LIVE: Sea Launch - Intelsat 19 - June 1, 2012

[edkyle99]

FlightGlobal offers a balanced assessment, suggesting that the cause of the problem is more uncertain given the stuck arrays on Proton flights too.

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/hyperbola/2012/06/speculation-that-intelsat-19-s.html

If the payload separation issue turns out to be a Sea Launch, or even a Proton, problem, I would have to reassess the "success/fail" calls on several launches. 

 - Ed Kyle

"explosion"  might be the key word no?

It depends, as always, on what actually caused the "explosion".

 - Ed Kyle

[kevin-rf]

The payload fairing is Boeing hardware, correct?

Yes.

It was really new for me: "But Celli said U.S. Air Force images of the satellite [Telstar 14] in orbit showed massive damage to the affected array, confirming that an explosion — which was picked up by Sea Launch sensors — had occurred"

I wonder what does Mr. Celli think about SES-4 issues? Explosion under Proton-M fairing? Or something else?

AMOS (Air Force Maui Optical and Supercomputing observatory) images?

[Chris Bergin]

There seems to be growing suspicion that the Intelsat 19 solar array was somehow damaged by the Sea Launch payload fairing separation event. 

Wrong guess by Space News, it seems.

FlightGlobal offers a balanced assessment

They only wrote three paras and get "a balanced assessment" comment?

Here's the real info:

Sea Launch Releases Preliminary Payload Unit Telemetry Data on Intelsat 19 Mission

BERN, Switzerland, June 8, 2012 - Sea Launch announced today that it has released preliminary “Quick Look” payload unit (PLU) telemetry information to Intelsat S.A. and Space Systems Loral on June 8, 2012.  The data covered the full mission profile from lift off at 22:23 Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) on Thursday, May 31st (05:23 UTC/GMT, Friday, June 1) through spacecraft separation.   Sea Launch successfully inserted and separated the spacecraft into its predefined orbit, but it was later reported that the spacecraft failed to deploy one of its two solar arrays.

The Sea Launch Payload Accommodations, built by Boeing Commercial Space Company, is extensively instrumented, including accelerometers, pressure sensors, and microphones. All telemetry data obtained from the instrumentation has been processed and is of high quality. 

“The preliminary data review indicates that all systems performed nominally throughout the launch profile including fairing and spacecraft separation. The data indicates no exceedance of the environmental requirements defined in the Spacecraft Interface Control Document and the Sea Launch User’s Guide and there is no indication of any re-contact during fairing or spacecraft separation events,” said Energia Logistics Ltd. (ELUS) Chief Operating Officer Kirk Pysher.  “Boeing engineers did note an unexpected, isolated event around 72 seconds after launch, which registered on microphones and pressure sensors.  We have only seen this one other time out of the 31 flights and while it is premature to speculate on its origin until further analysis is complete, it bears a striking resemblance to a prior Space Systems/Loral mission.”

The Telstar 14/Estrela do Sul 1 communications satellite, launched by Sea Launch on January 10, 2004, also experienced a failed deployment of one solar array. The investigation panel formed provided its findings to the satellite and insurance communities. Sea Launch went on to perform seven successful flights of SS/Loral’s FS-1300 spacecraft since that time.

Per standard process, ELUS has declared an In-Flight Observation (IFO) for the unexpected event and will investigate fully, in order to determine the source of the event.  The investigation will be headed by Richard W. Pudil, ELUS Chief Systems Engineer and will include independent subject matter experts.  “While our preliminary review indicates that the launch vehicle systems performed well within family and requirements, we will continue our analysis of the available data in a thorough and methodical manner, characteristic of the Sea Launch approach to Mission Assurance” Pudil said. “We look forward to supporting Intelsat and Space Systems Loral in an expeditious review of the Intelsat 19 spacecraft issue.” 

[edkyle99]

Wrong guess by Space News, it seems.

Perhaps Space News simply presented more of the satellite owner's point of view because it was written prior to Sea Launch issuing its release.  Or, perhaps, Space News may turn out to be right. 

Careful reading of the Sea Launch press release shows that a final, absolute certain cause for the noted event has not yet been determined.  It might be on the spacecraft side, or not, though Sea Launch hints strongly that it thinks something happened on the satellite.  But Sea Launch does tell us that whatever happened, happened on the way up, during the launch phase, possibly around the time of Max-Q.  The investigation, and inevitable legal wrangling, are all TBD. 

Notable is the fact that Sea Launch even issued a press release on this, with some incident details. 

 - Ed Kyle

[Nomadd]

 I'm juggling transponders on Telstar 14R just like I was on Telstar 14. It's getting a little hard to blame the 1300 problems on bad luck. Good thing my Satmex 6 backup is well behaved.

[SIM city]

How about the fact that 75 LS 1300s have been launched to date but this has only happened on the two Sea Launch missions (of ten)?  On the other hand, two of 32 SL launches had this issue.  From a purely statistical standpoint, it seems more likely to be a rocket/fairing issue than a spacecraft.

