Author Topic: SpaceX F9 : Transporter-3 Rideshare : CCSFS SLC-40 : 13 January 2022 (1525 UTC)  (Read 214818 times)

Offline Jansen

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Discussion thread for SpaceX's December 2021 dedicated rideshare flight.

NSF Threads for SpaceX Transporter-3 : Discussion
Discussion thread for SpaceX Rideshare Program

Successful aunch January 13, 2022 at 10:25am EST (15:25 UTC) on Falcon 9 (booster 1058-10) to SSO from SLC-40. Successful RTLS landing at LZ-1.  Fairing is new. Fairing recovery is expected from the water.

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SpaceX is targeting Thursday, January 13 for a Falcon 9 launch of Transporter-3 to orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The 29-minute launch window opens at 10:25 a.m. EST, or 15:25 UTC, and a backup opportunity is available on Friday, January 14 with the same window.

Falcon 9’s first stage booster previously launched Crew Demo-2, ANASIS-II, CRS-21, Transporter-1, and five Starlink missions. Following stage separation, SpaceX will land Falcon 9’s first stage on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Transporter-3 is SpaceX’s third dedicated rideshare mission, and on board this launch are 105 spacecraft (including CubeSats, microsats, PocketQubes, and orbital transfer vehicles).

There appear to be additional payloads, USA 320-323, deployed from the flight.



Payloads:
SpaceX shows 105, but that does not seem to include the satellites riding aboard ION.  103 are currently listed to separate from the Falcon 9 second stage, plus the payloads on ION.  If four of the FOSSA sats are named twice in the SpaceX deployment timeline, that drops it to 99 plus the ION riders.  There may also be four USA sats on top of the 105?

(port assignments are currently a guess for some of the payloads)

ISILaunch36 Port 1
   Sich-2-1 (170kg microsat, Ukraine)

Planet (ISIL Port 2)
   Planet SuperDoves Flock 4-X-1...-36 (36x 3U)

Planet (ISIL Port 3)
   Kepler 16-19 (4x 6U)
   Planet SuperDoves Flock 4-X-37/-44 (8x 3U)
   Tevel-1...-8 (8x 1U, Israel)
   LEMUR2 (2x 3U, Spire)
   LEMUR2-Djirang (6U, Spire)
   LEMUR2-Miriwari (6U, Spire)
   OroraSat (6U, Ororatech, built by Spire)
   IRIS-A (2U, National Cheng Kung University)
   MDASat-1A/-1B/-1C (3x 2U, South Africa)

D-Orbit ION SCV-004 Elysian Eleonora
   DODONA (3U, USC/Lockheed Martin)
   Stork-1, -2 (2x 3U, SatRev)
   LabSat (3U, SatRev)
   SW1FT (3U, SatRev)
   VZLUSAT-2 (3U 3.9kg, SpaceManic, Czech Republic) (from Spaceflight SXRS-6)
   (hosted) Hyperspectral payload, on-orbit computing

Exolaunch Port 1 (28 sats)
   Fossa PocketPOD deployers x2 (8 sats)
      Challenger (3P, quub & Intuidex)
      SanoSat-1 (1p, ORION Space, Nepal)
      FossaSat-2E5,-2E6 (2x 2p, Fossa Systems)
      FossaSat-2E1/WISeSAT-1 (2p, Fossa Systems)
      FossaSat-2E2/WISeSAT-2 (2p, Fossa Systems)
      FossaSat-2E3/Pilot-1 (2p, CShark, Fossa Systems)
      FossaSat-2E4/LAIKA (2p, Fossa Systems)
  Alba Orbital Clusters 3 & 4 (5 deployers, 13 sats)
      Unicorn-2E (3P, Alba Orbital)
      DelfiPQ (3P, TU Delft, Netherlands)
      Hades & EASat-2 (2x 1.5P)
      Unicorn-2D (3P, Alba Orbital)
      SATTLA-2A (2P, Ariel University, Israel)
      Grizu-263a (1p)
      Unicorn 1 (2P)
      Unicorn 2A (3P, Alba Orbital)
      MDQube-SAT1 (2P, Innova Space, Argentina)
      PION-BR1 (1P, PION Labs, Brazil)
      Unicorn 2TA1 (aka Tartan-artibeus 1) (1P, Alba Orbital)
      SATTLA-2B (2P, Ariel University, Israel)
   ETV-A1 (16U, sen, built by NanoAvionics)
   ICEYE X-14? (microsat)
   HYPSO-1 (6U, NTNU, built by NanoAvionics)
   NuX-1 (3U, NuSpace, Singapore)
   DEWA-Sat1 (3U, UAE, built by NanoAvionics)
   BRO-5 (6U, Unseen Labs)
   Gossamer-Piccolomini (1U?, Lunasonde)
Exolaunch Port 2
   ICEYE X-16 (microsat)

