Late NovemberFalcon 9 • Starlink 4-37Launch time: TBDLaunch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida...January • Falcon 9 • GPS 3 SV06Launch window: TBDLaunch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida...March • Antares • NG-19Launch time: TBDLaunch site: Pad 0A, Wallops Island, Virginia...March • Delta 4-Heavy • NROL-68Launch time: TBDLaunch site: SLC-37B, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida...2nd Quarter • Falcon Heavy • USSF 52Launch time: TBDLaunch site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida...2nd Quarter • Atlas 5 • USSF 51Launch time: TBDLaunch site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida...May • Falcon 9 • Axiom Mission 2Launch time: TBDLaunch site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
FALCON 9The next SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch USSF-44 for the U.S. Space Force from pad 39A on November 1 at 9:41 a.m. EDT. The side boosters will land back at the Cape about eight minutes after launch. A Falcon 9 will launch the Hotbird 13G communications satellite for Eutelsat from pad 40 on November 2 at 11:25 p.m. EDT. The launch window stretches around two hours. A Falcon 9 will launch the Intelsat Galaxy 31 & 32 communication satellites from pad 40 on November 8. A Falcon 9 from pad 40 will launch the HAKUTO-R lunar lander for iSpace on mid-November. The first stage will land back at the Cape about eight minutes after launch. A Falcon 9 from pad 39A will launch the Dragon CRS-26 resupply mission to the ISS on November 18 around 5:30 p.m. EST. Sunset is 5:27 p.m. And a Falcon 9 from pad 40 will launch the Eutelsat 10B communication satellite on November TBD.
NASA announced Friday the agency decided its Psyche mission will go forward, targeting a launch period opening on Oct. 10, 2023.
NASA’s Lunar Flashlight Ready to Search for the Moon’s Water IceOct 28, 2022Set for a November launch, the small satellite mission will use lasers to search for water ice inside the darkest craters at the Moon’s South Pole.The Moon’s poles offer a tantalizing opportunity for human explorers: There may be reservoirs of water ice there that could be purified as drinking water, converted into breathable oxygen, and used as fuel by astronauts. These reservoirs are inside permanently shadowed craters – regions where the Sun never rises above crater rims.It’s known that water ice exists below the lunar regolith (broken rock and dust), but scientists don’t yet understand whether surface ice frost covers the floors inside these cold craters. To find out, NASA is sending Lunar Flashlight, a small satellite (or SmallSat) no larger than a briefcase. Swooping low over the lunar South Pole, it will use lasers to shed light on these dark craters – much like a prospector looking for hidden treasure by shining a flashlight into a cave. The mission will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in mid-November.“This launch will put the satellite on a trajectory that will take about three months to reach its science orbit,” said John Baker, the mission’s project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Then Lunar Flashlight will try to find water ice on the surface of the Moon in places that nobody else has been able to look.”Fuel-Efficient OrbitsAfter launch, mission navigators will guide the spacecraft way past the Moon. It will then be slowly pulled back by gravity from Earth and the Sun before it settles into a wide, looping, science-gathering orbit. This near-rectilinear halo orbit will take it 42,000 miles (70,000 kilometers) from the Moon at its most distant point and, at its closest approach, the satellite will graze the surface of the Moon, coming within 9 miles (15 kilometers) above the lunar South Pole.SmallSats carry a limited amount of propellent, so fuel-intensive orbits aren’t possible. A near-rectilinear halo orbit requires far less fuel than traditional orbits, and Lunar Flashlight will be only the second NASA mission to use this type of trajectory. The first is NASA’s Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) mission, which will arrive at its orbit on Nov. 13, making its closest pass over the Moon’s North Pole.“The reason for this orbit is to be able to come in close enough that Lunar Flashlight can shine its lasers and get a good return from the surface, but to also have a stable orbit that consumes little fuel,” said Barbara Cohen, Lunar Flashlight principal investigator at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.As a technology demonstration, Lunar Flashlight will be the first interplanetary spacecraft to use a new kind of “green” propellant that is safer to transport and store than the commonly used in-space propellants such as hydrazine. This new propellant, developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory and tested on a previous NASA technology demonstration mission, burns via a catalyst, rather than requiring a separate oxidizer. That is why it’s called a monopropellant. The satellite’s propulsion system was developed and built by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, with integration support from Georgia Tech Research Institute in Atlanta.Lunar Flashlight will also be the first mission to use a four-laser reflectometer to look for water ice on the Moon. The reflectometer works by using near-infrared wavelengths that are readily absorbed by water to identify ice on the surface. Should the lasers hit bare rock, their light will reflect back to the spacecraft, signaling a lack of ice. But if the light is absorbed, it would mean these dark pockets do indeed contain ice. The greater the absorption, the more ice may be at the surface. Lunar Water CycleIt’s thought that molecules of water come from comet and asteroid material impacting the lunar surface, and from solar wind interactions with the lunar regolith. Over time, the molecules may have accumulated as a layer of ice inside “cold traps”.