Author Topic: SpaceX Falcon 9 : Spaceflight SSO-A : December 3, 2018 - UPDATES (Read 107317 times)

FutureSpaceTourist · « **Reply #140 on:** 12/04/2018 06:30 am »

Launch photos from SpaceX

wesley · « **Reply #141 on:** 12/04/2018 07:29 am »

https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20181203010153320?section=science/science

Korea's Next Sat-1 (차세대 소형위성 1호) is now confirmed to be in orbit.

Quote

SEOUL, Dec. 4 (Yonhap) -- A small South Korean satellite designed to carry out space observation successfully reached its designated orbit after blasting off from an Air Force base in the United States, Seoul's science ministry said Tuesday.

The Next Sat-1, which lifted off from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at around 10:34 a.m. Monday (local time) aboard the Falcon 9, made contact with ground stations, the Ministry of Science and ICT said.

The 107-kilogram satellite, developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) from 2012-2018, reached its orbital altitude of 575 kilometers, an official said.

The ministry said the Svalbard satellite station located in the Arctic Circle established initial contact followed by signals being received by KAIST in South Korea about six hours and 30 minutes after the launch, the ministry said.

seruriermarshal · « **Reply #142 on:** 12/04/2018 10:30 am »

Exseed Sat-1's "V for Victory" Morse code ping has been heard from over 675 kilometres away. Our baby's first cry :-) Bring out the bubbly, folks!

Steven Pietrobon · « **Reply #143 on:** 12/04/2018 10:30 am »

Centauri I is in orbit.

twitter.com/fleetspace/status/1069843704691609601

We are four for four!!! Our second Centauri satellite launched this morning has reported operational and healthy! @spacex @SpaceflightInc thanks for the ride!!!

jacqmans · « **Reply #144 on:** 12/04/2018 12:13 pm »

U.S. Air Force photo

mlindner · « **Reply #145 on:** 12/04/2018 12:17 pm »

https://twitter.com/MOVE_II/status/1069941545321795589

Nice video with sound of the beacons.

jacqmans · « **Reply #146 on:** 12/04/2018 12:18 pm »

FALCON 9 LAUNCH SUCCESSFUL

30th Space Wing Public Affairs

Dec. 3, 2018 | 2:00

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Spaceflight SSO-A SmallSat Express, launches from Space Launch Complex-4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., on Dec. 3, 2018 at 10:34 a.m. PST.

https://www.vandenberg.af.mil/News/Video/

mlindner · « **Reply #147 on:** 12/04/2018 12:23 pm »

Surrey Satellites releases press release confirming the good status of VESTA.

https://www.sstl.co.uk/media-hub/latest-news/2018/sstl-confirms-successful-launch-of-vesta

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Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) has confirmed the successful launch of VESTA, a 3U nanosatellite technology demonstration mission that will test a new two-way VHF Data Exchange System (VDES) payload developed by Honeywell for the ExactEARTH advanced maritime satellite constellation. The satellite was launched into a 575 km sun-synchronous orbit as part of Spaceflight’s SSO-A SmallSat Express Mission on board Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Air Force Base on 3rd December 2018.

Sarah Parker, Managing Director of SSTL said “I am delighted to confirm that our spacecraft operators here in Guildford have successfully made contact with VESTA and established that all initial systems checks are nominal. I congratulate our customer Honeywell on a successful launch and I look forward to seeing mission results from this innovative small satellite in the near future.”

“While leading the way in demonstrating small data packet transfer from a small payload into remote maritime locations beyond our phone networks, this mission is also leading us into an even broader range of remote communication scenarios to increase the connectivity of our world.” said Chris Bee, a Business Manager at Honeywell Aerospace UK.

VESTA is a 3U nanosatellite technology demonstration mission that will test a new two-way VHF Data Exchange System (VDES) payload developed by Honeywell for the exactEarth advanced maritime satellite constellation. The 4kg satellite has 3-axis pointing capability, an SEU tolerant on-board computer, VxWorks operating system and also flies a Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) VHF deployable antenna system developed by Innovative Solutions in Space for the VDES transceiver. VESTA will be operated in orbit by SSTL, with the payload data being downlinked directly in S-Band to Goonhilly Earth Station.

The development of VESTA was co-funded by the UK Space Agency through its National Space Technology Programme (NSTP) which stimulates the growth and development of the UK space sector through investing in technology development. The project was led by Honeywell.

