MUOS-4 – Atlas V 551 (AV-056) – Канаверал SLC-41 - 02.09.2015 10:18 UTC

[Salo]

http://spacenews.com/u-s-navys-muos-4-shipped-for-august-launch/

U.S. Navy's MUOS-4 Shipped for August Launch
by Jonathan Charlton — July 1, 2015

MUOS-4 hangs above its shipping container. Credit: Lockheed Martin 
 
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy's fourth Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) communications satellite arrived at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, in preparation for a scheduled August launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket.
The satellite is the penultimate in the geostationary-orbiting MUOS series, designed to provide smartphone-like communications to U.S. forces across the globe, including in challenging environments such as beneath forest canopies. Lockheed Martin Space Systems of Sunnyvale, California, is the prime contractor.
"MUOS allows troops all over the world to talk, text and share mission data seamlessly, while traveling, like a cellular network, without having to worry about where they are in relation to a satellite," Iris Bombelyn, Lockheed Martin's vice president for narrowband communications, said in a prepared statement. "MUOS-4 will complete our near global coverage, reaching further north and south toward the poles than ever before."

MUOS-4 preps for shipment to Cape Canaveral for launch. Credit: Lockheed Martin

The first three MUOS satellites launched between 2012 and this past January. After MUOS-4 launches, Lockheed Martin expects the full network to be operational by the end of the year. An on-orbit spare satellite, MUOS-5, is scheduled to launch in 2016.
According to the Government Accountability Office, the MUOS program will cost about $7.4 billion. The initial constellation provides mobile service 10 times faster than legacy systems and is expected to operate through 2025.
Lockheed Martin says all four MUOS ground stations are built, and that about 55,000 currently fielded radio terminals can be upgraded for MUOS-compatibility.
Astrotech Space Operations, a Lockheed Martin subsidiary, will conduct MUOS-4's pre-launch processing before the satellite launches.

[Salo]

http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/07/09/air-force-satellite-joined-to-delta-4-rocket-for-july-22-launch/

Air Force communications satellite joined to Delta 4 for July 22 launch       
Posted on July 9, 2015 by Justin Ray

File photo of WGS satellite being mated to Delta 4. Credit: ULA
 
CAPE CANAVERAL — For the second time this week, United Launch Alliance has delivered an Air Force payload to one of its Cape Canaveral pads for liftoff in July.
On Monday, crews mounted the next Global Positioning System satellite atop an Atlas 5 rocket for blastoff July 15.
On Wednesday, it was the Wideband Global SATCOM satellite No. 7 being transported to Complex 37 and attached to a Delta 4 rocket for launch July 22. Liftoff is scheduled for 8:07 p.m. EDT.
They will be ULA's 97th and 98th launches, respectively.
WGS 7 will be boosted into a super-synchronous transfer orbit more than 36,000 nautical miles high during the launch of the Delta 4 Medium+ (5,4) configured rocket with four strap-on solids.
WGS is the Department of Defense's highest capacity communications satellite system. The satellites provide the needed capacity, coverage and connectivity in support of demanding operational scenarios for the Pentagon and allied forces around the world.
WGS 7 is a Block 2 Follow-On spacecraft built by The Boeing Co. It has the same features as the earlier WGS 5 and WGS 6 satellites, according to the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center.
"The most notable upgrade is that WGS 7 will allow up to 17 percent additional bandwidth," the Air Force said.
The new bird is expected to enter service fr om geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles above the equator in December or January.
The WGS 7 satellite is valued at $566 million.
Already shrouded in the launcher's 47-foot-tall, 17-foot-diameter composite nose cone, the spacecraft was hauled to the Delta 4 launch pad and hoisted atop the upper stage Wednesday.
The fully assembled rocket stands 217 feet tall.
The satellite was flown to Florida at the end of May from Boeing's manufacturing facility in El Segundo, California. After arriving, it was taken to the commercial Astrotech processing facility to undergo pre-flight preps.
Final testing, loading of maneuvering propellant and encapsulation in the rocket's nose cone was accomplished with the satellite.
On Wednesday, a convoy hauled the 13,000-pound satellite from Titusville, through the Kennedy Space Center and over to Complex 37 wh ere the Delta had been awaiting since the end of May.

See our earlier launch coverage.