Spaceflight SXRS-6 Port 1
   UMBRA-02 SAR microsat
Spaceflight SXRS-6 Port 2
   Capella 7 & 8 (2x 112kg)

USA 320-323 (size/purpose unknown)


Possible Payloads:
Guardian (6U, Aistech Space, mfr. OrbAstro)
TechEdSat-15
EnduroSat 6U CubeSat platform - Hypernova
Nanoracks??? (non-separating) Mars Outpost Tech Demo (111kg)
Satellogic
Carnegie Mellon (1P)
TRSI-2 (1P)
Adler-1 (3U, Spire bus)
GHOSt (x2?) (microsat, Orbital Sidekick)
SEOPS Equalizer
Momentus Vigoride - SSPD-1, Pixxel
Skycraft Majura microsat
   Sherpa LTC1 (total mass 365kg, customer deployable mass 95kg, 10 sats)
      Hawk 5A, 5B, 5C (3x 29kg microsat, Hawkeye 360, USA, propulsion)
      Lynk-05 (Tower 1) (55.6kg microsat)
      VZLUSAT-2 (3U 3.9kg, SpaceManic, Czech Republic) (moved to D-Orbit)
      KSF2a-2d (4x 6U 6.8kg, Kleos Space, UK, propulsion)
      LLITED (2x 1.5U 5.0kg total, NASA)
      MA61C/SPiN1 (1U, SPiN, Germany)
      OreSat0 (1U, Portland State University) (3.3kg for SPiN1 & OreSat0)

   Sherpa-FX3 (8 sats)
      Hawk 4A, 4B, 4C (3x microsat, Hawkeye 360)
      NearSpace Launch WVSAT mission (2x ThinSat, 2x 1U)
      (hosted payload) TROOP-3 (TAGSAT-3)




Other SpaceX resources on NASASpaceflight:
   SpaceX News Articles (Recent)  /   SpaceX News Articles from 2006 (Including numerous exclusive Elon interviews)
   SpaceX Dragon Articles  /  SpaceX Missions Section (with Launch Manifest and info on past and future missions)
   L2 SpaceX Section
« Last Edit: 05/02/2023 07:41 pm by gongora »

Offline Jansen

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https://satelliteprome.com/news/hypernovas-satellite-propulsion-set-to-fly-on-endurosats-shared-satellite-service/

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The mission is flying on a 6U CubeSat platform scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare in December 2021.

Offline Jansen

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https://www.satellitetoday.com/launch/2020/12/15/momentus-lands-caltech-mission-for-its-new-hosted-payload-service/

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Momentus has a contract for its second customer on its hosted payload service, and will host a payload from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), called SSPD-1 at the end of next year. SSPD-1, which will demonstrate a wireless power transmission and a new deployable structure, is set to launch on Momentus’ Vigoride orbital transfer vehicle in December of 2021, and operate onboard the vehicle for about six months.

