A constellation of identical 3U CubeSats provide sounding (left CubeSat has a temperature profile of a simulated Tropical Cyclone (TC) from a numerical weather prediction (NWP) model) and 12-channel radiometric imagery (center CubeSat has simulated radiances from NWP model and radiative transfer model and the near right CubeSat has a single-channel radiance image of a TC) with a median revisit rate approaching 60 minutes to meet state-of-the-art performance.The Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) mission will provide rapid-refresh microwave measurements over the tropics that can be used to observe the thermodynamics of the troposphere and precipitation structure for storm systems at the mesoscale and synoptic scale over the entire storm lifecycle. TROPICS comprises a constellation of CubeSats in three low-Earth orbital planes. Each CubeSat will host a high-performance radiometer scanning across the satellite track at 30 RPM to provide temperature profiles using seven channels near the 118.75 GHz oxygen absorption line, water vapor profiles using 3 channels near the 183 GHz water vapor absorption line, imagery in a single channel near 90 GHz for precipitation measurements, and a single channel at 205 GHz for cloud ice measurements.More Information: https://tropics.ll.mit.edu/CMS/tropics/Mission-Overview
The latest aerial images from NASASpacefligt indicate that there is nothing at SLC-46.
However Astra can probably set up in 24 hours by staging from somewhere close by in Florida. IIRC everything for the launch was in 3 or 4 semi trailers.
The issue that might hold up the launch set up process might be the readiness of the payload.
At this morning’s Earth Science Advisory Cmte meeting, NASA’s Karen St. Germain says the agency is working on a plan for launching the four remaining TROPICS cubesats after the first two were lost on an Astra launch in June. “Still excited” about science 4 TROPICS sats can do. [August 2]
https://mobile.twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1554464843993956352Quote from: Jeff FoustAt this morning’s Earth Science Advisory Cmte meeting, NASA’s Karen St. Germain says the agency is working on a plan for launching the four remaining TROPICS cubesats after the first two were lost on an Astra launch in June. “Still excited” about science 4 TROPICS sats can do. [August 2]Rocket return-to-flight?Or something else?
Quote from: zubenelgenubi on 08/02/2022 10:44 pmhttps://mobile.twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1554464843993956352Quote from: Jeff FoustAt this morning’s Earth Science Advisory Cmte meeting, NASA’s Karen St. Germain says the agency is working on a plan for launching the four remaining TROPICS cubesats after the first two were lost on an Astra launch in June. “Still excited” about science 4 TROPICS sats can do. [August 2]Rocket return-to-flight?Or something else?Losing 2 is not unexpected on new LV but can they afford to lose anymore. Maybe case of using more reliable LV for remaining 4.
No more Rocket 3.0 launches!Astra Earnings Statement - https://investor.astra.com/news-releases/news-release-details/astra-announces-second-quarter-2022-financial-results[August 4]Quote from: AstraAstra announces that after two of its four Rocket 3.3 flights were successful, the Company will transition to the next version of its launch system and is working with customers to re-manifest all payloads onto the new launch system, designed for higher capacity, reliability, and production rate.
Astra announces that after two of its four Rocket 3.3 flights were successful, the Company will transition to the next version of its launch system and is working with customers to re-manifest all payloads onto the new launch system, designed for higher capacity, reliability, and production rate.
WowQuote from: Michael Sheetz tweetAstra's presentation for the Q2 conference call says that the TROPICS-1 mission failure investigation is still ongoing. $ASTR [August 4]Quote from: Michael Sheetz tweet$ASTR CEO Chris Kemp: "We will not have any additional flights in 2022." [August 4]Quote from: Eric Berger tweetAstra CEO Chris Kemp said it's not certain that the company will resume commercial launches in 2023. It will depend on how development and testing goes with the next generation launch system [Rocket 4.0]. May be later. [August 4]
Astra's presentation for the Q2 conference call says that the TROPICS-1 mission failure investigation is still ongoing. $ASTR [August 4]
$ASTR CEO Chris Kemp: "We will not have any additional flights in 2022." [August 4]
Astra CEO Chris Kemp said it's not certain that the company will resume commercial launches in 2023. It will depend on how development and testing goes with the next generation launch system [Rocket 4.0]. May be later. [August 4]
Quote from: TrevorMonty on 08/04/2022 06:34 amQuote from: zubenelgenubi on 08/02/2022 10:44 pmhttps://mobile.twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1554464843993956352Quote from: Jeff FoustAt this morning’s Earth Science Advisory Cmte meeting, NASA’s Karen St. Germain says the agency is working on a plan for launching the four remaining TROPICS cubesats after the first two were lost on an Astra launch in June. “Still excited” about science 4 TROPICS sats can do. [August 2]Rocket return-to-flight?Or something else?Losing 2 is not unexpected on new LV but can they afford to lose anymore. Maybe case of using more reliable LV for remaining 4.Electron, maybe? Or LauncherOne?
