LIVE: Ariane 5 Flight VA233 - Galileo-FOC FM07, 12, 13&14- Nov 17th 2016

[beidou]

This is going to be the inaugural flight of Ariane 5 of Galileo satellites. Apparently, a dispenser has been developed to deploy a quad of Galileo satellites in a single mission.(http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2013/12/Dispenser_to_hold_four_Galileos)

[beidou]

A paper from IAC 2015 on launching Galileo with Ariane 5.

[Jester]

Good view of the A5 dispenser

[beidou]

From a recent presentation made by ESA representative (Guenter Hein) on IAIN 2015 conference:

FOC-M5 (Launch in October 2016, Ariane-5)
• FM10 at ESTEC. TVAC completed
• FM11 at ESTEC. Starting environmental test campaign
• FM12 at OHB Bremen, completing integration activities
• FM7 at OHB Bremen, completing integration activities

[Jester]

From a recent presentation made by ESA representative (Guenter Hein) on IAIN 2015 conference:

FOC-M5 (Launch in October 2016, Ariane-5)
• FM10 at ESTEC. TVAC completed
• FM11 at ESTEC. Starting environmental test campaign
• FM12 at OHB Bremen, completing integration activities
• FM7 at OHB Bremen, completing integration activities

FM07 is already at ESTEC

[beidou]

This has been slipped into November 2016.

[Jester]

flight number will be VA234

[russianhalo117]

This has been slipped into November 2016.

Launcher Hardware is complete for this flight and is now starting to be placed into climate controlled storage at the factory via their assigned Ariane 5 launcher shipping containers.

[beidou]

Galileo's Ariane 5 dispenser ready at spaceport

10 June 2016
Following rigorous testing in France and Germany, a new type of dispenser designed to carry four navigation satellites into orbit at once is now in French Guiana, in place for Galileo’s first Ariane 5 launch later this year.

The dispenser is an essential element of launch success, with a double role to play. Firstly it must hold the quartet of satellites securely in place during the stresses of liftoff, and then the nearly four-hour long flight to medium-Earth orbit.

Then, once the Ariane 5 EPS upper stage reaches its target 23 222 km altitude, the dispenser has to release the four Galileo satellites smoothly using a pyrotechnic release system triggered by separate igniters, each one firing half a second after the other.

The separated satellites are then pushed away from the dispenser in separate directions using a spring-based distancing system.

 
Galileo satellite
The 447 kg dispenser, designed by Airbus Defence and Space, must support a satellite mass of 738 kg each – nearly three tonnes in all.

Made from a combination of metal and composite materials for maximum stiffness, the dispenser has undergone very comprehensive testing at Airbus Defence and Space near Bordeaux, France, and the IABG testing centre in Ottobrunn, Germany – using both Galileo engineering models and an actual flight satellite, including fit, shock and separation testing.

The test campaign met all objectives, confirming the behaviour performs as predicted, after which the dispenser was shipped to Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

 
Dispenser
Galileo’s Ariane 5

In the autumn of this year, four Galileos will be launched together for the very first time, on a specially customised launcher, called the Ariane 5 ES Galileo.

In development since 2012, this new launcher variant has evolved from the Ariane 5 ES (Evolution Storable), used to place ESA’s 20 000 kg ATV supply vehicle into low-Earth orbit.

This launder has to carry a lower mass payload – four fully fuelled 738 kg Galileo satellites plus their supporting dispenser – but needs to take it up to the much higher altitude of medium-Earth orbit, approximately 23 222 km up.

 
Galileos in orbit
The target orbit is actually 300 km below the Galileo constellation’s final working altitude: this leaves the Ariane’s EPS upper stage in a stable ‘graveyard orbit’, while the quartet of Galileos manoeuvre themselves up to their final set height.

Once the Ariane 5 ES Galileo flight is complete, there should be 18 Galileo satellites in orbit.

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Navigation/Galileo/Launching_Galileo/Galileo_s_Ariane_5_dispenser_ready_at_spaceport

[Steven Pietrobon]

In the autumn of this year, four Galileos will be launched together for the very first time, on a specially customised launcher, called the Ariane 5 ES Galileo.

In development since 2012, this new launcher variant has evolved from the Ariane 5 ES (Evolution Storable), used to place ESA’s 20 000 kg ATV supply vehicle into low-Earth orbit.

