Jonathan’s Space Report No. 732 2016 Nov 30

International Space Station
—————————

Expedition 50 continues. Soyuz MS-03 was launched on Nov 17 carrying Oleg Novitskiy (Roskosmos), Thomas Pesquet (ESA) and Peggy Whitson (NASA). The Soyuz docked with the Rassvet module at 2158 UTC Nov 19.

The Cygnus cargo vehicle SS Alan Poindexter (OA-5) was unberthed from the Unity module at about 1125 UTC Nov 21 and released into space at 1322 UTC. It raised its orbit on Nov 25 to 495 x 504 km and released two pairs of Spire Global cubesats in the Lemur-2 series. Cygnus was deorbited on Nov 27, reentering over the S Pacific at 2336 UTC.

Shenzhou/Tiangong
—————–

The Chinese astronauts Jing and Chen completed work aboard the Tiangong-2 spacelab on Nov 17 and undocked in Shenzhou-11 at 0441 UTC. Shenzhou 11 landed near Zhurihezen in Inner Mongolia province at 0559 UTC.

Schiaparelli
————

The ESA investigation into the Schiaparelli crash on Mars continues. Bad data from the IMU made the lander think it was already on the surface while still over 4 km high, prematurely triggering the landing sequence.

According to Cyrille Vanlerberghe of Le Figaro, the actual timeline was

UTC 2016 Oct 19
14:42:22 E+0:00 Entry
14:45:23 E+3:01 Parachute deployment
14:46:19 E+3:57 Heat shield separation
Radar altimeter on
14:46:49 E+4:27 Parachute premature sep, 4.3 km
14:46:53 E+4:31 Thrusters on,3.7 km
14:46:56 E+4:34 Thrusters off
14:47:26 E+5:04 Impact, 540 km/hr

Himawari 9
———–

Japan’s Himawari 9 weather satellite was launched to geotransfer orbit by H-IIA-31 on Nov 2. By Nov 8 the satellite was on station in GEO at 140.8E.

Chang Zheng 5
————-

The long awaited first launch of the CZ-5 (Long March 5) rocket took place on Nov 3 from Wenchang Space Centre in Hainan. The CZ-5 configuration used four large liquid strapon boosters around a central 5 metre diameter core stage, with a second stage consisting of a stepped cylinder similar in configuration to the Delta 4/H-2A second stages. On this mission a Yuanzheng-2 third stage was also installed.

The payload was Shi Jian 17, an experimental communications technology satellite with a secondary experiment to observe orbital debris.

After launch at 1243 UTC the CZ-5 second stage achieved a 170 km parking orbit at 1257 UTC. At 1307 UTC the second stage made a six-minute-long second burn to 178 x 29127 km x 19.5 deg. The YZ-2 separated at 1313 UTC and shortly afterwards made a burn to 212 x 35802 km x 19.5 deg. YZ-2 then coasted to apogee and restarted at 1836 UTC to place itself in near geosynchronous orbit. The SJ-17 payload separated at about 1855 UTC into a 35886 x 38811 km x 0.8 deg orbit and drifted around the GEO arc. On Nov 12 it entered a 35771 x 35804 km geostationary orbit over 162.9E.

Chang Zheng 11
—————

On Nov 9 China carried out the second launch of the small solid-fuel CZ-11 launch vehicle from Jiuquan. It carried the 240 kg Maichong Xing Shiyan Weixing (Pulse Star Experimental Satellite) which will test the concept of navigation using the signals from X-ray millisecond pulsars. These compact stars spin hundreds of times a second and the X-ray flashes from their magnetic poles swishing past us at that high rate can be used as a very accurate clock, the key component of a GPS-like navigation system. The concept was developed some years ago by the NRL team and it is hoped to use it in future US space systems.

The launch also carried four cubesat-class payloads. The Xiaoxiang-1 from Tianyi Research Institute in Changsha is a 6U cubesat with a precision attitude control system experiment intended for future astronomy missions. A Lishui-1 imaging satellite was launched to begin a commercial constellation for Zhejiang LiYi Electronic Technology Co. The KS-1Q instrument package, attached to the CZ-11 final stage, measured the launch vehicle environment. The CAS-2T amateur radio payload in a 1U cubesat also remained attached to the launch vehicle.

