Quote from: Jansen on 11/10/2020 02:00 amQuote from: Skyrocket on 03/14/2018 03:49 pmDoes anyone has info, how many WorldView-Legion satellites are on one Falcon-9 launch?The plan is now for two satellites per launch.Two on the first launch, four on the second launch, because two are going to polar orbit and four to mid-inclination
Quote from: Skyrocket on 03/14/2018 03:49 pmDoes anyone has info, how many WorldView-Legion satellites are on one Falcon-9 launch?The plan is now for two satellites per launch.
Does anyone has info, how many WorldView-Legion satellites are on one Falcon-9 launch?
Maxar plans to launch the second two WorldView Legion satellites approximately three to six months after the first launch, Jablonsky said.
https://spacenews.com/maxar-q3-2020/QuoteMaxar plans to launch the second two WorldView Legion satellites approximately three to six months after the first launch, Jablonsky said.It appears that things have changed, unless Spacenews made a mistake. But it’s been a few days and it would’ve been corrected by now.
At this point, we're tracking a few critical items that could impact time lines to launch.The first of these is completion and validation of flight software, which is complex and continued simulation and testing of this spacecraft and its components and subsystems. Next, there's an industry-wide issue with some aspects of Honeywell electronic components that have been identified and need to be corrected. We're using these Honeywell electronic components on the first of our Legion satellites.As I noted, the entire satellite industry is being impacted. Notably, Maxar's Legion program, though, has been designated as a high priority defense mission and has formally received a DX rating under the Defense Production Act. We're basically front of the line alongside other DX-rated programs that are close to it and preferential treatment and resolving this issue. And at this point, we're optimistic that this is not a pacing item.Finally, we put our satellites and systems through a rigorous set of environmental testing to validate the engineering, the design, the quality and construction and work that goes into the build. We and our suppliers do that as additional validation measures. During April, one of our suppliers, Raytheon, had been conducting those same sorts of tests on the high-precision optical instruments. They unexpectedly encountered an issue during testing not related to design but due to some workmanship in an assembly of a supporting component.
“Importantly, we also signed a contract with a fifth U.S. ally to upgrade the country’s ground infrastructure to be Legion ready and we were awarded contracts to build two new GEO satellites for Sirius XM. Finally, we advanced the Legion construction program and continue to expect the launch of the first two satellites in the March to June 2022 window.”
Maxar’s John Cartwright says at a #WSBW panel this morning they’re expecting to launch the first set of WorldView Legion satellites in the second quarter of 2022, with the second set 3-6 months later.I asked if the six Legion satellites would be launched in batches of three, or two on one launch and four on the other; Cartwright declined to say. The company has previously said two on the first and four on the second.
The company said the first pair of WorldView Legion satellites is now likely to launch on a SpaceX rocket in June or July, and the remaining four satellites, under construction now, are now slated to launch in two missions three and six months later.
Most recently, the launch of the first two satellites that had been projected for early summer could be pushed to the right again because of a shortage of Ukrainian Antonov cargo aircraft used to transport spacecraft from factory to launch site.The first two satellites will be transported by truck from Maxar’s manufacturing plant in Northern California to SpaceX’s launch facility in Cape Canaveral, Florida. That could add a couple of extra weeks to the schedule, said Jablonsky. Maxar initially had booked two SpaceX launches for the Legion constellation: one for the first two satellites and the second for the other four. But it later decided to add a third, splitting the constellation in pairs to be launched in three-month intervals, said Jablonsky.
Maxar Technologies has delayed the launch of its first two WorldView Legion optical imaging satellites by 2-3 months, to September, following a wrongly designed satellite test sequence that will add about $20 million to the program’s cost.Maxar has scheduled three SpaceX Falcon 9 launches for the six Legion satellites. Under the scheduled that Maxar updated on May 9, the launches would now occur in September, December and March.