Dr Graham Turnock, Chief Executive, UK Space Agency said: “There are still areas of the Earth where communication remains difficult, none more so than out at sea. Satellites can bridge this gap, however testing new technology is risky and expensive. That’s why the UK Space Agency is helping to fund promising UK technologies like VESTA as part of the government’s Industrial Strategy, to kick start innovation and growth, while delivering safety at sea and jobs back home.”

SSTL previously designed and supplied the exactView-1 satellite platform, launched in 2012, which forms part of the ExactEARTH AIS constellation used by ships and traffic to monitor ship movements through busy shipping channels and harbours and to provide information on global shipping movements.

mlindner · « **Reply #148 on:** 12/04/2018 12:24 pm »

https://twitter.com/minxsscubesat/status/1069868073174294528

Draggendrop · « **Reply #149 on:** 12/04/2018 01:19 pm »

https://twitter.com/trevorpaglen/status/1069952273990778880

Draggendrop · « **Reply #150 on:** 12/04/2018 03:29 pm »

https://twitter.com/strocast/status/1069964356354490374

mme · « **Reply #151 on:** 12/04/2018 03:42 pm »

https://twitter.com/UncwC/status/1069991686099664896

Draggendrop · « **Reply #152 on:** 12/04/2018 03:47 pm »

Just comparing confirmed payloads...

noticed a list by strawwalker which has a list of 29 confirmed.
https://www.reddit.com/comments/a0vjff/

"There following 29 SSO-A spacecraft have confirmed operational status:

(1) Astrocast 0.1

(1) Capella 1

(1) Centauri I

(1) ESEO

(1) Eu:CROPIS

(1) ExseedSat-1

(3) Flock-3s 1,2,3 (Dove-type)

(1) Fox-1C

(1) Global 2

(3) Hawk 1, 2, 3

(1) Hiber 2

(1) Iceye X2

(1) JY1Sat

(1) KazSTSAT

(1) MOVE-II

(1) MinXSS 2

(1) NEXTSat-1

(1) Orbital Reflector (ORS-1)

(1) PW-Sat2

(1) Pathfinder II

(1) SeaHawk-1

(2) SkySat 14, 15

(1) Suomi 100

(1) VESTA "

Just to help verify...if already known, please ignore or have removed...

FutureSpaceTourist · « **Reply #153 on:** 12/04/2018 04:25 pm »

https://twitter.com/w00ki33/status/1070004127294349313

Quote

Mr Steven arrived at port early this morning carrying both fairing halves recovered from yesterday’s SSO-A mission, each having made a soft landing in the ocean. #spacex

jacqmans · « **Reply #154 on:** 12/04/2018 06:22 pm »

Press release, 4 December 2018

Eu:CROPIS life support system – greenhouses successfully launched into space

+++ Update: The Eu: CROPIS mission of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) was successfully launched to space. Following the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on 3 December 2018 at 19:34 CET (10:34 Pacific Standard
Time), the DLR satellite was successfully placed in orbit at an altitude of 600 kilometres. First radio contact of the approximately refrigerator-sized satellite to the German Space Operations Center (GSOC) in Oberpfaffenhofen took place about one
hour and 15 minutes after the launch. In the next two weeks, GSOC will commission the satellite in space and test all functions. In about seven weeks, the researchers will be able to put the first of two greenhouses into operation. Shortly thereafter,
the first tomatoes will be cultivated. +++

At 19:34 CET on 3 December 2018, the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) Eu:CROPIS mission was launched into space from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. A Falcon 9 from the US aerospace company SpaceX carried
two biological life support systems comprising greenhouses, dwarf tomato seeds, single-celled algae and synthetic urine on a satellite up to a near-Earth orbit at an altitude of 600 kilometres. The aim is for the seeds to germinate in space and continue
to grow due to the successful conversion of urine into a fertiliser solution. The mission is intended to show how biological life support systems can be used to supply food on long-term missions. The Eu:CROPIS satellite, which is approximately one
cubic metre in size and weighs 230 kilograms with its biological payload, was designed and built by DLR and the Friedrich Alexander University (FAU) in Erlangen–Nuremberg.

