MUOS-1 = Atlas V 551 - Canaveral SLC-41 - 24.02.12 22:15 UTC

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16 February, 22:46-23:30 - MUOS-1 - Atlas V 551 - Canaveral SLC-41

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http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/muos-1.htm

MUOS 1, 2, 3, 4, 5[/size]


MUOS [Lockheed]

MUOS (Mobile User Objective System) is a next-generation narrowband tactical satellite communications system designed to significantly improve ground communications for U.S. forces on the move.

The new communications system, slated to become operational in 2010, would provide 10 times more throughput, or volume of information that can be transmitted, than the current UFO System, and will provide the US troops a much more reliable way to communicate, as it is not affected by weather, environmental constraints or foliage.

Under the new system, even troops in the most remote locations or buildings with no satellite access would see a big increase in communications capabilities, industry sources said.

In September 2004 the Lockheed team was selected against the Raytheon team.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Sunnyvale, Calif. the MUOS prime contractor and system integrator, was recently awarded a $2.1 billion contract to build the first two satellites and associated ground control elements by the U.S. Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR), on behalf of the Program Executive Office – Space Systems, San Diego, Calif. The contract also provides for options on three additional spacecraft. With all options exercised, the contract for up to five satellites has a total potential value of $3.26 billion.

MUOS satellites will be developed at the company's Commercial Space Systems unit in Newtown, Pa.; final assembly and test will occur in Sunnyvale. Lockheed Martin's award-winning A2100 bus, which has achieved over 100 years of on-orbit service, will serve as the MUOS spacecraft platform.
General Dynamics C4 Systems, Scottsdale, Ariz., which will lead the user-entry and integrated ground segments of the MUOS program, supplying a secure ground network, satellite control and network management, and a JTRS-compliant terminal solution.
Boeing Satellite Systems (BSS), El Segundo, Calif.; The satellite-manufacturing arm of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems will provide the legacy UHF payload.
Ericsson, Plano, Texas. The leader in 2G and 3G mobile technology systems will provide portions of the integrated ground segment.
Harris Corporation, Melbourne, Fla. A world leader in spaceborne, unfurlable mesh reflectors, Harris will provide the large reflectors for the MUOS program. The reflectors, two per satellite, will be manufactured at Harris facilities as part of the MUOS geo-synchronous satellite's ultra high-frequency (UHF)-band antenna system.

The planned launch of the first MUOS satellite was delayed to 2012 after a part of the budget was used to fund operations in Iraq.

The program is valued at $6.4 billion over its lifespan, which could run through 2024.Nation:   USA
Type / Application:   Comsat
Operator:   US Navy
Contractors:   Lockheed Martin (Prime), Boeing, General Dynamics
Configuration:   A2100M ?
Propulsion:   IHI BT-4
Power:   2 deployable solar arrays, batteries
Orbit:   GEO[/size]

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http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/products/mobile-user-objective-system--muos-.html

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http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av030/status.html

MONDAY, JANUARY 30, 2012

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket that will propel the U.S. Navy's next-generation mobile communications spacecraft into orbit Feb. 16 was rolled to the Complex 41 pad at Cape Canaveral this morning for a practice countdown.

The giant booster consisting of its bronze-colored first stage, Centaur upper stage and five strap-on solid-fuel rockets was recently assembled together atop the mobile launching platform at the Vertical Integration Facility.

This morning's rollout, which took place just after 10 a.m. EST, is part of the Wet Dress Rehearsal activities that each Atlas undergoes prior to launch. The rocket will be fully fueled tomorrow for a realistic countdown simulation.

The event is designed to iron out any problems with the hardware and exercise the launch team.

Once the simulated launch day is completed, the rocket will be rolled back to the assembly building for final pre-flight work. Attachment of the MUOS 1 satellite payload will occur next week.

Liftoff remains targeted for sunset Feb. 16 during a window opening at 5:46 p.m. EST (2246 GMT).

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http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av030/muos_factsheet.pdf
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/content/dam/lockheed/data/space/documents/MUOS/B1160039_MUOS%20Factsheet_1.pdf

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http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av030/status.html

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2012
The rocket convoy began rolling back to the Vertical Integration Facility just before 1 p.m. EST today to complete the successful Wet Dress Rehearsal.

The MUOS 1 spacecraft will be brought to the VIF next week for mounting atop its launcher in preparation for blastoff on Feb. 16 to begin the long-awaited upgrade to the U.S. military's mobile communications network with dramatically improved capacity over the Navy's previous satellite constellation.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2012
1805 GMT (1:05 p.m. EST)
Counting down like clockwork, the Atlas 5 rocket underwent a full launch day simulation today that ended in the final seconds before a pretend liftoff time at 1:00 p.m. EST.

The Wet Dress Rehearsal culminated with the vehicle fully fueled to rehearse the real launch day coming on Feb. 16 to deliver the U.S. Navy's next-generation mobile communications satellite into orbit.

The countdown was halted just before the T-0 time as planned, and the launch team began exercising its hold and recycle steps to safe the rocket.

The cryogenic fuels will be offloaded this afternoon and the vehicle allowed to warm up before it is transported back to the assembly building tomorrow.

Next up in the pre-flight campaign is mounting the MUOS 1 payload atop the rocket early next week.

The fully assembled rocket with the satellite aboard will be rolled out to the Complex 41 pad the day before launch.

1700 GMT (12:00 p.m. EST)
Supercold cryogenic propellants are flowing at Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 as the Atlas 5 rocket gets fueled up with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen for its countdown dress rehearsal. Bright white streamers of vapor are billowing from ports on the vehicle as clocks continue to march toward the pretend liftoff time.

1500 GMT (10:00 a.m. EST)
Countdown clocks are ticking at Cape Canaveral today, but it's only for practice as the Atlas 5 rocket team gears up for a Navy satellite launch in two weeks.

