Author Topic: SpaceX Falcon 9 : Spaceflight SSO-A : December 3, 2018 - DISCUSSION  (Read 301011 times)

Offline Rik ISS-fan

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Some details from the pictures that stand out to me.
1) Are they going to use plates with 4x24U 12U deployers on SSO-A. I didn't know these 24U deployers.
2) The 6x6U Cubestack, in replies #55 & #59 from gongora image of a mockup of this ring are shown.
3) Detail of the stack on the laptop on image 2.
It looks like they are using the ASAP-S at the bottom. Above that are a Sherpa-0 ring with the 6x6U CubeStack. Than a (moog) SoftRide ring with another Sherpa-0 24" ESPA (heavy)-ring on top. Then the adapter to the payload on top, it looks like there are several (~6) 6U dispensers mounted on this adapter structure. Very nice and complicated stack.

Edit: I watched the video added to the spaceflight modal survey article.
I noted that the bottom Sherpa looks more spherical instead of cilindrical, could this be a Sherpa with propulsion module, or did they need clearance for the payload underneath ASAP-S/ this Sherpa?

(I've removed the ugly detail images)
I just realized this was already discussed on Reddit
Final edit: Spaceflight is releasing an updated "general payload user's guide' at the end of 2017. Hopefully this will explain a lot.
« Last Edit: 11/08/2017 01:04 pm by Rik ISS-fan »

Offline gongora

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Does anyone know if these U.S. Coast Guard "Polar Scout" cubesats will be on SSO-A?  It says launching on a SpaceX rocket in 2018.

[The Day] Can tiny satellites help the Coast Guard do its job?

https://www.dcms.uscg.mil/Our-Organization/Assistant-Commandant-for-Acquisitions-CG-9/Newsroom/rdte121417/
« Last Edit: 04/06/2018 07:13 pm by gongora »

Offline Rik ISS-fan

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On this SSO-A launch, a Sherpa(-0) payload carriing ring will be debuted.
This was reported in the Spacenews Q&A Curt Blake article.
Most likely the bulbous ring is the maiden Sherpa-0 (without propulsion module).
edit: And it has 6 24" mounting locations now.
« Last Edit: 10/21/2017 12:05 pm by Rik ISS-fan »

Offline gongora

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On this SSO-A launch, a Sherpa(-0) payload carriing ring will be debuted.
This was reported in the Spacenews Q&A Curt Blake article.
Most likely the bulbous ring is the maiden Sherpa-0 (without propulsion module).

SHERPA should be the ring(s) at the top.

I wonder when/if they are going to file FCC documents like they did for the cancelled SHERPA flight.

Offline Robotbeat

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I assume Arkyd-6 is still flying here?
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Offline gongora

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I assume Arkyd-6 is still flying here?

Still?  Was Arkyd-6 supposed to be on this flight?  Gunter shows it on PSLV.
« Last Edit: 10/21/2017 01:51 pm by gongora »

Offline gongora

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http://www.comnews.ru/content/110183/2017-10-25/kazahstan-vzyalsya-za-sozdanie-sputnikov
Google translate
Quote
Initially, KazSTSAT was planned to be launched on the Dnepr rocket, but due to the temporary collapse of the launch services operator Kosmotras, the Kazakh side opted for the US SpaceX launch vehicle. Vice Minister of Defense and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan Marat Nurguzhin said at the conference "Kazakhstan's path to space 2017" that the launch is scheduled for April 2018 - simultaneously with the second Kazakhstans scientific satellite, which will be based on CubeSat technology.

Offline Mark McCombs

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Offline gongora

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One of the NGSO constellations that has applied to the FCC is from Audacy.  They're planning something a little different from most of the other constellations:  a data relay service operating from MEO that other satellites can use for data and TT&C communications instead of communicating directly with ground stations.

Audacy is launching a 3U test sat, and it appears to be on SSO-A.

Quote
Mission Overview:

Audacy Zero is a 3U CubeSat demonstration mission to test out Audacy’s user communications
terminal and first ground station in the San Francisco Bay Area. The spacecraft is consistent with the
CubeSat standard with stowed dimensions of 11.12 cm x 11.12 cm x 34.05 cm (L x W x H). The total
mass is estimated to be 4.7 kg. Audacy Zero is launching to a 575 km sun-synchronous orbit, which
can lead to a total mission lifetime of 4.4 years.

