SpaceX F9 : Transporter-11 Rideshare : VSFB SLC-4E : 16 August 2024 (18:56 UTC)

[gongora]

SEOPS Readies Five Payloads from Three Countries on Upcoming Transporter-11 Rideshare Mission with SpaceX

Latest mission highlights the rideshare provider's ability to accommodate last-minute manifest additionsmand the debut of its new 'soft-ride' deployment system

Houston, TX - June 24, 2024 - SEOPS announced today it has provided the integration and rideshare services for five spacecraft on the Transporter-11 Rideshare mission with SpaceX. The mission is targeted to lift off on a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California this summer. A long-time rideshare and integration services provider on International Space Station and Transporter missions, SEOPS provided end-to-end mission services for five government and commercial payloads from three countries, including adding a spacecraft from Hungary to the manifest when its original launch plans fell through at the last minute.

This mission also marks the inaugural flight of the company's patented Ghost Trap deployment system which provides an innovative design for a low vibration, smooth ride. Ideal for sensitive payloads such as those containing sensitive optical sensors or delicate solar arrays, the new system decreases the stress load, creating a more protected and secure environment, without the need for additional adapters or isolators. In turn, the integration process is simplified and faster - a benefit for smallsat operators and launch vehicle providers alike.

“Our years of experience supporting both domestic and international customers on SpaceX's Transporter Rideshare missions are unparalleled,” said Chad Brinkley, CEO of SEOPS. “The relationship and expertise are particularly valuable when there are last-minute changes, which happens frequently in our industry. We pride ourselves on going the extra mile for our customers, solving their unique launch challenges and Transporter-11 is a prime example of that from both a hardware and services perspective.”

SEOPS provided the rideshare and integration services for the following spacecraft on Transporter-11:

Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator-4 (PTD-4): Part of NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate's Small Spacecraft Technology (SST) program's technology demonstrator series to test new subsystem technologies to increase small spacecraft capabilities, PTD-4 will demonstrate a very high-power, low-volume deployable solar array with an integrated antenna called the Lightweight Integrated Solar Array and anTenna, or LISA-T.

Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator-R (PTD-R): Also part of NASA SST's PTD series of technology demonstrator missions, the PTD-R mission will demonstrate simultaneous ultraviolet and short-wave infrared optical sensing from space for the first time via two 85-mm aperture monolithic telescopes mounted side-by-side.

Iperdrone: Funded by the Italian Space Agency and developed by an entirely Italian consortium composed of Centro Italiano Ricerche Aerospaziali, Tyvak International and Kayser Italia, the Iperdrone spacecraft will demonstrate proximity operations for space assets, visual inspection, and a controlled re-entry in a pre-defined corridor.

Train Rapid On Payload (TROOP-F2): NearSpace Launch Inc.'s TROOP-F2 is a hosted payload program that offers an affordable and rapid turn on research iterations, a consistent opportunity to increase technology readiness level numbers, and a variety of testing pathways. Additionally, onboard TROOP-F2 is a hosted payload for Celestis, a memorial and space burial services provider, whose Harmony Flight includes a symbolic portion of the cremated remains or DNA of 62 flight participants.

Water Resources in Efficient Networks (WREN-1): From Hungarian space company C3S LLC, the WREN-1 mission is a real-time decision support system for climate adaptation, drought prevention, and yield forecasting.

SEOPS was able to accommodate the WREN-1 spacecraft on its manifest, via a partnership with France's RIDE!, when C3S's original launch plans collapsed. CEO of C3S Gyula Horváth commented, "The SEOPS team demonstrated remarkable flexibility and professionalism, especially considering the unusual circumstances and timing requirements for our mission. They were steadfast in their support, adapting seamlessly to meet our evolving needs. We're thankful for their unwavering commitment to ensure WREN-1 gets on orbit on schedule."