Fueling of the first stage and the Centaur upper stage will be getting underway shortly as the count targets a mock liftoff time of 1:00 p.m. EST for this WDR -- or Wet Dress Rehearsal.

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Перед "инкапсуляцией" КА внутри ГО:



http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av030/encapsulation/index.html

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http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av030/tothepad/

Atlas 5 rocket topped with Navy's newest satellite[/size]
BY JUSTIN RAY
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: February 6, 2012

Looking towards launch next week to begin dramatically improving the capacity for U.S. military mobile communications, a new breed of satellite was hauled to the towering Atlas 5 rocket assembly building today for mounting atop the powerful booster.


File image of Atlas payload arriving at the VIF. Credit: NASA-KSC
 
The Navy's first Mobile User Objective System satellite, dubbed MUOS 1, is scheduled for blastoff next Thursday, Feb. 16, at sunset from Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The 44-minute launch window stretches from 5:46 to 6:30 p.m. EST (2246-2330 GMT). Given the sunset time of 6:13 p.m., a liftoff anytime in the window could be spectacular as the 206-foot-tall rocket rises on a pillar or fire and smoke, weather permitting, of course.

With just 10 days left until flight, MUOS 1 took a middle-of-the-night road trip from the commercially-run Astrotech satellite processing campus in Titusville to the launch site aboard a trailer-like transporter.

The slow-moving drive crossed the river, went northward through Kennedy Space Center, passed by the Vehicle Assembly Building and the old space shuttle launch pad before cruising down along the beach to the Atlas rocket's Vertical Integration Facility.

MUOS 1 was delivered to the Cape on Dec. 15 from Lockheed Martin's factory in Sunnyvale, California, arriving inside an Air Force transport aircraft. The shipping crate was taken to Astrotech where the craft was unboxed for final testing, loaded with maneuvering propellants and encapsulated in the rocket's nose cone.

Check out this photo gallery of MUOS 1 being nestled into the Swiss-made launch shroud last week.


File image of payload being hoisted atop Atlas 5 rocket. Credit: NASA-KSC
 
After pulling up to the doorway of the Vertical Integration Facility this morning, technicians went to work attaching the heavy-duty lifting sling to hoist the spacecraft in the bullet-shaped fairing off the ground and atop the Centaur upper stage.

The United Launch Alliance-made rocket was assembled inside the VIF aboard a mobile launching platform over the past several weeks. It was wheeled out to the launch pad one-third-of-a-mile away last Monday for a countdown dress rehearsal and fueling exercise Tuesday before returning to the building on Wednesday to await the MUOS 1 installation.

Mating of the payload to the rocket was underway at mid-afternoon today, then work will began to affix the nose cone's ogive section to the lower base of the fairing.

Functional checks of the spacecraft and the combined systems test between MUOS and the Atlas vehicle will occur this week to verify the payload and rocket are talking to each other properly.

The fully stacked rocket, now standing 20 stories tall, features a main stage fed with refined kerosene and liquid oxygen, five strap-on solid propellant boosters, the liquid hydrogen-powered cryogenic Centaur upper stage and a composite payload shroud 16 feet in diameter.

Rollout to the pad for launch is slated for next Wednesday morning, leading to the 7-hour countdown sequence picking up Thursday at 10:46 a.m. Fueling operations begin shortly before 4 p.m. EST.

This is the largest, most energetic version of the Atlas 5 rocket currently available. The so-called 551 configuration has been used only twice in the previous 28 flights by the vehicle, launching NASA's New Horizons probe to Pluto in 2006 and the Jupiter-bound Juno orbiter last August.
 
Tipping the scales at nearly 15,000 pounds, the MUOS spacecraft needs that kind of power and three firings by the Centaur upper stage over the course of three hours to reach its targeted geosynchronous transfer orbit of 22,237 by 2,152 statute miles at 19 degrees inclination. A typical Atlas 5 ascent uses only two burns.

The craft's size also means the medium-length option in the range of Atlas nose cones was picked for this launch that features a 9-foot extension over the usual choice.

In its launch configuration with the two power-generating solar arrays stowed on the sides, MUOS is 22 feet tall, 12 feet wide and 6 feet deep.

A pair of gold mesh antenna reflectors, built by Harris Corp., at the heart of the satellite's communications payload will be unfurled like umbrellas on deployable boom assemblies once in space. Coverage to legacy users will transmit through a 17.7-foot-diameter reflector on the bottom of the craft and the advanced, multi-beam features of MUOS to significantly increase the transmission capacity over the Navy's previous satellites will use a large 46-foot reflector atop the satellite.

Lockheed Martin is producing five MUOS satellites -- four primes and one in-orbit spare -- to replace the Navy's current generation of Ultra High Frequency Follow-On spacecraft that were launched by Atlas rockets from 1993 through 2003. Eight of the 11 satellites remain in operation today.

The sophisticated MUOS system was designed around the commercial 3G cellular telephone architecture to substantially increase the number of users and amount of communications that can be routed to military forces.

"MUOS is designed to allow backward compatibility with legacy UHF terminals while providing a next generation waveform to support 'communications on the move' capabilities," said Mark Pasquale, Lockheed Martin vice president and MUOS program manager. "This ensures that legacy systems remain compatible with the MUOS architecture, while offering the technological advancements needed by its military users."


An artist's concept of MUOS. Credit: Lockheed Martin
 
MUOS will offer 10 times greater communications capacity to the mobile warfighter over the UHF F/O constellation to relay narrowband tactical information such as voice calls, data messaging, file transfers and email on rates of up to 384 Kilobits per second. It also enables users to communicate with smaller devices.

"Utilizing commercial 3G cell phone and satellite technology, MUOS will provide warfighters 'on the move' point-to-point and netted communications services at enhanced data rates and priority-based access to on-demand voice, video and data transfers," said Pasquale.

