O3b Networks (4 sats) - 25.06.2013 - Soyuz-STB/Fregat - Куру

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начало 2013 - O3b Networks (4 sats) - Soyuz-STB / Fregat - Куру

Одним Союзом из Куру планируется вывести сразу 4 спутника на экзотическую орбиту (8100 km * 8100 km, 0 градусов).

_________

http://novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/forum/messages/forum14/topic9743/message1021743/#message1021743

Planned launches
 
Date - Satellite(s) - Rocket - Launch Site - Time (UTC)
 
2013
May 29 - O3b (4 sats) - Soyuz-STB/Fregat-MT (VS05)

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O3b Networks Setting Sail with Cruise Ship Contract

PARIS — Startup satellite broadband provider O3b Networks will deliver 500 megabits per second of Ka-band broadband connectivity to the world's largest cruise ship under a contract expected to be announced June 23.

In the latest demonstration of the growing appeal of the maritime sector for satellite fleet operators whose core business is elsewhere, O3b is signing a five-year contract with Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. to provide bandwidth to the Oasis of the Seas starting in mid-2013. The ship, whose itinerary is limited to the Caribbean, has capacity for 8,000 crew and passengers.

O3b, based in Britain's Channel Islands, is building a unique satellite infrastructure that features satellites in 8,100-kilometer equatorial orbits that provide Ka-band bandwidth to telecommunications operators and other corporate customers located between 45 degrees north and 45 degrees south of the equator.

Backed by SES of Luxembourg, a major fixed satellite services fleet operator, O3b has 12 satellites under construction by Thales Alenia Space of Cannes, France.

O3B Networks will provide bandwidth to the world's largest cruise ship, Royal Carribean's Oasis of the Seas. Credit: Roya lCarribean photo

The satellites are scheduled for launch starting in early 2013, when four spacecraft are set to be orbited by a Europeanized version of Russia's Soyuz rocket operated from Europe's Guiana Space Center on South America's northeast coast. A second group of four satellites is set for launch on a Soyuz between April and June of next year, forming the core network of eight spacecraft. With these eight satellites, O3b expects to start commercial service by September. A third group of four satellites is scheduled for launch in 2014.

Operating in low Earth orbit, O3b's satellites drift over their 600-kilometer-diameter coverage areas, requiring tracking antennas to switch to each succeeding satellite as it passes overhead.

Given this network architecture, O3b's capacity over the oceans in its coverage area would be fully available for maritime users. The alternative is that they fly empty for the part of their orbit.

Each satellite has 10 beams, each capable of handling 600 megabits per second of bandwidth downlink and 600 megabits per second uplink.

O3b Chief Executive Steve Collar, in an interview, said the O3b satellites can offer maritime customers a multiple of the bandwidth they could get from competing satellite systems in Ka- or Ku-band.

Collar said his company is positioning itself as an alternative for that portion of the maritime market that needs real broadband. For the moment, he said, O3b is focusing on cruise ships and mega-yachts.

"The cruise ship industry today is lacking in broadband," Collar said. "We can offer the part of the market seeking high-end connections. We are thinking of a market that is between 30 and 40 vessels in this class. We are also targeting the oil and gas sector. Today there is no good existing solution for seismic operations and we can address that market. The same is true for [maritime] government applications, which have a similar demand for broadband."

Hardly a week has passed in recent months without a satellite industry consultancy, a satellite fleet operator or a manufacturer of satellite ground gear pointing to growing demand for broadband among maritime customers.

Those already in the maritime market, such as mobile services operator Inmarsat of London and Telenor of Norway, are adding Ka-band capacity to their fleets to provide increased bandwidth.

Those historically out of the maritime market, such as fleet operators SES, Intelsat of Luxembourg and Washington, Eutelsat of Paris and Telesat of Canada, are tinkering with their fleets to capture maritime customers.

Collar said none of them can offer the throughput of O3b with the low latency — the speed of the signal's round trip between the satellite and the user — that O3b's low-orbiting satellites can provide. The relative merits of low orbit versus geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometers over the equator for voice transmissions and certain Internet applications are regularly debated in the satellite telecommunications industry.

Once its O3b service begins, Royal Caribbean will be able to conduct a side-by-side comparison of O3b's Ka-band offer with a competing Ku-band service the cruise company has installed on other vessels. The Oasis of the Seas will be outfitted with three 2.2-meter tracking antennas to communicate with the O3b satellites.

http://www.spacenews.com/satellite_telecom/120622-o3b-cruise-ship-contract.html

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The O3b satellites of Jersey, Channel Islands based O3b Networks Limited will offer low latency Internet backhaul to emerging markets and developing countries worldwide at speeds up to 10 Gbps with a combined total capacity in excess of 160 Gbps. Thales Alenia Space started design activities under contract in 2007 and has received Authorization To Proceed (ATP) with the construction phase of the project. The delivery of the initial satellites and service activation are scheduled for late 2010.

