Cannes, June 5, 2014 – Thales Alenia Space announced today that it will construct a powerful telecommunications condominium satellite, Inmarsat S – Europasat / Hellas-Sat 3, for Inmarsat and Hellas-Sat. The satellite will provide Mobile Satellite Services (MSS), Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) and Broadcast Satellite Services (BSS).The MSS payload is designed to deliver an S-band service across all 28 member states of the European Union; the FSS/BSS coverage zones are Europe, Middle East and Southern Africa. The Inmarsat S – Europasat payload will offer enhanced mobile services across Europe through a hybrid network, which combines S-Band satellite services with a Complementary Ground Component (CGC) infrastructure. Inmarsat S – Europasat will serve the aviation passenger connectivity services, as well as the safety services for Public Protection & Disaster Relief (PPDR) all over Europe. The Hellas-Sat 3 payload will deliver DTH and Telecom services in its designated coverage areas, maintaining and expanding Hellas-Sat business reach with additional capacities....Built on the Spacebus 4000 C4 platform from Thales Alenia Space, Inmarsat S – Europasat / Hellas-Sat 3 will deliver a multi-beam mission in S-band and Ka-band for Inmarsat as well as a powerful Ku/Ka-Band mission of 44 Ku and 1 Ka transponders for Hellas-Sat. The satellite will weigh about 5.9 tonnes at launch and will offer payload power of about 12.3 kW. Inmarsat S – Europasat / Hellas-Sat 3 will be positioned at 39° East....
21 July 2016: Inmarsat, the world’s leading provider of global mobile satellite communications, announced today that construction and associated sub-system tests of the satellite for its market-changing European Aviation Network (EAN) in-flight connectivity solution has been completed on schedule by Thales Alenia Space.The key milestone was achieved on schedule following an extensive two-year build process in Toulouse and Cannes, France. The completed S-band payload module was shipped in early July to Thales Alenia Space’s testing center in Cannes, where satellite integration (‘mating’) was also successfully completed. The satellite is now undergoing rigorous system end-to-end testing before it is declared ready for flight in 2017....Over the coming months, Inmarsat’s new S-band satellite will be put in a thermal vacuum chamber with no pressure to simulate the space environment and cycled through extreme high and low temperatures to ensure it operates nominally. Mechanical and acoustic testing will then replicate the launch environment, followed by final phase testing to compare any shifts or variations in measurements against the initial base line. Once these tests are complete, the satellite will be prepared for launch by SpaceX at Cape Canaveral in Florida, scheduled to take place in 2017....
So the satellite is of such size that it can be launched with Falcon Heavy while reusing all cores, or can also be launched with F9 on fully expendable mode?
We have been talking to SpaceX about different options,” Inmarsat spokesman Christopher McLaughlin said. “It’s never easy to fix a launch date far in advance but as of now it appears that we can get a Falcon Heavy launch in the first quarter of 2017, or a Falcon 9 launch in the second quarter.”
This was pretty much expected, SX is behind schedule as far as their manifest is concerned. QuoteWe have been talking to SpaceX about different options,” Inmarsat spokesman Christopher McLaughlin said. “It’s never easy to fix a launch date far in advance but as of now it appears that we can get a Falcon Heavy launch in the first quarter of 2017, or a Falcon 9 launch in the second quarter.” This one is interesting. One of the main reasons this payload was booked on FH in the first place is that it was too heavy for DPL with F9. The fact that SX is quoting a F9 FT option for Q2 2017 might mean one of the three following things. 1. F9 FT in Q2 2017 will be able to cover this mass and still perform DPL.2. SpaceX is offering a SES-9 style campaign, with a very small possibility for successful landing to offset the delay.3. SpaceX is offering an expendable F9 launch with max performance to offset the delay.
FH being delayed till sometime in 2017 and this being Q2 of 17 is tight planning. Also, if the client won't accept a reused vehicle SpaceX would have to build a fresh FH. That's a lot of metal to bend and Merlin's to build.Throw it uphill with an expendable F9 FT+. It would be good nostalgia to see an expendable launch.
This is an interesting 'feature' of the new FT version, being able to cover for FH on payloads between 5500 and 8300kg. Earlier it was mentioned that the FH would be cheaper in fully reusable mode than expendable F9, but good to have a back-up capability so payloads like EuropaSat are not lost to others. The pair of ViaSats at 6400kg fall nicely into that category.
It would be good nostalgia to see an expendable launch.
4. Option 3 with used but nice S1....
Quote from: wannamoonbase on 08/03/2016 09:09 pmIt would be good nostalgia to see an expendable launch.Huh? No thanks.
I was responding to the "expendable nostalgia" stuff.
Then, you're really going to dislike the Red Dragon launch when they splash 3 cores.
...Then, you're really going to dislike the Red Dragon launch when they splash 3 cores.
Quote from: wannamoonbase on 08/05/2016 10:40 pm...Then, you're really going to dislike the Red Dragon launch when they splash 3 cores.We should have a thread devoted to making fun of confident naysayers like this post after they're proven wrong.