It will take about three months to maneuver the craft into the proper orbital position and conduct in-space testing before becoming operational.

"A single MUOS satellite provides more communication access than the current UHF constellation. This capability is critical to the U.S. military because they depend on reliable, targeted communication to complete missions and to protect service members worldwide," said Pasquale.

"MUOS is designed to support those requirements by providing users narrowband communications with greater mobility, higher data rates and improved operational availability."


MUOS 1 during encapsulation within Atlas nose cone. Credit: ULA
 
The Navy says approximately 67,000 UHF user terminals are deployed across the military branches serving around the world, many of them carried deep into theaters of operation.

The UHF communications provide command and control between combatant leaders and their warfighters, connectivity to tactical forces, communications for Special Operations and support to rapid deployments of land, air and naval forces worldwide.

Military officials have stressed the need for additional UHF channels to supply the diverse users of the system, something that MUOS is designed to give.

"The UHF spectrum is the military's communications workhorse because it is the only radio frequency that can penetrate jungle foliage, inclement weather and urban terrain," says the Navy.

The launch comes just a month after the Air Force deployed the latest in its growing fleet of Wideband Global SATCOM spacecraft offering X- and Ka-band frequencies to provide very high data rates up to 3.6 Gigabits per second for routing voluminous amounts of communications -- like large intelligence files and weather information -- to the battlefield and providing the links to and from the military's remotely-controlled aerial drones patrolling global hotspots.

MUOS, on the other hand, is geared toward to mobile receivers using lower-data-rate communications than WGS.

The military's other major communications satellite program, the Advanced Extremely High Frequency system to provide highly secure, jam resistant links between the president and military leaders will be launching its second satellite on the subsequent Atlas 5 rocket at the end of April.[/size]

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Landmark launch in rocketry: Centaur set for Flight 200

The venerable U.S. upper stage rocket motor -- the Centaur -- that created the pathway to the Moon and every planet across the solar system will be making its 200th flight next Thursday in a milestone mission to boost the U.S. Navy's sophisticated new mobile communications satellite to orbit.

Originally developed by General Dynamics under the direction of NASA at the dawn of the space age, Centaur was conceived to power payloads with a high-energy cryogenic engine fed with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.

"Centaur makes it possible for the U.S. to launch spacecraft of much greater size and weight then ever before," NASA said on the eve of the first launch in 1962. "Hydrogen offers more pounds of thrust per pound of propellant consumed per second than any other fuel possible in chemical rockets."

The stage was at the forefront of advancing rocket technology by conquering cryogenic fuels, a key accomplishment that benefited a host of different space boosters to follow.

"Centaur has been pioneering space launch for the last 50 years. The first launches in the early 1960s demonstrated the extremely high performance that can be achieved with a liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen rocket stage. LH2/LO2 stages were subsequently used for the Saturn I, Saturn V, Space Shuttle, Titan and Delta programs," said Jim Sponnick, United Launch Alliance's vice president for mission operations.

"Centaur developed and flight demonstrated in-flight restarts for LH2/LO2 engines -- a technology that was critical for the Apollo programs and also for enabling a wide variety of flexible mission designs."

The first flight-test came in May 1962, but the motor never got a chance to fire because the Centaur insulation panels came off prematurely and the vehicle exploded a minute after liftoff. You can read the NASA press kit from that maiden mission.

Success came on the second launch in November 1963, injecting the Centaur into Earth orbit where it continues to loop today in an elliptical perch ranging from 290 to 840 miles. The NASA press kit from the second mission is online too.

The project had a difficult development. Insulating the Centaur to preserve the supercold liquid hydrogen propellant at -423 degrees F was a major challenge and keeping the fuel "bottomed" in the tank for in-space relighting of the engine proved temperamental.

Several of the early launches failed due to a variety of issues including a steering problem on flight three and the inability to get the engines restarted on flights four and seven as the ullage thruster design was worked out.

Successful single-burn missions were repeated over and over, then a good restart of the engine in orbit occurred on flight ten as the Centaur moved closer toward perfection.

To the Moon, Mars and beyond

"Centaur has delivered scientific missions to explore the sun, our Moon, and every planet in our solar system," said Sponnick.



The first operational payloads were Surveyor between 1966 and 1968 that sent a series of landers to touch the surface of the Moon.

Other notable early spacecraft that successfully reached orbit aboard Centaurs were the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory ultraviolet telescope, Mariners 6 and 7 that performed photo reconnaissance flybys of Mars in 1969 and Mariner 9 that became the first spacecraft to enter orbit around another planet -- Mars -- in 1971.

Then came Pioneers 10 and 11 on mankind's first journey to explore the outer solar system, launching from Complex 36 at the Cape in March 1972 and April 1973, respectively. Pioneer 10 made the first-ever close encounter with Jupiter in December 1973 before being flung out on an escape trajectory from our planetary neighborhood. Pioneer 11 also visited Jupiter before continuing on to make the first flyby of Saturn and getting sent on its own escape path.

At the end of 1973, Mariner 10 took off to cruise by Venus and use that planet's gravity as a sling shot to venture further inward in the solar system to become the first craft to visit Mercury.

Besides NASA scientific probes, Centaurs were flying in the early days on communications spacecraft deployment flights for Intelsat, the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization.

Centaurs also married up with Titan boosters as a third stage, propelling the Viking 1 and 2 orbiter/lander combo missions in 1975 for their treks to Mars. The four spacecraft operated in orbit and on the surface from 1976 through the early 1980s, returning more than 50,000 photos from the red planet.

Further exploits to the outer solar system -- Voyagers 1 and 2 -- also rode Centaurs atop their Titan rockets from Cape Canaveral in the summer of 1977. Both visited Jupiter and Saturn, then Voyager 2 continued on a grand tour to fly by Uranus and Neptune.