Offline Robotbeat

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https://www.satellitetoday.com/launch/2020/12/15/momentus-lands-caltech-mission-for-its-new-hosted-payload-service/

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Momentus has a contract for its second customer on its hosted payload service, and will host a payload from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), called SSPD-1 at the end of next year. SSPD-1, which will demonstrate a wireless power transmission and a new deployable structure, is set to launch on Momentus’ Vigoride orbital transfer vehicle in December of 2021, and operate onboard the vehicle for about six months.
I kind of wondered when this would happen. Someone taking advantage of SpaceX’s low launch costs from reuse to try Space Based Solar Power. Of course, it’s just a very subscale demo, but it’s funny to me because Elon wishes he could “stab that bloody thing through the heart” (thing being “space based solar power” for Earth...).



I’m still rooting for SBSP even though I kind of agree with Elon it’s unlikely to be worth it. if SBSP does work and is more than just a niche, it will open up a vast amount of launch demand and potentially also help the business case for space mining, space manufacturing, and perhaps even support a broader in-space ecosystem, including large habitats to provide living space for folks who will be mining, building, and repairing in support of SBSP.

Small chance of happening, but huge if it does. Honestly, I don’t think it’s any more crazy than making Earth to Earth transport on Starship a major competitor to traditional passenger air travel.
« Last Edit: 01/04/2021 08:29 pm by Robotbeat »
Chris  Whoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

To the maximum extent practicable, the Federal Government shall plan missions to accommodate the space transportation services capabilities of United States commercial providers. US law http://goo.gl/YZYNt0

Offline Robotbeat

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I can’t find any more information about this “SSPD-1” wireless power demonstrator mission by Caltech. Who is the PI for it? Is it really by Caltech or by JPL? Is this a NASA thing, related to Goddard’s SSPD “satellite services projects division”, sspd.gsfc.nasa.gov ?

Nothing shows up.
Chris  Whoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

To the maximum extent practicable, the Federal Government shall plan missions to accommodate the space transportation services capabilities of United States commercial providers. US law http://goo.gl/YZYNt0

Offline Jansen

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I can’t find any more information about this “SSPD-1” wireless power demonstrator mission by Caltech. Who is the PI for it? Is it really by Caltech or by JPL? Is this a NASA thing, related to Goddard’s SSPD “satellite services projects division”, sspd.gsfc.nasa.gov ?

Nothing shows up.

This is the entire project team:
https://www.spacesolar.caltech.edu/researchers

The overall project here: https://www.spacesolar.caltech.edu/




Also:
https://www.spacesolar.caltech.edu/power-transfer

Publications from the project:
https://www.spacesolar.caltech.edu/publications

Offline Robotbeat

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Thanks!!

EDIT: now I think there may be a non-insignificant chance they could succeed. Space based solar power needs to be just $10/Watt to compete vs nuclear. $5/Watt to compete generally. With SpaceX’s low launch costs, this is possible. But super hard.

1kg/m^2. With 30% efficient cells (easier perhaps with the concentration they’re using) and a 1350W/m^2 insolation, this is 400W/kg. At a price to highish orbit of $40/kg, that’s 10¢/Watt... but actual conversation efficiency to the grid may be just 50%, so let’s say 20¢/W in orbit costs for actual grid power.

Launch on Starship is now a small part of total costs of space based solar power. Power electronics is probably bigger. Beam size also probably a huge constraint.
« Last Edit: 01/04/2021 10:43 pm by Robotbeat »
Chris  Whoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

To the maximum extent practicable, the Federal Government shall plan missions to accommodate the space transportation services capabilities of United States commercial providers. US law http://goo.gl/YZYNt0

Offline WmThomas

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Aren't the launch costs and the costs of the solar cells amortized over time?

You can't just divide the gross wattage per KG by the launch cost per KG.

What's the time period to pay it off?

I didn't follow your reasoning due to these questions.

Offline mandrewa

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Aren't the launch costs and the costs of the solar cells amortized over time?

You can't just divide the gross wattage per KG by the launch cost per KG.

What's the time period to pay it off?

I didn't follow your reasoning due to these questions.

