SpaceX F9 : EarthCARE : VSFB SLC-4E : 28 May 2024 (22:20 UTC)

[bolun]

Discussion thread for launch of ESA EarthCARE.

ESA/JAXA - EarthCARE program updates

Successful launch May 28 2024 at 6:20 PM EDT (22:20 UTC) on booster 1081-7 from SLC-4E.  Booster landed back at the pad.  Orbit 400km SSO.  Mass ~2350kg.



October 28, 2019

Arianespace and ESA announce EarthCare launch contract

Arianespace and the European Space Agency (ESA) today announced the signature of a launch services contract with a Soyuz launch vehicle for the EarthCARE satellite.

EarthCARE (Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer) satellite – the sixth mission in ESA’s Earth Explorer program – will advance our understanding of the role clouds and aerosols play in reflecting incident solar radiation back into space and trapping infrared radiation emitted from Earth’s surface.

EarthCARE is a joint collaborative satellite mission conducted between ESA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) that delivers the Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) instrument. ESA is responsible for the entire system – including the Spacecraft, three instruments including ATmospheric LIDar (ATLID), a Multi-Spectral Imager (MSI) and a Broad-Band Radiometer (BBR), plus the Launcher and Ground Segment (with exception of the CPR data segment).

The EarthCARE mission will utilize a Soyuz launch vehicle, with the launch period starting in June 2022 from the Guiana Space Center, Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana (South America).

https://www.arianespace.com/press-release/arianespace-and-esa-announce-earthcare-launch-contract/

[GWR64]

Earthcare launch Q1/2024 
Sounds relatively concrete, so maybe there is a new launch order?
Which launcher: Vega C, H3, Falcon 9 ?

Esa @AschbacherJosef some key milestones from the agency. Juice and Euclid launches in 2023, first launch of Ariane-6 in 2023 (“working full steam to get it done”). Discuss the impact of the economical turndown in space and remind us that space is necessary. #iac2022

https://twitter.com/AllPlanets/status/1571473556805910529

Follow-up cross-post:

https://spacenews.com/falcon-9-leading-candidate-to-launch-european-science-mission/
[Oct 18]

EarthCARE, an Earth science mission also originally manifested on a Soyuz, will likely go on Vega C, Aschbacher said in August. Sentinel-1C, a radar mapping mission, will also launch on Vega C, while two pairs of Galileo satellites previously set to launch on Soyuz are expected to go on Ariane 6 instead.

He emphasized them any use of non-European launch options like SpaceX would be a temporary measure. “If we go to backup solutions that are not European, this is an interim solution, and Ariane 6 and Vega C will remain our baseline launchers,” he said.

ESA is scheduled to give an update Oct. 19 on the status of Ariane 6 testing that may include a new schedule for that vehicle’s first launch, which has slipped to some time in 2023.

[GewoonLukas_]

Cross-post:

At press bfg right now, ESA DG Josef Aschbacher says they've decided to launch EarthCARE on a Falcon 9 instead of Vega-C both bc Vega-C return to flight will be delayed due to test failure and spacecraft requires cutouts to fairing and don't want to make changes at this point.

https://twitter.com/SpcPlcyOnline/status/1674391123391926276

[GWR64]

Cross-post:

At press bfg right now, ESA DG Josef Aschbacher says they've decided to launch EarthCARE on a Falcon 9 instead of Vega-C both bc Vega-C return to flight will be delayed due to test failure and spacecraft requires cutouts to fairing and don't want to make changes at this point.

https://twitter.com/SpcPlcyOnline/status/1674391123391926276

After countless delays, EarthCare is finally ready and ESA doesn't have a launch vehicle.
It was foreseeable that the Vega-C would come into question in terms of performance.
It was also foreseeable that the Soyuz ST would no longer be available at some point.
That was already on the brink before the Ukraine war.
Now you realize that the fairing must be changed.

[Robotbeat]

There’s nothing bad about using the launch vehicle of a friend.

Vega is nice, but: Here’s hoping Europe quickly develops a launcher with Falcon 9’s capabilities and costs. In the meantime, transatlantic cooperation!

[Comga]

ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher says the relationship with SpaceX was "very professional." Launching EarthCARE on a Falcon 9 in the 2nd quarter of 2024; Hera in Oct. 2024.

My bolding:Q2

[Ixokani]

I'll be happy just to see it finally go up.

Back when I started at <current employer>, we were finishing up the delivery of our little corner of this spacecraft. That was over a decade ago...

[Nomadd]

 Do they put these things on tables and simulate the the new launch conditions when they switch rides?

[zubenelgenubi]

Do they put these things on tables and simulate the the new launch conditions when they switch rides?

Mathematical modeling: yes.

Exposure to Falcon 9 launch audio:  Maybe, IDK.  Good question for our forum experts.

Shimmy-shake table tests: IDK.  Good question for our forum experts.

[Zed_Noir]

Do they put these things on tables and simulate the the new launch conditions when they switch rides?