[Nico from the Hague]

It’s been 10 years (!) since we launched the first ISISPACE QuadPack deployers! A decade later, we are proudly approaching the staggering number of 200 QuadPacks accommodating 700+ satellites altogethe

We commemorate this milestone by launching another group of valued customers in coincidentally matching numbers; a total of 49 satellites were integrated under the hashtag#ISILAUNCH49 campaign at Vandenberg Space Force Base for launch on board the upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 hashtag#Transporter-11 Rideshare mission.

Thank you to our customers Planet, Myriota, Kuva Space, Zentrum für Telematik e.V., Apogeo Space, and a yet undisclosed customer for working with us as your preferred launch services and integration provider!

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/isis---innovative-solutions-in-space-bv_isilaunch49-transporter-isispace-activity-7211358324401786880-7G4T/

[zubenelgenubi]

Any indications yet of when in July this is launching?  I know it is or was NET July 1.

Celestis are saying 8 July.
https://www.celestis.com/launch-schedule/harmony-flight/
"Earth Orbit Service #11
Celestis Memorial Spaceflight: #24
Mission Name: Harmony Flight
Mission Status: Closed for reservations
Launch Location: Vandenberg SFB California
Launch Date: July 8, 2024"

NextSpaceflight; updated June 25:
Launch NET Jul 8, 2024

[zubenelgenubi]

Celestis now states launch is July 10.
https://www.celestis.com/launch-schedule/harmony-flight/

"Earth Orbit Service #11
Celestis Memorial Spaceflight: #24
Mission Name: Harmony Flight
Mission Status: Closed for reservations
Launch Location: Vandenberg SFB California
Launch Date: July 10, 2024"

[gongora]

https://twitter.com/ICEYEfi/status/1805889240737149104

In preparation for the upcoming launch, we dispatched several ICEYE #SAR satellites from our Finland office last month, including the first satellite for our customer @yahsatofficial and @Bayanatg42's constellation!

https://spacenews.com/yahsat-orders-leo-satellites-from-airbus/ [Jun 10]

Last year, Yahsat and Bayanat teamed up to order seven UAE-focused synthetic aperture radar satellites from Iceye of Finland. Yahsat recently said the first SAR satellite is slated to launch before the end of June, delayed from the first three months of 2024.

[zubenelgenubi]

YAM-7

Loft Orbital requests authority to launch and operate a single microsatellite, YAM-7.
<snip>
Target Deployment Altitude: 510 km (circular)
 Orbit Type: Sun-Synchronous
 Inclination: 97.6 +/- 0.1 degrees
 LTDN: 10:30 +30/-30 minutes
<snip>

GNOMES-5

LTAN / LTDN: To be defined by SpaceX Transporter-11 (current estimate is LTDN 22:30)
Nominal insertion orbital altitude: 590 km +/-25 km (circular)
Nominal insertion inclination: 97.6 degrees (+/- 0.5 degrees)
Operating orbital altitude: 430 – 560 km
Nominal operating inclination: Sun-synchronous inclination, 97.6 degrees (+/- 0.5 degrees)
<snip>

Transporter-11 will launch south towards the equator, and that crossing time is a rough equivalent to the orbit's Local Time of Descending Node (LTDN).  The launch will be a few minutes previous to the above, so also a rough equivalent.

I expect launch circa 10:30 or 22:30 (10:30 +12 hours) local time (Pacific Time) = circa 17:30 or 05:30 UTC.


Transporter-11 => Transporter-12; attachments with original post:

SAT-LOA-20240417-00081

Impulse-2 from Impulse Space.  ODAR not filed yet.

MuSat-3
Transporter-11 => Transporter-13; attachments with original post:

SAT-MOD-20240614-001334
MuSat-3, MuSat-4 (2x ~130kg, Muon Space)
GNSS reflectometry (MuSat-4 also had infrared)

[StraumliBlight]

CroCube should be removed from this launch. [translated] [Jun 9]

Due to a delay by SpaceX, the launch of the first Croatian CroCube satellite was moved to "October at the earliest" this year.

CroCube will be launched on a Falcon 9 rocket, as part of the Bandwagon 2 mission.

