Pair of SAOCOM Earth Observation Satellites to Launch between 2012 & 2013Hawthorne, California – April 16, 2009 – Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) has signed an agreement with CONAE, Argentina's National Commission on Space Activity, for two launches aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 medium-to-heavy lift vehicle. The flights will send the SAOCOM 1A and 1B Earth observation satellites into sun-synchronous orbits, where they will provide imagery for natural resources monitoring, as well as emergency and disaster management.The identical SAOCOM satellites each carry an L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) instrument. Among other civil applications, the main purpose of the constellation is the measurement of the soil moisture over the Pampa Húmeda in Argentina. The two SAOCOM satellites will join four X-band SAR COSMO-SkyMed satellites from the Italian Space Agency (ASI), creating the Italian-Argentine System of Satellites for Emergency Management (SIASGE) constellation. The first three of the ASI satellites were launched in 2007 and 2008 with the fourth expected to fly in 2010.“SpaceX is excited to be CONAE's launch service provider for the SAOCOM 1A and 1B missions,” said Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX. “The Falcon 9 launch vehicle has been designed to the highest level of reliability and performance; we look forward to helping ensure the success of the SAOCOM satellites.”The inaugural flight of Falcon 9 is scheduled for this year, with the first Dragon spacecraft scheduled to fly on a subsequent launch, both from SpaceX's launch facility at Cape Canaveral, Florida.About CONAECONAE (Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales, or in English, National Space Activities Commission) is Argentina's civilian agency in charge of national space activities. They have launched three satellites to date, and have numerous joint space efforts with Argentine industry and academia, as well as governmental space agencies around the world, including NASA, CSA, AEB/INPE (Brazil), ASI, CNES, ESA and agencies of several other nations.
Professionals of the National Commission of Space Activities (CONAE), the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA), and the companies VENG, INVAP and CEATSA / ARSAT finalized in Bariloche the electrical verifications and mechanical integration of SAOCOM 1A, the new Argentine observation satellite developed by CONAE together with national organizations and companies.The "body" of the satellite (the service platform) and the "eyes" with which the Earth will observe (the radar antenna) are communicated, with all interfaces correctly connected, in good condition and secure. Once the electrical integration was completed and after verifying the communication of the platform with each of the seven panels of the radar antenna, the mechanical integration of the SAOCOM 1A was completed. This week the first test of the deployment of the SAR antenna continues, starting the final testing stage of the satellite.
http://www.ellitoral.com/index.php/diarios/2018/04/02/economia1/ECON-01.htmlQuoteLa estación de Tolhuin cumplirá “un rol clave” en el monitoreo del próximo satélite nacional que será puesto en órbita en septiembre, el Saocom -Satélite Argentino de Observación Con Microondas
La estación de Tolhuin cumplirá “un rol clave” en el monitoreo del próximo satélite nacional que será puesto en órbita en septiembre, el Saocom -Satélite Argentino de Observación Con Microondas
Shaping up to be the first Vandenberg RTLS!
Quote from: DaveJes1979 on 06/04/2018 05:55 pmShaping up to be the first Vandenberg RTLS!Is it? I really don't have a clue what order these flights from Vandenberg are going to happen. Iridium 8 is NET August, SSO-A is around October, I wouldn't be surprised if this or RCM or SARah 1 ends up after those in Nov/Dec.
I think this manifest is about the aircraft flight that will bring the satellite to VAFB, not the SpaceX launch itself.
SAOCOM 1A shipment to Vandenberg at end of July? The SpaceX Vandenberg manifest has me very confused right now.
Quote from: gongora on 06/17/2018 06:25 pmSAOCOM 1A shipment to Vandenberg at end of July? The SpaceX Vandenberg manifest has me very confused right now.Same. Given the gap between Iridium-7 and -8, I suppose it wouldn't be impossible to squeeze SAOCOM 1A between them, say late August, early September. Everything is dependent on core availability at this point.
Quote from: vaporcobra on 06/17/2018 07:39 pmQuote from: gongora on 06/17/2018 06:25 pmSAOCOM 1A shipment to Vandenberg at end of July? The SpaceX Vandenberg manifest has me very confused right now.Same. Given the gap between Iridium-7 and -8, I suppose it wouldn't be impossible to squeeze SAOCOM 1A between them, say late August, early September. Everything is dependent on core availability at this point. Would that actually be possible though? Pad turnaround time at Vandenberg seems like it has also really been holding SpaceX back over the last 18 months. There have been no short intervals between flights from that pad, and it's not been for lack of payloads to fly from it; they have been queued up and waiting. SpaceX seem to try to be equally fair to all customers, therefore I can only assume that they would have launched from Vandenberg at shorter intervals if they were capable of it, which implies that they are not. Once B5s are being regularly flown and refurbished, and at increasingly shorter intervals, I would suggest that pad turnaround at VAFB becomes their biggest limiting factor on cadence until they max out on 2nd stage and fairing production capabilities.
Quote from: UKobserver on 06/18/2018 11:34 amQuote from: vaporcobra on 06/17/2018 07:39 pmQuote from: gongora on 06/17/2018 06:25 pmSAOCOM 1A shipment to Vandenberg at end of July? The SpaceX Vandenberg manifest has me very confused right now.Same. Given the gap between Iridium-7 and -8, I suppose it wouldn't be impossible to squeeze SAOCOM 1A between them, say late August, early September. Everything is dependent on core availability at this point. Would that actually be possible though? Pad turnaround time at Vandenberg seems like it has also really been holding SpaceX back over the last 18 months. There have been no short intervals between flights from that pad, and it's not been for lack of payloads to fly from it; they have been queued up and waiting. SpaceX seem to try to be equally fair to all customers, therefore I can only assume that they would have launched from Vandenberg at shorter intervals if they were capable of it, which implies that they are not. Once B5s are being regularly flown and refurbished, and at increasingly shorter intervals, I would suggest that pad turnaround at VAFB becomes their biggest limiting factor on cadence until they max out on 2nd stage and fairing production capabilities.Needs a new/modified reaction frame, launch mount, and TEL to support a faster launch rate at VAFB. It is in a hybrid state between the v1.1 and v1.2 designs.
There have been no short intervals between flights from that pad, and it's not been for lack of payloads to fly from it; they have been queued up and waiting. SpaceX seem to try to be equally fair to all customers, therefore I can only assume that they would have launched from Vandenberg at shorter intervals if they were capable of it, which implies that they are not.
SAOCOM 1A PREPARING TO TRAVEL. The observation satellite of CONAE entered the container for the last verification test in @ invapargentina / CEATSA before its transfer to the USA. for the launch campaign. In a few weeks, SAOCOM 1A will look at us from space!
it appears it has been delayed to the end of september