Mathematical modeling: yes.

Exposure to Falcon 9 launch audio:  Maybe, IDK.  Good question for our forum experts.

Shimmy-shake table tests: IDK.  Good question for our forum experts.

ESA probably have launch condition data of the Falcon 9 payload fairing interior from the studies for the Euclid mission. So additional shake table tests might not be needed.

[Comga]

Do they put these things on tables and simulate the the new launch conditions when they switch rides?

Mathematical modeling: yes.

Exposure to Falcon 9 launch audio:  Maybe, IDK.  Good question for our forum experts.

Shimmy-shake table tests: IDK.  Good question for our forum experts.

IIANM EarthCare (and Euclid and the other ESA payloads) were planned to launch on Ariane 6, which will have solid rocket side boosters.

As an all liquid propellant rocket, Falcon 9’s environments must be well within the limits, much less vibration and much less noise, than the Ariane 6 environments to which they were designed and for which they were qualified.

So documentation checking: yes
Extra environmental testing: no
(Ballasting to limit max acceleration? maybe)

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Do they put these things on tables and simulate the the new launch conditions when they switch rides?

Mathematical modeling: yes.

Exposure to Falcon 9 launch audio:  Maybe, IDK.  Good question for our forum experts.

Shimmy-shake table tests: IDK.  Good question for our forum experts.

IIANM EarthCare (and Euclid and the other ESA payloads) were planned to launch on Ariane 6, which will have solid rocket side boosters.

As an all liquid propellant rocket, Falcon 9’s environments must be well within the limits, much less vibration and much less noise, than the Ariane 6 environments to which they were designed and for which they were qualified.

So documentation checking: yes
Extra environmental testing: no
(Ballasting to limit max acceleration? maybe)

Both of these were officially planned on Soyuz from CSG. Though I guess Ariane 6 must have been considered for both at some point so your comment still stands.

[Comga]

Marcia Smith
Jun 29
@SpcPlcyOnline
At press bfg right now, ESA DG Josef Aschbacher says they've decided to launch EarthCARE on a Falcon 9 instead of Vega-C both bc Vega-C return to flight will be delayed due to test failure and spacecraft requires cutouts to fairing and don't want to make changes at this point.

Edit:  It doesn’t matter which vehicle it started on or was on temporarily.  Those are irrelevant facts.
My response to zuben’s question stands because AT SOME POINT EarthCare was qualified to launch on Vega C.  Therefore it was qualified for environments in excess if those for Falcon 9, so no additional testing was required by the switch.

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Marcia Smith
Jun 29
@SpcPlcyOnline
At press bfg right now, ESA DG Josef Aschbacher says they've decided to launch EarthCARE on a Falcon 9 instead of Vega-C both bc Vega-C return to flight will be delayed due to test failure and spacecraft requires cutouts to fairing and don't want to make changes at this point.

It initially moved from Soyuz (see first post in this thread) to Vega-C, then Vega-C ended up both being requiring fairing changes and delays due to last December's failure and delays to re-qualification of SRMs.

[bolun]

Gearing up for EarthCARE [Oct 27]

ESA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency are gearing up for a momentous milestone in Earth observation as launch of the EarthCARE satellite approaches.

Following years of rigorous development and extensive testing, the satellite is now undergoing its final round of tests in Europe before being shipped to the launch site early next year – bringing us one step closer to gaining unprecedented insights into the role that clouds and aerosols play in the climate system.

The satellite is scheduled to be packed up and shipped to the Vandenberg launch site in California in early March, where it will be prepared for liftoff on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in May.

Image credit: ESA–SJM Photography

[bolun]

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2023/02/EarthCARE_patch

EarthCARE patch

[zubenelgenubi]

Confirmation cross-post:

https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureEO/EarthCARE

The launch
Date: May 2024
Site: Vandenberg, California, US
Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9

[gongora]

USN LEOP and TT&C Support for Earthcare from Alaska
Earthcare is an ESA mission which is set to launch on May 1st 2024.
Planned support from SSC is for a period of 180 days starting May 1st.

[bolun]

Cleaning EarthCARE

One of the last jobs to do before ESA’s EarthCARE satellite is packed up for shipment to the US launch site is to make sure it is very clean. The photograph shows engineers carrying out this important task. The satellite has spent the last few months at Airbus’ facilities in Friedrichshafen, Germany, undergoing the last checks the satellite has in Europe.

- Related article: ESA’s cloud mission in the limelight

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2024/02/Cleaning_EarthCARE

Image credit: ESA

[bolun]

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2024/03/EarthCARE_bids_adieu_to_Europe

After years of development and a rigorous testing programme, ESA’s EarthCARE satellite has left Munich, Germany, and is now on its away to SpaceX’s launch site in Vandenberg, California. Once it arrives, it will be put into storage for a few weeks until it is time to ready the satellite for liftoff – which is scheduled to launch in May on a Falcon 9 rocket.