Two new launches:QuoteMaxar Technologies’ DigitalGlobe Selects SpaceX to Launch its Next-generation WorldView Legion SatellitesQuoteThe initial block of the multi-satellite WorldView Legion constellation will be launched by two flight-proven Falcon 9 rockets in 2021.https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180314005049/en/Maxar-Technologies%E2%80%99-DigitalGlobe-Selects-SpaceX-Launch-Next-generation
Maxar Technologies’ DigitalGlobe Selects SpaceX to Launch its Next-generation WorldView Legion Satellites
The initial block of the multi-satellite WorldView Legion constellation will be launched by two flight-proven Falcon 9 rockets in 2021.
PALO ALTO, Calif. – MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (“MDA” or the “Company”) (TSX:MDA), a global communications and information company, today announced that its subsidiary Space Systems Loral (SSL) was selected to provide a next-generation satellite constellation for high-resolution Earth imaging to DigitalGlobe, the global leader in Earth imagery and information about our changing planet. Called WorldView Legion, the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites will more than double DigitalGlobe’s high-resolution capacity in important regions. The contract is valued at several hundred million U.S. dollars..
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Oct. 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) was recently selected by DigitalGlobe, Inc. as the next-generation WorldView Legion satellite imaging constellation payload provider. Under the contract, Raytheon will deliver the telescopes, detectors and combined electronics to Space Systems Loral, the WorldView Legion space vehicle integrator.Raytheon's new payload doubles DigitalGlobe's capacity to capture multispectral and 30 cm imagery, while tripling to quadrupling the company's capacity to image high-demand areas. Once the WorldView Legion constellation is on orbit, DigitalGlobe's combined constellation will be able to image the most rapidly changing areas on Earth every 20 to 30 minutes, from sunup to sundown. WorldView Legion will begin launching in 2020.
"SpaceX is proud to partner with DigitalGlobe to launch the WorldView Legion constellation," said Gwynne Shotwell, President and COO of SpaceX. "We appreciate DigitalGlobe selecting two flight-proven Falcon 9’s to reliably deliver their satellites to orbit.”
Does anyone has info, how many WorldView-Legion satellites are on one Falcon-9 launch?
40 revisits in 24 hours for certain locations would fit well with 6 satellites in an average SSO, I think. Based on the phrasing of the PR and the lowish orbit, I'd bet on 3 satellites per launch.
Turner Brinton, a DigitalGlobe spokesperson, said the WorldView Legion satellites will be the primary payloads on each of the Falcon 9 flights in 2021. But he said the company is open to making the rocket’s excess lift capability available for rideshares, or secondary satellites.
DG Consents Sub, Inc. (“DigitalGlobe”) hereby requests modification of its Earth Exploration Satellite Service (“EESS”) system to add twelve new non-geostationary satellite orbit (“NGSO”) remote sensing satellites. These new satellites (the “WorldView-Legion satellites”) will be organized into two Blocks, increasing the number of satellites licensed under Call Sign S2129 to fifteen. Block-1 will consist of WorldView-Legion-1 through 6, and Block-2 will consist of WorldView-Legion-7 through 12....Each Block of WorldView-Legion satellites will operate in two circular orbital planes. Each Block of six satellites will be placed into orbit on two separate launches. For each Block two of the satellites to be launched will operate in a sun-synchronous orbital plane, and the remaining four satellites will operate in a 45-degree-inclined plane....This means that their satellites will operate over an altitude range of 450 to 870 kilometers during the initial part of the mission, and they will converge to nominal altitudes of 763 kilometers (equatorial altitude) for the two sun-synchronous satellites, and 518 kilometers (equatorial altitude) for the four 45-degree-inclined satellites...Block 1 of the WorldView-Legion satellites are under construction. The launches of WorldView-Legion Blocks 1 and 2 will be staggered and ensure continuity of service to DigitalGlobe’s customers.
When do the first Worldview Legion satellites launch?Right now, the publicly released schedule is first quarter of 2021. We’re under contract with SpaceX for two launches. This is the first block of a multi-satellite constellation. We’re looking at ways to possibly pull that into the back end of 2020. We’ve been having meetings with others here today to see if we can pull those back to the left. Right now, we’re still on a path to get to first quarter of 2021, but we’re seeing if there are things we can do pull to the left, into 2020.I’ve heard rumors that you don’t have enough money for Worldview Legion.That is completely and utterly false. We’re building it on our own. We have more debt than we want to right now, which we’re working on in terms of getting our capital structure into a different place that would be better for our shareowners on the equity side. But we are fully able to fund the Worldview Legion constellation. This is the highest capex year for it. Raytheon is providing the instrument, a highly designed advanced instrument per our specifications. SpaceX is under contract for launches. We’re building the satellites on our own. I’m absolutely certain we’re going to do. Our credit facilities and other things provide us way more latitude than we need with this program.