Quote from: ZachS09 on 08/04/2022 04:55 pmQuote from: TrevorMonty on 08/04/2022 06:34 amQuote from: zubenelgenubi on 08/02/2022 10:44 pmhttps://mobile.twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1554464843993956352Quote from: Jeff FoustAt this morning’s Earth Science Advisory Cmte meeting, NASA’s Karen St. Germain says the agency is working on a plan for launching the four remaining TROPICS cubesats after the first two were lost on an Astra launch in June. “Still excited” about science 4 TROPICS sats can do. [August 2]Rocket return-to-flight?Or something else?Losing 2 is not unexpected on new LV but can they afford to lose anymore. Maybe case of using more reliable LV for remaining 4.Electron, maybe? Or LauncherOne?Just put the remaining 4 TROPICS cubesats on a Falcon 9 along with whatever rideshare that can be mustered to go along. Losing one more TROPICS will drastically reduce the science that can done, since nominally there should be a minimum of 4 TROPICS spacecrafts gathering data. NASA has let Astra Space rolled the dice, who didn't make the saving throw.
Quote from: Zed_Noir on 08/06/2022 01:58 amQuote from: ZachS09 on 08/04/2022 04:55 pmQuote from: TrevorMonty on 08/04/2022 06:34 amQuote from: zubenelgenubi on 08/02/2022 10:44 pmhttps://mobile.twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1554464843993956352Quote from: Jeff FoustAt this morning’s Earth Science Advisory Cmte meeting, NASA’s Karen St. Germain says the agency is working on a plan for launching the four remaining TROPICS cubesats after the first two were lost on an Astra launch in June. “Still excited” about science 4 TROPICS sats can do. [August 2]Rocket return-to-flight?Or something else?Losing 2 is not unexpected on new LV but can they afford to lose anymore. Maybe case of using more reliable LV for remaining 4.Electron, maybe? Or LauncherOne?Just put the remaining 4 TROPICS cubesats on a Falcon 9 along with whatever rideshare that can be mustered to go along. Losing one more TROPICS will drastically reduce the science that can done, since nominally there should be a minimum of 4 TROPICS spacecrafts gathering data. NASA has let Astra Space rolled the dice, who didn't make the saving throw. I mentioned that possibility a while ago, and someone said that since TROPICS is not going to a sun-synchronous orbit (TROPICS operates in a 30-degree orbit), a Transporter rideshare is unlikely.
What are the benefits and disadvantages of TROPICS operating in a 53-degree orbit rather than the original 30-degree orbit?
Quote from: ZachS09 on 08/06/2022 11:22 amWhat are the benefits and disadvantages of TROPICS operating in a 53-degree orbit rather than the original 30-degree orbit?Less coverage of the tropics.
Does this tweet mean that the mission is not cancelled and that it just moves to Rocket 4.0?"NASA is an unreal customer. Told Astra it's willing to wait for "launch system 2.0" for the Tropics mission."
Does this tweet mean that the mission is not cancelled and that it just moves to Rocket 4.0?"NASA is an unreal customer. Told Astra it's willing to wait for "launch system 2.0" for the Tropics mission."https://twitter.com/sciguyspace/status/1555293237652475904
Is it possible that the remaining satellites could fly on a single launch of Rocket 4.0?
At a NASA town hall at the #Smallsat conference this morning, the agency says it’s “still looking for a ride” for the four remaining TROPICS cubesats that were to launch on Astra’s Rocket 3.3. Astra said last week it’s in discussions with NASA, but Rocket 4 would be a poor fit.
What is the mass of the TROPICS satellites?
Agency sources said Astra’s announcement that the company was discontinuing the Rocket 3.3 took them by surprise. Switching vehicles poses cost and schedule challenges that NASA is still studying.However, even before the announcement, NASA was looking into alternative options while awaiting the outcome of the investigation into the June launch failure.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-maintains-contractual-relationship-with-astra-presses-forward-with-tropics-missionQuoteSep 22, 2022NASA Maintains Contractual Relationship with Astra, Presses Forward with TROPICS MissionRecognizing the urgent science needs, NASA is adjusting its launch services plan to complete the timely launch of a CubeSat constellation designed to improve understanding of tropical cyclones.The agency’s Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) mission launch service now will be competed under the agency’s Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) IDIQ contract targeting the 2023 hurricane season.NASA and Astra also have agreed to modify its existing launch services contract, originally planned for the agency’s TROPICS constellation, for the launch of comparable scientific payloads on Astra’s Rocket 4.0 in the future.NASA selected commercial partner Astra in 2021 to provide launch services for TROPICS across three launches using the company’s Rocket 3.3 launch vehicle. On June 12, 2022, after a nominal first-stage flight, the upper stage of Astra’s Rocket 3.3 shut down early and failed to deliver the first two TROPICS CubeSats to orbit. NASA currently is participating in the launch investigation, led by Astra and the Federal Aviation Administration.Following the first TROPICS launch attempt, Astra and NASA engaged in discussions regarding the remaining launch attempts. Astra then notified NASA of its intent to discontinue its Rocket 3.3 and indicated the company would potentially not resume launches prior to the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season. The VADR contract allows the 13 companies selected this year to compete for the rebid of the TROPICS launch services, giving the agency and external stakeholders the ability to use TROPICS data sooner.TROPICS is an Earth venture mission – science-driven, competitively selected, low-cost missions that provide opportunity for investment in innovative Earth science to enhance our capability to better understand the current state of the Earth system and to enable continual improvement in the prediction of future changes. NASA is committed to helping grow the U.S. commercial launch market while enabling the agency’s science missions. The VADR contract allows NASA to nurture the emerging commercial market by awarding launch providers more risk-tolerant payloads such as TROPICS.Last Updated: Sep 28, 2022Editor: James Cawley