"With the Eu:CROPIS mission, DLR is making a significant contribution towards future long-term missions, showing whether and how a closed biological life support system can function and produce food far away from Earth. In the process, DLR has once
again demonstrated its systems expertise in the design and construction of satellites," says Hansjoerg Dittus, DLR Executive Board Member for Space Research and Technology. The satellite will separate from the Falcon 9 carrier rocket 35 minutes after
the launch in its orbit. The DLR German Space Operations Center (GSOC) in Oberpfaffenhohen, which will control the satellite, expects first radio contact about one and a half hours after the launch.

A closed life support system

Eu:CROPIS stands for 'Euglena and Combined Regenerative Organic-food Production in Space'. "This mission seeks to show that urine can be converted into nutrients even under lunar and Martian gravity conditions," says Jens Hauslage of the DLR Institute
of Aerospace Medicine in Cologne. Inside the satellite are two greenhouses, each maintained as a pressurised closed loop system. The core elements of these systems are a biofilter and green algae (Euglena gracilis). The biofilter consists of a 400-millilitre
chamber filled with lava stones. Bacteria have settled on and within these porous stones, which convert the urine flowing over them into nitrate in a water cycle.

"The nutrient solution obtained is used to cultivate the tomatoes. This is, so to speak, an indicator that our experiment is proceeding successfully in space," says Hauslage. The single-celled Euglena gracilis, also known as green algae, which will
be carried into space as a 500-millilitre 'green solution', also play a key role in the system. Firstly, they can produce oxygen, which will prove particularly important at the start of the experiment, when the tomatoes are not yet generating oxygen
via photosynthesis. Secondly, the Euglena can detoxify the system and protect it against excessive levels of ammonia, which can occur if the biofilter is not functioning properly. "We use the properties of communities of organisms to apply purely organic
methods for transforming waste into substances that we need to grow crop plants, in this case tomatoes. As such, we are preparing the vital groundwork for supplying astronauts with food on future long-term missions," explains Hauslage. He and Michael
Lebert (FAU in Erlangen) are the scientific instigators behind the project, and are now leading the Eu:CROPIS mission.

The processes at play inside the greenhouses are recorded by cameras and transmitted to the GSOC and the Microgravity User Support Center (MUSC). LED light provides a day-and-night rhythm, while a pressure tank ensures atmospheric pressure of one bar,
which corresponds with that of Earth's. Also on board the Eu:CROPIS satellite are two RAMIS (Radiation Measurement in Space) devices, developed by the Institute of Aerospace Medicine. These will measure radiation levels both inside and outside the
satellite during the mission. DLR is also sending the on-board computer SCORE (SCalable On-BoaRd Computing Experiment), developed by the Institute of Space Systems, to test the principle of a COBC (Compact On-Board Computer) in space for the first
time. The computer will process the images taken by the on-board cameras. NASA will also be running a PowerCell experiment relating to the production of useful substances in space using bacteria.

Gravitational conditions as on the Moon or Mars

During the mission, the satellite will rotate around its longitudinal axis. Depending on the rotation rate, this generates a specific level of altered gravity. During the first part of the experimental phase, gravitational conditions like those on
the Moon will be created (0.16 times Earth's gravitational pull), with 20 rotations per minute. This will last for around 23 weeks. The first greenhouse will be put into operation during this phase. In the second research phase, the satellite will
simulate gravity on Mars (0.38 times that of Earth) by rotating 32 times per minute. Experiments will now take place in the second life support system.

Systems expertise in satellite construction

The satellite was built at the DLR Institute of Space Systems in Bremen. The DLR Institute of Composite Structures and Adaptive Systems in Braunschweig developed the frame structure and the pressure tank. Power is supplied via four solar panels, each
with a surface area of one square metre. DLR scientists were able to draw on their experience of developing standard components for satellites in the run-up to the mission. Depending on the payload, they are able to design and construct satellites
of different sizes quickly and flexibly. "In its efforts towards this mission, DLR has shown that it can develop satellites efficiently and cost-effectively. This component-oriented design is a unique feature of DLR, enabling us to support lots of
different research missions," says Hartmut Mueller, Project Manager for the satellite’s construction at the DLR Institute of Space Systems.

Benefits for Earth

Fresh vegetables that thrive in space thanks to converted organic waste products are not only a prerequisite for long-term space travel, but the research findings from such projects can also be useful on Earth. If urine or manure can be recycled into
fresh water and nutrients usable by plants, this could improve living conditions in overcrowded areas or in places that have an extreme shortage of drinking water, while providing relief for soil and groundwater – another of DLR's areas of research.