Audacy Zero will utilize a prototype communications terminal operating in the K and K a bands with a
high gain and a low gain antenna. Primary data transmission will focus on telemetry, tracking, and
command (TT&C) from the communications terminal and subsystems to maintain successful
operations and analysis of the terminal hardware. Payload data includes pictures and videos taken
from an on-board camera and occasional transmissions from a secondary optical communications
payload.

Launch Vehicle: SpaceX Falcon 9

Launch Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, USA

Mission Duration: Up to 4.4 years until Audacy Zero reenters via atmospheric orbital decay
assuming the expected atmospheric drag profile.

Launch and Deployment Profile: The Falcon 9 launch vehicle will launch into roughly circular 575
km 97.9° sun-synchronous orbit. Upon confirmation of final stage burn-out, the primary and
secondary payloads will be dispensed from the payload fairing. The primary payload is from Terra
Bella/Planet. Audacy Zero will deploy to the following orbit:

Apogee: 575 km

Perigee: 575 km

Inclination: 97.9°

Audacy Zero has no propulsion and will not actively change orbits or engage in a parking or transfer
orbit.

There is even a hosted payload, a 1U optical experiment for Stanford called POINTR:
Quote
Polar Orbiting INfrared Tracking Receiver (POINTR) is an in flight demonstration of an optical receiver pointing, acquisition and tracking (PAT) system. The optical receiver payload hosted on Audacy’s 3U cubesat would be pointed to the ground to acquire and track a beacon laser sent from a suitable ground facility, currently proposed as NASA JPL’s OCTL facility. This mission would demonstrate the operational and technical requirements related to two satellites establishing an optical communications link with each other. The requirements include mission planning, command and execution of a pointing maneuver, acquisition of an incoming optical signal and tracking of the optical signal. It is planned to launch in early 2018.

(The ODAR document attached has most of the interesting info for the test sat.)

Offline gongora

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Found a mention of ORS-6 in an article:

[Defense One Nov. 19, 2017] As the US Air Force Turns Its Focus to Space, This Small Team Could Lead the Way
Quote
...a satellite about the size of a refrigerator is being pieced together by a small team of workers wearing lab coats. It’s the ORS group’s sixth satellite. If all goes as planned, airmen here at Kirtland will use the satellite to measure the height and direction of the sea.

The satellite is being built through a unique arrangement here on a military base, not at some far-off defense contractor factory. Its bus and payload — made, respectively, by Northrop Grumman and the California Institute of Technology’s Jet Propulsion Lab — were built for other projects that didn’t materialize. A company called Millennium Engineering is putting it all together.

When it heads to orbit next year, it will launch on a SpaceX rocket with other non-military satellites, a ride-share arrangement that one Air Force official compared to taking a bus instead of driving alone in a car. The price is a mere $10 million, a fraction of what it would cost to fly on its own rocket, said Lt. Col. Eric Moomey, chief of programs in the Operationally Responsive Space office.

Offline gongora

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This article from August does imply Polar Scout cubesats would be on SSO-A:

[kafbnucleus.com] ORS marks 10th anniversary, achievements
Quote
ORS-6 and ORS-7 will launch together next spring. ORS-6 will track ocean winds while ORS-7 will address a Department of Homeland Security need.

This article from mid-December mentions Polar Scout launching in the third quarter:

[Defense Daily] Coast Guard Planning Launch Of First Satellites
Quote
One of the Coast Guard’s partners, the Science and Technology branch of the Department of Homeland Security, is taking advantage of “rideshare opportunities” for launching the two 10-centimeter cubesats in the third quarter of 2018, a service spokesman told Defense Daily on Monday.

What does that mean for the SSO-A launch date?  I'm not really sure.  If you see any reports of moving dates for the other payloads please post a note.
« Last Edit: 12/27/2017 07:57 pm by gongora »

Offline russianhalo117

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This article from August does imply Polar Scout cubesats would be on SSO-A:
[kafbnucleus.com] ORS marks 10th anniversary, achievements
Quote
ORS-6 and ORS-7 will launch together next spring. ORS-6 will track ocean winds while ORS-7 will address a Department of Homeland Security need.

This article from mid-December mentions Polar Scout launching in the third quarter:
[Defense Daily] Coast Guard Planning Launch Of First Satellites
Quote
One of the Coast Guard’s partners, the Science and Technology branch of the Department of Homeland Security, is taking advantage of “rideshare opportunities” for launching the two 10-centimeter cubesats in the third quarter of 2018, a service spokesman told Defense Daily on Monday.

