWOT is the first satellite mission that will survey nearly all water on Earth’s surface. Its instruments will measure the height of water in the planet’s lakes, rivers, reservoirs, and the ocean in higher definition than ever before. This will help to inform water equity and water management decisions, provide new insights into Earth’s water and energy cycle, and help prepare communities for rising seas and changing coastlines in a warming climate.
NextSpaceFlight, updated November 28:Launch December 15, same time of day