O3b Networks recently announced the new satellite network with support and funding from Google, Inc, Liberty Global, Inc., and HSBC Principal Investments. Bridging the gap between current satellites and fiber optic cables, O3b Networks will provide fiber-like trunking capacity to telecom operators and backhaul directly to 3G Cellular and WiMAX towers.

The space vehicle is designed, integrated and tested, by Thales Alenia Space. Leveraging the heritage redundant service module design and manufactured utilizing an innovative island production approach. The unique payload system design enables flexibility of antenna usage and graceful degradation. The first eight space vehicles were planned be in orbit by 4th quarter, 2010, but were delayed to 2013.

The Ka-Band payload is designed to enable the high speed flow of data between locations on the ground. Twelve fully steerable antennas ensure an optimized connection to the area where data is needed. The payload portion uses existing Ka-Band repeater technology to allow for straightforward allocation of the bandwidth anywhere within the 500 km diameter area on the ground which is illuminated.

The flexible configuration of the satellite allows for inter-antenna data transfer in a variety of ways. Thus, trunking between two points is simple, or trunking between many points is also possible. The steerable antennas can be moved onto a location in minutes and each provide up to 1.25 Gbps of throughput.

The service module provides platform three axis pointing stabilization. The 3-axis control is provided by a combination reaction wheels, torque rods and reaction engine assemblies. Attitude determination is provided by earth and fine sun sensors in conjunction with an inertial measurement unit. A GPS Navigation Unit provides orbit position. Power is supplied by two gallium arsenide solar arrays and a Li-Ion battery.

Thales Alenia Space announced in September 2008 it has started construction of 16 of its Low Earth Orbit communications satellites with options for additional spacecraft. In November 2011, four more satellites were ordered to be launched in 2014.

The satellites were originally to be launched on Zenit-3SL (2) boosters, but changed in 2009 to Soyuz-2-1b Fregat boosters.



O3b [Thales Alenia]

Nation:    UK (Channel Islands)
Type / Application:    Communication
Operator:    O3b Neworks Ltd.
Contractors:    Thales Alenia Space
Equipment:    Ka-Band payload
Configuration:    mod. Proteus Bus
Propulsion:    
Power:    2 deployable solar arrays, batteries
Lifetime:    10 years
Mass:    700 kg
Orbit:    7825 km, 0°

http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/o3b.htm

[G.K.]

экзотическую орбиту (8100 km * 8100 km, 0 градусов).

7825 km, 0°

И кто прав?

[instml]

А велика ли разница? :wink: Одна орбита может быть начальной, другая - рабочей, как у Иридиумов. Ближе к 2013 узнаем.

[phobos24]

началась подготовка. Забаньте меня, Пожалуйста!
И Я ПОЙДУ ОТДЫХАТЬ!!!!!

[anik]

phobos24, очень жаль Вас потерять. Для начала - отдых на неделю. Захотите больше - продлю.

[Сергио]

а я Royal Carribean и остальной Norwegian Cruise Line агентировал  

[Salo]

В марте.

[Salo]

В конце весны.

[instml]

http://novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/forum/messages/forum14/topic9743/message1021743/#message1021743

Planned launches
 
Date - Satellite(s) - Rocket - Launch Site - Time (UTC)
 
2013
May 29 - O3b (4 sats) - Soyuz-STB/Fregat-MT (VS05)

[Salo]

anik пишет:
http://www.spacenews.com/new-atv-launch-date-has-implications-for-o3b

"Brian Holz, O3b's chief technical officer, said here March 27 that the first four 700-kilogram O3b satellites are now on track to be shipped by Antonov aircraft to the launch base April 9, arriving April 10. Testing at the site could have all four ready for placement in a Soyuz rocket May 26 or May 27, he said"

"Alberto Novelli, ATV mission manager at the 20-nation European Space Agency (ESA), said in a March 27 interview that the Arianespace launch consortium, which manages the French Guiana manifest, confirmed a June 5 launch date aboard an Ariane 5. Reconfiguring the down-range radars following an Ariane 5 launch on June 5 would likely push O3b's launch to late June"

"Holz said he is holding out some hope that the ATV launch date could be pushed out a few days, leaving O3b time to launch in late May and then give the necessary 15 to 20 days to prepare for a mid-June ATV launch"

[Salo]

Поскольку запуск ATV-4 назначили на 5 июня, то сабж скорее всего уходит на конец июня.