In the first video Jansen links to above, Sergio Pellegrino of Caltech estimates a cost of between $1 and $2 per kilowatt-hour for a five satellite MEO solar power constellation.  Or between $1.50 and $2 per kilowatt-hour for a GEO solar power satellite.

This compares to about 15 cents per kilowatt-hour or less in the United States currently.  Or 50 cents per kilowatt-hour on certain US territories in the Pacific Ocean.  But Sergio Pellegrino's cost estimate was calculated on the assumption that this equipment was being launched on the Atlas V 551.  And since it takes a lot of launches (58 for the MEO or 19 for the GEO) to put up these solar power satellites, surely the launcher is a considerable part of the cost.

If we assume Starship succeeds and make an optimistic assumption about what it will cost per launch, then this should substantially reduce the cost of these solar power satellites.

But Sergio Pellegrino does not go into enough detail, in this talk at least, as to just how specifically they came up with these cost estimates so that we can examine all the assumptions.

But he hits the highlights.  The time period for the calculation is 15 years and the solar power satellites are assumed to be good for those 15 years.  The overall efficiency of the system from sunlight in space to electric current on the ground is about 9.3%.  And he assumes that they will walk down a learning curve on the cost of making the elements of the satellites as they do it and that the final cost per element will be half of the initial. 

I do worry about where all the energy that does not end up in the electric grid on the ground ends up.  Regardless of whether it turns out that this technology is in the end competitive with others on the surface of the earth, it certainly seems to imply very cheap energy in space itself.
« Last Edit: 01/05/2021 05:35 am by mandrewa »

Offline WmThomas

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Thanks for the clarification.

I guess we'll have to wait and see. It's cool that they are making a serious attempt at advancing space-based solar power, but maybe the whole idea is tilting at windmills.

Online gongora

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Re: SpaceX F9 : SpaceX Transporter-3 Rideshare : December 2021
« Reply #10 on: 01/31/2021 03:53 pm »
The schedule on the SEOPS website shows this as their first SpaceX rideshare launch, which will use their Equalizer cubesat deployers on a rideshare adapter designed for the SpaceX payload stack.  Up to 96U on a port, made up of 12U and 6U deployers on an octagonal frame.  They only mention cubesats but that frame looks designed to potentially hold a microsat in the middle.

https://seopsllc.com/schedule
https://seopsllc.com/assets/resources/equalizer/Equalizer-ICD-Basic.pdf

Offline Jansen

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Re: SpaceX F9 : SpaceX Transporter-3 Rideshare : December 2021
« Reply #11 on: 02/07/2021 02:02 am »
[Press Release] Orbital Sidekick Announces Upcoming Launch of its Newest Global Hyperspectral Earth Observation Constellation: GHOSt

Ahead of the constellation launch on SpaceX Falcon 9, OSK has selected Astro Digital to manufacture the spacecraft bus and Maverick Space to manage launch services

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Orbital Sidekick (OSK) announced today that it has finalized plans to deploy its Global Hyperspectral Observation Satellite constellation known as GHOSt. The hyperspectral imaging (HSI) constellation consists of six 100 kg ESPA class satellites designed and manufactured by Astro Digital, with Maverick Space Systems providing mission integration & management services for the launches on SpaceX's Falcon 9. The custom hyperspectral imaging payload is provided by OSK.

GHOSt leverages OSK's previous experience collecting and analyzing hyperspectral data with its HEIST mission on the International Space Station in 2019. The custom payload will produce the highest resolution commercial hyperspectral imagery launched to-date with a GSD of approximately 8 meters. The payload will be integrated into Astro Digital's Corvus-XL satellite platform and will take advantage of its industry leading Ka-band data downlink capability.

"We're excited to partner with Astro Digital and Maverick Space for this initial constellation. Both companies bring a high degree of agility with proven execution to our mission, allowing OSK to focus on the payload and extracting information from our unique hyperspectral data," said Pete Friedhoff, Director of Space Systems for Orbital Sidekick.

"Persistent, hyperspectral imaging is a critical new capability in remote sensing," said Chris Biddy, Co-founder and CEO of Astro Digital. "We are very pleased to be supporting Orbital Sidekick's mission with our proven satellite technology and capabilities."