Sep 22, 2022NASA Maintains Contractual Relationship with Astra, Presses Forward with TROPICS MissionRecognizing the urgent science needs, NASA is adjusting its launch services plan to complete the timely launch of a CubeSat constellation designed to improve understanding of tropical cyclones.The agency’s Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) mission launch service now will be competed under the agency’s Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) IDIQ contract targeting the 2023 hurricane season.NASA and Astra also have agreed to modify its existing launch services contract, originally planned for the agency’s TROPICS constellation, for the launch of comparable scientific payloads on Astra’s Rocket 4.0 in the future.NASA selected commercial partner Astra in 2021 to provide launch services for TROPICS across three launches using the company’s Rocket 3.3 launch vehicle. On June 12, 2022, after a nominal first-stage flight, the upper stage of Astra’s Rocket 3.3 shut down early and failed to deliver the first two TROPICS CubeSats to orbit. NASA currently is participating in the launch investigation, led by Astra and the Federal Aviation Administration.Following the first TROPICS launch attempt, Astra and NASA engaged in discussions regarding the remaining launch attempts. Astra then notified NASA of its intent to discontinue its Rocket 3.3 and indicated the company would potentially not resume launches prior to the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season. The VADR contract allows the 13 companies selected this year to compete for the rebid of the TROPICS launch services, giving the agency and external stakeholders the ability to use TROPICS data sooner.TROPICS is an Earth venture mission – science-driven, competitively selected, low-cost missions that provide opportunity for investment in innovative Earth science to enhance our capability to better understand the current state of the Earth system and to enable continual improvement in the prediction of future changes. NASA is committed to helping grow the U.S. commercial launch market while enabling the agency’s science missions. The VADR contract allows NASA to nurture the emerging commercial market by awarding launch providers more risk-tolerant payloads such as TROPICS.Last Updated: Sep 28, 2022Editor: James Cawley
Could RL launch remaining 4 satellites on single Electron. While satellites only mass a few kgs each they need to be deployed to 2 separate orbits. Don't know orbits in particular or DV between them but probably to much for typical LEO Photon kick stage. Larger Capstone Photon on other hand has about 3km/s of DV available should be enough to handle change of orbits so all 4 satellites can be deployed on single launch.Would be more expensive launch but lot cheaper than 2 separate ones.
IIRC Rocket Lab's bid for TROPICS was an Electron for each pair of satellites.
Quote from: edzieba on 10/19/2022 09:31 amIIRC Rocket Lab's bid for TROPICS was an Electron for each pair of satellites.Sure, but it's possible that Lunar Photon has enough delta-v to plane change once but not twice. So they can put four on one launch, but not six.That said, unless someone wants to offer a >50% discount to launch on a brand new vehicle (and yes, I'm including SpaceX's bid to use Starship in this category), Rocket Lab can bid their sticker price for two launches and still win. So it's solely a matter of whether they want to show off Lunar Photon's capabilities. Which they may want to do, I'm not trying to dismiss this, but it won't be to lower their price and win the bid.
Quote from: trimeta on 10/19/2022 02:25 pmQuote from: edzieba on 10/19/2022 09:31 amIIRC Rocket Lab's bid for TROPICS was an Electron for each pair of satellites.Sure, but it's possible that Lunar Photon has enough delta-v to plane change once but not twice. So they can put four on one launch, but not six.That said, unless someone wants to offer a >50% discount to launch on a brand new vehicle (and yes, I'm including SpaceX's bid to use Starship in this category), Rocket Lab can bid their sticker price for two launches and still win. So it's solely a matter of whether they want to show off Lunar Photon's capabilities. Which they may want to do, I'm not trying to dismiss this, but it won't be to lower their price and win the bid.Are you sure they are planning to build replacements for the lost sats? If not, then this conversation is really only about 4 birds, not 6. My understanding was they built 6, but the constellation was viable with 4. Right after the failure, they seemed to be okay launching just the next 4 without building replacements. Maybe with the delay from changing providers, the other 2 are replaced. But I haven't seen anything definitive to that end.
Where did I suggest that NASA is building another two satellites, and will again be soliciting for six, rather than four payloads?
Sure, but it's possible that Lunar Photon has enough delta-v to plane change once but not twice. So they can put four on one launch, but not six.
NASA has announced the two remaining TROPICS cubesats will be launched by Rocket Lab on Electron, NET 1 May 2023:https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=57739.0