[anik]

Salo пишет:
Поскольку запуск ATV-4 назначили на 5 июня, то сабж скорее всего уходит на конец июня.

Так и есть: 24 июня в 22:53:51 ЛМВ.

[Salo]

http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/AW_04_01_2013_p30-563904.xml&p=1

O3b Providing Broadband To Developing Countries
April 01, 2013


Credit: O3B Networks

Amy Svitak Paris

In 2007, when O3b Networks began planning a Ka-band satellite constellation orbiting at the unlikely altitude of 8,069 km (5,000 mi.) over the equator, the startup fleet operator was hoping to bring high-speed Internet to emerging markets in underdeveloped parts of the planet—the so-called "other three billion" for which the company is named.

Спойлер

While most telecommunications satellites operate fr om a fixed point in geostationary orbit 36,000 km above the equator, O3b is banking on the nearness of medium Earth orbit to reduce network latency—the lag users experience when loading a web page.

"The driver behind the orbital altitude is to achieve a roundtrip latency of less than 150 milliseconds, which is the typical user experience on the Internet," says Brian Holz, O3b's chief technical officer.

Designed with a coverage area that falls between 45 deg. north and south of the equator, the constellation's architecture will use 10 steerable Ka-band spot beams on each spacecraft to communicate with a ground segment that will require users to install tracking antennas capable of following the orbiting satellites, handing off from one to another as they pass slowly overhead.

Holz says the company is installing eight teleports around the globe, with a network operations center in Virginia and a satellite operations center in Luxembourg.

"We're investing in our ground terminals, including 1.8-meter and 2.4-meter antennas built by General Dynamics and a 4.5-meter system and 7.3-meter system available from ViaSat," he says, adding that Comtech is providing modems tailored to support mobile backhaul while Gilat will supply networking hubs and O3b customer modems.

Despite the inherent risk in O3b's unorthodox approach to the system architecture—most communications satellites in geostationary orbit use fixed antennas that need little in the way of maintenance and repair—the concept has drawn the attention of SES, the world's second largest satellite fleet operator in terms of revenue. SES is now a major investor in the initial constellation, which has grown from eight to 12 satellites as a result of the additional financial backing.

Last year O3b, which is based in Britain's Channel Islands, booked nine customers, including an 8,000-passenger cruise liner owned by Royal Caribbean, on which it will train an entire 700-km-dia. spot beam. This year, in the first quarter alone, the startup has already booked seven new customers and is drawing interest from government and military markets.

"We have 10 steerable spot beams and we can lay that coverage down pretty much anywhere globally," Holz says. "Our Royal Caribbean service is going to put 400 mbps to one ship. The U.S. Navy, for example, definitely does not have that capability, and we're one of the only operators that can provide it."

O3b expects to launch the 12-satellite constellation in batches of four by early 2014, with the first tranche expected to orbit atop a Soyuz rocket to be launched May 27 from Europe's French Guiana spaceport in Kourou. That date may slip several weeks due to the spaceport's crowded manifest, which includes an early June launch of Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) to the International Space Station (ISS).

Holz says O3b is licensed for 24 satellites, the first 12 of which are being built by Thales Alenia Space of France and Italy. The initial constellation, including 12 700-kg (1,543-lb.) spacecraft, plus launch, insurance and the associated ground segment, will cost $1.4 billion. Holz says the first eight satellites should produce $250 million in annual revenue once they become operational later this year.

If all goes according to plan, O3b expects to organize a competition for eight more satellites beginning in the first quarter of 2014, though he says the company is pleased with Thales Alenia Space's work to date.

"They have a good capability in this class of satellite, and a good value proposition to us," he says.

The Cannes, France-based company is developing a new EliteBus platform that incorporates the best elements of the O3b development with those of similarly-sized satellites Thales Alenia Space is building for Covington, La.-based startup GlobalStar and fleet operator Iridium, resulting in production savings the company says will be passed on to customers.

"EliteBus is for telecom and Earth observation, and we are now in discussions with some customers in the U.S., and elsewh ere, to use this competitively priced platform," says Thales Alenia Space President and CEO Jean-Loic Galle.

Galle says the company plans to pitch the EliteBus platform to the French defense ministry, which is considering development of an operational signals intelligence constellation of three spacecraft known as Ceres. Thales Alenia Space would provide the platform and payload, while EADS Astrium Satellites would serve as integrator.