Maverick Space Systems will provide mission integration hardware and services to launch GHOSt on SpaceX's Falcon 9 at the end of this year and continuing into 2022. "Taking advantage of frequent low-cost launch opportunities is critical to achieve Orbital Sidekick's constellation. We are excited to partner with them and further reduce their per-satellite launch costs by aggregating two GHOSt satellites per ESPA port," said Roland Coelho, CEO of Maverick Space.

GHOSt will capture more than 400 spectral bands in the visible to shortwave infrared range of 400 - 2500 nm to feed OSK's Spectral Intelligence Global Monitoring Application (SIGMA™) platform.

About Orbital Sidekick
Orbital Sidekick's proprietary analytics platform and hyperspectral payload architecture provide persistent space-based monitoring solutions powered by Spectral Intelligence™. This unique radiometric speciation and change detection capability enables unparalleled target monitoring services for both commercial and defense users on a global scale. Orbital Sidekick is headquartered in San Francisco, California. For more information on Orbital Sidekick's global persistent monitoring services, please visit orbitalsidekick.com

About Astro Digital
As a holistic offering, Astro Digital currently designs, builds, and operates micro-satellite systems supporting space-based turnkey missions for business applications, including earth observation, communications, In-orbit demonstrations, in addition to various science and exploration applications. Astro Digital is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. For more information on the new CORVUS XL platform or services and technologies available from Astro Digital, visit astrodigital.com.

About Maverick Space
Maverick provides customized, cost effective, and responsive end-to-end launch integration solutions. Maverick's key competencies include mission management, launch deployment hardware, and launch integration services for satellites ranging from 1 kg CubeSats to 400+ kg ESPA class spacecraft. The team at Maverick combines industry experience with agility and efficiency to provide their customers with a seamless, turn-key service in getting their payloads to orbit.  Maverick is headquartered in San Luis Obispo, California. For more information on Maverick's launch hardware and service offerings, please visit maverickspace.com.

Offline Jansen

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Re: SpaceX F9 : SpaceX Transporter-3 Rideshare : December 2021
« Reply #12 on: 02/07/2021 02:03 am »
Crosspost:
[Space News] Satellogic signs multi-launch contract with SpaceX
Quote
Satellogic plans to conduct its next four launches with SpaceX, starting in June. Additional launches will take place in December and in March and June of 2022. All will be rideshare missions going to sun-synchronous orbits, with at least four satellites on the June launch.
...
“We are looking into deploying more mid-inclination satellites over the next 12–18 months, but we have not yet decided exactly when those launches are going to be.”
« Last Edit: 02/07/2021 02:04 am by Jansen »

Offline PM3

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Re: SpaceX F9 : SpaceX Transporter-3 Rideshare : December 2021
« Reply #13 on: 02/13/2021 01:52 pm »
Quote
SOWA
Extended EO-capable platform aimed at shared in-orbit service provision – imagery, data, services for external payloads and solutions – launches December 2021 with SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
https://satrevolution.com/products/sowa-mission/
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The December 2021 mission, called SOWA, will follow in the footsteps of SatRevolution’s previous missions SW1FT and STORK, which will launch in December 2020 and June 2021 respectively. All missions are equipped with SatRevolution’s optical payload Vision 300, capable of capturing imagery of up to 5 m resolution, however SOWA mission will come with multispectral capability to provide additional remote sensing services.
https://smallsat.org/extras/press-room/news/aug5-satrevolution

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Momentus will deliver Pixxel’s second smallsat to Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) orbit in December 2021 onboard a SpaceX Falcon-9 launch.
https://www.satellitetoday.com/launch/2020/09/23/momentus-signs-launch-service-agreements-with-pixxel-gp-advanced-projects/
"Never, never be afraid of the truth." -- Jim Bridenstine

Online gongora

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Re: SpaceX F9 : SpaceX Transporter-3 Rideshare : December 2021
« Reply #14 on: 02/25/2021 04:46 pm »
https://twitter.com/SEOPSLLC/status/1364977220712816646
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With the success of Ng-15, we are looking forward to our upcoming launches! Here is a sneakpeak pic of our #equalizer hardware ready for lift off on the Dec. 21' #rideshare to SSO!

