"Beginning Of The Swarm": NeonSat-1 & ACS3 – Electron/Kick Stage (fl 47) – Mahia LC-1B (NZ) – 23.04.2024 22:32 UTC

[zandr]

https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/6846

Beginning Of The Swarm
Launch Time
Tue Apr 23, 2024 20:43 GMT+3
...
47th mission

[zandr]

https://www.rocketlabusa.com/missions/next-mission/

BEGINNING OF THE SWARM


Mission Name: Beginning Of The Swarm
Rocket: Electron
Launch Date: NET 24 April 2024
Launch Site: Launch Complex 1
Launch Time: TBC
Payload: NEONSAT-1 and ACS3

MISSION OVERVIEW
The 'Beginning Of The Swarm' mission is scheduled to launch from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand during a 14-day launch window that opens on April 24th. Electron will carry two satellites for two separate customers: NEONSAT-1, an Earth observation satellite for the Satellite Technology Research Center (SaTReC) at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), and NASA's Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3).

The primary payload for this mission, NEONSAT-1, is an Earth observation satellite with a high-resolution optical camera designed to monitor for natural disasters along the Korean Peninsula by pairing its images with artificial intelligence. NEONSAT-1 is the first satellite developed under the NEONSAT program by SaTReC and KAIST, Korea's leading university in science and technology, which developed and operated Korea's very first satellite KITSAT-1 more than 30 years ago. Other NEONSAT satellites are planned to be launched in 2026 and 2027 to build out the NEONSAT constellation.
 
The secondary payload is NASA's ACS3, a technology demonstration of new materials and deployable structures for solar sail propulsion systems that use sunlight to propel the spacecraft. Much like a sailboat is powered by wind pushing against a sail, solar sails employ the pressure of sunlight for propulsion, eliminating the need for conventional rocket propellant. The mission plans to test the deployment of new composite booms that will unfurl the solar sail to measure approximately 30 feet per side, or about the size of a small apartment in total. Flight data obtained during the demonstration will be used for designing future larger-scale composite solar sail systems for space weather early warning satellites, asteroid and other small body reconnaissance missions, and missions to observe the polar regions of the sun.

[zandr]

https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/1774895858858995820

Rocket Lab  @RocketLab
Onboard Electron for @kaistpr is NEONSAT-1, an Earth observation satellite with a high-resolution optical camera designed to monitor for natural disasters along the Korean Peninsula by pairing its images with artificial intelligence.

[zandr]

https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/1774895862386487339

Rocket Lab  @RocketLab
Electron will also carry @NASA's Advanced Composite Solar Sail System, or ACS3, to test new materials and deployable structures for solar sail propulsion systems that use sunlight to propel the spacecraft. Much like a sailboat is powered by wind pushing against a sail, solar sails employ the pressure of sunlight for propulsion, eliminating the need for conventional rocket propellant.

[zandr]

https://www.nasa.gov/general/nasa-next-generation-solar-sail-boom-technology-ready-for-launch/

NASA Next-Generation Solar Sail Boom Technology Ready for Launch
Sailing through space might sound like something out of science fiction, but the concept is no longer limited to books or the big screen. In April, a next-generation solar sail technology – known as the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System – will launch aboard Rocket Lab's Electron rocket from the company's Launch Complex 1 in Māhia, New Zealand. The technology could advance future space travel and expand our understanding of our Sun and solar system. 
Solar sails use the pressure of sunlight for propulsion, angling toward or away from the Sun so that photons bounce off the reflective sail to push a spacecraft. This eliminates heavy propulsion systems and could enable longer duration and lower-cost missions. Although mass is reduced, solar sails have been limited by the material and structure of the booms, which act much like a sailboat's mast. But NASA is about to change the sailing game for the future. 

NASA's New Lightweight Sailor
The Advanced Composite Solar Sail System demonstration uses a twelve-unit (12U) CubeSat built by NanoAvionics to test a new composite boom made from flexible polymer and carbon fiber materials that are stiffer and lighter than previous boom designs. The mission's primary objective is to successfully demonstrate new boom deployment, but once deployed, the team also hopes to prove the sail's performance. 
Like a sailboat turning to capture the wind, the solar sail can adjust its orbit by angling its sail. After evaluating the boom deployment, the mission will test a series of maneuvers to change the spacecraft's orbit and gather data for potential future missions with even larger sails.
"Booms have tended to be either heavy and metallic or made of lightweight composite with a bulky design – neither of which work well for today's small spacecraft. Solar sails need very large, stable, and lightweight booms that can fold down compactly," said Keats Wilkie, the mission's principal investigator at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. "This sail's booms are tube-shaped and can be squashed flat and rolled like a tape measure into a small package while offering all the advantages of composite materials, like less bending and flexing during temperature changes."