[свернуть]

[Salo]

http://www.arianespace.com/news-mission-update/2013/1034.asp

The dawn of a new era in connectivity: O3b Networks' first four satellites arrive for the next Arianespace Soyuz launch

April 25, 2013 – Soyuz Flight VS05

The initial four O3b spacecraft to be launched by Arianespace on Soyuz have arrived in French Guiana, taking the global satellite operator one step closer to its goal of deploying a next-generation network that provides emerging market customers with access to fast, flexible and affordable connectivity.

These satellites are now in the Spaceport's S1 payload processing facility near the city of Kourou, having been transferred by road after arriving aboard a chartered Antonov An-124 cargo jetliner at Cayenne's Félix Eboué airport earlier in the week.

"It is beautiful day in Kourou," Bob Morris, O3b Networks' Vice President of Space Systems, wrote in the company's blog after the spacecraft were delivered.

Arianespace's Soyuz mission for O3b is scheduled for June, marking the medium-lift vehicle's fifth flight from French Guiana since its 2011 introduction at the equatorial launch site.

O3b's Ka-band satellites were built by prime contractor Thales Alenia Space, and are to be positioned at a medium-orbit altitude of approximately 8,060 km. – offering high speed, low cost, low-latency Internet and telecommunications services to emerging markets. In addition to the first batch of spacecraft lofted by the upcoming Soyuz mission in June, another Arianespace flight is scheduled to obit four more later this year, followed by an additional four in 2014.


Two of O3b's four satellites delivered to French Guiana are unloaded in their protective shipping containers from the An-124 cargo jetliner.


All four spacecraft are ready for the convoy from Cayenne's Félix Eboué airport to the Spaceport.

[Salo]

http://www.arianespace.com/news-mission-update/2013/1035.asp

Arianespace's launcher cadence continues with four missions being prepared for Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega

April 26, 2013 – Arianespace Flights VA214, VA213, VS05 and VV02
...
Also part of the launcher family activity currently underway are preparations for the fifth medium-lift Soyuz mission from French Guiana.  Scheduled for June, Flight VS05 will carry four satellites for O3b Networks, which will initiate the creation of a spacecraft constellation to provide fast, flexible and affordable connectivity for emerging market customers.

The four O3b satellites were delivered to French Guiana this week, while launcher preparations for Flight VS05 include the checkout of Soyuz' Fregat upper stage in the Spaceport's launch zone dedicated to operations of this Russian-developed vehicle.
...

[Salo]

http://www.arianespace.com/news-mission-update/2013/1036.asp

Checkout is underway with O3b Networks' four satellites to be orbited on the next Arianespace Soyuz launch

April 29, 2013 – Soyuz Flight VS05

The first four satellites to serve O3b Networks in providing emerging market connectivity worldwide have entered their checkout phase at the Spaceport, readying them for a June flight on Arianespace's fifth mission from French Guiana with its medium-lift Soyuz launcher.

These satellites are now inside the Spaceport's S1A clean room facility, and have been removed from the shipping containers that protected them during a trans-Atlantic cargo jetliner flight from Europe to the equatorial launch site.

The spacecraft have a trapezoidal-shaped main body to facilitate their integration on the payload dispenser system to be utilized on the upcoming Soyuz mission.  Operating in Ka-band, the Thales Alenia Space-built satellites will be positioned at a medium-orbit altitude of 8,063 km. – offering high-speed, low-cost, low-latency Internet and telecommunications services for O3b customers in emerging markets.

In addition to the first batch of O3b spacecraft to be lofted by the Soyuz mission in June, another Arianespace flight is scheduled to orbit four more later this year for the company, followed by an additional four in 2014.

As checkout of the O3b satellites gains momentum, activity also is underway in the Spaceport's northwestern sector to ready their Soyuz vehicle and its ELS launch site for the upcoming mission – which is designated Flight VS05 in Arianespace's launcher family numbering system. This includes preparations with the Fregat upper stage in Soyuz' MiK launcher assembly building, as well as routine launch pad maintenance that is performed between missions.

Arianespace has conducted four Soyuz launches to date from French Guiana, beginning with the workhorse medium-lift vehicle's historic inaugural Flight VS01 at the Spaceport in October 2011 – which orbited two Galileo IOV (In-Orbit Validation) navigation satellites for Europe.  It was followed by Flight VS02 in December 2011, carrying a mixed payload of France's Pléiades 1A dual-use imaging platform, the Chilean SSOT observation satellite and four French ELISA micro-satellite demonstrators.  Flight VS03 was performed in October 2012 with two more Galileo IOV spacecraft, and Flight VS04 occurred in December 2012 to deploy the Pléiades 1B payload.