Atlas AV-062/Worldview-4
————————

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V, serial AV-062, placed the DigitalGlobe WorldView-4 commercial imaging satellite in orbit on Nov 11. WV-4 was originaly GeoEye-2 before the GeoEye/DG merger, and has a resolution of only 0.25 metres. AV-062 reached a 600 km orbit at 1846 UTC and deployed WV-4 at 1849 UTC.

AV-062 also carried four cubesat deployers on its Aft Bulkhead Carrier. Two 1.5U DoD Nanosat Program satellites (probably in the Prometheus series) were ejected at 2042 UTC. Two 1.5U cubesats for the Aerospace Corporation, Aerocube 8C and 8D, were ejected at 2045 UTC. At 2054 UTC the CELTEE 1U cubesat for the Air Force ResearchLab was ejected together with a 2U tracking calibration satellite, CalPoly’s Opticube. Finally at about 2055 UTC the 3U RAVAN satellite for APL jumped free. It carries an experimental radiometer for Earth energy balance studies.

At 2120 UTC AV-062 made its second burn, accelerating to escape velocity to avoid it contributing to LEO space junk. The stage departed the Earth’s gravitational sphere of influence on Nov 15 to enter a solar orbit of 0.93 x 1.57 AU x 3.4 deg.

Galileo
——–

Four more European navigation satellites in the Galileo system were launched on Nov 17. An Ariane 5ES rocket was used; the restartable EPS upper stage placed the satellites (FM07, FM12, FM13 and FM14, redesignated GalileoSat 15 to 18 after launch) in orbit. The 5ES model was previously used for ATV cargo ship launches.

GOES R
——

Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R, which will become GOES 16 when it is operational, is the first in a new series of Lockheed-Martin-built GOES weather satellites for NOAA. It was launched by a ULA Atlas V on Nov 19. The satellite mass is 2857 kg dry, 5192 kg when full of propellant.

GOES-R carries the Advanced Baseline Imager, a new camera similar in capabilities to those on the Japanese Himawari 8/9 series. Also aboard are the Geostationary Lightning Mapper, a Space Environment suite, a Solar Ultraviolet Imager, an EUV/X-Ray Irradiance Sensor, a Search and Rescue comm payload, and comm payloads to relay weather data.

Tianlian-1 04
————-

The fourth in China’s Tianlian-1 series of data relay satellites was launched on Nov 22 into an elliptical geotransfer orbit. On Nov 23 at about 1000 UTC it raised its orbit with a burn over the Indian Ocean. Although of Nov 29 no new US tracking data was available, I expect it to replace Tianlian-1 01 at the 80E location.

TL-1 01 2008 Apr 80E
TL-1 02 2011 Jul 177E
TL-1 03 2012 Jul 11E
TL-1 04 2016 Nov TBD

Cassini
——-

The Cassini probe made Titan flyby T-124 at 2357 UTC on Nov 13, at a height of 1582 km, and flyby T-125 at 2216 UTC on Nov 29 at a height of 3158 km. The two encounters lowered the probe’s Saturn orbit periapsis from 278000 km to only 90000 km, setting on course for the ‘Ring-Grazing Orbits’ phase of the mission. At its next ring plane crossing on Dec 4, Cassini will pass 91200 km above Saturn’s cloudtops; the F ring extends from 79558 to 80344 km.

Table of Recent Orbital Launches 
----------------------------------
Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL. Catalog Perigee Apogee Incl Notes
 km km deg