This mission involves a launch to an altitude of 510 +/- 20 km, with an orbital inclination between 44° and 46°. Bandwagon 2 is a dedicated rideshare flight that will carry dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government users. The launch is contracted, and even though our satellite has been ready for some time, all we have to do is wait and count down to the launch. CroCube will soon be part of the space adventure, contributing to the scientific and technological progress of Croatia.

The launch broker, Exolaunch, specializes in the integration and launch of nanosatellites. CroCube will join other satellites in deployers, special nanosatellite dispensers, and other satellites that will travel together toward American soil. This coordination of different space missions makes Exolaunch a key partner in the process of preparing and launching satellites like CroCube.

[StraumliBlight]

Exolaunch deployer integration with Sateliot.

[StraumliBlight]

https://twitter.com/planet/status/1803872547483848996

Tanager-1 will be equipped with hundreds of spectral bands that require complex optics. Here, Planeteers place telescope mirrors into the Telescope Optical Bench Assembly (TOBA), a composite structure designed to hold everything in place.

What does it take to bring our first hyperspectral satellite to life? A lot, actually. Our team had their hands full building and testing Tanager-1 in our SF lab, but they still managed to snap a few pics, like this double selfie using flight mirrors during payload construction:

https://twitter.com/planet/status/1803872550977704067

We have to ensure Tanager-1 can withstand the harsh conditions of space before launch. So we test the satellite in our lab’s thermal vacuum chamber that mimics the substantial temperature swings experienced in orbit.

[StraumliBlight]

Possible Payloads:
YAM-7 (90kg, Loft Orbital with Hydrosat Imager) (FCC pending SAT-LOA-20240202-00021

Hydrosat's VanZyl-1 is confirmed for this launch. [Jun 27]

Though SpaceNews have the launch date as July 8th and incorrectly list it as "YAM-6".
[zubenelgenubi: Space News article has been corrected.]

[gongora]

https://twitter.com/LoftOrbital/status/1806351677047656472

We’re excited to fly VanZyl-1, @HydrosatI's first mission, on YAM-7. We're launching NET July 10 on @SpaceX's Transporter-11.

Hydrosat’s VanZyl-1 is a dedicated mission, with thermal infrared imagers that provide insights into agriculture, aquaculture, drought, wildfire and urban heat for both commercial operations and civil government initiatives.

Read more: https://lnkd.in/ggp7UW7M

[jcm]

https://exolaunch.com/news_107

Sateliot’s four 6U satellites, named Sateliot_1, Sateliot_2, Sateliot_3, and Sateliot_4, are manifested via Exolaunch on the Transporter-11 Rideshare mission with SpaceX

Dislike.
Please don't use underscore in your satellite names, it will mess up my software :-)

[zubenelgenubi]

https://exolaunch.com/news_107

Sateliot’s four 6U satellites, named Sateliot_1, Sateliot_2, Sateliot_3, and Sateliot_4, are manifested via Exolaunch on the Transporter-11 Rideshare mission with SpaceX

Dislike.
Please don't use underscore in your satellite names, it will mess up my software :-)

FYI, the underscores are in the Exolaunch document, not gongora's innovation.

[zubenelgenubi]

Re: TetraPIX Tetraplex
https://www.telepix.net/products/?current=TETRAPLEX&index=1

TETRAPLEX
On-Board Processor (OBP) for AI processing and edge computing

TelePIX, an NVIDIA Inception Program member, is developing TETRAPLEX, TelePIX’s on-board processor(OBP) for edge AI technology for on-board AI processing as well as image pre-processing.

Currently, the engineering model is complete and flight model will be ready by January 2024. This OBP is expected to obtain space heritage in June 2024 as part of TelePIX’s BlueBon launch in 2024.

Which then states:

BLUEBON
World’s First Blue Carbon Monitoring Satellite

Zero Carbon Emission
Carbon emission on earth is eliminated by using renewable energy (i.e. sunlight) for processing satellite data in space.

Low Data Latency
The data latency is significantly improved by reducing the amount of transmitted data from the satellite with AI on-board processing.

High Quality Analysis
Analysis is improved by reducing potential noise created from data transmission between the optical payload and the bus platform.