[che wi]

Atlas V to Launch the Fourth Mobile User Objective System (MUOS-4)
http://www.ulalaunch.com/

Rocket/Payload: An Atlas V 551 will launch the Navy's fourth Mobile User Objective System (MUOS-4) satellite.

Date/Site/Launch Time: Monday, Aug. 31, 2015, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

Mission Description: The Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) is a next-generation narrowband tactical satellite communications system designed to significantly improve ground communications for U.S. forces on the move. MUOS will provide military users 10 times more communications capability over existing systems, including simultaneous voice, video and data, leveraging 3G mobile communications technology.

Launch Notes: MUOS-4 will mark the 56th Atlas V since the vehicle's inaugural launch in August 2002 and the sixth in the 551 configuration. Previous missions launched on Atlas V 551 missions include three MUOS missions as well as the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Juno mission to Jupiter.

[Salo]

http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/07/31/atlas-5-team-begins-stacking-most-powerful-variant-for-navy-launch/

Atlas 5 team begins stacking most powerful variant for Navy launch       
Posted on July 31, 2015 by Justin Ray

The mission poster. Credit: ULA
 
CAPE CANAVERAL — Continuing a run of military satellite deployments this summer, United Launch Alliance has begun stacking the Atlas 5 rocket that will boost the Navy's next mobile communications craft.
The 15,000-pound Mobile User Objective System satellite No. 4 is scheduled for launch atop the most-powerful version of the Atlas-Centaur rocket on Aug. 31 fr om Cape Canaveral.
Liftoff will occur some time during an unclassified, four-hour period of 4:07 to 8:07 a.m. EDT. The actual target launch time within that period will be announced closer to the liftoff date.
The mission follows successful launches of the Global Positioning System 2F-10 navigation satellite on July 15 by another Atlas 5 and the Air Force's Wideband Global SATCOM satellite No. 7 by a Delta 4 rocket on July 23.
This will be the second Atlas launch for the Navy this year, following MUOS No. 3 on Jan. 20 to cover the Atlantic Ocean region. MUOS 1 was launched Feb. 24, 2012 aboard an Atlas 5 and serves as the Pacific Ocean satellite. MUOS 2 launched July 19, 2013 aboard another Atlas 5 and serves as the continental U.S. satellite.
MUOS 4 will enter service over the Indian Ocean, creating a worldwide reach for the constellation.
The Navy is fielding a constellation of four primary satellites and one in-space spare to cover the entire planet for its new rugged smart-phone communications network.
The final MUOS launch is scheduled for July 2016 on Atlas.
"MUOS allows troops all over the world to talk, text and share mission data seamlessly, while traveling, like a cellular network, without having to worry about wh ere they are in relation to a satellite," said Iris Bombelyn, Lockheed Martin's vice president for narrowband communications.
"MUOS 4 will complete our near global coverage, reaching further north and south toward the poles than ever before."
This year has seen four Atlas 5 rockets fly so far, launching the MUOS 3 communications satellite in January, NASA's MMS magnetospheric science experiment in March, the Air Force's X-37B spaceplane in May and sustaining the GPS constellation with launch of a replacement satellite in July.
The rocket has five more missions on the manifest for 2015, including launches of MUOS 4, a classified NRO payload from Vandenberg, Mexico's Morelos 3 communications satellite, the GPS 2F-11 navigation spacecraft and Orbital ATK's Cygnus cargo-delivery craft for the International Space Station.

File photo of stacking. Credit: NASA-KSC
 
The stacking work for AV-056 began this morning as the bronze-colored, 106.6-foot-long, 12.5-foot-diameter first stage was pulled to the VIF doorway, erected upright and hoisted inside the building to be put aboard the mobile launcher platform.
Known as the Common Core Booster, the stage produces 860,000 pounds of thrust to lift the rocket off the ground. It burns kerosene fuel and supercold liquid oxygen during the initial minutes of flight.
In the coming days, five strap-on boosters will be added, along with the barrel-like interstage adapter, the Centaur upper stage and the base sections of the nose cone. Centaur is 41.5 feet in length, 10 feet in diameter and is fueled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.
The payload is undergoing its own processing in nearby Titusville at the Astrotech facility. It will be delivered to the VIF and mated to the Atlas-Centaur in mid-August.
The 206-foot-tall rocket will be flying in the top-of-the-line, 551-variant that features an RD-180 main engine powering the first stage, five strap-on solid-fuel boosters and an RL10 on the Centaur upper stage. The satellite will be enclosed in an 18-foot-diameter composite nose cone for atmospheric ascent.
The MUOS 4 is destined for geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles high.
The launch will be the 56th Atlas 5 rocket since 2002 and the 22nd overseen by the Air Force since 2007. For United Launch Alliance, it is the company's 99th launch overall since 2006 and the eighth this year.
See earlier MUOS 4 coverage.