Oct 5 2030 Sky Muster II ) Ariane 5 Kourou ELA3 Comms 60B S41794 35292 x 35806 x 0.1
 GSAT-18 ) Comms 60A S41793 24135 x 35831 x 0.5
Oct 16 2330 Shenzhou 11 Chang Zheng 2F Jiuquan Spaceship 61A S41812 378 x 389 x 42.8 Docked to TG2
Oct 17 2345 SS Alan Poindexter Antares 230 Wallops MARS LA0A Cargo 62A S41818 373 x 395 x 51.6
Oct 19 0805 Soyuz MS-02 Soyuz-FG Baykonur LC31 Spaceship 63A S41820 289 x 306 x 51.6 Docked ISS
Oct 22 2331 TG-2 bansui weixing TG-2, LEO Tech 57H S41834 374 x 384 x 42.8
Nov 2 0620 Himawari 9 H-IIA 202 Tanegashima LP1 Weather 64A S41836 243 x 35857 x 22.4
Nov 3 1243 Shi Jian 17 Chang Zheng 5/YZ2 Wenchang LC101 Comms/Tech 65A S41838 35771 x 35804 x 0.8 GEO 163E
Nov 9 2342 Maichong Xing SW ) Chang Zheng 11 Jiuquan SLS-E Astronomy 66A S41841 493 x 512 x 97.4
 Xiaioxiang-1 ) Tech 66B? S41842 492 x 511 x 97.4
 Lishui 1-01 ) Imaging 66C? S41843 491 x 511 x 97.4
 KS-1Q ) Imaging 66D? S41844 491 x 511 x 97.4
 CAS-2T ) Imaging 66D? S41844 491 x 511 x 97.4
Nov 11 1830 WorldView-4 ) Atlas V 401 Vandenberg SLC3E Imaging 67A S41848 607 x 611 x 98.0
 Prometheus 2.1 ) Comms 67 S41849 572 x 585 x 98.0
 Prometheus 2.2 ) Comms 67 S41850 571 x 584 x 98.0
 Aerocube 8C ) Tech 67 S41851 573 x 586 x 98.0
 Aerocube 8D ) Tech 67 S41852 575 x 585 x 98.0
 CELTEE ) Tech 67 S41853 576 x 586 x 98.0
 Opticube 4 ) Cal 67 S41854 576 x 585 x 98.0
 RAVAN ) Tech/Sci 67 S41855 569 x 583 x 98.0
Nov 11 2314 Yunhai-1 01 Chang Zheng 2D Jiuquan Weather 68A S41857 760 x 787 x 98.5
Nov 17 1306 GalileoSat-15 ) Ariane 5ES Kourou ELA3 Nav 69A S41859 22879 x 22906 x 54.6
 GalileoSat-16 ) Nav 69B S41860 22890 x 22926 x 54.6
 GalileoSat-17 ) Nav 69C S41861 22901 x 22912 x 54.6
 GalileoSat-18 ) Nav 69D S41862 22898 x 22899 x 54.5
Nov 17 2020 Soyuz MS-03 Soyuz-FG Baykonur LC1 Spaceship 70A S41864 195 x 228 x 51.6
Nov 19 2342 GOES 16 (GOES R) Atlas V 541 Canaveral SLC41 Weather 71A S41866 8157 x 35269 x 10.6
Nov 22 1524 Tianlian-1 04 Chang Zheng 3C Xichang Data relay 72A S41869 201 x 41776 x 17.4
Nov 25 2015 Lemur-2-Sokolsky) Cygnus OA-5, LEO Weather/AIS 62C S41871 498 x 507 x 51.6 
 Lemur-2-Xiaoqing) Weather/AIS 62D S41872 498 x 507 x 51.6 
Nov 26 0010 Lemur-2-Anubhavthakur ) Cygnus OA-5, LEO Weather/AIS 62E S41873 498 x 507 x 51.6 
 Lemur-2-Wingo ) Weather/AIS 62F S41874 498 x 507 x 51.6

Table of Recent Suborbital Launches
———————————–

Apparently a quiet month for suborbital launches. Let me know if I missed any!

Date UT Payload/Flt Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission Apogee/km Target

Oct 5 1536 New Shepard New Shepard West Texas Abort test 94 West Texas
Oct 12 RV Volna K-433, Sea of Okhotsk Test 1000? Chiza
Oct 12 RV Sineva K-407, Barents Sea Test 1000? Kura
Oct 12 RV Topol’ Plesetsk Test 1000? Kura
Oct 25 0858 RV UR-100NU Yasniy Test 1000? Kura

.————————————————————————-.
| Jonathan McDowell | |
| Somerville MA 02143 | inter : planet4589 at gmail |
| USA | twitter: @planet4589 |
| |
| JSR: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html  |
| Back issues: http://www.planet4589.org/space/jsr/back  |
| Subscribe/unsub: http://www.planet4589.org/mailman/listinfo/jsr  |
‘————————————————————————-‘
_______________________________________________
JSR mailing list
JSR@www.planet4589.org
http://www.planet4589.org/mailman/listinfo/jsr