-
#20
by
crandles57
on 26 Jan, 2023 04:41
-
-
#21
by
GewoonLukas_
on 26 Jan, 2023 07:32
-
https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/5686
says booster is to be 1077.
Quite early to know the booster.
Out of order, perhaps insisted on a little used booster?
I don't think it's that early, Amazonas Nexus' assignment was known around the same time before launch.
The only other active boosters on the east coast without any assignment are B1058, B1060 and B1062.
B1058 and B1060 can pretty much be ruled out because they are the fleet-leaders, so B1062 was the only other real option. (That is assuming that B1052 and before it flies as a Falcon Heavy Side Booster)
Edit: B162 & B1076 now also have an assignment (Starlink)
-
#22
by
crandles57
on 26 Jan, 2023 15:22
-
Well we now potentially know boosters for the next 8 launches
Sl2-6 1071.7
Sl5-3 1069.5
Amazonas Nexus 1073.6
Sl2-5 1063.9
Sl5-4 1063.91062.12
Sl6-1 1076.3
I6-f2 1077.3
Crew-6 1078.1
Above order may well be wrong and they might manage to schedule O3b 3&4, Worldview Legion, Sl2-7, Sl5-Spare or Intelsat 40e before all the above are complete, but I would suggest knowing the boosters might be a datapoint suggesting these are likely to be the next 8.
I doubt we have seen more than the next 5 launches having known assigned boosters before
-
#23
by
cwr
on 26 Jan, 2023 17:30
-
Well we now potentially know boosters for the next 8 launches
Sl2-6 1071.7
Sl5-3 1069.5
Amazonas Nexus 1073.6
Sl2-5 1063.9
Sl5-4 1063.9
Sl6-1 1076.3
I6-f2 1077.3
Crew-6 1078.1
Above order may well be wrong and they might manage to schedule O3b 3&4, Worldview Legion, Sl2-7, Sl5-Spare or Intelsat 40e before all the above are complete, but I would suggest knowing the boosters might be a datapoint suggesting these are likely to be the next 8.
I doubt we have seen more than the next 5 launches having known assigned boosters before
I suspect the 2nd 1063.9 for Sl5-4 is a typo for 1062.12?
Carl
-
#24
by
GWR64
on 27 Jan, 2023 16:52
-
Airbus Beluga #3 (F-GSTC ) with Inmarsat-6 F2 arrived in Florida yesterday.
Slightly different route compared to last time with Hotbird-13G.
Toulouse -> Lajes Field -> St. John's -> Washington -> Shuttle Landing Facility
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/f-gstc
-
#25
by
LouScheffer
on 28 Jan, 2023 15:38
-
Airbus Beluga #3 (F-GSTC ) with Inmarsat-6 F2 arrived in Florida yesterday.
Slightly different route compared to last time with Hotbird-13G.
Toulouse -> Layes Field -> St. John's -> Washington -> Shuttle Landing Facility
Any idea why it stops in Washington? Azores to St. Johns is 3253 km. St John to Florida (I used Orlando) is 2317 km, so there should be no need to stop. Maybe gas is cheaper in the US? Need for some customs paperwork? Anyone know?
-
#26
by
spacenuance
on 28 Jan, 2023 17:10
-
Caught a glimpse of the satellite making its way past the VAB yesterday on Space Coast Live.
-
#27
by
GWR64
on 28 Jan, 2023 17:59
-
Airbus Beluga #3 (F-GSTC ) with Inmarsat-6 F2 arrived in Florida yesterday.
Slightly different route compared to last time with Hotbird-13G.
Toulouse -> Layes Field -> St. John's -> Washington -> Shuttle Landing Facility
Any idea why it stops in Washington? Azores to St. Johns is 3253 km. St John to Florida (I used Orlando) is 2317 km, so there should be no need to stop. Maybe gas is cheaper in the US? Need for some customs paperwork? Anyone know?