This launder has to carry a lower mass payload – four fully fuelled 738 kg Galileo satellites plus their supporting dispenser – but needs to take it up to the much higher altitude of medium-Earth orbit, approximately 23 222 km up.

Other than the Galileo dispenser, any body know what's different with Ariane 5 ES Galileo compared to the standard Ariane 5 ES?

[Jester]

In the autumn of this year, four Galileos will be launched together for the very first time, on a specially customised launcher, called the Ariane 5 ES Galileo.

In development since 2012, this new launcher variant has evolved from the Ariane 5 ES (Evolution Storable), used to place ESA’s 20 000 kg ATV supply vehicle into low-Earth orbit.

This launder has to carry a lower mass payload – four fully fuelled 738 kg Galileo satellites plus their supporting dispenser – but needs to take it up to the much higher altitude of medium-Earth orbit, approximately 23 222 km up.

Other than the Galileo dispenser, any body know what's different with Ariane 5 ES Galileo compared to the standard Ariane 5 ES?

some things like the A5 ES galileo has to fly longer, so think thermal protection changes etc. etc.

[Rik ISS-fan]

Thermal protection? It uses hypergolic fuels, NTO (N2O4) and MMH do they have to keep these at a certain temperature? I think higher capacity batteries  are needed for the longer flight. But that's just my impression.

[baldusi]

And they only have to carry 20% of an ATV load, so they might lighten structurally them a bit. ATV was the heaviest payload I know in the last 40 years. So they might reduce some mass from there.

[Jester]

This flight is now renamed to VA233

[bolun]

Ariane 5 comes ashore for its trip to medium-Earth orbit

As part of the ongoing activity, launcher components for Arianespace’s initial Ariane 5 mission carrying Galileo satellites arrived in French Guiana this week aboard the MN Colibri ship, completing a trans-Atlantic voyage from Europe.

Scheduled for liftoff in November, this Ariane 5 will carry a cluster of four European navigation system spacecraft, further expanding the Galileo constellation that has been created with satellites orbited in pairs by previous Arianespace missions using Soyuz launchers.

Among the components delivered by the MN Colibri were Ariane 5’s cryogenic core stage, its EPS storable propellant upper stage, and the payload fairing for Arianespace’s November mission – designated Flight VA233 in the company’s launcher family numbering system. These elements were unloaded at Pariacabo Port on the Kourou River for their transfer to the nearby Spaceport.

Flight VA233 will use an Ariane 5 ES version, which was flown on Arianespace launches in the past that deployed Europe’s 20,000-kg.-class ATV resupply vehicle into low-Earth orbit for rendezvous and docking with the International Space Station.

While Flight VA233’s lift performance will be significantly less than with the ATV – the four Galileo satellites have a liftoff mass of some 740 kg. each, plus 447 kg. for their dispenser system – the Ariane 5 will carry its payload to a much higher medium-Earth orbit altitude of approximately 23,200 km. To date, Arianespace has orbited 14 Galileo spacecraft on seven previous Soyuz missions; the most recent was conducted in May.

http://www.arianespace.com/corporate-news/the-spaceport-is-busy-with-activity-for-arianespaces-upcoming-missions/

[Jester]

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Navigation/Galileo/Launching_Galileo/Galileo_s_Ariane_5_arrives_at_Europe_s_Spaceport

[Jester]

Launcher L594

[Kryten]

Stéphane Israël
‏@arianespaceceo
Welcome to the 1st 4 #Galileo sats. for #Ariane5. We are very excited to launch them on Nov. 17! @EU_Commission @esa

[Jester]

they are being processed as we speak, its rather busy inside S1A with 4 spacecrafts instead of 2

[Hobbes-22]

Other than the Galileo dispenser, any body know what's different with Ariane 5 ES Galileo compared to the standard Ariane 5 ES?

The VEB has been made lighter: the ES VEB is designed for the 20-ton ATV and is overbuilt for Galileo.

Furthermore, in order to address the mission’s performance requirements (four satellites each weighing 738kg, or about 3 tonnes, into a 29,300km orbit inclined at 56° ± 2°), the mass of the upper composite had to be reduced. Marie-Paule explains: “The only component on which significant mass savings could be achieved was the structure of the vehicle equipment bay, the ‘brain’ of Ariane 5. Designed for the ATV, the bay was over-sized for the Galileo mission. This structure has therefore been optimised in terms of mass, based on the specific context of the Galileo mission.”

I don't think they made changes to the EPS upper stage: that's already designed to be restartable and to accommodate coast phases.