Our Atlas archive.

[Старый]

Внешний вид блока облучателей антены секретный, чтоль? Везде он тряпочкой прикрыт...

[Прол]

Старый пишет:
Внешний вид блока облучателей антены секретный, чтоль? Везде он тряпочкой прикрыт...

Это не тряпочки    . Это штатная ЭВТИ. Антенны (маленькие) тоже укутаны. Из спутников связи они особых секретов не делают.

[Старый]

Прол пишет: 
Это не тряпочки    . Это штатная ЭВТИ. Антенны (маленькие) тоже укутаны. 

А мочему она установлена всегда, на всех стадиях сборки? 

Из спутников связи они особых секретов не делают.

Может здесь применяется какаято особенная технология формирования локальных лучей? Которую нежелательно показывать посторонним...

Одним словом есть хоть одно фото блока облучателя где было бы видно его конструкцию? 

[Salo]

https://www.facebook.com/lockheedmartin/photos/a.10150167553433538.312282.82021918537/10154387900833538/?type=1&theater

Lockheed Martin
15 августа ·

MUOS-4, the next satellite scheduled to join the U.S. Navy's Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) secure communications network, has been encapsulated in its protective launch vehicle fairing for its August 31 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The MUOS satellite constellation will enable new military smart phone-like capabilities for troops on the move. (Photo courtesy of United Launch Alliance). http://lmt.co/1ISWD1U

[Salo]

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/news/press-releases/2015/august/space-muos-encapsulation.html?utm_content=sf11939715&utm_medium=spredfast&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=Lockheed+Martin&sf11939715=1
 

Buttoned Up: Lockheed Martin-Built MUOS-4 Secure Communications Satellite Encapsulated for August 31 Launch

   

MUOS-4 Will Complete Near-Global Coverage
 for U.S. Navy's New Military Smart Phone-Like Network

 

PHOTO: MUOS-4, the next satellite scheduled to join the U.S. Navy's Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) secure communications network, has been encapsulated in its protective launch vehicle fairing for its August 31 launch fr om Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (photos courtesy of United Launch Alliance).

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla., August 13, 2015 – The fourth Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite built by Lockheed Martin [NYSE] for the U.S. Navy was encapsulated in its protective launch vehicle fairing August 10. It is scheduled to launch August 31 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
 
 MUOS-4 is the latest addition to a network of orbiting satellites and relay ground stations that is revolutionizing secure communications for mobile military forces. Users with operational MUOS terminals can seamlessly connect beyond line-of-sight around the globe and into the Global Information Grid. MUOS' new smart phone-like capabilities include simultaneous, crystal-clear voice, video and mission data, over a high-speed Internet Protocol-based system.
"Delivery of this fourth satellite for the U.S. Navy completes the initial MUOS constellation and provides near-global coverage for the network," said Iris Bombelyn, vice president of Narrowband Communications at Lockheed Martin. "For our mobile forces, that means for the first time they will be able to have secure, high-fidelity voice conversations, networked team calls and data exchange, including video, with anyone around the world connected with a MUOS terminal."

 

PHOTO: MUOS-4, the next satellite scheduled to join the U.S. Navy's Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) secure communications network, has been encapsulated in its protective launch vehicle fairing for its August 31 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (photos courtesy of United Launch Alliance).