[William Graham]

How about the fact that 75 LS 1300s have been launched to date but this has only happened on the two Sea Launch missions (of ten)?  On the other hand, two of 32 SL launches had this issue.  From a purely statistical standpoint, it seems more likely to be a rocket/fairing issue than a spacecraft.

Telstar 14R had the same problem, and it flew on a Proton

[SIM city]

How about the fact that 75 LS 1300s have been launched to date but this has only happened on the two Sea Launch missions (of ten)?  On the other hand, two of 32 SL launches had this issue.  From a purely statistical standpoint, it seems more likely to be a rocket/fairing issue than a spacecraft.

Telstar 14R had the same problem, and it flew on a Proton

No, it had a different problem on the array deployment mechanism with a determined root cause that had nothing to do with the vehicle.  There was not an explosion in the fairing that damaged the solar array.

[anik]

Report for Thursday June 14
http://www.intelsat.com/network/satellite/intelsat19/is19-mission-updates.asp

The south solar array panel on IS-19 was deployed on 12 June 2012, following four apogee maneuver firings on 11 June 2012. Currently, we are conducting tests to establish the performance, power level, structural integrity and operability of the south array panel. The Ku-band deflector deployment is scheduled for 18 July.

[robertross]

Report for Thursday June 14
http://www.intelsat.com/network/satellite/intelsat19/is19-mission-updates.asp

The south solar array panel on IS-19 was deployed on 12 June 2012, following four apogee maneuver firings on 11 June 2012. Currently, we are conducting tests to establish the performance, power level, structural integrity and operability of the south array panel. The Ku-band deflector deployment is scheduled for 18 July.

So it sounds like it has now been successfully deployed.

[SIM city]

Deployed but damaged.

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Deployed but damaged.

Russian sources indicate that it could only generate one-third of its rated power.

[SIM city]

Space News source says up to half of the expected power can be generated.
http://www.spacenews.com/satellite_telecom/120619-is19-array-damage.html

[kevin-rf]

From the space news article...

Space Systems/Loral said that, for its part, it noticed that the outer solar panel on the satellite, which was exposed to the sun after the fairing was jettisoned during the rocket’s in-orbit coast phase, was registering less power than expected even before the spacecraft was released by the rocket’s upper stage.

Sounds like physical damage to the panel(s) during the launch...

[Danderman]

From the space news article...

Space Systems/Loral said that, for its part, it noticed that the outer solar panel on the satellite, which was exposed to the sun after the fairing was jettisoned during the rocket’s in-orbit coast phase, was registering less power than expected even before the spacecraft was released by the rocket’s upper stage.

Sounds like physical damage to the panel(s) during the launch...

If any part of the fairing came off prior to jettison, there would have been signal detected from the Block-DM, so that is not very likely.

[LouScheffer]

So what could cause an "explosive" pressure spike?  A hole developing in the fairing at Max-Q?  A sudden delamination of part of the fairing from trapped air?  What on the satellite could cause this while only harming the solar arrays?

[kevin-rf]

So what could cause an "explosive" pressure spike?  A hole developing in the fairing at Max-Q?  A sudden delamination of part of the fairing from trapped air?  What on the satellite could cause this while only harming the solar arrays?

Trapped air between panels releasing suddenly? WAG

[Jim]

So what could cause an "explosive" pressure spike?  A hole developing in the fairing at Max-Q?  A sudden delamination of part of the fairing from trapped air?  What on the satellite could cause this while only harming the solar arrays?

trapped air in the spacecraft

[LouScheffer]

So what could cause an "explosive" pressure spike? 

trapped air in the spacecraft

But trapped air is well known problem, and there are specs based on pressure decay rates (see http://code210.gsfc.nasa.gov/ETIS/Ryans/09PCFinal/09PC-WI57.pdf page 6 for example). So something would have to block a vent, or prevent some thermal blanket from venting, for this to happen.

Perhaps something to do with the warm, humid launch environment?  But this seems unlikely, too - the payload gets conditioned air, and the Arianne launch site and Florida are also warm and humid.

[anik]

Solar Array on Intelsat 19 Deploys
http://www.intelsat.com/press/news-releases/2012/20120626-1.asp

Intelsat S.A., the world’s leading provider of satellite services, reported that the south solar array on Intelsat 19 has deployed and the satellite was successfully transferred to geostationary orbit. All of the satellite’s communications antennas are now in their operational positions, and the communications payload is being tested.

Both C- and Ku-band capacity on the satellite will be made available to customers. It is estimated that the maneuverable life of the satellite will be approximately 15 years. Data received from the satellite indicate that the south solar array is damaged, and that the power available to the satellite will be reduced. In-orbit testing is expected to be completed by mid-July.

Intelsat 19 is the planned replacement for Intelsat 8 at 166 degrees East, which serves customers in the north and southwest Pacific region. The satellite and launch are insured, and no customer services were affected.