^{Mariano Perez, quality assurance engineer at NASA Ames, inspects the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System spacecraft. When the composite booms and solar sail deploy in orbit, they will measure about 860 square feet (80 square meters) – about the size of six parking spots. Credit: NASA/Brandon Torres}

After reaching its Sun-synchronous orbit, about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) above Earth, the spacecraft will begin unrolling its composite booms, which span the diagonals of the polymer sail. After approximately 25 minutes the solar sail will fully deploy, measuring about 860 square feet (80 square meters) – about the size of six parking spots. Spacecraft-mounted cameras will capture the sail's big moment, monitoring its shape and symmetry during deployment.
With its large sail, the spacecraft may be visible from Earth if the lighting conditions are just right. Once fully expanded and at the proper orientation, the sail's reflective material will be as bright as Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.
"Seven meters of the deployable booms can roll up into a shape that fits in your hand," said Alan Rhodes, the mission's lead systems engineer at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley. "The hope is that the new technologies verified on this spacecraft will inspire others to use them in ways we haven't even considered."

^{This artist's concept shows the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System spacecraft sailing in space using the energy of the Sun. Credit: NASA/Aero Animation/Ben Schweighart}

Enabling Future Solar Sails
Through NASA's Small Spacecraft Technology program, successful deployment and operation of the solar sail's lightweight composite booms will prove the capability and open the door to larger scale missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
This boom design could potentially support future solar sails as large as 5,400 square feet (500 square meters), about the size of a basketball court, and technology resulting from the mission's success could support sails of up to 21,500 square feet (2,000 square meters) – about half a soccer field.
"The Sun will continue burning for billions of years, so we have a limitless source of propulsion. Instead of launching massive fuel tanks for future missions, we can launch larger sails that use "fuel" already available," said Rhodes. "We will demonstrate a system that uses this abundant resource to take those next giant steps in exploration and science." 
Because the sails use the power of the Sun, they can provide constant thrust to support missions that require unique vantage points, such as those that seek to understand our Sun and its impact on Earth. Solar sails have long been a desired capability for missions that could carry early warning systems for monitoring solar weather. Solar storms and coronal mass ejections can cause considerable damage on Earth, overloading power grids, disrupting radio communications, and affecting aircraft and spacecraft.
Composite booms might also have a future beyond solar sailing: the lightweight design and compact packing system could make them the perfect material for constructing habitats on the Moon and Mars, acting as framing structures for buildings or compact antenna poles to create a communications relay for astronauts exploring the lunar surface.
"This technology sparks the imagination, reimagining the whole idea of sailing and applying it to space travel," said Rudy Aquilina, project manager of the solar sail mission at NASA Ames. "Demonstrating the abilities of solar sails and lightweight, composite booms is the next step in using this technology to inspire future missions."

[zandr]

https://www.rocketlabusa.com/missions/next-mission/

Mission Name: Beginning Of The Swarm
Rocket: Electron
Launch Date: NET 24 April 2024
Launch Site: Launch Complex 1
Launch Time: Opens 21:30 UTC
Payload: NEONSAT-1 and ACS3

[zandr]

https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/1779617932500504931

Rocket Lab  @RocketLab
Electron's Kick Stage has had a glow up Flexibility is Electron's game, and supporting our customers to meet their mission requirements is what we do.

Here are some of the changes we've made to the Kick Stage for this mission:

Extra batteries & larger bottles = more gas for the Kick Stage's reaction control system to complete multiple in-space maneuvers for this mission.

Added Curie tanks = extra propellant to give our engine more oomph for more burns, from 520km to 1,000km and back down again.

Double payload plate = double the payload deployments. With NEONSAT-1 sitting on top and ACS3 attached laterally, we can accommodate both payloads comfortablly within Electron's nosecone.

Больше зарядка, больше заправка, две разные орбиты.