MUOS, which also supports the legacy ultra high frequency communications satellite system, will provide comparatively 16 times the capacity of the legacy system and eventually replace it.
The MUOS-1, MUOS-2 and MUOS-3 satellites launched respectively in 2012, 2013 and January 2015. All four required MUOS ground stations are complete. MUOS-5, an on-orbit Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) spare with additional legacy system capability, is expected to launch in 2016.
More than 55,000 currently fielded radio terminals can be upgraded to be MUOS-compatible, with many of them requiring just a software upgrade.
Lockheed Martin manufactured MUOS-4 at the prime contractor's Sunnyvale, California facility. Earlier this summer, the satellite shipped to the Cape, wh ere it was pre-launch processed and finally encapsulated at Astrotech Space Operations, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin.
The Navy's Program Executive Office for Space Systems and its Communications Satellite Program Office, San Diego, California, are responsible for the MUOS program.
For additional information, photos and video visit: www.lockheedmartin.com/muos
About Lockheed Martin
 Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 112,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's net sales for 2014 were $45.6 billion.

[Salo]

[тавот]

Salo пишет:




                  

На внутренней стороне композитного обтекателя прикреплены алюминиевые панели, да ещё с цилиндрическими элементами ( выфрезерованными). Зачем ?

[ОАЯ]

тавот пишет:
 
На внутренней стороне композитного обтекателя прикреплены алюминиевые панели, да ещё с цилиндрическими элементами ( выфрезерованными). Зачем ?

Слой пробки наносится на внешнюю поверхность обтекателя для защиты от нагрева во время подъема. Затем, на пробку наносится слой электропроводящей белой краски, чтобы избежать электрических зарядов. Внутри имеет акустическую систему защиты, чтобы уменьшить звук интенсивный во время запуска.
http://spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av030/atlas5/

[ОАЯ]

Старый пишет:

Прол пишет:
Это не тряпочки    . Это штатная ЭВТИ. Антенны (маленькие) тоже укутаны.

А мочему она установлена всегда, на всех стадиях сборки?

Из спутников связи они особых секретов не делают.

Может здесь применяется какаято особенная технология формирования локальных лучей? Которую нежелательно показывать посторонним...

Одним словом есть хоть одно фото блока облучателя где было бы видно его конструкцию?

Внизу четыре крутых перца (видимо отк) на фоне облучателей
 http://govcomm.harris.com/solutions/SpaceSystems/SatelliteAntennaSystems.aspx

И похожие облучатели http://www.google.com/patents/US7034771

[Старый]

ОАЯ пишет: 
Внизу четыре крутых перца (видимо отк) на фоне облучателей
 http://govcomm.harris.com/solutions/SpaceSystems/SatelliteAntennaSystems.aspx

И похожие облучатели http://www.google.com/patents/US7034771

Это точно он? Облучатель от МУОСа?

[ОАЯ]

Нет, не точно. Просто совпадение: Харрис, какие-то облучатели, громадные и в то же самое время.

[Старый]

Я думаю у Харриса много разных облучателей... 
Просто возникла такая мысль: а не от секретных ли геостационарных спутников РТР облучатель? 

[ОАЯ]

Др. инфы нет. Если Вы заметили там два разных облучателя. Как на выставке - "это все что у нас есть крупнее подсолнуха".

[Старый]

ОАЯ пишет:
Др. инфы нет. 

Вот я и волнуюсь. А те самые облучатели везде закрыты тряпочкой. Хотя вроде ставить так рано ЭВТИ необходимости нет.

[ОАЯ]

Эти самые облучатели, что в журнале в псевдо-видео  http://article.wn.com/view/2013/11/18/Two_Harris_Corporation_Unfurlable_Mesh_Antenna_Reflectors_Su_q/ выстроены в два ряда. Из видео я ничего не понял. Может быть и есть зерно.
 
Я бы закрыл герметично, если бы у меня там был прецизионный механизм раскрытия.  :oops:  
(до кучи http://www.northropgrumman.com/BusinessVentures/AstroAerospace/Documents/pageDocs/tech_papers/tech_papers_AIAATech.pdf
http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:9104/FULLTEXT01.pdf )

[Старый]

ОАЯ пишет:
Эти самые облучатели, что в журнале в псевдо-видео http://article.wn.com/view/2013/11/18/Two_Harris_Corporation_Unfurlable_Mesh_Antenna_Reflectors_Su_q/ выстроены в два ряда. Из видео я ничего не понял. Может быть и есть зерно.
 
Я бы закрыл герметично, если бы у меня там был прецизионный механизм раскрытия.  :oops:

Не увидел облучателей. 
Вы не путаете с отражателем, в т.ч. вторичным? 

И по прежнему нет данных о яркости спутников с антеннами типа "Харрис". Это заговор?  :oops: