Author Topic: FAILURE: CBERS-3 Long March-4B launch, Taiyuan - December 9, 2013 (0326UTC)  (Read 93077 times)

Online Chris Bergin

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Offline Galactic Penguin SST

Hmm 1.5 hours after spacecraft separation there has been no official news from the Chinese side....  ???
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Offline Galactic Penguin SST

Strange, I have seen two different rumors sources saying that something failed........  :o

......... yet O Globo, the largest Brazilian newspaper, is reporting launch success...
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Offline Galactic Penguin SST

Strange, I have seen two different rumors sources saying that something failed........  :o

......... yet O Globo, the largest Brazilian newspaper, is reporting launch success...

Still nothing from the Chinese side. I wonder if there's something wrong with the satellite (especially considering its history) - it seems that both sources that I have mentioned above comes from CAST and not SAST, so I don't think there's a problem with the rocket. And there are many cases in history that initial satellite problems after launch were solved eventually.......
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Offline input~2

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INPE press release doesn't say much on satellite health
Quote from:  INPE Press release
O foguete chinês Longa Marcha 4B cumpriu perfeitamente todas as etapas previstas para colocação do satélite em órbita. O tempo total de voo até a injeção do CBERS em órbita foi de 12,5 minutos.      Quando atingido o ponto ideal da órbita, um comando liberou a trava do dispositivo que prendia o CBERS-3 ao foguete. O satélite, impulsionado por molas, afastou-se do lançador e entrou em órbita.      Em órbita, o CBERS-3 efetua uma revolução completa em torno da Terra a cada uma hora e quarenta minutos (100 minutos).           
http://www.inpe.br/noticias/noticia.php?Cod_Noticia=3469

Offline Galactic Penguin SST

Hmm, this Brazilian news report mentions that the launch failed...... http://folha.com/no1382856
« Last Edit: 12/09/2013 08:39 am by Galactic Penguin SST »
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Offline input~2

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Hmm, this Brazilian news report mentions that the launch failed...... [url]http://folha.com/no1382856 [/url
Said to be a launcher failure, satellite failed to reach orbit. The reporter was apparently on site.

Offline Satori

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Hmm, this Brazilian news report mentions that the launch failed...... [url]http://folha.com/no1382856 [/url
Said to be a launcher failure, satellite failed to reach orbit. The reporter was apparently on site.

http://panoramaespacial.blogspot.pt/2013/12/cbers-3-sucesso-ou-falha.html Is saying that the satellite was launched into a wrong orbit that lead to a reentry soon after.

Offline Galactic Penguin SST

Well I wonder if the two governments would decide to build CBERS-5 as a replacement?
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Offline Satori

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Well I wonder if the two governments would decide to build CBERS-5 as a replacement?

This is a very, very sad end to CBERS-3. The all project was doomed with problems in the last months and one almost could imagine that something would go wrong. But, I wouldn't expect a failure in the launch vehicle.

Offline Galactic Penguin SST

Finally an official statement from the Chinese side: http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2013-12-09/182828926719.shtml

Any signs of one from the Brazilians?

Quote
This is a very, very sad end to CBERS-3. The all project was doomed with problems in the last months and one almost could imagine that something would go wrong. But, I wouldn't expect a failure in the launch vehicle.

In what construction phase is CBERS-4 in right now? That should have less problems with the lessons learnt on dealing with the electrical problems on CBERS-3....
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Offline Satori

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I hope China will be more open about this failure, being this a cooperative mission I suppose they should explain what happened.

Offline Satori

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CBERS-3 was inserted in a wrong and lower than planned orbit.

The solar panel opened as expected and send telemetry signals during 15 minutes before reentering.

So, the problem was with the last stage of the CZ-4B (?)

Online ugordan

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So, the problem was with the last stage of the CZ-4B (?)

Or one of the lower stages underperformed and the last stage was just unable to compensate. Let's wait for facts.

Offline input~2

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INPE has erased its press release on launch success

Online Chris Bergin

Sad news for the Brazilian team involved.
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Online Chris Bergin

We need to work on the satellite's demise (re-entry), such as where it did (or will) re-enter.
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Offline AJA

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Sad news for the Brazilian team involved.

...and for the Chinese too.

Did someone at INPE jump the gun issuing a prepared press release after the rocket nominally flew beyond tracking camera range? I'm assuming whatever anomaly occurred happened after this, because otherwise they wouldn't have issued the "mission successful" release in the first place... they'd have been able to notice the controllers/ plots etc.

Wikipedia says Taiyuan is a civil+military pad, and functions as an ICBM launch site? I bring it up because I don't know how launch pad access and security work.. Are satellite customers (in this case some INPE representatives) allowed to be present at the launch centre? Or, was there no one present from the Brazilian side at the launch?

Offline input~2

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Or, was there no one present from the Brazilian side at the launch?
High ranking Brazilian representatives attended the launch among them the Minister for Sciences and Technology, Marco Antonio Raupp, and the Director of INPE, Leonel Perondi.
« Last Edit: 12/10/2013 07:53 am by input~2 »

Offline Satori

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From Xinhua, http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sci/2013-12/09/c_132954105.htm

China's remote-sensing satellite fails to enter orbit

TAIYUAN, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- China's high-resolution remote-sensing satellite Ziyuan I-03 failed to enter orbit after its launch earlier Monday, military sources said.

"The rocket malfunctioned during the flight, and the satellite failed to enter orbit," said the sources, adding that Chinese and Brazilian experts are analyzing the cause of the failure.

The satellite, jointly developed by China and Brazil, was launched at 11:26 a.m. aboard a Long March 4B rocket from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province.

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