What does that mean for the SSO-A launch date?  I'm not really sure.  If you see any reports of moving dates for the other payloads please post a note.
Updated payload list is already on the USA Schedule. Some payloads were originally planned on other launches such as Minotaur-C and Delta-II.

Offline gongora

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Updated payload list is already on the USA Schedule. Some payloads were originally planned on other launches such as Minotaur-C and Delta-II.

I'm not really sure what you think this adds to the conversation (and the list on the US Launch Schedule is missing at least one payload and has another that was dropped from the flight a while ago.)

Offline Johnnyhinbos

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Man - this thing looks like a love child between a Soyuz spacecraft and the robot from Lost in Space.

It's a very interesting concept for sure. I am curious as to why there seems to be such dead space in it? Is there a propulsion unit? Are there separation rings between the various segments in the stack?

Is there an official count for all the satellites manifested on the SSO-A?

Sorry for all the questions - I just tuned into this thread, and scanned the five pages of posts before posting my own.
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Offline gongora

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Man - this thing looks like a love child between a Soyuz spacecraft and the robot from Lost in Space.

It's a very interesting concept for sure. I am curious as to why there seems to be such dead space in it? Is there a propulsion unit? Are there separation rings between the various segments in the stack?

Is there an official count for all the satellites manifested on the SSO-A?

Sorry for all the questions - I just tuned into this thread, and scanned the five pages of posts before posting my own.

They said they have around 120 satellites on the ride, and we only know about 26 of them so far.  No propulsion that we know of but there is an internal payload spot (I think that's where Space IL was going to ride), I don't know what's going to be in there.  PSLV has flown a stack kinda similar to this before.  I haven't seen any FCC filings yet for the flight.  If they have to file anything like the documentation for the first SHERPA flight that was cancelled we'll get a lot more detail eventually.

Offline gongora

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[Via Satellite] SeaHawk Ocean Monitoring Payload Prepares for Launch
Quote
A team of oceanic researchers from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington is preparing to launch a new CubeSat this summer, dubbed SeaHawk 1. The satellite will fly into orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9, as part of Spaceflight Industries’ first dedicated rideshare mission, Sun-Synchronous Orbit A (SSO-A).
...
“Right now it’s costing us around $500,000 to build one of these satellites, and on the order of $250,000 for launch operations with Spaceflight.”

SeaHawk at UNCW

That's the second article in a row that makes it sound like SSO-A slipped a few more months.

Offline Michael Baylor

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Planet Labs has confirmed that their will be a Flock of Doves on this launch in addition to the two SkySats.

Quote
We’ll also launch two more high resolution SkySats and another batch of Doves on a SpaceX Falcon 9.
https://www.planet.com/pulse/rocketing-into-2018/

Offline IanThePineapple

Wow, this launch is packed with sats!

Offline whitelancer64

An interesting passenger - KNACKSAT

It will be demonstrating a novel de-orbit system using magnetic torque to create drag.

"The main missions of KNACKSAT include (1) developing a communication system using amateur radio frequencies, (2) taking images from space, (3) testing 3-axis attitude control algorithms by using magnetic torquers, (4) verifying a deorbit technology by a magnetic torque and (5) confirming the uses of Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components in space."

https://www.spaceflightindustries.com/2017/05/01/taking-space-knacksat/

"Magnetic Plasma De-orbit (MPD) system using MTQs for nano-satellites"

PDF embedded below.
« Last Edit: 02/16/2018 10:08 pm by whitelancer64 »
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Offline gongora

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SpaceQuest requests FCC experimental authority to construct, launch and operate a low-Earth orbit CubeSat, “THEA”
...
The primary objective of the mission is to qualify Aurora's payload, consisting of a proprietary spectrometer and components, and demonstrate the generation of relevant measurements of the spectral environment.
...
SpaceQuest will also test the effectiveness of a new VHF "backdoor" receiver that the company designed and built to receive executive commands and/or to reboot the satellite flight computer in the event of a system failure.  SpaceQuest will test whether the receiver, with its low-cost design and reduced weight and power, has the ability to function in very small satellites.
...
The 3U Cubesat is scheduled to be launched by Spaceflight on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base between July 5 and August 4, 2018.

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