The planetary legacy of Atlas-Centaur included more Pioneer missions -- 12 and 13 -- that went to orbit Venus in 1978.

Also in 1978, the Navy's first Fleet Satellite Communications System spacecraft -- FLTSATCOM 1 -- was lofted to orbit. That military communications constellation was assembled by Atlas-Centaur vehicles through 1989, becoming the initial generation that eventually would be replaced by the UHF Follow-On program in the 1990s and now the MUOS mobile communications craft beginning with next Thursday's launch.

In more recent years, high-profile missions like Cassini to Saturn, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Mars Science Laboratory, New Horizons to Pluto and Juno to Jupiter have gotten successful starts on Centaur.

The rocket stage even went to the Moon on a crashing experiment to hit a crater in the South Pole to search for evidence of water ice.

Then and now: The evolution of Centaur

Centaurs have come in dual-engine and single-engine versions, serving multiple variants of Atlas and Titan, flying 176 times on Atlas and 23 times on Titan, and even was envisioned for use aboard the space shuttle starting in 1986 for planetary probes, but that plan was scrapped after Challenger.

The first RL10 engine was designed to generate about 15,000 pounds of thrust. Upgrades and advancements to today's RL10A-4-2 used on the Atlas 5 produces 22,300 pounds of thrust to push payloads to Earth orbit and beyond.

The Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne fact sheet has more details on the venerable powerplant.

"The overall Centaur stage architecture (today) is fundamentally the same as the versions flown in the early 60s -- with a thin-walled, less than the thickness of a dime -- stainless steel pressure-stabilized structure that provides the most weight-efficient stage possible, and also the Centaur is still powered by the very reliable and proven RL10 engine," said Sponnick.
 
"All of the components, subsystems, and overall capabilities have evolved dramatically over the last 50 years. The RL10 engine performance has improved substantially and the chamber pressure has doubled. The vacuum-tube based ignition system has been replaced with a solid-state, fault tolerant system. The hydraulic actuators for steering the RL10 engine have been replaced with fault-tolerant electromechanical actuators.

"The Centaur avionics have evolved through numerous generations, with the current system based on an extremely capable 8-processor, fault tolerant, ring laser gyro navigation system and flight computer.

"The Centaur has grown in size, now carrying 50 percent more propellant than the early Centaur vehicles.

"These evolutionary changes over the 5-decade history of the Centaur have made for an increasingly flexible and reliable upper stage that has triple the performance capabilities of the first Centaurs developed and flown by rocket pioneers in the early 1960s," said Sponnick.

Remarkable success rate

After surviving the bumpy road of development in the early days, Centaur has proven to be a dependable booster for space. In the 199 launches over the past 50 years, only 11 Centaurs have failed, and over half of those malfunctions occurred in the 1960s and 70s.

The last outright failure happened on a Titan-Centaur in 1999 when a software error caused the stage to misfire and ruined the mission of an Air Force MILSTAR communications satellite.
 
Nearly half of all Centaur missions have flown in just the past two decades. The Atlas 2 and 3 programs wrote flawless records, amassing 69 launches from the 1990s through 2005, and now the Atlas 5 that has successfully launched 28 times in last 9 years.

"I and many of my coworkers clearly recall the 100th flight of the Centaur in April of 1995. It took 33 years for Centaur to accomplish those first 100 flights. The next 100 Centaur launches have been accomplished in 17 years," said Sponnick.

A big payload for No. 200

Roaring off the launch pad at Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 next Thursday, the Centaur will be shrouded inside the bulbous nose cone of the Atlas 5 rocket for the climb through Earth's atmosphere.

Its chance to perform begins four-and-a-half minutes into flight when the first stage drops away and the RL10 engine fires to life for the first of three burns needed to heave the massive MUOS 1 spacecraft into the proper orbit for the U.S. Navy.

At nearly 15,000 pounds, the satellite is the heaviest payload ever launched by an Atlas rocket. Filled with state-of-the-art 3G cellular telephone technology, MUOS 1 will provide an unprecedented level of capacity for mobile communications to U.S. and allied warfighters on the move.

"The 200th flight of the Centaur is a very big milestone for the ULA team," said Sponnick.

Initially firing for almost 8 minutes, the Centaur will reach a preliminary low-Earth orbit of 90 by 337 nautical miles in altitude, tilted 28 degrees to the equator, to begin the three-step process of achieving the desired orbit.

The rocket will coast briefly while crossing the Atlantic before igniting the main engine a second time just over 20 minutes after liftoff for a six-minute firing to propel MUOS into a highly elliptical transfer orbit of 104 by 18,600 nautical miles inclined 26 degrees.

Then begins a lengthy coast away from the planet in this new orbit for two-and-a-half hours.

Previous Atlas 5 launches to geosynchronous transfer orbit have used just two burns, but MUOS will feature three firings.

"The three burn mission design for MUOS provides 1,000 pounds greater lift capability than a conventional 2-burn geosynchronous transfer orbit," said Sponnick.

One final push nearly two hours and 57 minutes into flight about 15,000 nautical miles over the Indian Ocean will raise the orbit's low point and reduce the inclination closer to the equator. The burn, lasting less than a minute, will deploy the payload into a 1,870 by 19,323 nautical mile orbit at 19 degrees inclination.

"The MUOS 1 mission represents an excellent example of the performance and mission design capabilities of the Centaur," said Sponnick.

"Our customers for this mission asked for a mission design that would launch this very heavy and capable satellite in a manner that would minimize the amount of energy (and propellant) that the satellite would have to consume to position itself into the final geosynchronous orbit. Considering all of the commodities and capabilities of the Centaur, our mission design team developed this three-burn mission profile to provide an optimal solution for the MUOS customer."

