Failure: ABL RS1 (first launch) : DEMO-1 : Kodiak LP-3C : 10 Jan 2023 23:27 UTC

[PM3]

This thread is only for the first launch of ABL's RS1 rocket. For general discussions on ABL and RS1, please use the ABL thread.

RS1 is a no-frills low-cost launcher for up to 1350 kg LEO payload. It is highly mobile, the rocket and ground equipment can be transported in standard shipping containers, fuel can be provided by trucks.

The first launch attempt was planned for late 2020, then slipped to Q1/2021, NLT Q2/2021 and on to late 2021. The current FCC license for this launch ranges from November 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022:

1599-EX-ST-2021

NET November from Kodiak to 350km circular orbit (which matches the recent article)

According to the FCC permit, it will launch from LP-3C, just adjacent to the pad 3B used by Astra.

The payload are two technology test satellites for L2 Aerospace, see Spacenews article.

[PM3]

Looks like the correspondence with the FCC has some interesting information about the trajectory and the sequence of events for ABL's first flight (https://apps.fcc.gov/els/GetAtt.html?id=285566&x=.)

For their sequence of events:

Event Time (sec) GeodeticLatitude (°) GeodeticLongitude (°) Altitude (m)
Liftoff 0 57.43068449 207.6469716 50.8656336
MECO  155.7639523 56.84411612 207.7200543 64366.29975
Stage Sep 159.2639523 56.78455616 207.7273074 68605.14288
S2 Startup 1 159.2639523 56.78455616 207.7273074 68605.14288
Fairing Sep 199.2639523 56.06237553 207.8093044 112239.3312
SECO1 511.5902173 44.89332812 208.5158663 210605.1873
Payload Dep 661.5902173 34.68408115 208.8065773 211965.1766
S2 Startup 2 3051.990217 -56.12020822 16.39833473 376037.7966
SECO2 3052.890217 -56.06196733 16.40443854 376017.5542

For their Trajectory:

Time_sec x (km) y (km) z (km) x dot (km/s) y dot (km/s) z dot (km/s)
0 -3048.733722 -1597.023316 5351.913857 0 0 0
60 -3051.286549 -1598.383492 5355.447728 -0.134521598 -0.073784767 0.144278106
120 -3077.419835 -1613.553609 5366.909891 -0.895825468 -0.530207792 0.177387734
180 -3173.799659 -1671.222617 5367.389584 -1.977676966 -1.186324027 -0.223457653
240 -3296.84931 -1745.072509 5337.452919 -2.136089201 -1.282582761 -0.786603813
300 -3431.552621 -1825.963773 5271.589203 -2.367450973 -1.421654574 -1.423118005
360 -3582.884477 -1916.814317 5164.497536 -2.69680503 -1.618469234 -2.169841717
420 -3758.278789 -2022.037917 5007.463119 -3.184338796 -1.909851507 -3.1071564
480 -3971.202789 -2149.761269 4783.954827 -3.993340639 -2.396703241 -4.443088185
540 -4240.102675 -2311.139851 4467.911664 -4.572844753 -2.73327349 -5.710935715
600 -4504.324564 -2468.0422 4114.279756 -4.230548222 -2.495132125 -6.071818748
660 -4747.305601 -2610.369601 3739.908673 -3.865113339 -2.247686747 -6.401944609
720 -4967.712304 -2737.608233 3346.695526 -3.478389709 -1.99242343 -6.699620483
780 -5164.326069 -2849.334304 2936.633514 -3.072355067 -1.730855219 -6.963337896
840 -5336.050485 -2945.215348 2511.800576 -2.649102475 -1.464511609 -7.191782189
900 -5481.917841 -3025.010899 2074.347512 -2.210826539 -1.194927935 -7.383840407
960 -5601.094786 -3088.57252 1626.485691 -1.759808797 -0.923634774 -7.538607523
1020 -5692.887087 -3135.843206 1170.474427 -1.29840243 -0.652147497 -7.655390927
1080 -5756.743459 -3166.85616 708.6081479 -0.829016483 -0.381956053 -7.733713129
1140 -5792.258434 -3181.732973 243.2034491 -0.354099755 -0.114515124 -7.773312644
1200 -5799.174256 -3180.681222 -223.4138454 0.12387543 0.14876526 -7.774143056
1260 -5777.381813 -3163.991525 -688.921515 0.602429367 0.406528529 -7.736370284
1320 -5726.920597 -3132.034086 -1151.013557 1.079090823 0.657479699 -7.660368117
1380 -5647.977738 -3085.254774 -1607.412483 1.551412381 0.900392724 -7.546712123
1440 -5540.886123 -3024.170788 -2055.881207 2.016985094 1.134117002 -7.396172092
1500 -5406.12168 -2949.365957 -2494.234439 2.473452279 1.357582976 -7.209703189
1560 -5244.299844 -2861.485734 -2920.349515 2.918522335 1.569806797 -6.988436031
1620 -5056.171297 -2761.231934 -3332.176601 3.349980494 1.769894062 -6.733665911
1680 -4842.617033 -2649.357284 -3727.748241 3.765699471 1.957042622 -6.446841359
1740 -4604.64282 -2526.659817 -4105.188187 4.163648986 2.130544516 -6.129552255
1800 -4343.373117 -2393.977192 -4462.719524 4.541904177 2.289787065 -5.783517659
1860 -4060.044527 -2252.180961 -4798.672045 4.898652919 2.434253194 -5.41057352
1920 -3755.998841 -2102.170838 -5111.488904 5.232202103 2.563521032 -5.01266039
1980 -3432.675728 -1944.869019 -5399.732519 5.540982913 2.677262852 -4.59181128
2040 -3091.60515 -1781.214581 -5662.089764 5.823555159 2.775243435 -4.150139762
2100 -2734.399532 -1612.157988 -5897.376455 6.078610747 2.857317899 -3.68982841
2160 -2362.745752 -1438.655755 -6104.541153 6.304976357 2.923429087 -3.213117658
2220 -1978.396992 -1261.665266 -6282.668314 6.501615426 2.973604568 -2.722295137
2280 -1583.164493 -1082.139793 -6430.98081 6.66762953 3.007953331 -2.219685534
2340 -1178.909229 -901.023713 -6548.841866 6.802259263 3.026662236 -1.707640968
2400 -767.5335603 -719.2479489 -6635.756429 6.904884705 3.029992279 -1.188531894
2460 -350.9728497 -537.7256357 -6691.372006 6.975025566 3.018274733 -0.6647385
2520 68.81290779 -357.3480222 -6715.479002 7.012341085 2.991907207 -0.138642551
2580 489.8474504 -178.9806103 -6708.010582 7.016629731 2.951349656 0.387380382
2640 910.146591 -3.459534271 -6669.04207 6.987828766 2.897120378 0.910968352
2700 1327.726528 168.4118197 -6598.78992 6.92601369 2.829792015 1.429780212
2760 1740.612122 335.8659549 -6497.610257 6.831397599 2.749987571 1.941502604
2820 2146.845128 498.1741664 -6365.996999 6.704330433 2.658376453 2.443856814
2880 2544.492381 654.6492076 -6204.57958 6.545298129 2.55567054 2.934605576
2940 2931.65393 804.6477208 -6014.120256 6.354921639 2.442620263 3.411559877
3000 3306.471102 947.5724331 -5795.511004 6.133955771 2.320010712 3.872585804
3060 3667.436282 1082.989333 -5549.552 5.923221844 2.203878182 4.344454212
3120 4014.591317 1211.070373 -5276.091321 5.64389798 2.064234564 4.767374558

[russianhalo117]

Potentially for this launch:


Cross post:

This notice from PSCA doesn't say whether it is Astra, but it is the pad that they use.

Alaska Aerospace, Pacific Spaceport Complex

Alaska Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska (PSCA) will be conducting a launch from Launch Pad LP-3B at Narrow Cape, Kodiak, Alaska, with a launch azimuth of 172°. Daily launch operations are scheduled between 0500-0830 UTC which is 2000-2330 Alaska Time on December 15th through December 21st, 2021 (local). Mariners are requested to remain clear of the Hazard Areas during the scheduled launch operations.

It should be for ABL as they are the next publicly scheduled user for that clean pad or its neighbouring clean pad.

2021
Late - L2 Aerospace 1, L2 Aerospace 2 - RS1 (ABL space system) [first flight] - Kodiak LP-3B

In ABL's STA application they talk about LP-3C.