“We are going to make definitive surface water ice measurements in permanently shadowed regions for the first time,” said Cohen. “We will be able to correlate Lunar Flashlight’s observations with other lunar missions to understand how extensive that water is and whether it could be used as a resource by future explorers.”Cohen and her science team hope that the data Lunar Flashlight gathers can be used to understand how volatile molecules, like water, cycle from location to location and where they may accumulate, forming a layer of ice in these cold traps.“This is an exciting time for lunar exploration. The launch of Lunar Flashlight, along with the many small satellite missions aboard Artemis I, may form the foundations for science discoveries as well as support future missions to the Moon’s surface,” said Roger Hunter, Small Spacecraft Technology program manager at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.More About the MissionIn October, Lunar Flashlight was fueled at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and is scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida between Nov. 9 and 15 with the Japanese Hakuto-R lander and United Arab Emirate’s Rashid 1 rover. The mission worked with Maverick Space Systems to provide launch integration services.NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research program funded component development from small businesses including Plasma Processes Inc. (Rubicon) for thruster development, Flight Works for pump development, and Beehive Aerospace (formerly Volunteer Aerospace) for specific 3D printed components. The Air Force Research Laboratory also contributed financially to the development of the Lunar Flashlight propulsion system.Lunar Flashlight will be operated by Georgia Tech, including graduate and undergraduate students. The mission is funded by the Small Spacecraft Technology program within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.Ian J. O’NeillJet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.818-354-2649[email protected]2022-166Last Updated: Oct 28, 2022Editor: Naomi Hartonohttps://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-s-lunar-flashlight-ready-to-search-for-the-moon-s-water-ice
Quote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 10/29/2022 06:39 pmQuote from: ULA tweetThe launch of a ULA #AtlasV 401 rocket carrying @NOAA’s #JPSS2 and @NASA's #LOFTID has been delayed due to the need to replace a battery on board the Centaur upper stage of the launch vehicle. Launch is now planned for NET Nov. 9, pending range availability. [Oct 29]Launch is to a particular Sun-synchronous orbit, therefore the launch time of day is virtually the same through the year.
Quote from: ULA tweetThe launch of a ULA #AtlasV 401 rocket carrying @NOAA’s #JPSS2 and @NASA's #LOFTID has been delayed due to the need to replace a battery on board the Centaur upper stage of the launch vehicle. Launch is now planned for NET Nov. 9, pending range availability. [Oct 29]
The launch of a ULA #AtlasV 401 rocket carrying @NOAA’s #JPSS2 and @NASA's #LOFTID has been delayed due to the need to replace a battery on board the Centaur upper stage of the launch vehicle. Launch is now planned for NET Nov. 9, pending range availability. [Oct 29]
NextSpaceFlight, updated October 29:ASDS is JRTI.Slight change to launch window opening:Ben Cooper's Launch Photography Viewing Guide, updated October 29:QuoteA Falcon 9 will launch the Hotbird 13G communications satellite for Eutelsat from pad 40 on November 2 at 11:24 p.m. EDT. The launch window stretches around two hours.= Nov 3 03:24 to ~05:25 UTC.
A Falcon 9 will launch the Hotbird 13G communications satellite for Eutelsat from pad 40 on November 2 at 11:24 p.m. EDT. The launch window stretches around two hours.
Ben Cooper's Launch Photography Viewing Guide, updated October 29:QuoteThe next SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch USSF-44 for the U.S. Space Force from pad 39A on November 1 at 9:41 a.m. EDT. The launch window stretches to 10:11 a.m. The side boosters will land back at the Cape about eight minutes after launch.
The next SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch USSF-44 for the U.S. Space Force from pad 39A on November 1 at 9:41 a.m. EDT. The launch window stretches to 10:11 a.m. The side boosters will land back at the Cape about eight minutes after launch.
Peter B. de Selding @pbdes[email protected]'s multi-launch contract w/ @VirginOrbit includes mid-2023 launch of 3 sats carrying @NorthStarEandS space situational awareness payloads. NorthStar plans 24-sat constellation.
Luxembourg, Sept.27 2022 — NorthStar Earth & Space (“NorthStar”), a comprehensive environment Information services enterprise, announced today that the first three of its constellation of 24 satellites dedicated to commercial Space Situational Awareness (SSA) will be among the payloads carried by Spire Global’s satellites to be launched by Virgin Orbit. The launch is scheduled for mid-2023.NorthStar will be the first to monitor all near-Earth orbits from space delivering a radically enhanced level of SSA services to the global satellite community, with timely and precise information for resident space object detection, tracking, orbit determination, collision avoidance, navigation and proximity alerts.
Ben Cooper's Launch Photography Viewing Guide, updated October 29:QuoteA Falcon 9 from pad 39A will launch the Dragon CRS-26 resupply mission to the ISS on November 18 around 5:30 p.m. EST. Sunset is 5:27 p.m. = ~22:30 UTC
A Falcon 9 from pad 39A will launch the Dragon CRS-26 resupply mission to the ISS on November 18 around 5:30 p.m. EST. Sunset is 5:27 p.m.