MUOS separates from the Centaur three hours and one minute after leaving Cape Canaveral, beginning its 15-year life for the Defense Department. Controllers will spend about three months getting the craft maneuvered into a circular geosynchronous orbit over the equator and checked out before putting it into service.

You can follow Thursday's launch in our Mission Status Center with live journal updates and streaming video.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av030/centaur/

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http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av030/hoisting/

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Atlas launch ground track



http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av030/images/map_full.jpg

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av030/groundtrack.html

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Atlas/MUOS 1 launch timeline

T-00:02.7    Engine Start
The Russian-designed RD-180 main engine is ignited and undergoes checkout prior to launch.

T+00:01.1    Liftoff
The five strap-on solid rocket boosters are lit as the Atlas 5 vehicle, designated AV-030 lifts off and begins a vertical rise away from Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

T+01:44.6    Jettison SRBs
Having burned out of propellant approximately 15 seconds earlier, the spent solid rocket boosters are jettisoned to fall into the Atlantic Ocean. The separation event is staggered with two motors releasing first, then the others about 1.5 seconds later.

T+03:22.2    Nose Cone Jettison
The payload fairing that protected the MUOS 1 spacecraft during launch is separated once heating levels drop to predetermined limits after passage through the atmosphere.

T+03:27.2    Forward Load Reactor Jettison
The Forward Load Reactor deck that supported the payload fairing's structure to Centaur upper stage is released five seconds after the shroud's jettison.

T+04:24.1    Main Engine Cutoff
The RD-180 main engine completes its firing after consuming its kerosene and liquid oxygen fuel supply in the Atlas first stage.

T+04:30.1    Stage Separation
The Common Core Booster first stage of the Atlas 5 rocket separates from the Centaur upper stage. Over the next few seconds, the Centaur engine liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen systems are readied for ignition.

T+04:40.1    Centaur Ignition 1
The Centaur RL10 engine ignites for the first of three upper stage firings. This burn will inject the Centaur stage and MUOS spacecraft into an initial parking orbit.

T+12:21.0    Centaur Cutoff 1
The Centaur engine shuts down after arriving in a planned low-Earth parking orbit of 90 by 337 nautical miles at 28 degrees inclination. The vehicle enters an 8-minute coast period before arriving at the required location in space for the second burn.

T+20:48.9    Centaur Ignition 2
The Centaur re-ignites to accelerate the payload into a highly elliptical transfer orbit from the parking altitude achieved earlier in the launch sequence.

T+26:50.1    Centaur Cutoff 2
At the conclusion of its second firing, the Centaur will have ascending into a 104 by 18,600 nautical mile orbit inclined 26 degrees to begin a two-and-a-half-hour coast.

T+2:56:50.4    Centaur Ignition 3
A final push by Centaur is ignited to raise the orbit's low point and reduce orbital inclination for the MUOS spacecraft.

T+2:57:44.2    Centaur Cutoff 3
The powered phase of flight is concluded as the Centaur, making its 200th launch, reaches the planned geosynchronous transfer orbit of 1,870 by 19,323 nautical miles and 19 degrees inclination.

T+3:01:23.2    Spacecraft Separation
The U.S. Navy's first Mobile User Objective System spacecraft, MUOS 1, is released into orbit from the Centaur upper stage to complete the AV-030 launch.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av030/ascenttimeline.html

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http://www.public.navy.mil/spawar/Press/Pages/MUOS.aspx

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Прибытие на Канаверал (большая картинка): http://www.public.navy.mil/spawar/PublishingImages/image015_SRC.jpg

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http://www.spacenews.com/military/120210-muos-features-lag-initial-craft.html

Fri, 10 February, 2012
Advanced MUOS Features Lag as Initial Craft is Readied for Launch[/size]
By Debra Werner

    SAN FRANCISCO — As the U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin prepare for the planned Feb. 16 launch of the first satellite in a long-overdue military communications constellation, contractors are scrambling to finish developing the waveform that will enable U.S. forces to take advantage of the spacecraft's most advanced features.

    The Mobile User Objective System (MUOS), a constellation of four U.S. Navy spacecraft plus one on-orbit spare, is designed to supplement and eventually replace the existing UHF satellites that provide narrowband capacity for U.S. military personnel operating in remote areas worldwide. Each MUOS satellite will carry two payloads: a payload similar to the one currently flying on each of the Navy's aging UHF Follow-On satellites to provide links to currently deployed user terminals and a second, digital payload designed to offer 10 times the capacity of the legacy satellites.

    "The MUOS constellation will offer significantly improved coverage, capacity and, for the first time, communications on the move for the warfighter," said Mark Pasquale, MUOS program manager for Lockheed Martin Space Systems of Sunnyvale, Calif., prime contractor for the satellites and the MUOS terrestrial network. MUOS satellites will function "basically like a cellphone tower in the sky," Pasquale said. "You can think of the handheld user terminals as robust, rugged smartphones."

    That cellphone-like capability will not be available immediately after launch, however, because General Dynamics C4 Systems, prime contractor for the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) Handheld, Manpack, Small Form Fit program still is developing the waveform that will enable military users to communicate with the MUOS satellites' digital payload. That work is scheduled to be completed next summer. In the meantime, the first MUOS satellite will use its UHF Follow-On payload to augment the Navy's narrowband constellation and provide communications through existing user terminals.

    Government and industry teams are evaluating the performance of a preliminary version of the digital MUOS waveform. During tests in December, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Michael Williamson, the Defense Department's JTRS joint program executive officer, used a General Dynamics PRC-155 radio to send and receive data using a MUOS satellite simulator and a MUOS ground station, Chris Brady, vice president of assured communications for General Dynamics C4 Systems of Scottsdale, Ariz., said in an email.