[zandr]

Пресс-кит миссии https://www.rocketlabusa.com/assets/Uploads/RL-F47-BeginningOfTheSwarm-PressKit-1.pdf

[zandr]

https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/1780345727022993854

Rocket Lab  @RocketLab
Two satellites, two completely different orbits, one launch.
For our 47th mission, we're doing things a bit differently to deploy two satellites to both 520km AND 1,000km in low Earth orbit. Here's how.
'Beginning Of The Swarm' for @kaistpr & @NASA.
Target launch date: April 24 UTC.
Mission info: https://bit.ly/3xAxsql

[zandr]

https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/1780345734564397110

Rocket Lab  @RocketLab
The orbit maneuverbility of Electron's Kick Stage is crucial to this mission. First, NEONSAT-1 for @kaistpr will be deployed to its target circular orbit of 520km after lift-off of Electron from LC-1.

·
Next, the Kick Stage will light its Curie engine again to raise its apogee (highest point above Earth) to 1,000km. Doing so will put the Kick Stage in an elliptical orbit, so it will need a second engine burn at 1,000km to circularize its trajectory.
·
Next, ACS3 for @NASA will be deployed at a 1,000km circular orbit. But the ride's not over. The Kick Stage will then perform its final maneuver to lower its orbit back down closer to Earth to help speed up its eventual deorbit – all in support of a more sustainable space environment.

[zandr]

https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/1781101563932729788

Rocket Lab  @RocketLab
Encapsulation complete for our 47th mission!
NEONSAT-1 (@KAISTPR) and ACS3 (@NASA) are now safely enclosed within Electron's fairing. The next time this nose cone opens up, these two satellites will be in space!
'Beginning Of The Swarm' Mission info: https://rocketlabusa.com/missions/next-mission/
 

[zandr]

https://www.rocketlabusa.com/missions/next-mission/

Mission Name: Beginning Of The Swarm
Rocket: Electron
Launch Date: NET 24 April 2024
Launch Site: Launch Complex 1
Launch Time: Opens 22:00 UTC
Payload: NEONSAT-1 and ACS3

Подвинули окно.

[zandr]

https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/1782226059368534373

Rocket Lab  @RocketLab
 Electron is ready for lift-off.

Our operations team have completed launch rehearsal for our next mission for @KAISTPR and @NASA. The launch pad is ready, the satellites are ready, Electron is ready. Onward to launch!
 
'Beginning Of The Swarm (B.T.S)' launch window opens:
Weds 24 NZT | 10:00
Tue 23 UTC | 22:00
Tue 23 EDT | 18:00
Tues 23 PDT | 15:00

[zandr]

https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1782469591781736878

NASA  @NASA
We can sail, we can sail with solar sail tech, launching no earlier than April 24 from New Zealand. With new composite booms, it could transform how we explore our solar system. (Correction from our earlier post:
@NASA_Technology isn't a @NASASpinoff... yet!)
http://go.nasa.gov/4aECh0p

[zandr]

Код Выделить Развернуть

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfYLnbw7iu8

1:32
NASA's Next-Generation Solar Sail Mission

NASA's Ames Research Center
NASA's Advanced Composite Solar Sail System seeks to advance future space travel and expand our understanding of our Sun and Solar System. 
Learn more: https://www.nasa.gov/general/nasa-nex...
Download the video here:https://images.nasa.gov/details/Advan...
^{Video credit: NASA's Ames Research Center 
Music Provided by Universal Production Music: Cloud Fire}   

[zandr]

https://www.nasa.gov/smallspacecraft/what-is-acs3/

What is the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System?


Using Sunlight to Power Deep Space Exploration
NASA is developing new deployable structures and materials technologies for solar sail propulsion systems destined for future low-cost deep space missions. Just as a sailboat is powered by wind in a sail, solar sails employ the pressure of sunlight for propulsion, eliminating the need for conventional rocket propellant. NASA's Advanced Composite Solar Sail System, or ACS3, technology demonstration uses composite materials – or a combination of materials with different properties – in its novel, lightweight booms that deploy from a CubeSat. Data obtained from ACS3 will guide the design of future larger-scale composite solar sail systems that could be used for space weather early warning satellites, near-Earth asteroid reconnaissance missions, or communications relays for crewed exploration missions.

