Soyuz-ST-A/Fregat-M VS24 - Falcon Eye 2 - December 2, 2020 (01:33 UTC)

[Steven Pietrobon]

Two Soyuz missions by end of year. OneWeb from Vostochney and one from Kourou after Christmas.

[Steven Pietrobon]

Launch replays and end of webcast.

Congratulations to Arianespace and the Armed Forces of the United Arab Emirates for the successful launch!

[jacqmans]

December 1, 2020

Soyuz delivers FalconEye to orbit for the United Arab Emirates

Arianespace orbited the United Arab Emirates’ FalconEye Earth observation satellite tonight on its latest Soyuz mission from the Spaceport in French Guiana.

Lifting off at the precise moment set for this launch at 10:33 p.m. (local time in French Guiana), Soyuz deployed its 1,340-kg. passenger into Sun-synchronous orbit.

After an initial powered phase of Soyuz’ three lower stages, the flight’s trajectory included two burns of the Fregat upper stage to place FalconEye – the space component of the United Arab Emirates’ new Earth observation system – into orbit.

Two operational goals for FalconEye
FalconEye is equipped with a very-high-resolution Earth observation payload, complemented by a ground system for monitoring, receiving and processing images.

Once operational, it will serve two goals: supporting needs of the UAE Armed Forces; and providing commercial imagery.

As the FalconEye’s prime contractor, Airbus Defence and Space was in charge of the platform and satellite design, integration and testing. Co-prime contractor Thales Alenia Space designed and supplied the optical instrument as well as the image chain subsystem.

The Soyuz workhorse to low- and medium-Earth orbits

Tonight’s mission was designated Flight VS24 in Arianespace’s launcher family numbering system, signifying the 24th deployment of this medium-lift launcher from the Spaceport in French Guiana. It underscored Soyuz’ capability to serve low and medium orbits for Earth observation satellites and constellations – complementing Arianespace’s heavyweight Ariane 5 and the light-lift Vega launch vehicles.

Flight VS24 was the third with Soyuz for Arianespace in 2020: the two previous missions were carried out in February and March from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, orbiting OneWeb satellites.

Two more Arianespace Soyuz launches are planned before year-end: Flight ST29 from the new Russian launch site in Vostochny for OneWeb; and Flight VS25 from the Spaceport.

https://www.arianespace.com/mission-update/vs24-soyuz-launch-success/

[jacqmans]

December 1, 2020
Soyuz Flight VS24: Mission success at the service of the United Arab Emirates

Arianespace has successfully launched FalconEye, a very-high-performance Earth observation satellite for the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces.

With the eighth launch in 2020, Arianespace once again confirms the reliability and flexibility of the Soyuz launcher, which just realized its 24th launch from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana.

On Tuesday, December 1, at 10:33 p.m. (local time), Arianespace successfully launched the FalconEye optical observation satellite using a Soyuz rocket from the Guiana Space Center (CSG), Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. FalconEye is a very-high-performance optical Earth observation satellite developed in a consortium led by Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space for the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces (UAEAF).

“The success of this launch is the culmination of excellent teamwork: with our Russian partners for the Soyuz launcher; with satellite manufacturers Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space, as well as with their client, the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces, for Falcon Eye; along with the French CNES space agency and the French DGA armaments procurement and technology agency. Therefore, Arianespace is pleased to have served the space ambitions of the United Arab Emirates,” declared Stéphane Israël, Chief Executive Officer of Arianespace.

The FalconEye satellite offers very-high-resolution optical observation capabilities, coupled with a high-performance ground segment to receive and process images. This was the 23rd satellite launched by Arianespace that was produced jointly by Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space. Airbus Defence and Space, prime contractor for FalconEye, was in charge of satellite design, integration and testing, as well as supplying the platform. Thales Alenia Space, as co-prime, supplied the high-performance payload, which features a very-high-resolution optical instrument and the image transmission subsystem.

This mission also marks Arianespace’s 31st launch for a customer from the Middle East.

FalconEye was deployed by Arianespace’s third Soyuz flight in 2020; the two previous missions were carried out in February and March from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Two more Soyuz launches are planned before year-end: Flight ST29 from the new Russian launch site in Vostochny for OneWeb; and Flight VS25 from the CSG. With more than 1,900 launches to its credit overall since entering service in 1963, the Soyuz launcher is the most flexible and most utilized in its class. As the medium-lift launcher in Arianespace’s family of launch vehicles, Soyuz perfectly complements the European launch service operator’s commercial offer, particularly in serving low and medium orbits for the benefit of Earth observation satellites and constellations.

https://www.arianespace.com/press-release/soyuz-flight-vs24-mission-success-at-the-service-of-the-united-arab-emirates/

[kdhilliard]

A bit of an awkward moment when the commentator asks 'why use a Soyuz?'
...

Indeed.
That was at T+09:00 -- https://youtube.com/watch?v=9N_RT5cKxb0&t=2821
(Talking over separation of the Block-I.)
The eventual answer (talking over Fregat ignition) was that for this kind of mission, "Soyuz is perfect".

Another awkward moment was at T+03:30 -- https://youtube.com/watch?v=9N_RT5cKxb0&t=2491
Joshua Jampol (Commentator): "Next up, fairing jettison.  Before that, we are flying north, to what kind of an orbit?  We're going around the sun?"
Raphael Chevrier responded by explaining Sun-synchronous orbits (while talking over fairing separation).

^{Everyone's a critic, etc.  But as with the recent Sentinel-6 mission, I'd have thought that when you have a long webcast to fill, you'd give as much time as possible to the actual stars of the show -- the spacecraft!  (Particularly when you know to the second when the various events are to occur.)}

[ZachS09]

I don't blame Jampol for asking these kinds of questions. I think it's a short-term memory thing now that he's in his elder age.

[jacqmans]

02.12.2020

The Soyuz ST-A launch vehicle was routinely launched from the GKTs

Today, December 2, 2020, at 04:33:28 Moscow time from the launch pad of the Guiana Space Center, the leading European operator of launch services Arianespace successfully launched the Soyuz-ST-A launch vehicle (manufactured by the Progress Rocket and Space Center , part of the State Corporation "Roscosmos") and the upper stage "Fregat-M" (produced by the Lavochkin Association, part of  the State Corporation "Roscosmos" ).

In 8 minutes 48 seconds after the launch, the head unit as part of the upper stage and the spacecraft separated from the third stage of the launch vehicle in the normal mode. Then the upper stage "Fregat-M" began to perform the flight mission to launch the satellite into the target orbit.

In 58 minutes after the launch, the spacecraft separated from the upper stage "Fregat-M" and was successfully launched into orbit.

Roscosmos State Corporation is responsible for the implementation of the Soyuz program in the Guiana Space Center on the Russian side and coordinates work with domestic enterprises in the rocket and space industry involved in the program. The main contract integrator of Russian cooperation enterprises in this project is Glavkosmos (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation), providing interaction with Arianespace.

https://www.roscosmos.ru/29620/

[Lewis007]

Video of VS 24 launch posted by CSG