Online gongora

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Re: SpaceX F9 : SpaceX Transporter-3 Rideshare : December 2021
« Reply #15 on: 03/09/2021 03:43 am »
[satnews] Kleos Space’s 3rd Satellite Cluster Launch Set For December
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Kleos Space S.A. (ASX:KSS, Frankfurt:KS1, Kleos or Company) has signed a new contract with rideshare provider Spaceflight Inc. to launch the company’s third satellite cluster, (KSF2), in December of 2021 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to further grow the firm’s constellation.

Offline Bean Kenobi

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Re: SpaceX F9 : SpaceX Transporter-3 Rideshare : December 2021
« Reply #16 on: 03/09/2021 01:06 pm »
[satnews] Kleos Space’s 3rd Satellite Cluster Launch Set For December
Quote
Kleos Space S.A. (ASX:KSS, Frankfurt:KS1, Kleos or Company) has signed a new contract with rideshare provider Spaceflight Inc. to launch the company’s third satellite cluster, (KSF2), in December of 2021 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to further grow the firm’s constellation.

"KSF" names seem to be production names or something like that, after "KSM" which was some kind of prototype name (KSF1 on Transporter 2 ; KSF2 on Transporter 3).

Missions names are different :
- KSM was on PSLV last year (Kleos Scouting Mission)
- PVM is on Transporter 2 (Polar Vigilance Mission)
- PPM is on Transporter 3 (Polar Patrol Mission)
« Last Edit: 03/09/2021 01:08 pm by Bean Kenobi »

Offline Jansen

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Re: SpaceX F9 : SpaceX Transporter-3 Rideshare : December 2021
« Reply #17 on: 03/12/2021 03:14 am »
https://ain.ua/en/2021/03/05/spacex-is-ready-to-launch-ukrainian-satellite-for-1m/
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Yevgeny Rokitsky, the Assistant of the Head of the Committee for Economic Development, said that SpaceX had confirmed the possibility of launching the Sich 2-1 satellite in December 2021, RBC Ukraine reported.

Quote
On February, 12, Urusky in an interview with Pervy Delovoy said that the spacecraft is almost ready and requires only an in-service check.

Quote
According to the Head of the Parliamentary Committee for Economic Development Dmitry Natalukha, the cost of launching will amount to $1 million

Based on the price, sun-synchronous orbit, and December timeline, it appears to be a Transporter-3 payload.

Edit: Mass is 170kg per manufacturer https://www.yuzhnoye.com/en/technique/space-vehicles/earth-observation/sich-2-1/
« Last Edit: 03/12/2021 03:26 am by Jansen »

Online gongora

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Re: SpaceX F9 : SpaceX Transporter-3 Rideshare : December 2021
« Reply #18 on: 03/21/2021 05:45 pm »
I'm assuming this is on Transporter 3, and that the orbit change will be to lower altitude.

Spaceflight Inc. Awarded NASA LLITED Launch Contract
Quote
March 21, 2021
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Spaceflight Inc., the global launch services provider, announced today it has been awarded a launch service contract for the integration and launch of NASA’s LLITED mission, two 1.5U spacecraft. Spaceflight Inc. will transport the NASA Low-Latitude Ionosphere/Thermosphere Enhancements in Density (LLITED) CubeSats to low Earth orbit on its Sherpa-LTC orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) at the end of the year aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9. For this mission, the Sherpa-LTC, which uses chemical propulsion from Benchmark Space Systems, will make its initial spacecraft deployments and then ignite and maneuver to another orbital destination to deploy the NASA CubeSats.

