Author Topic: Vega VV23 - THEOS 2, TRITON, rideshares - 9 October 2023 (01:36 UTC)  (Read 54128 times)

Offline GWR64

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Andrew Parsonson published on his website what is supposed to be the final list of payloads for the Vega VV23 flight (he claims to have obtained it from an anonymous insider):

https://europeanspaceflight.com/arianespace-to-launch-europes-final-mission-of-2023-aboard-vega-in-september/
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Primary passengers:

- The Airbus-built THEOS-2 satellite will provide Thailand’s Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency with Earth observation data for various applications including land use, agricultural monitoring, forestry management, coastal zone monitoring, and flood risk management.
- The Taiwanese FORMOSAT-7R/TRITON weather satellite.

Auxiliary passengers (cubesats):

- ANSER-Leader, ANSER-Follower 1 and ANSER-Follower 2 will work together to monitor the quality of the water in reservoirs and swamps in Spain.
- ESA’s PROBA V-CC carries a scaled-down version of the vegetation-monitoring instrument aboard the Earth-observing PROBA-V satellite and will conduct combined experimental observations.
- CSC-1 and CSC-2 appear to be a pair of satellites built by Netherlands-based ISISPACE.
- The Kongsberg NanoAvionics-built MACSAT satellite for OQ Technology’s 5G constellation.
- ESTcube-2 was built by the Estonian Student Satellite Foundation and will test an innovative plasma brake that could be used for end-of-life satellite disposal.
- The CNES-commissioned NESS satellite was built by U-Space. It is a demonstration mission that will monitor the civilian radiofrequency spectrum in the L and S bands and to analyze sources of jamming.
- ESA’s PRETTY satellite (Passive REflecTomeTry and dosimetry) will be used to measure the extent of ice and sea heights as well as ocean currents.

Interestingly there are several payoads previously announced for the VV23 mission when it was still planned on a Vega-C that are missing and about which there are no recent updates:
- Hedron Space's Cornicen, that as of January 2023 was still headed for a 2023 launch according to the CEO of the company
- A couple of ICEYE satellites, manifested through SAB Launch Services
- SpinLaunch's AlphaSat
- Italian Space Agency's DAVID / IPERDRONE.0, build by Tyvak and still scheduled for a Q1 2023 launch on the agency's website
- UCD's Eiresat-1, still scheduled for a 2023 launch on the project website

If you can find any news about these that might confirm that they've been delayed to some other launch opportunity it would be great.

The fact that the two ICEYE are no longer there is no big surprise.
They came relatively late in the manifest, because there were free slots. But the Vega offers significantly less space and performance than the Vega-C.
I think they're will be launching on a transporter mission, or are already launched with Transporter-8.
The 2 main payloads were always THEOS-2 and TRITON.
The 5th microsatellite mentioned in the original manifest may have been THEOS-2A. -> edit
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=56628.msg2411582#msg2411582

I think THEOS-2 and TRITON will be side by side arranged on the SSMS plate.
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=56628.msg2510060#msg2510060

edit:
Theos-2A was probably not planned for Vega-C VV23.
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=1173.msg2515922#msg2515922
« Last Edit: 08/20/2023 06:44 pm by GWR64 »

Offline GWR64

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https://www.estcube.eu/blog/ESTCube--2%27s-journey-into-space

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ESTCube-2's journey into space

Update 15.08.2023

ESTCube-2 has passed the clean test and the last system checks. On August 13, 2023, the team of the Czech SAB LS laboratory sent all the launch capsules with the satellites by plane to French Guiana, where they are now waiting in the nose of the rocket. The last two large satellites are being placed on the Vega rocket right now, and the launch with the ESTCube-2 satellite is planned for September 19.
...


Offline GWR64

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https://twitter.com/EuropeSpacePort/status/1695086822819274950

Google translation:
Quote
The two main passengers Triton/FORMOSAT-7R @TASA_Taiwan and THEOS-2 @GISTDA  @Airbus,
of flight #VV23 are in French Guiana and have begun their preparation in the clean rooms of the Guiana Space Center.
« Last Edit: 08/30/2023 09:55 pm by GWR64 »

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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https://twitter.com/arianespace/status/1697293871670034535

Quote
Our next flight will be #VV23!
Under #Vega’s fairing:
🛰️ THEOS-2, built by @AirbusSpace for @GISTDA
🛰️ FORMOSAT-7R/TRITON, for @TASA_Taiwan
🛰️ And 10 auxiliary payloads
Targeted launch date? October 4!

To know more:

https://newsroom.arianespace.com/arianespace-targeting-october-4-for-its-next-vega-launch-vv23/

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Vega August 31, 2023
ARIANESPACE TARGETING OCTOBER 4 FOR ITS NEXT VEGA LAUNCH VV23

Arianespace’s next mission is targeted on Wednesday, October 4, 2023 at 10:36 p.m. local time (October 5, 01:36 a.m. UTC), from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana with a Vega launcher. The mission, called VV23, will place its passengers into sun-synchronous orbit.