Engineers at NASA's Langley Research Center test deployment of the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System's solar sail. The unfurled solar sail is approximately 30 feet (about 9 meters) on a side. Since solar radiation pressure is small, the solar sail must be large to efficiently generate thrust.
NASA

The primary objective of the ACS3 technology demonstration is the successful deployment of the composite boom solar sail in low-Earth orbit. After reaching space, the ACS3 spacecraft will deploy its solar power arrays and then begin unfurling its solar sail via four booms that span the diagonals of the square and unspool to reach 23 feet (about 7 meters) in length. After approximately 25 minutes, the solar sail is fully deployed, and the square-shaped solar sail measures approximately 30 feet (about 9 meters) per side, or about the size of a small apartment. A suite of onboard digital cameras will obtain images of the sail during and after deployment in order to assess its shape and alignment.
ACS3's sails are supported and connected to the spacecraft by booms, which function much like a sailboat's boom that connects to its mast and keeps the sail taut. The composite booms are made from a polymer material that is flexible and reinforced with carbon fiber. This composite material can be rolled for compact stowage, but remains strong and lightweight when unrolled. It is also very stiff and resistant to bending and warping due to changes in temperature. Solar sails can operate indefinitely, limited only by the durability of the solar sail materials and spacecraft electronic systems in the space environment. The ACS3 technology demonstration will also test an innovative tape-spool boom extraction system designed to minimize jamming of the coiled booms during deployment.
Interest in solar sailing as an alternative to chemical and electric propulsion systems continues to increase. Using sunlight to propel small spacecraft in lieu of consumable propellants will be advantageous for many mission profiles and offers flexibility in spacecraft design to help NASA meet its missions' objectives most efficiently.

Advanced Composite Solar Sail System's, or ACS3's, 12-unit (12U) CubeSat spacecraft bus undergoing assembly and testing. The complete ACS3 spacecraft measures approximately 9 inches x 9 inches x 13 inches (23 centimeters x 23 centimeters x 34 centimeters), or about the size of a small microwave oven.
AST&Defense LLC

Objectives:

• Demonstrate successful deployment of the composite boom as well as sail packing and deployment systems in low Earth orbit
• Evaluate the efficacy of the shape and design of the solar sail
• Characterize the thrust functionality of the sail as the spacecraft gradually changes orbit
• Collect data on the sail's performance to inform the design of larger, more complex systems

Fast Facts:

• This is the first use of composite booms as well as sail packing and deployment systems for a solar sail in space.
• ACS3's composite booms are 75% lighter and designed to experience 100 times less in-space thermal distortion – change of shape under heat – than previously flown metallic deployable booms.
• The solar sail is designed to fit inside a 12-unit (12U) CubeSat, which measures approximately 9 inches by 9 inches by 13 inches  (23 centimeters by 23 centimeters by 34 centimeters), or about the size of a small microwave oven.
• The composite boom technology used for this ACS3 technology demonstration could be used in future missions for solar sails up to 500 square meters (5,400 square feet), about the size of a basketball court. Follow-on composite boom technologies now in development will enable solar sails as large as 2,000 square meters (21,500 square feet).
• ACS3 is slated to launch on Tuesday, April 23 (Wednesday, April 24 in New Zealand).

...

[zandr]

https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/1782825818655453470

Rocket Lab@RocketLab
Welcome to launch day! Here's everything you need to know about our 47th Electron launch.
Beginning Of The Swarm (B.T.S)
NEONSAT-1 for @kaistpr & the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System for @NASA @NASAAmes
520km & 1,000km orbits

Lift-off time:
Weds 24 NZT | 10:15
Tue 23 UTC | 22:15
Tue 23 EDT | 18:15
Tues 23 PDT | 15:15

[zandr]

Код Выделить Развернуть

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9izutzETw1U

Rocket Lab - 'Beginning Of The Swarm' Launch
  Rocket Lab

[zandr]

https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/1782854270360121385

Rocket Lab  @RocketLab
Beautiful sunrise pics of Electron vertical and ready on the pad at LC-1 for today's lift-off for @kaistpr and @NASA.

Beginning Of The Swarm (B.T.S.) scheduled for launch:
Weds 24 NZT | 10:15
Tue 23 UTC | 22:15
Tue 23 EDT | 18:15
Tues 23 PDT | 15:15
   

Погода шепчет (там - утро).
Краснаяя полоса - спасение.

[zandr]

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