    The Navy also plans to test the current version of the waveform after the first MUOS spacecraft is launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., into geostationary orbit over the Pacific Ocean, said Steven A. Davis, a spokesman for the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command in San Diego. The spacecraft is scheduled to undergo approximately six months of on-orbit checkout and testing before it becomes operational, Davis said.

    MUOS user terminals are expected to feature the final version of the waveform following the launch of the second MUOS satellite, he added.

    That satellite, which is undergoing thermal vacuum testing at Lockheed Martin's Sunnyvale facility, is scheduled for launch in early 2013. Lockheed Martin has completed construction of the third MUOS spacecraft and is building the fourth and fifth satellites. Each MUOS satellite is scheduled to complete testing and integration approximately one year behind the previous one, Pasquale said.

    With the satellites in production, government and industry officials are anxious to gain access to the digital MUOS waveform because demand for UHF communications far outpaces available supply. The Navy launched 11 UHF Follow-On satellites between 1992 and 2003. The first satellite suffered a launch failure and two additional satellites stopped working in 2005 and 2006. The eight remaining UHF Follow-On satellites are degrading due to age, Navy officials told lawmakers May 11 during a U.S. Senate Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee hearing.

    "The delay in delivery of the MUOS system, coupled with the age and fragility of the current UHF satellite constellation, has our full attention and focus," Rear Adm. David Titley, director of the Navy's space and maritime awareness domain, and John Zangardi, Navy deputy assistant secretary for command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, information operations and space, said in a joint statement.

    To prevent gaps in UHF capacity, the Navy has leased services on Intelsat General's Leasat, the United Kingdom's SkyNet satellites and the Italian defense ministry's Sicral satellite. In addition, the service has repositioned and reprogrammed existing spacecraft to expand capacity. "Currently, the military and commercially leased legacy UHF satellite communications assets exceed warfighter requirements by approximately 111 channels worldwide," Davis said in an email. "Although the unplanned loss of a [UHF Follow-On satellite] before MUOS-1 [is operational] would result in the UFO constellation not meeting its availability requirement, total UHF SATCOM capacity for the warfighter would still be met."

    Former Pentagon officials note, however, that the Navy's published requirement for UHF satellite communications capacity falls far short of actual demand. Demand continues to climb, due largely to the proliferation of unmanned aircraft, while supply remains low, due largely to delays in the MUOS program. The Navy originally planned to launch the first MUOS satellite in late 2009.

    In an attempt to meet high demand, the Senate Armed Services Committee included language in a report accompanying the 2012 Defense Authorization Act calling on the Navy to explore hosted payloads or other options to expand UHF capacity and to deliver to the committee a report on that review "no later than March."

    The Navy already plans to share UHF capacity in the Indian Ocean region on a hosted payload the Australian Defense Force plans to send into orbit in March on Intelsat General's IS-22 commercial communications satellite. In exchange, the Australian Defense Force will share MUOS capacity in the Pacific Ocean region under an agreement signed in April 2010.

    Intelsat plans to fly a copy of that UHF payload on IS-27, a satellite scheduled to launch in December into a slot over the Atlantic Ocean, said Richard DalBello, vice president for legal and government affairs for Intelsat General of Bethesda, Md. While that satellite will be designed primarily to offer television service to Latin America, it also will feature a payload identical to the one on IS-22, so it can support the tens of thousands of UHF terminals deployed around the world, he added.

    "The Navy has not yet agreed to buy any capacity on Intelsat 27," DalBello said in an email. "We hope the government will be supportive so we can make this capability available to the war fighter and our closest allies."

    Mobile satellite services operator Inmarsat also is eager to help the U.S. military augment tactical communications capacity with its Broadband Global Area Network, which provides service to portable terminals. U.S. military forces already use the Broadband Global Area Network, provided by London-based Inmarsat's fleet of L-band satellites, to supplement military tactical communications networks, an Inmarsat official said.[/size]

[instml]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av030/status.html

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2012

The long-range weather outlook for Thursday's sunset sendoff of the Atlas 5 rocket carrying a U.S. Navy mobile communications satellite is calling for an 80 percent chance of favorable conditions.

The 44-minute-long launch window runs from 5:46 to 6:30 p.m. EST, and the only small concern for violating the weather rules during that period is the development of cumulus clouds over Cape Canaveral.

The forecast at launch time includes scattered low and high clouds, a chance of isolated showers in the area, good visibility, southerly winds of 10 to 15 knots and a temperature around 73 degrees F.

"Today, a strong arctic high pressure will continue to move through the central plains introducing gusty northwest winds and cold, dry conditions over Eastern Florida. On Monday, the high pressure will move east of the Carolinas and winds will begin to transition to a northeasterly direction by the afternoon/evening allowing temperatures to warm somewhat but remaining well below average. High pressure dominates the area on Tuesday along with a warmer southeasterly flow," Air Force meteorologists report.

"For MLP roll Wednesday morning, south-southwest winds are expected with gusts in the mid to upper teens. No lightning is expected. A weak cold front pushes through Northern Florida with only a slight chance for showers over the Cape Wednesday afternoon/evening.

"On launch day, a stronger cold front enters the Florida panhandle but conditions over Eastern Florida should remain favorable. Southerly winds gusting into the low teens are expected with only a slight chance of an isolated shower in the area. The primary concerns for launch are cumulus clouds developing as the area becomes slowly unstable in advance of the approaching front in the panhandle."

The odds of acceptable weather on the backup launch date of Friday falls to 60 percent due to the cloud cover from the passing cold front.

"In the event of a 24-hour delay, a cold front is expected to transit the peninsula through launch day with frontal passage expected in the afternoon on Friday," forecasters say. "A threat of showers exists in advance and along the front over Central Florida during the afternoon on Friday. A slight chance of an isolated thunderstorm also exists associated with the front as it transits the area. By launch time winds will be northwesterly gusting in the upper teens/low 20s. The primary concerns for a 24-hour delay are cumulus clouds and thick clouds."