Maxar will begin integrating the satellites and sensors “later this year for a first launch early in 2021 and a second launch in the latter part of 2021,” Walter Scott, Maxar executive vice president and chief technology officer, told SpaceNews.
from Maxar earnings call, flight 1 targeting first week of September from Vandenberg, flight 2 about 3-6 months afterwards.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Maxar planned to begin launching WorldView Legion satellites in the first quarter of 2021. Due to the pandemic, however, “some of the vendor hardware is showing up just a little later than we originally planned,” Jablonsky said. Those delays impact the timeline for full integration, which means environmental testing also occurs a little later, he added.
“We continue to make progress on the integration, assembly and test of all six spacecraft and instruments, and we expect to go into environmental testing early next year,” Dan Jablonsky, Maxar president and CEO, said during a Nov. 5 earnings call. “This is a complex program and many elements need to come together to ensure the level of quality and mission success we expect.”
Quote from: Skyrocket on 03/14/2018 03:49 pmDoes anyone has info, how many WorldView-Legion satellites are on one Falcon-9 launch?The plan is now for two satellites per launch.
Quote from: Jansen on 11/10/2020 02:00 amQuote from: Skyrocket on 03/14/2018 03:49 pmDoes anyone has info, how many WorldView-Legion satellites are on one Falcon-9 launch?The plan is now for two satellites per launch.Two on the first launch, four on the second launch, because two are going to polar orbit and four to mid-inclination
Maxar plans to launch the second two WorldView Legion satellites approximately three to six months after the first launch, Jablonsky said.
https://spacenews.com/maxar-q3-2020/QuoteMaxar plans to launch the second two WorldView Legion satellites approximately three to six months after the first launch, Jablonsky said.It appears that things have changed, unless Spacenews made a mistake. But it’s been a few days and it would’ve been corrected by now.
At this point, we're tracking a few critical items that could impact time lines to launch.The first of these is completion and validation of flight software, which is complex and continued simulation and testing of this spacecraft and its components and subsystems. Next, there's an industry-wide issue with some aspects of Honeywell electronic components that have been identified and need to be corrected. We're using these Honeywell electronic components on the first of our Legion satellites.As I noted, the entire satellite industry is being impacted. Notably, Maxar's Legion program, though, has been designated as a high priority defense mission and has formally received a DX rating under the Defense Production Act. We're basically front of the line alongside other DX-rated programs that are close to it and preferential treatment and resolving this issue. And at this point, we're optimistic that this is not a pacing item.Finally, we put our satellites and systems through a rigorous set of environmental testing to validate the engineering, the design, the quality and construction and work that goes into the build. We and our suppliers do that as additional validation measures. During April, one of our suppliers, Raytheon, had been conducting those same sorts of tests on the high-precision optical instruments. They unexpectedly encountered an issue during testing not related to design but due to some workmanship in an assembly of a supporting component.
“Importantly, we also signed a contract with a fifth U.S. ally to upgrade the country’s ground infrastructure to be Legion ready and we were awarded contracts to build two new GEO satellites for Sirius XM. Finally, we advanced the Legion construction program and continue to expect the launch of the first two satellites in the March to June 2022 window.”
Maxar’s John Cartwright says at a #WSBW panel this morning they’re expecting to launch the first set of WorldView Legion satellites in the second quarter of 2022, with the second set 3-6 months later.I asked if the six Legion satellites would be launched in batches of three, or two on one launch and four on the other; Cartwright declined to say. The company has previously said two on the first and four on the second.
The company said the first pair of WorldView Legion satellites is now likely to launch on a SpaceX rocket in June or July, and the remaining four satellites, under construction now, are now slated to launch in two missions three and six months later.
Most recently, the launch of the first two satellites that had been projected for early summer could be pushed to the right again because of a shortage of Ukrainian Antonov cargo aircraft used to transport spacecraft from factory to launch site.The first two satellites will be transported by truck from Maxar’s manufacturing plant in Northern California to SpaceX’s launch facility in Cape Canaveral, Florida. That could add a couple of extra weeks to the schedule, said Jablonsky. Maxar initially had booked two SpaceX launches for the Legion constellation: one for the first two satellites and the second for the other four. But it later decided to add a third, splitting the constellation in pairs to be launched in three-month intervals, said Jablonsky.
Maxar Technologies has delayed the launch of its first two WorldView Legion optical imaging satellites by 2-3 months, to September, following a wrongly designed satellite test sequence that will add about $20 million to the program’s cost.Maxar has scheduled three SpaceX Falcon 9 launches for the six Legion satellites. Under the scheduled that Maxar updated on May 9, the launches would now occur in September, December and March.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTSWorldView Legion satellites updateThe first two WorldView Legion satellites have completed environmental testing and are essentially ready for the first launchfrom a hardware perspective. However, in July 2022, we encountered delays during software validation and testing, which ledto further delays from our expected timetable. We are continuing with the software validation process, and now estimate thefirst launch of the WorldView Legion satellites to be in the fourth quarter of 2022 assuming no major issues arise. The secondlaunch of the WorldView Legion satellites is now expected to be approximately two months after the first launch.
https://twitter.com/pbdes/status/1557401891453247488Quote@Maxar 1st Legion sats delayed to Q4 on software issues; no Legion rev in 2022; co hopes to catch w/ more closely spaced @SpaceX Legion launches; @SemperCitiusSDA contract w/ @L3HarrisTech for 14 sat buses is 1st payoff for proliferated LEO investment.https://bit.ly/3BWpt7e [Aug 10]
@Maxar 1st Legion sats delayed to Q4 on software issues; no Legion rev in 2022; co hopes to catch w/ more closely spaced @SpaceX Legion launches; @SemperCitiusSDA contract w/ @L3HarrisTech for 14 sat buses is 1st payoff for proliferated LEO investment.https://bit.ly/3BWpt7e [Aug 10]
Any updates on Legion 1-2 from Cape Canaveral? Latest public statement from MAXR was end of Q4 2022?
NextSpaceFlight, updated October 1:NET December
Sounds to me like this is gonna be "NET Next Month", until it suddenly isn't
Quote from: realnouns on 01/20/2023 01:00 pmQuote from: gongora on 01/19/2023 08:00 pm0131-EX-ST-2023Mission 1860RTLS from Florida NET late February (O3B Flight 2?)No ASDS listed, but app states "SpaceX Mission 1860 (RTLS option)". I've never seen that before.Also, it states "This application uses information from previous grant 1955-EX-ST-2022", which was OneWeb 2. OneWeb 2 "used information from" OneWeb 1, so decent chance this is OneWeb 3.Follow up FCC app with same Mission #0136-EX-ST-2023Mission 1860 (downrange droneship landing option), SLC-40 or LC-39AOperation Start Date 2023 Feb 24 (same as 0131-EX-ST-2023)ASDS North 23 39 28 West 79 16 30 (southeast polar orbit landing approx 550km downrange)"Uses information from" 0788-EX-ST-2022 (aka. USA 328-331 + Globalstar FM15). Maybe some Starshield sats? Any ideas?
Quote from: gongora on 01/19/2023 08:00 pm0131-EX-ST-2023Mission 1860RTLS from Florida NET late February (O3B Flight 2?)No ASDS listed, but app states "SpaceX Mission 1860 (RTLS option)". I've never seen that before.Also, it states "This application uses information from previous grant 1955-EX-ST-2022", which was OneWeb 2. OneWeb 2 "used information from" OneWeb 1, so decent chance this is OneWeb 3.
0131-EX-ST-2023Mission 1860RTLS from Florida NET late February (O3B Flight 2?)
Quote from: GewoonLukas_ on 02/07/2023 07:17 pmSounds to me like this is gonna be "NET Next Month", until it suddenly isn'tyep
WorldView Legion satellites updateDue to our pending Merger Agreement, we are no longer providing forward-looking updates on the timing of thelaunches of our WorldView Legion satellites. We are continuing integration testing for the WorldView Legionsatellites, and launch of the satellites will occur following completion of that process. As previously disclosed in ourpublic filings, and as more completely described in the Merger Agreement, no effect relating to or arising from theCompany’s WorldView Legion satellite program can constitute or contribute to a material adverse effect, and theClosing is not conditioned on the absence of any such effect or the success of the WorldView Legion program.