The launch seems to have been postponed to 2023.QuoteIntelsat License LLC (“Intelsat”) herein requests 180 days of Special Temporary Authority (“STA”),1 commencing January 4, 2023, to use its Nuevo, California Ka-band earth station, Call Sign E170039, to provide launch and early orbit phase (“LEOP”) services for the Arcturus (Aurora-4a) satellite.2 Arcturus is expected to launch on January 4, 2023.3 Intelsat expects the LEOP to last approximately 180 days.
Intelsat License LLC (“Intelsat”) herein requests 180 days of Special Temporary Authority (“STA”),1 commencing January 4, 2023, to use its Nuevo, California Ka-band earth station, Call Sign E170039, to provide launch and early orbit phase (“LEOP”) services for the Arcturus (Aurora-4a) satellite.2 Arcturus is expected to launch on January 4, 2023.3 Intelsat expects the LEOP to last approximately 180 days.
Thread for the Starlink 5-1 group launch.NSF Threads for Starlink 5-1: DiscussionLaunch NET December 2022, from Kennedy LC-39A or Canaveral SLC-40, on booster 10xx-x. ASDS landing is expected.Payload 46? Starlink satellites to 97.6 degree inclination on a south-southwestern trajectory. Initial orbit of approximately 230 x 335 km?Starlink v1.5 satellite mass is now about 300kg after the addition of laser ISL terminals.Please use the Starlink Discussion Thread for all general discussion on Starlink.Check the Starlink Index Thread for links to more Starlink information.L2 SpaceX: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?board=60.0
Jeff Foust @jeff_foustJapanese lunar lander company ispace says its first lander is now scheduled for now launch no earlier than Nov. 22, a slip from the Nov. 9-15 window previously announced. The lander recently arrived in Florida for preparations for its Falcon 9 launch.
TOKYO—October 31, 2022—Today, ispace, inc. (ispace) Founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada announced that the company’s Mission 1 (M1) lunar lander, part of the company’s HAKUTO-R lunar exploration program, was delivered by cargo plane to the United States and is now in Cape Canaveral, Florida.In addition, ispace announced an updated launch window for M1. In careful coordination with SpaceX, both sides agreed to target no earlier than November 22, 2022, for launch of the HAKUTO-R M1. This updated target launch date allows for best preparation for the mission when considering the fuel-loading schedule for the lander and launch date availability. An updated launch date will be announced once confirmed....Future Mission UpdatesMission 2 planning is currently under way. Specific details of M2 payloads will be released at a later date.In July 2022, NASA awarded Team Draper, which includes ispace subsidiary ispace technologies U.S., inc. (ispace US), $73 million to deliver payloads including two communication relay satellites to lunar orbit as well as a suite of scientific experiments to the lunar surface. In addition to the NASA CLPS payloads, ispace US expects to carry additional commercial payloads on M3 to reach full capacity. ispace is in active negotiations to fill M3 orders and beyond.
ispace Lunar Lander Selected to Deliver NASA CLPS Payloads to the Far Side of the Moon25 Jul, 2022ispace U.S.’s SERIES-2 Lander Will Deploy Two Communications Relay Satellites to Support Far Side LandingTOKYO — ispace, inc.(ispace) today announced that its subsidiary, ispace technologies U.S., inc. (ispace U.S.) joins a team, led by Draper, that has been awarded $73 million to deliver payloads including two communication relay satellites to lunar orbit as well as a suite of scientific experiments to the lunar surface.Team Draper, which includes ispace U.S., as well as General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems, and Systima Technologies, a division of Karman Space & Defense, expects to launch and begin operations on the lunar surface in 2025 in fulfillment of the NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) task order CP-12.“We are proud to serve all of our customers but are particularly pleased to be working with Draper to help deliver NASA payloads to the Moon. We believe it is another step in our vision to develop the cislunar ecosystem,” said Takeshi Hakamada, CEO and Founder of ispace.“The SERIES-2 lander—from its design stage to launch from the United States—marks a historic step for our office. I am extremely appreciative of our entire team for their hard work. We are honored to serve our customers with American ingenuity and skill,” said Kyle Acierno, CEO of ispace U.S.
NextSpaceFlight, updated October 31:First stage is 1067.7.
Kathy Leuders said this is Nov. 20 at the NAC HEO meeting
Ben Cooper's Launch Photography Viewing Guide, updated October 31:QuoteA Falcon 9 from pad 39A will launch the Dragon CRS-26 resupply mission to the ISS on November 20 around 4:40 p.m. EST.= ~21:40 UTC
A Falcon 9 from pad 39A will launch the Dragon CRS-26 resupply mission to the ISS on November 20 around 4:40 p.m. EST.
WASHINGTON, Oct 31 (Reuters) - SpaceX is targeting early December to launch its giant Starship rocket system into orbit for the first time, a pivotal demonstration flight as it aims to fly NASA astronauts to the moon in the next few years, a U.S. official said on Monday.
Nov. 1 • Falcon Heavy • USSF 44Launch window: 1341-1411 GMT (9:41-10:11 a.m. EDT)Launch site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Jeff Foust @jeff_foustThe current Artemis planning manifest, now updated to include a lunar landing on Artemis 4.
Jeff Foust @jeff_foustUpdated chart for the Artemis 4 mission that now includes a lunar landing. A lot going on here.