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2012

Members of the launch team gathered for the mission dress rehearsal today at the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center to practice the countdown scripts and procedures to be used during next Thursday's real deal.

An initial run at the final 4-minute phase of the countdown was halted mid-way through to simulate a hold and recycle prior to the pretend 12:20 p.m. launch time.

After demonstrating problem resolution and turning around the countdown for another attempt, clocks were reset for a 12:43 p.m. blastoff. The second run resulted in a successful mock launch.

Activities remain on track for launching the Atlas 5 rocket with MUOS 1 next Thursday from Cape Canaveral at 5:46 p.m. EST (2246 GMT).

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/

Get to know the Atlas 5 rocket launching Thursday[/size]



 Various versions of the Atlas rocket launched earlier constellations of U.S. Navy communications satellites, and now the family's biggest booster will begin deploying a new generation of spacecraft this week. The towering Atlas 5 rocket will be wheeled out to the Cape Canaveral launch pad Wednesday morning in preparation for a sunset blastoff Thursday at 5:46 p.m. EST (2246 GMT).[/size]

[Liss]

NOTAM на этот пуск какой-то чудовищной длины выпустили, аж в восьми частях.

A0179/12 - QWMLW ER OP A8797 EFF 1202161946 THRU 1202170017. THE FOLLOWING AIRSPACE IN USE FOR A MISSILE LAUNCH/SPLASH DOWN. DURING THESE TIMES KZMA ARTCC/OAC, KZNY ARTCC/OAC & TJZS ARTCC/OAC WILL NOT APPROVE IFR FLIGHT WITHIN 45NM OF THE AFFECTED OCEANIC STATIONARY AIRSPACE RESERVATIONS WEST OF 5000W AND 50NM EAST OF 5000W OR WITHIN AFFECTED WARNING AREA AIRSPACE. EFF: 1202161946 THRU 1202162046 W497A WEST OF 8000W. SFC-FL050. EFF: 1202162046 THRU 1202162246 W497A SFC-FL180. EFF: 1202162246 THRU 1202170017 1. FROM 2838N 8034W TO 2838N 8032W TO 2836N 8008W TO 2834N 7945W 2831N 7922W TO 2828N 7904W TO 2825N 7904W TO 2824N 7913W TO 2825N 7927W TO 2829N 8004W TO 2833N 8034W TO BEGINNING. SURFACE TO UNLIMITED. 2. FROM 2839N 7918W TO 2826N 7853W TO 2755N 7856W TO 2810N 7922W TO BEGININNG. SURFACE TO UNLIMITED. 3. FROM 2744N 7134W TO 2707N 6759W TO 2614N 6809W TO 2655N 7147W SURFACE TO UNLIMITED. 4. FROM 2326N 5252W TO 2113N 4559W TO 1944N 4630W TO 2210N 5327W TO BEGINNING. SURFACE TO UNLIMITED. 5. W497A/B R2933 R2934. SURFACE TO UNLIMITED. 6. THAT PORTION OF W157 W158 W159 FROM 2840N 8040W TO 2923N 8040W TO 3000N 7902W TO 3000N 7713W TO 2930N 7818W TO 2920N 7820W TO BEGINNING. SURFACE TO UNLIMITED. IN THE INTEREST OF SAFETY ALL NONPARTICIPATING PILOTS ARE STRONGLY ADVISED TO AVOID THE ABOVE AREAS, EXCEPT AS NOTED BELOW FOR FLIGHT PLAN FILING PURPOSES. THE FOLLOWING RESTRICTIONS WILL BE IN EFFECT WITHIN KZMA KZJX KZNY TJZS FIRS. ALL SOUTHBOUND AR3, AR6, AR15, AR16, AR17, AR18, AR19, AR21, AR22, AR23, AR24, AND ALL OTHER TRAFFIC RALT MUST BE ESTIMATED TO CLEAR W497A/B, THE ABOVE PORTIONS OF W157/158 AND OCEANIC ALTRV(S) AT OR BEFORE 1202162241. NORTHBOUND JET TRAFFIC DEPARTING SO FLA ARPTS FILED AR ROUTES WILL BE REROUTED AFTER 1202162156. TURBOPROP/PROPS REQUIRE ADDITIONAL TIME. ATC WILL ISSUE FLOW RESTRICTIONS FOR DOMESTIC REROUTES TO AVOID AIRSPACE IN USE. THE FOLLOWING INTERNATIONAL ROUTES WILL BE IMPACTED: AR3, AR6, AR15, AR16, AR17, AR18, AR19, AR21, AR22, AR23, AR24, A699, BR62V, BR65V, G446, L435, L452, L453, L454, L455, L456, L463, M201, M202, M203, M204, M327, M329, M330, M331, M593, M595 AND Y585. BECAUSE OF THE INDEFINITE OPENING TIME, SOME AIRLINE OPERATIONS ARE REROUTING FLIGHTS UNNECESSARILY. ALL FLIGHTS WITH ROUTES THAT