Additional information about this Vega launch, due to embark a main passenger, THEOS-2, and a secondary one, FORMOSAT-7R/TRITON, as well as ten auxiliary payloads, is provided here below:

THEOS-2 (THailand Earth Observation System-2) is a high-resolution Earth observation optical satellite, part of the next-generation national geo-information system provided by Airbus Defence and Space to support the Kingdom of Thailand’s key development priorities. Delivering 0.5-meter ground resolution imagery, this end to end system will complement THEOS-1, launched in 2008 for Thailand, one of the few nations in the world able to fully exploit geo-information for societal benefits.
FORMOSAT-7R/TRITON, developed by the Taiwanese Space Agency (TASA), is equipped with the Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry (GNSS-R), which collects signals that bounce off the sea surface. It helps scientists calculate the wind field over the oceans. This data will be shared with the global meteorology community, contributing to the forecast of typhoon intensity and trajectory.
« Last Edit: 08/31/2023 05:11 pm by FutureSpaceTourist »

Offline GWR64

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Integration of SSMS on VEGA VV23 @ Kourou

Online GewoonLukas_

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Quote
Nice shot of payload processing for Vega VV23, showing the SSMS Hexa configuration

#Vega #VV23 #CSG #ESA

https://twitter.com/DutchSpace/status/1704111483171246211?t=crqK5t2aVImu-jrwikegEw&s=19
Lukas C. H. • Hobbyist Mission Patch Artist 🎨 • May the force be with you my friend, Ad Astra Per Aspera ✨️

Offline Steven Pietrobon

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Anybody know what SSMS number this mission is? Nextspaceflight says this is SSMS 16

https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/7207
"THEOS-2, TRITON & SSMS n°16"

but the Arianespace Smallsat web site this is SSMS 5, but on Vega C!

https://smallsats.arianespace.com/app/
NEXT FLIGHT
Vega C SSMS #5 -> FULL
Launch on—Q3.2023
Orbit—SSO
Altitude—>560 km
Locale Time—10:30 AM LTDN

The Smallsat manifest says that SSMS 16 launches in 2026!

https://smallsats.arianespace.com/opportunities
Vega C SSMS #16
Launch on: Q3.2026
Orbit: SSO
Altitude: 550 km
Local time: 10:45 PM LTDN
« Last Edit: 09/26/2023 11:36 pm by Steven Pietrobon »
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline bolun

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Vega's fuel-free CubeSats to keep formation with wings

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Spain’s trio of ANSER CubeSats, due to fly on Europe’s next Vega launcher, will fly like a flock of birds in orbit – in more ways than one. Keeping in formation by following their leader, the three shoebox-sized satellites will image Iberian waters as if they are a single standard-sized mission. And they will unfurl wing-like flaps to maintain their relative positions, surfing on the scanty airflow at the top of Earth’s atmosphere.

Image credit: ESA-CNES-Arianespace/Optique video du CSG

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Delayed to October 7th.

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The country's second earth observation satellite, which is widely known as THEOS-2, is expected to launch into orbit on Oct 7, said Minister of Higher Education Science Research and Innovation Supamas...

Please credit and share this article with others using this link:https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2653949. View our policies at http://goo.gl/9HgTd and http://goo.gl/ou6Ip. © Bangkok Post PCL. All rights reserved.

Source : https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2653949

Offline zubenelgenubi

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Fuller quote; minus the annoying "stuff" the Bangkok Post chooses to add to their on-line content, including blocking copy+paste function:
Quote
The country's second earth observation satellite, which is widely known as THEOS-2, is expected to launch into orbit on Oct 7, said Minister of Higher Education Science Research and Innovation Supamas Isarabhakdi.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday about the launch of the low-earh orbit satellite, Ms Supamas said her ministry also plans a THEOS-3 project to increase the country's expertise in space technology.

[Launch October 7, 8:36 am Thai time = 01:36 UTC]
Source : https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2653949 [Sep 28]
« Last Edit: 09/28/2023 05:38 pm by zubenelgenubi »
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Offline zubenelgenubi

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Cross-post:
https://newsroom.arianespace.com/arianespaces-next-vega-mission-will-embark-12-passengers/
Quote
-    On October 6, Arianespace will launch two Earth observation satellites, THEOS-2 (Thailand Earth  Observation System-2), manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space for the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA), and FORMOSAT-7R/TRITON for Taiwan Space Agency (TASA).
-    Flight VV23 will also embark ten auxiliary payloads.
-    For this mission, the Vega launcher will target a sun-synchronous orbit.

Arianespace’s next mission is targeted on Friday, October 6, 2023 at 10:36 p.m. local time (October 7, at 01:36 a.m. UTC), from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana with a Vega launcher. The mission, called VV23, will place its passengers into sun-synchronous orbit.

This mission will embark a main passenger, THEOS-2, and a secondary one, FORMOSAT-7R/TRITON:

THEOS-2 is a high-resolution Earth observation optical satellite, part of the next-generation national geo-information system provided by Airbus Defence and Space to support the Kingdom of Thailand’s key development priorities. Delivering 0.5-meter ground resolution imagery, this end to end system will complement THEOS-1, launched in 2008 for Thailand, one of the few nations in the world able to fully exploit geo-information for societal benefits.

