Quote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 10/04/2017 08:20 pmQuote🚀We're preparing for an ICONic launch! This Pegasus rocket will launch our Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON): go.nasa.gov/2hOm5Echttps://twitter.com/nasa_lsp/status/915637769078235150Does anyone know where these photos were taken?
Quote🚀We're preparing for an ICONic launch! This Pegasus rocket will launch our Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON): go.nasa.gov/2hOm5Echttps://twitter.com/nasa_lsp/status/915637769078235150
🚀We're preparing for an ICONic launch! This Pegasus rocket will launch our Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON): go.nasa.gov/2hOm5Ec
Quote from: zubenelgenubi on 10/05/2017 01:29 amQuote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 10/04/2017 08:20 pmQuoteWe're preparing for an ICONic launch! This Pegasus rocket will launch our Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON): go.nasa.gov/2hOm5Echttps://twitter.com/nasa_lsp/status/915637769078235150Does anyone know where these photos were taken?Jim is the definitive person to answer this, but I think it's at VAFB: Source : https://blogs.nasa.gov/kennedy/2017/10/04/pegasus-rocket-prepared-for-nasas-icon-mission/QuoteOrbital ATK’s Pegasus XL rocket is being prepared to launch NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON mission. The rocket is being prepared in a facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California.
Quote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 10/04/2017 08:20 pmQuoteWe're preparing for an ICONic launch! This Pegasus rocket will launch our Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON): go.nasa.gov/2hOm5Echttps://twitter.com/nasa_lsp/status/915637769078235150Does anyone know where these photos were taken?
QuoteWe're preparing for an ICONic launch! This Pegasus rocket will launch our Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON): go.nasa.gov/2hOm5Echttps://twitter.com/nasa_lsp/status/915637769078235150
We're preparing for an ICONic launch! This Pegasus rocket will launch our Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON): go.nasa.gov/2hOm5Ec
Orbital ATK’s Pegasus XL rocket is being prepared to launch NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON mission. The rocket is being prepared in a facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California.
VAFB Building 1555 is used solely for processing Orbital ATK's Minotaur-C and Pegasus-XL. All other Minotaur and defense target products use VAFB Building 1900.
Mission Update Nov. 3, 2017 - NASA is postponing launch of the Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) until 2018. The mission was previously planned to launch Dec. 8, 2017, on an Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket from the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. NASA and Orbital ATK need additional time to assess a separation component of the rocket. More information on a revised launch date will be provided once it becomes available.
Speculating, maybe this separation component has something to do with SpaceX Zuma component. Explosive bolt testing might have found a bad batch?
Seems that this mission’s launch site is now a toss-up: because of the lengthy delay the mission’s experiencing, analyses are now being done to determine if it can be launched out of the Cape. Kwaj is a very busy place, and it may be very difficult to find a slot in its schedule. It all depends on mass - the s/c came in at the low end of its estimated mass. That makes a Cape launch feasible - if the solution to the current issue doesn’t drive up the total LV mass. No firm decisions yet...
Quote from: The Phantom on 12/22/2017 09:12 pmSeems that this mission’s launch site is now a toss-up: because of the lengthy delay the mission’s experiencing, analyses are now being done to determine if it can be launched out of the Cape. Kwaj is a very busy place, and it may be very difficult to find a slot in its schedule. It all depends on mass - the s/c came in at the low end of its estimated mass. That makes a Cape launch feasible - if the solution to the current issue doesn’t drive up the total LV mass. No firm decisions yet...The mission is not restricted to solely US launch Sites, although that is generally preferred. It can also launch from many sites in allied nations.
The mission is not restricted to solely US launch Sites, although that is generally preferred. It can also launch from many sites in allied nations.
An example of an "allied nation launch" was from Gran Canaria in the Spanish Canary Islands.
