Spacecraft Parameters• Payload mass: up to 90 kg• Payload power: 200 W average, 1 kW peak• Payload allowable volume: 800 x 800 x 1000 mm3• Typical minisatellite launch mass: 200 kg• Platform design life: up to 5 years.
The Biomass launch is expected around April 2024 and is planned to be a five-year mission.
Biomass is expected to launch in 2024 from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on a Vega rocket.
Biomass is set to launch from Kourou, French Guiana on a Vega rocket in 2024, and is scheduled to operate for five years.
Cross-posts re: ViaSat-3. 1; I'm sure that this will delay the Viasat-3.2 launch [TBD]:<snip>Quote from: gongora on 07/12/2023 10:00 pmViasat Provides Status Update on ViaSat-3 Americas Satellite12 Jul, 2023, 16:37 ETCARLSBAD, Calif., July 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global leader in satellite communications, today disclosed that an unexpected event occurred during reflector deployment that may materially impact the performance of the ViaSat-3 Americas satellite. Viasat and its reflector provider are conducting a rigorous review of the development and deployment of the affected reflector to determine its impact and potential remedial measures.<snip>
Viasat Provides Status Update on ViaSat-3 Americas Satellite12 Jul, 2023, 16:37 ETCARLSBAD, Calif., July 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global leader in satellite communications, today disclosed that an unexpected event occurred during reflector deployment that may materially impact the performance of the ViaSat-3 Americas satellite. Viasat and its reflector provider are conducting a rigorous review of the development and deployment of the affected reflector to determine its impact and potential remedial measures.<snip>
Will this affect ViaSat-3.3? Launch is currently TBD 2024:Quote from: zubenelgenubi on 07/13/2023 05:29 pmCross-posts re: ViaSat-3. 1; I'm sure that this will delay the Viasat-3.2 launch [TBD]:<snip>Quote from: gongora on 07/12/2023 10:00 pmViasat Provides Status Update on ViaSat-3 Americas Satellite12 Jul, 2023, 16:37 ETCARLSBAD, Calif., July 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global leader in satellite communications, today disclosed that an unexpected event occurred during reflector deployment that may materially impact the performance of the ViaSat-3 Americas satellite. Viasat and its reflector provider are conducting a rigorous review of the development and deployment of the affected reflector to determine its impact and potential remedial measures.<snip>
Taiwan's Triton Weather Satellite Heads to French GuianaReporter/Provider - Scott Huang/Sally JensenPublish Date - 07/14/2023Taiwan's first domestically-made weather satellite Triton was shipped to French Guiana on Friday, with a planned launch date set for September. If the launch succeeds, Triton will collect data to predict heavy rainfall and typhoon paths.
https://www.taiwanplus.com/news/taiwan-news/technology-and-science/230714010/taiwans-triton-weather-satellite-heads-to-french-guianaQuoteTaiwan's Triton Weather Satellite Heads to French GuianaReporter/Provider - Scott Huang/Sally JensenPublish Date - 07/14/2023Taiwan's first domestically-made weather satellite Triton was shipped to French Guiana on Friday, with a planned launch date set for September. If the launch succeeds, Triton will collect data to predict heavy rainfall and typhoon paths.
Last year, launch industry officials said the Ariane 6 rocket will carry between 35 and 40 Kuiper satellites on each of Arianespace's missions for Amazon, the Vulcan Centaur can accommodate 45 Kuiper satellites per launch, and the New Glenn can haul 61 per flight.
Space Rider uses a novel technique for braking from its orbital speeds of 28 800 km/h to a soft landing on a runway to be built at Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Coming out of the supersonic speeds, at about 5 km from the landing strip Space Rider will release a parafoil and steer itself automatically to a soft landing.Tests on a smaller parafoil will start this month to prepare for a full-scale test later this year using a 70 m2 parafoil. The smaller tests will allow engineers to tweak the algorithms that will pilot the spacecraft using winches to pull and release the canopy – just like a human parapente pilot does.Nobody controls the weather, and more tests are set for next year under the worst possible conditions.
In the February 2023 update from programme manager Galli, an estimated launch date of Q4 2024 was discussed. However, with just the drop tests being several months behind schedule, a maiden flight of Space Rider will almost certainly slip into the first quarter of 2025 at the earliest.
Didn't Viasat cancel their Ariane 6 contract?edit: https://spaceflightnow.com/2023/04/30/viasat-seeks-replacement-for-ariane-6-for-launch-of-third-viasat-3-satellite/
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket is not expected to be available for a commercial mission in time for when Viasat says the third ViaSat 3 satellite is scheduled for launch in late 2024.That leaves SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy and ULA’s Vulcan rocket as the most likely contenders for the contract to launch the ViaSat 3 satellite for the Asia-Pacific region.
LATE 2024First Skyloom optical geostationary node launched
Following those tests, ESA said there will be a long-duration static-fire test of the Vulcain 2.1 engine at the Kourou spaceport, tentatively scheduled for Sept. 26. Only after that test, the agency said, will it be ready to announce a launch date for the inaugural Ariane 6.“However,” the ESA statement added, “the inaugural flight is now scheduled for 2024.”The slip of the Ariane 6 debut to 2024 was widely anticipated. In an earnings call in May, executives with OHB, the German company that is a supplier to the Ariane 6, said they expected the rocket to make its first launch “early next year” but not before.That first Ariane 6 launch will carry a number of smallsat payloads, including a NASA-supported cubesat called Cubesat Radio Interferometry Experiment, or CURIE. A chart presented at a NASA smallsat town hall meeting during the 37th Annual Small Satellite Conference here Aug. 7 stated that CURIE would launch on an Ariane 6 no earlier than April 1, 2024....Those issues led ESA to procure Falcon 9 launches from SpaceX for its Euclid space telescope, which successfully launched July 1, and the Hera asteroid mission in 2024. ESA also plans to acquire a Falcon 9 for its EarthCARE Earth science mission in 2024. ESA and the European Commission are weighing the use of Falcon 9 to launch Galileo navigation satellites.
https://spacenews.com/esa-confirms-ariane-6-debut-to-slip-to-2024/QuoteFollowing those tests, ESA said there will be a long-duration static-fire test of the Vulcain 2.1 engine at the Kourou spaceport, tentatively scheduled for Sept. 26. Only after that test, the agency said, will it be ready to announce a launch date for the inaugural Ariane 5.
Following those tests, ESA said there will be a long-duration static-fire test of the Vulcain 2.1 engine at the Kourou spaceport, tentatively scheduled for Sept. 26. Only after that test, the agency said, will it be ready to announce a launch date for the inaugural Ariane 5.
15/08/2566 [Aug.15 2023]THEOS-2 set to launch in September 2023August 13, 2023, Deputy Government Spokesperson Rachada Dhanadirek disclosed about the progress of THEOS-2, Thailand’s second satellite system for earth observation, designed and developed by the Thais through knowledge transfer and capacity building.According to the Deputy Government Spokesperson, assembly and testing of THEOS-2 is now complete. It is now kept at the Airbus Test Facility in Toulouse, France, ready to be launched from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana in either the end of August or September 2023. THEOS-2A, Thailand’s small observation optical satellite is also scheduled to be launched at the end of October from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC-SHAR), located in Sriharikota, India. It is now kept at the National Satellite Assembly Integration and Test (AIT) facilities in the Space Krenovation Park (SKP), located in Sri Racha, Chonburi province. THEOS-2’s mission duration is expected to be 3 years. However, launch schedule and timeline is subject to change pending associated factor and situation.
ESTCube-2's journey into spaceUpdate 15.08.2023ESTCube-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....