WOULD NORMALLY TRANSIT THROUGH OCEANIC OPERATIONAL AREAS DURING OPERATION WINDOW 1202162246 THRU 1202170017 SHOULD FILE THEIR NORMAL ROUTE BUT PLAN ON RECEIVING REROUTE FROM ATC. CENTERS WILL REROUTE ONLY THOSE FLIGHTS NECESSARY TO CLEAR THE AFFECTED AREAS WHILE THEY ARE IN USE. INTERNATIONAL REROUTES ARE AS FOLLOWS: FOR MYNN/MYGF REQUEST SOUTHBOUND TFC DEST MYNN VIA ILM AR15 BAHAA DCT OMN J79 VRB DCT PBI BR63V. FOR MYNN/MYGF REQUEST NORTHBOUND TFC DCT PBI DCT ORL DCT OMN DCTBAHAA DCT LANIE AR18 DIW OR DCT EMCEE AR16 ILM THEN AS FILED. SOUTHBOUND OVERFLIGHT TRAFFIC TO OVER ZBV CAN EXPECT ROUTING O/ILM AR15 BAHAA DCT OMN J79 PBI DCT ZBV THEN AS FILED. NORTHBOUND OVERFLIGHT TRAFFIC FROM OVER ZBV CAN EXPECT ROUTING VIA DCT VKZ DCT ORL DCT OMN DCT BAHAA DCT LANIE AR18 DIW OR DCT EMCEE AR16 ILM THEN AS FILED. AR3 NO. BND: EXPECT ZQA DCT ZBV DCT FLL DCT ORL DCT OMN DCT BAHAA M201 PERIE AR3. SO. BND: EXPECT O/CLB G446 PERIE M201 BAHAA DCT OMN J79 VRB J45 BLUFI DCT ZFP DCT ZQA AR6 CLOSED AR15 CLOSED AR16 EXPECT J53 ORL DCT OMN DCT BAHAA DCT EMCEE AR16 AR17 EXPECT BAHAA DCT OMN J79 PBI DCT VKZ AR18 EXPECT J53 ORL DCT OMN DCT BAHAA DCT LANIE AR18 AR19 EXPECT AR19 JENKS DCT BAHAA DCT OMN J79 VRB CAYSL/TUXXI/FRWAY ARVLAR21 EXPECT AR21 BAHAA DCT OMN J79 VRB FISEL/GISSH ARVL AR22 EXPECT AR22 JENKS DCT BAHAA DCT OMN J79 VRB ANNEY/HILEY ARVL AR23 NO.BND: EXPECT URSUS A509 DHP J53 ORL DCT OMN DCT BAHAA DCT LANIE AR23 SO. BND: EXPECT AR23 LANIE DCT BAHAA DCT OMN J79 PBI DCT URSUS AR24 NO. BND: EXPECT URSUS A509 DHP J53 ORL DCT OMN DCT BAHAA DCT LANIE AR18 DIW SO. BND: EXPECT DIW AR19 JENKS DCT BAHAA DCT OMN J79 PBI DCT URSUS A699 SEE M204 OR M327 BR1L EXPECT ZFP DCT PBI THEN INLAND RTES AND REVERSE BR62V EXPECT ZFP BR63V PBI THEN INLAND RTES AND REVERSE BR65V CLOSED NORTH OF ZFP G446 NO. BND: EXPECT O/GTK A555 ZBV DCT VKZ DCT ORL DCT OMN DCT BAHAA M201 PERIE G446 SO. BND: EXPECT O/CLB G446 PERIE M201 BAHAA DCT OMN J79 VRB J45 BLUFI DCT ZFP BR1L GTK L435 USE L435 FIVZE DCT 2130N 5530W DCT BUTUX AND REVERSE. L452 USE L451 AND REVERSE. L453 USE L451 AND REVERSE. L454 USE L451 AND REVERSE. L455 USE L459 AND REVERSE. L456 USE L459 AND REVERSE. L463 NO. BND: EXPECT BTLER A555 ZBV DCT VKZ DCT ORL DCT OMN DCT BAHAA M201 PERIE G446 SO. BND: EXPECT O/CLB G446 PERIE M201 BAHAA OMN J79 VRB J45 BLUFI ZFP BR1L BRRGO L463 M201 NO. BND: EXPECT ORL DCT OMN DCT BAHAA M201 SO. BND: EXPECT M201 BAHAA DCT OMN J79 VRB STAR ARVL M202 NO. BND: EXPECT ORL DCT OMN DCT BAHAA DCT PERIE DCT JAINS DCT 3131N 7549W DCT OMALA M202SO. BND: EXPECT M202 OMALA DCT 3131N 7549W DCT JAINS DCT PERIE DCT BAHAA DCT OMN J79 VRB STAR ARVL. M203 NO. BND: EXPECT ORL DCT OMN DCT BAHAA DCT PERIE DCT JAINS DCT 3131N 7549W DCT LEXIM M203. SO. BND: EXPECT M203 LEXIM DCT 3131N 7549W DCT JAINS DCT PERIE BAHAA DCT OMN J79 VRB STAR ARVL. M204 NO. BND: EXPECT ORL DCT OMN DCT BAHAA DCT PERIE DCT JAINS DCT 3131N 7549W DCT LEXIM DCT ALOBI M204. SO. BND: EXPECT M204 ALOBI DCT LEXIM 3131N 7549W DCT JAINS DCT PERIE DCT BAHAA DCT OMN J79 VRB STAR ARVL. M329 USE M328 AND REVERSE. M330 USE M328 AND REVERSE. M331 USE M328 AND REVERSE. M593 EXPECT DYNAH/TANIA DCT HODGY DCT SMTTY DCT MLLER M594 AND REVERSE. M595 EXPECT ENAMO/ERRCA DCT MLLER DCT AYTTE AND REVERSE. SO. BND: EXPECT OMN J79 VRB J45 BLUFI DCT ZFP BR1L BRRGO DCT RENAH Y585. NO. BND: UTAHS R507 GTK A555 ZQA DCT FLL DCT ORL. SURFACE - UNL) END PART 8 OF 8, SEE TEXT, 16 FEB 19:46 2012 UNTIL 17 FEB 00:17 2012. CREATED: 14 FEB 16:30 2012

[G.K.]

NOTAM на этот пуск какой-то чудовищной длины выпустили, аж в восьми частях.
...

:shock: чудище какое. А что про морские дела известно?
В Daily Memorandum пока пусто...