Lajes Field – St. John's International Airport: 2292 km
https://www.airmilescalculator.com/distance/ter-to-yyt/St. John's International Airport – Washington Dulles International Airport: 2212 km
https://www.airmilescalculator.com/distance/yyt-to-iad/Direct is too far for the Beluga-ST with the heavy container, I think.
St. John's International Airport – Orlando Sanford International Airport: 3223 km
(Shuttle Landing Facility or Titusville was not possible)
https://www.airmilescalculator.com/distance/yyt-to-sfb/
-
#28
by
LouScheffer
on 28 Jan, 2023 20:48
-
Airbus Beluga #3 (F-GSTC ) with Inmarsat-6 F2 arrived in Florida yesterday.
Slightly different route compared to last time with Hotbird-13G.
Toulouse -> Layes Field -> St. John's -> Washington -> Shuttle Landing Facility
Any idea why it stops in Washington? Azores to St. Johns is 3253 km. St John to Florida (I used Orlando) is 2317 km, so there should be no need to stop. Maybe gas is cheaper in the US? Need for some customs paperwork? Anyone know?
Lajes Field – St. John's International Airport: 2292 km
https://www.airmilescalculator.com/distance/ter-to-yyt/
St. John's International Airport – Washington Dulles International Airport: 2212 km
https://www.airmilescalculator.com/distance/yyt-to-iad/
Direct is too far for the Beluga-ST with the heavy container, I think.
St. John's International Airport – Orlando Sanford International Airport: 3223 km
(Shuttle Landing Facility or Titusville was not possible)
https://www.airmilescalculator.com/distance/yyt-to-sfb/
You are correct - my error. I foolishly used "St John" (YSJ), a real airport in eastern Canada, but not so far east as "St John's" (YYT). So I think your explanation is correct.
-
#29
by
russianhalo117
on 30 Jan, 2023 21:11
-
Worldwide scouts launch teaser (first video from I-6 F2 social media campaign):
-
#30
by
FutureSpaceTourist
on 01 Feb, 2023 10:28
-
https://twitter.com/airbusspace/status/1620726731064881153A special aircraft landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida: the @Airbus #Beluga. 🐋
It delivered the Airbus-built #I6F2 telecoms satellite 🛰️ for @InmarsatGlobal in time for its launch by a @SpaceX Falcon 9 on 18 Feb 2023. 🚀
🔗 More:
http://www.airbus.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2023-01-airbus-built-inmarsat-6-f2-satellite-arrives-on-board-an-airbus30 January 2023
Space
Airbus built Inmarsat-6 F2 satellite arrives on board an Airbus Beluga in Florida for launch
Second Inmarsat-6 satellite scheduled for launch in February
87th Airbus Eurostar satellite delivered
Multi-beam Ka-band and L-band and digitally processed payload for maximum flexibility
Toulouse, 30 January 2023 – The second Airbus-built Inmarsat-6 geostationary telecommunications satellite (I-6 F2) has arrived on board an Airbus Beluga at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida ready for its launch in February.
The second satellite of the Inmarsat-6 generation is based on Airbus’ ultra-reliable Eurostar E3000 spacecraft and will be the 58th Eurostar E3000 built by Airbus. It will be the ninth Eurostar in orbit that is equipped with electric propulsion for orbit raising, reinforcing Airbus’ position as the world leader in electric propulsion.
François Gaullier, Head of Telecommunications & Navigation Systems at Airbus, said: “I-6 F2, with its sophisticated digitally processed payload, will join Inmarsat-6 F1 (I-6 F1) in orbit giving Inmarsat even more flexibility, capability and capacity. This is the 10th geo-telecommunications satellite we have built for our long-term customer Inmarsat, a leading provider of global mobile satellite communication services, and with I-6 F1 the satellites will enable a step change in the capabilities and capacity for their ELERA services, and deliver significant additional capacity for their Global Xpress network.”