Soyuz is part of Arianespace's three-member launcher family, which also includes the heavy-lift Ariane 5 and lightweight Vega – which are operated side-by-side at the Spaceport.  With this inventory, Arianespace is the world's only launch services provider today that is capable of launching all types of payloads to all orbits – from the smallest institutional and scientific spacecraft to the largest geostationary telecommunications platforms, along with satellite clusters for constellations and resupply vessels to support the International Space Station.



The four O3b satellites are shown at the Spaceport during their removal from the shipping containers that protected them during shipment from Thales Alenia Space in Italy to French Guiana.

[Salo]

http://www.arianespace.com/news-mission-update/2013/1046.asp

O3b Networks' initial satellite is fueled for Arianespace's upcoming Soyuz launch fr om the Spaceport
 
May 15, 2013 – Soyuz Flight VS05
The first Arianespace Soyuz mission for O3b Networks has moved into its next phase of preparations at the Spaceport, as fueling is now underway with the global satellite services provider's spacecraft that will provide connectivity for emerging markets worldwide.

This upcoming medium-lift Soyuz launch – designated Flight VS05 in Arianespace's launcher family numbering system – will orbit four O3b Networks spacecraft during a June mission from French Guiana.
 
 Fueling was initiated with FM4 (Flight Model 4) in the launch site's S5 payload preparation building, wh ere the satellite was transferred after verification of its platform and payload during activity in the separate S1B clean room facility at the Spaceport.
 
 O3b Networks' other three satellites will follow in the fueling process, enabling them to be integrated on a dispenser system that is to deploy the cluster of spacecraft during Arianespace's Soyuz flight.
 
 Built by Thales Alenia Space, these spacecraft are to operate in Ka-band at a medium-orbit altitude of 8,063 km. – offering high-speed, low-cost, low-latency Internet and telecommunications services for O3b customers in emerging markets.  The satellites have a trapezoidal-shaped main body that facilitates their integration on the Soyuz payload dispenser system. 
 
 In addition to the first batch of four O3b spacecraft for the upcoming Soyuz mission, another Arianespace flight is scheduled to orbit four more later this year, followed by an additional four in 2014.
 The June mission will be Arianespace's fifth Soyuz liftoff from the Spaceport since this workhorse medium-lift vehicle was introduced at French Guiana in October 2011.  Soyuz is part of the company's complete launcher family, which also includes the heavyweight Ariane 5 and light-lift Vega.


 The FM4 satellite for O3b Networks is readied for fueling in the Spaceport's S5 payload preparation facility.

[Salo]

http://www.arianespace.com/news-mission-update/2013/1047.asp

Readying Arianespace's first mission for O3b Networks: Launcher and payload integration are underway at the Spaceport
 
 May 20, 2013 – Soyuz Flight VS05
 
Preparations for Arianespace's next Soyuz flight are in full swing at multiple locations across the Spaceport, including the start-up of satellite installation in the S5 payload preparation center, and initiation of launcher build-up within the ELS launch site's MIK integration building.
 
 At the Spaceport's main base area, the first of four O3b Networks satellites to be orbited on the June 24 mission is now mounted on the payload dispenser for Soyuz.  During activity in one of the S5 building's clean rooms, this trapezoidal-shaped spacecraft was fitted to the tube-shaped dispenser system's upper and lower attach points.  It will be followed by a clustering of the remaining three spacecraft around the tube, enabling the completed dispenser to be positioned atop Soyuz' Fregat upper stage and encapsulated inside the payload fairing – creating the launcher's "upper composite."
In parallel, the Soyuz is taking shape at the ELS launch site's MIK launcher integration building as the upper and lower sections of its core second stage were aligned for mating on horizontal jigs positioned in the floor-level rail system.  This activity clears the way for installation of the launcher's four first-stage boosters around the core stage.  Once the integration process is completed with the Soyuz' centerline third stage, the vehicle will be rolled out to the launch pad and raised to the vertical position – wh ere its upper composite is to be installed.
 Arianespace's upcoming launch will be the fifth Soyuz mission fr om French Guiana since the workhorse medium-lift vehicle's historic Spaceport introduction in October 2011.  The June 24 flight is designated VS05 in Arianespace's launcher family numbering system, with Soyuz joining the heavyweight Ariane 5 and light-lift Vega in side-by-side operations at the near-equatorial launch site.


The Soyuz launcher's core stage for Arianespace Flight VS05 is shown in the Spaceport's MIK launcher integration building, wh ere assembly of the workhorse medium-lift vehicle is underway for a mission to orbit four O3b Networks satellites on June 24.


O3b Networks' first satellite has been integrated on the dispenser system that will deploy four spacecraft during the upcoming Arianespace mission fr om French Guiana.