The LLITED mission is a grant awarded to The Aerospace Corporation through NASA’s Division of Heliophysics in the Science Mission Directorate and was selected for flight by the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI). As a U.S. government direct procurement, Spaceflight is the prime contractor to NASA for the mission and the launch service is led by NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Launch Services Program. The LLITED team includes scientists and engineers from The Aerospace Corporation, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and University of New Hampshire.

“Spaceflight’s full-service offering with our portfolio of Sherpa OTVs vehicles greatly increases the scientific opportunities for NASA, universities, and other organizations that require deployments to non-traditional orbital destinations,” said Valerie Skarupa, director of government business development for Spaceflight Inc. “We’ve enjoyed a long relationship with NASA, launching nearly 20 spacecraft for the organization over the years, and are focused on helping them get their spacecraft exactly where they need to be on orbit. This opportunity is especially rewarding as the award recognized Spaceflight’s experience with in-space transportation systems.”

In January, Spaceflight successfully deployed 15 spacecraft from its first next-gen OTV (Sherpa-FX) on the record-breaking SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter-1 launch. Spaceflight is preparing several Sherpas for launch with both electric and chemical propulsion for missions later this year along with many traditional rideshare and dedicated missions, for a total of approximately 10 launches in 2021.

The NASA CubeSat project, named LLITED, will investigate the equatorial temperature and wind anomaly that occurs in the neutral atmosphere, and the equatorial ionization anomaly that occurs in the region containing charged particles.

“Aerospace’s innovative CubeSat mission will measure these two features simultaneously, a major new milestone for on-orbit satellite capability,” said. Dr. Rebecca Bishop, principal investigator for LLITED. “By observing this altitude region more closely, scientists will gain a greater understanding of the degree of change in atmosphere density, which in turn affects the amount of drag satellites encounter, as well as reentry rates. Because drag is dependent on atmosphere density, understanding regional changes in density can help predict an object’s reentry time and path.”

0624-EX-CN-2021 (attachments)
« Last Edit: 08/03/2021 01:35 am by gongora »

Online gongora

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Re: SpaceX F9 : SpaceX Transporter-3 Rideshare : December 2021
« Reply #19 on: 03/24/2021 02:44 pm »
Alba Orbital's Cluster 4 is scheduled to launch on a Falcon 9 in Q4 2021, I'm assuming this flight.

http://www.albaorbital.com/cmulaunch
Quote
Wednesday 24th March, 2021 -- Glasgow, UK -- Alba Orbital and Carnegie Mellon University today announced a rideshare agreement to launch the world’s first ‘Orbital Edge Computing’ PocketQube aboard Alba Cluster 4. The mission is scheduled to launch in Q4 2021 via SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket using Alba Orbital’s flight proven AlbaPod to deploy the satellites in a Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

http://www.albaorbital.com/innovaspacelaunch
Quote
Fri 19th March 2021 -- Glasgow, UK -- Alba Orbital and Innova Space today announced a rideshare agreement to launch an in-orbit technology demonstration of ‘MDQube-SAT1’ aboard Alba Cluster 4 in Q4 2021. The mission is scheduled to launch via SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket using Alba Orbital’s flight proven AlbaPod to deploy the satellites in a Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

MDQube-SAT1 is a 2P PocketQube satellite measuring at just 5x5x10cm, and is one of the first spacecraft of its kind in Latin America. MDQube-SAT1 will serve as a tech demo of Innova Space’s new pico-satellite platform, designed to provide greater Internet of Things (IoT) communications to Latin America’s growing agriculture, mining, oil & gas sectors as part of a wider constellation of satellites.
...
The fast growing new-space start-up now look forward to developing a large constellation, called “Libertadores de América”, of 100 IoT pico-satellites once they have successfully demonstrated the MDQube-SAT1 platform in-orbit via Alba Cluster 4 in Q4 2021.
...
Limited slots for Cluster 4 (Q4 2021) and Cluster 5 (Q1 2022) are still available, with prices starting from 25k euro for a 1P PocketQube launch slot.
« Last Edit: 03/24/2021 02:45 pm by gongora »

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