I-6 F1 and I-6 F2 each feature a large 9m aperture L-band antenna and six multi-beam Ka-band antennas, giving a high level of flexibility and connectivity. They also carry new generation modular digital processors to provide full routing flexibility over up to 8000 channels and dynamic power allocation to over 200 spot beams in L-band, per spacecraft. The Ka-band spot beams are steerable over the full Earth disk, with flexible channel to beam allocation.
The satellites will enable Inmarsat to further enhance its world-leading ELERA (L-band) and Global Xpress (Ka-band) networks respectively, for customers across land, sea, and air. They are also the next step in the company's plans for the world’s first multi-dimensional network, Inmarsat ORCHESTRA. The ‘network of networks’ will build on Inmarsat’s existing space-based capabilities to provide a transformational growth in capacity and new features for customers into the 2030s and beyond.
Investments made by Airbus in platform and payload technologies used on I-6 are supported by the European Space Agency and national agencies, in particular the UK Space Agency and CNES, France’s National Centre for Space Studies. I-6 F2 has a launch mass of 5.5 tons, spacecraft power of 21 kW and a design life of more than 15 years.
The first Airbus built Inmarsat-6 (I-6 F1) satellite was successfully launched in December 2021. It reached its geostationary testing location in summer 2022 and is scheduled to enter service in early 2023. I-6 F2 is set to follow after its successful launch and enter service in early 2024.
Airbus’ geostationary telecommunications satellites have clocked up more than 1300 years of successful operation and are in service or being built for all of the world’s leading geostationary satellite operators.
@AirbusSpace @InmarsatGlobal #Connectivity #SpaceMatters #NextSpace #I6F2
-
#31
by
FutureSpaceTourist
on 01 Feb, 2023 12:07
-
-
#32
by
russianhalo117
on 01 Feb, 2023 22:00
-
Satellite tech profile animation (second video from I-6 F2 social media campaign):
-
#33
by
zubenelgenubi
on 02 Feb, 2023 16:20
-
Cross-post:
SFN Launch Schedule, updated January 31:
Feb. 18 • Falcon 9 • Inmarsat 6 F2
Launch window: TBD
Launch site: Cape Canaveral, Florida
-
#34
by
russianhalo117
on 03 Feb, 2023 18:00
-
Worldwide scouts second launch teaser (third video from I-6 F2 social media campaign):
-
#35
by
gongora
on 06 Feb, 2023 17:04
-
-
#36
by
realnouns
on 08 Feb, 2023 16:14
-
FAA shows launch window Feb 16 @ 10:58pm ET to Feb 17 @ 1:16am ET
https://www.fly.faa.gov/adv/adv_spt.jsp
SPACE X INMARSAT-6 CAPE CANAVERAL SFS, FL
PRIMARY: 02/17 0358Z-0616Z
BACKUP: 02/18-23 0358Z-0616Z
-
#37
by
crandles57
on 10 Feb, 2023 13:55
-
-
#38
by
crandles57
on 10 Feb, 2023 15:30
-
Inmarsat launch being pushed by a day could indicate that SpaceX has already decided not to attempt the Starlink launch on the 12th due to the expected bad weather.
Just my speculation, though.
Seems several possibilities though:
Could be Amazonas Nexus delay from 5th to 7th working through to future launches
Could be 5-4 delayed from 11 to 12th (which in turn could be due to AZN delay above).
Could be 5-4 delayed from 12 to 13th because weather looks poor
Could be relating to I6-f2 payload
I would speculate first two seem more likely than third but this is really only wild speculation by me. This is based on nothing more than
a) expecting delay to earlier 5-4 launch to be announced before delay trickles through later to I6-f2 launch and
b) pad turnaround limits seems about 5.5 days so from 12th to slightly earlier on 17th already looks a bit too tight.
-
#39
by
GewoonLukas_
on 13 Feb, 2023 13:50
-