The ICON project had planned to launch early, in June 2017, but the project has experienced delays associated with its launch vehicle. In January 2017, two of the Pegasus launch vehicle’s three stages were involved in a transport accident. The stages were subsequently returned to the launch vehicle contractor facility for inspection and testing, and no damage was found. The launch vehicle contractor then delivered the stages to Vandenberg Air Force Base for integration and testing activities. Due to conflicts at the launch vehicle range, the earliest available launch date was December 2017, which resulted in a 6-month launch delay from the planned June 2017 launch date.In September 2017, however, an anomaly identified in bolt cutter assembly confidence testing—testing to show that the bolts that hold the launch vehicle and payload together will separate as planned during launch—resulted in additional delays, but the magnitude of the delay is unknown. One of nine bolt cutter assemblies failed to fracture a bolt during testing. As a result, NASA and the contractor halted testing and began an investigation of the anomaly, which is ongoing. NASA’s Launch Services Program is working with the launch vehicle provider to identify the root cause of the anomaly, evaluate options to resolve the issue, and determine a new launch readiness date. In February 2018, NASA determined the project will launch no earlier than June 2018, but this date is still under review.As of January 2018, the observatory remains in the Orbital-ATK cleanroom in Gilbert, Arizona in a safe state—under continuous purge and performing periodic monitoring of the battery voltage—awaiting determination of a new launch date and shipment for launch vehicle integration.
The Orbital ATK-designed and built ICON spacecraft has arrived in Vandenberg ahead of its June 14 launch. ICON will launch from Kwajalein Atoll aboard one of our #Pegasus rockets!
ICON is headed toward launch! The spacecraft has arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and its launch from Kwajalein Atoll is now scheduled for June 14 US time / June 15 local time. #NASAICON https://go.nasa.gov/2HMI6M1
In September 2017, however, an anomaly identified in bolt cutter assembly confidence testing—testing to show that the bolts that hold the launch vehicle and payload together will separate as planned during launch—resulted in additional delays, but the magnitude of the delay is unknown. One of nine bolt cutter assemblies failed to fracture a bolt during testing. As a result, NASA and the contractor halted testing and began an investigation of the anomaly, which is ongoing. NASA’s Launch Services Program is working with the launch vehicle provider to identify the root cause of the anomaly, evaluate options to resolve the issue, and determine a new launch readiness date. In February 2018, NASA determined the project will launch no earlier than June 2018, but this date is still under review.
May 21, 2018 MEDIA ADVISORY M18-085NASA Invites Media to View New Mission to Study the Frontier of Space<snip>The observatory will leave Vandenberg June 5 for a scheduled launch on June 15 from Kwajalein (June 14 in the continental United States).<snip>
Quote from: The Phantom on 12/22/2017 09:12 pmSeems that this mission’s launch site is now a toss-up: because of the lengthy delay the mission’s experiencing, analyses are now being done to determine if it can be launched out of the Cape. Kwaj is a very busy place, and it may be very difficult to find a slot in its schedule. It all depends on mass - the s/c came in at the low end of its estimated mass. That makes a Cape launch feasible - if the solution to the current issue doesn’t drive up the total LV mass. No firm decisions yet...ICON will fly in an orbit around Earth at a 27-degree inclination and at an altitude of some 360 miles.So why NOT launch from KSC/CCAFS?I know some are looking forward to a trip to the far Pacific but that's not NASA's criterion.It's a lot closer to the west coast and easier to support.The Stargazer can fly 1.5 degrees (167 km) south and launch due east from east of the Bahamas to hit the target inclination.
Quote from: Comga on 05/23/2018 06:10 pmQuote from: The Phantom on 12/22/2017 09:12 pmSeems that this mission’s launch site is now a toss-up: because of the lengthy delay the mission’s experiencing, analyses are now being done to determine if it can be launched out of the Cape. Kwaj is a very busy place, and it may be very difficult to find a slot in its schedule. It all depends on mass - the s/c came in at the low end of its estimated mass. That makes a Cape launch feasible - if the solution to the current issue doesn’t drive up the total LV mass. No firm decisions yet...ICON will fly in an orbit around Earth at a 27-degree inclination and at an altitude of some 360 miles.So why NOT launch from KSC/CCAFS?I know some are looking forward to a trip to the far Pacific but that's not NASA's criterion.It's a lot closer to the west coast and easier to support.The Stargazer can fly 1.5 degrees (167 km) south and launch due east from east of the Bahamas to hit the target inclination.I think the reason why the L-1011 is not taking off from Cape Canaveral is because of the Eastern Range maintenance, so Kwajalein is being used as the takeoff site for ICON.