FORMOSAT-7R/TRITON, developed by the Taiwanese Space Agency (TASA), is equipped with the Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry (GNSS-R), which collects signals that bounce off the sea surface. It helps scientists calculate the wind field over the oceans. This data will be shared with the global meteorology community, contributing to the forecast of typhoon intensity and trajectory.

The 21st mission of Europe’s Vega light launcher will also orbit ten auxiliary payloads for six different clients:

ANSER (Advanced Nanosatellite Systems for Earth observation Research) LEADER, ANSER FOLLOWER 1 and ANSER FOLLOWER 2. This cluster of three cubestats working together to study and monitor the quality of inland (reservoirs) water over Iberian Peninsula is led by the Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aerospacial. The launch services is funded by the IOD/IOV program of the European Union.

ESTCube-2, manufactured by the University of Tartu (Estonia), aims to demonstrate deorbiting with plasma brake technology and qualify a deep-space nanospacecraft platform for future missions that will use the electric solar wind sail. The launch services for this mission is funded by the IOD/IOV program of the European Union.

N3SS (Nanosat 3U pour la Surveillance du Spectre) project is a demonstration system for detecting and localize radio-frequency jammers on civil spectrum. CNES is responsible for the system and satellite development and also in charge of the in-flight operations of the satellite. U-Space is the prime contractor for the platform development and the satellite AIT/AIV.

PRETTY (Passive REflecTomeTry and dosimetrY) and MACSAT that will be launched on behalf of SAB-LS. The first one is a 3U cubesat with a primary payload equipped with a passive reflectometer in the L5 Band for GPS and Galileo; and the second one is an in-orbit demonstration (IoD) mission to demonstrate IoT (Internet of things) communication over 5G.

PVCC (Proba-V Companion Cubesat), a 12U cubesat aiming at testing the performance of the payload on a cubesat platform in order to provide data to support the calibration of cubesat Earth observation missions. PVCC is an ESA mission lead by ESA/TEC for the design, launch and commissioning phases and by ESA/ESRIN and ESA/REDU for the operational and end-of-life phases.

CSC-1 & 2, two 6UXL multi-payload IOD cubesats aggregating 7 payloads from 5 countries: Belgium, Spain, Estonia, France and Czechia. They are part of the European Union IOD/IOV program for which ISISPACE/ISL is responsible for the mission implementation.

These small satellites will be carried as auxiliary payloads on the innovative Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS) deployment system. The SSMS rideshare service, developed with the support of the European space industry, was first deployed by Arianespace in September 2020. Funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), Arianespace’s SSMS service will soon be joined by the Multiple Launch Service (MLS), a similar offering designed for the Ariane 6 launch vehicle. With these two services, Arianespace can offer a wide range of affordable launch opportunities for small satellites and constellations.

Ten European countries contribute to Vega, which was developed by ESA, with the Italian Space Agency ASI as lead contributor and Avio (based in Colleferro, Italy) as the launcher prime contractor. Avio is in charge of all industrial operations up to liftoff. Vega has been part of the Arianespace launcher family since its first flight in 2012.
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Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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twitter.com/avio_group/status/1709538862626955536

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#Vega is ready to fly! #VV23 is expected to launch from Guiana Space Centre on 6th October at 10.36 p.m. local time (Oct. 7th at 1.36 a.m. UTC) with two main Earth Observation satellites #Theos and #Formosat. Thanks to @esa and @Arianespace teams! #space #EUSW #WSW2023 #Avio

https://twitter.com/beyondgravity_s/status/1709558536353484919

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A last flight with the crane🏗️, before flying into space 🚀Our payload fairing for @ESA_transport Vega rocket is getting ready for its lift-off on Saturday morning (European time) from Kourou. Among other satellites it will carry the @ESA climate cubesat PRETTY 🛰️into space #VV23

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https://twitter.com/esa_transport/status/1709917457597526060

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🚀Next launch: Vega flight #VV23 leaving @EuropeSpacePort on October 6 at 22:36 local time, October 7 02:36 BST (03:36 CEST).

Onboard are main passengers:

🛰 Theos-2: @GISTDA Earth observation
🛰 Triton: @TASA_Taiwan ocean wind monitor

And more:
🛰 ANSER: @intaespana fuel-free formation flyers
🛰ESTCube-2: @unitartu plasma-brake demonstrator
🛰N3SS: @cnes radio jammer detector
🛰PRETTY: @tugraz measuring ice and sea height
🛰Proba-V companion cubesat: @esa vegetation monitor
🛰CSC-1 & 2: @EU4Space tech-demonstrator

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Offline Steven Pietrobon

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Webcast has started streaming. 16 minutes until the hosted webcast begins.
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline Steven Pietrobon

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Webcast has begun.

T-21 minutes.
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline Steven Pietrobon

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Arianespace CEO describing the mission.
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline Steven Pietrobon

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Animation of launch sequence.
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

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