So, Bluebon is the satellite, with Tetraplex as a hosted payload?  And, both will be aboard Transporter-11?

(I had to switch the webpage to desktop mode to access the text.)

[gongora]

So, Bluebon is the satellite, with Tetraplex as a hosted payload?  And, both will be aboard Transporter-11?

BlueBON may be the satellite name, we'll see eventually.  The real satellite is extremely unlikely to look like their renderings, they're not doing their own bus.  They have a post from a month ago showing the optical payload going through testing and not integrated yet, so I don't think it's launching on T11.

[jcm]

https://exolaunch.com/news_107

Sateliot’s four 6U satellites, named Sateliot_1, Sateliot_2, Sateliot_3, and Sateliot_4, are manifested via Exolaunch on the Transporter-11 Rideshare mission with SpaceX

Dislike.
Please don't use underscore in your satellite names, it will mess up my software :-)

FYI, the underscores are in the Exolaunch document, not gongora's innovation.

Indeed, I was complaining at Exolaunch :-)

[StraumliBlight]

Cosmic Shielding works with Aethero to protect Nvidia Jetson Orin NX GPU [Jul 2]

SAN FRANCISCO – Cosmic Shielding Corp. is supporting the upcoming launch of a radiation-hardened edge computer from San Francisco startup Aethero.

The computer, scheduled to fly July 10 on the SpaceX Falcon-9 Transporter-11 rideshare from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, includes Nvida’s Jetson Orin NX graphics processing unit.

“It’s going to be the fastest AI-capable chip in space,” Yanni Barghouty, CSC co-founder and CEO, told SpaceNews.

LLNL delivers compact dual-band telescope for launch this summer [Jul 2]

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) space hardware team has delivered a payload for NASA’s Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator-R (PTD-R) satellite. LLNL developed the optical payload, called Deep Purple, that utilizes a new design for an ultra-violet (UV) and short-wave infrared (SWIR) monolithic telescope.

The mission will demonstrate simultaneous monolithic UV and SWIR optical sensing from space for the first time via two co-boresighted, 85 mm aperture monolithic telescopes using a new compact custom electronics module and a novel, lightweight, carbon-composite optical housing and radiator. It will demonstrate new possibilities for scientific observations and real-time space domain awareness.

The satellite is scheduled to launch this summer aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-11 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Rideshare provider SEOPS has handled the integration and mission services for the spacecraft.

Designed, developed, qualified and delivered in roughly one year for less than $1 million, the Deep Purple telescope also will observe UV and short-wave infrared light from high-UV stars and the galactic bulge.

Caption [photo is an attached file]:
In January 2024, the Space Hardware team fully qualified its Deep Purple payload, which will be on board NASA’s Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator-R, scheduled to launch this summer. Once operational, Deep Purple will observe ultraviolet and short-wave infrared light. (Photos: Garry McLeod)

SEOPS Payloads Manifest

In addition, we're flying our patented 'soft-ride' deployment system, Ghost Trap, for the first time. READ MORE about how it reduces vibrations and decreases the stress load, creating a more protected and secure environment, without the need for additional adapters or isolators.

NASA's Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator-4 (PTD-4)

NASA's Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator-R (PTD-R)

Train Rapid On-Orbit Payload (TROOP-F2)

Iperdrone

Water Resources in Efficient Networks (WREN-1)

[edit: zubenelgenubi]

[zubenelgenubi]

NextSpaceflight; updated July 2:
Launch NET July 18

What happened?

[gongora]

NextSpaceflight; updated July 2:
Launch NET July 18

What happened?

The Celestis website says NET July 18 now

[zubenelgenubi]

Deducing payload aboard Deimos.

SN Cosmic Shielding works with Aethero to protect Nvidia Jetson Orin NX GPU [Jul 2]

SAN FRANCISCO – Cosmic Shielding Corp. is supporting the upcoming launch of a radiation-hardened edge computer from San Francisco startup Aethero.

The computer, scheduled to fly July 10 on the SpaceX Falcon-9 Transporter-11 rideshare from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, includes Nvida’s Jetson Orin NX graphics processing unit.