Like SpaceX in Florida the pads within LP-3 complex are interchangeable. It could also be for an unknown defense launch but drop zones at quick glance does not match any known missiles for tests.

[Edited to add further discussion.]

[Ken the Bin]

Here's an image of the notice, which I posted in the Astra topic along with the text quoted in the post above.

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Here's an image of the notice, which I posted in the Astra topic along with the text quoted in the post above.

Is this notice still up? December 15 is next week and I don’t see anyone mentioning hardware on site…

[moddedLimes]

That's the question....I seriously doubt it now that the FCC rejected their STA due to NTIA objection over bandwidth (it was over 5 MHz).

https://apps.fcc.gov/els/GetAtt.html?id=287276&x=.

Here's an image of the notice, which I posted in the Astra topic along with the text quoted in the post above.

Is this notice still up? December 15 is next week and I don’t see anyone mentioning hardware on site…

[Ken the Bin]

Here's an image of the notice, which I posted in the Astra topic along with the text quoted in the post above.

Is this notice still up? December 15 is next week and I don’t see anyone mentioning hardware on site…

I don't get the notices directly.  They are embedded in the USCG District 17 Local Notice to Mariners, which comes out only on a weekly basis.  The last one was on December 2, and the notice was still present in that one.

[Ken the Bin]

FWIW, the USCG District 17 Local Notice to Mariners that came out today still has the same notice.

[Ken the Bin]

The PSCA notice is gone from the weekly USCG District 17 Local Notice to Mariners that came out today.

[gongora]

The FCC permits for the payload:
0159-EX-CN-2021 (granted November 2021)
0293-EX-CM-2021 (modification filed December 2021)

[Celeste_El]

Checked the Alaska Aerospace launch calendar and they have a launch window listed from 01/31/2022 - 02/07/2022 out of Kodiak. It could possibly be Astra or ABL however, ABL specifically mentions a launch date of NET 01/31/2022 in their FCC filing so I think its safe to assume its them.
https://akaerospace.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/INTEGRATED-RANGE-SCHEDULE_REV-02.pdf

[russianhalo117]

The L2A payloads to be dispatched to space are called VariSat-1A and VariSat-1B.

https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/varisat-1.htm

L2A for short equals L2 Aerospace.

[vissarion]

The schedule has been updated, now the dates are the following:
The P133 has moved to 3/06 - 3/13
The earliest launch, P135 (not sure whether this is ABL or not) is 2/20 - 2/27
https://akaerospace.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/INTEGRATED-RANGE-SCHEDULE-2.pdf

[Celeste_El]

The earliest launch, P135 (not sure whether this is ABL or not) is 2/20 - 2/27

I'm pretty sure P135 is Astra because that coastguard notice for a launch out of LP-3B (Astra's pad) back in December was designated P135.
https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/lnms/lnm17492021.pdf

[Ken the Bin]

I'm pretty sure P135 is Astra because that coastguard notice for a launch out of LP-3B (Astra's pad) back in December was designated P135.

That makes sense.  P132 was Astra LV0006.  Astra LV0007 was not identified but it was presumably P134 since that's the only one in the series not otherwise accounted for.

[gongora]

Moved recent discussion of the testing incident to: ABL Space Systems (smallsat launchers)

[Daniels30]

Cross-referencing this due to the relevancy:

ABL Space Systems test accident to delay first launch by three months
https://spacenews.com/abl-space-systems-test-accident-to-delay-first-launch-by-three-months/

[Ken the Bin]

PSCA has posted an updated Integrated Launch Schedule for 2022.  P133 (this launch) is no longer listed at all.  The only launch on the schedule is P135 (Astra LV0009).

[russianhalo117]

Cross post:

The payload fairings, payload adapter and interstage have now been shipped to Kodiak.
OmniTeq will be the first customer going to a 350km x 200km polar orbit.
Images are from Dan Piemont (Co-founder, CTO), more images and details here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6896504302077145088/

Note: https://l2aerospace.com and all other L2 entities websites all redirect to https://l2solutions.com

L2 including L2 Aerospace has been unified into a single website as L2Sololutions and after other events in December 2021 assumed the name and brand OmniTeq. The patch logo has the two stars representing VariSat-1A and VariSat-1B payloads.

[Conexion Espacial]

FCC license renewed
https://twitter.com/FccSpace/status/1494046518202056708