O3b FM13, O3b FM14, O3b FM15, O3b FM16 – Soyuz-ST-B/Fregat-MT (VS18 ) – Kourou ELS – 09.03.2018

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Обновлены

VS18-launchkit-EN-2.pdf - 2.6 MB, 11 стр, 2018-03-05 17:18:27 UTC

VS18-launchkit-FR-2.pdf - 2.6 MB, 11 стр, 2018-03-05 17:18:38 UTC

[Space Alien]

РОСКОСМОС. НА КОСМОДРОМЕ ГКЦ ЗАВЕРШИЛИСЬ РАБОТЫ ПО ГРАФИКУ ПЕРВОГО СТАРТОВОГО ДНЯ


6 и 7 марта 2018 года в Гвианском космическом центре (ГКЦ, Куру, Французская Гвиана) были проведены операции по вывозу и установке на ракету-носитель «Союз-СТ-Б» космической головной части в составе четырех космических аппаратов O3b и разгонного блока (РБ) «Фрегат-МТ» под обтекателем.

Ранее на стартовый комплекс была вывезена и установлена в стартовую систему РН «Союз-СТ-Б». По программе работы первого стартового дня были проведены операции по механической, электрической и пневматической стыковкой космической головной части с ракетой-носителем «Союз-СТ-Б». Особенностью подготовки пуска в Гвиане является раздельная транспортировка трех ступеней ракеты-носителя и космической головной части с последующей их сборкой на пусковой установке с использованием мобильной башни обслуживания.

В последующие дни до пуска специалистами предприятий РОСКОСМОСА будут проведены автономные проверки разгонного блока «Фрегат-МТ» и ракеты-носителя, контрольные и генеральные испытания, работы по контрольному набору стартовой готовности РБ «Фрегат-МТ». На четвертый стартовый день по результатам всех работ специальная комиссия примет решение о заправке ракеты-носителя.

В связи с необходимостью доработки процедуры принятия решения по системе безопасности полетов с космодрома ГКЦ запуск космических аппаратов ракетой-носителем «Союз-СТ-Б» был перенесен на 9 марта 2018 года в 19:37:06 мск.

Подготовка РН «Союз-СТ-Б» и работа поставленного российской стороной наземного технологического оборудования обеспечивается специалистами предприятий РОСКОСМОСА. Запуск космических аппаратов с космодрома ГКЦ будут проводить совместные российские-европейские пусковые расчеты.

https://www.roscosmos.ru/24768/

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РОСКОСМОС‏Подлинная учетная запись @roscosmos 18 мин. назад

Фотографии вывоза ракеты-носителя «Союз-СТ-Б» на стартовый комплекс и установка космической головной части в составе четырех космических аппаратов O3b и разгонного блока «Фрегат-МТ» под обтекателем.

Пуск запланирован 9 марта в 19:37 мск с Гвианского космического центра

Спойлер

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DutchSpace‏ @DutchSpace 2 ч. назад

Meanwhile at #CSG the @SES_Satellites O3b F4 upper composite has been integrated onto the #VS18 #Soyuz launcher ready for lift-off tomorrow

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DutchSpace‏ @DutchSpace 1 ч. назад

In spaceflight we like to use a lot of abbreviations, for example, this thing, used to transport the upper composite to the #Soyuz ZLS launch pad, is called the PFRCS or PlateForme Routière Composite Supérieur (Upper Composite Transport platform) #VS18 #CSG

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Stéphane Israël‏ @arianespaceceo 7 мин. назад

#Soyuz is ready for flight! The launch readiness review has cleared this medium-lift vehicle for tomorrow's #VS18 mission w/ four #O3b medium Earth orbit satellites. @SES_Satellites @Thales_Alenia_S

(video)

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http://spaceflight101.com/soyuz-vs-18-launch-preview/

Soyuz Rocket set for Friday Liftoff fr om French Guiana with Next Set of O3b Broadband Satellites
March 8, 2018


Soyuz emerges from its Assembly Hall – Photo: Arianespace/ESA/CNES/Optique Video du CSG

The first Soyuz launch from the Guiana Space Center in nearly ten months is on tap on Friday as a 'Europeanized' version of the Russian workhorse stands ready to soar into orbit with the fourth set of O3b broadband Internet satellites.

Liftoff with the SES-owned O3b FM13 through FM16 satellites is targeting an instantaneous window at 16:37:06 UTC to kick off a mission of two hours and 23 minutes aiming to deliver the four satellites into a 7,830-Kilometer orbit directly over the equator.

Friday's launch will bring the total number of O3b satellites in orbit to sixteen, following quadruplet launches atop Soyuz ST-B rockets in 2013 and 2014 that established the initial constellation to deliver continuous services to customers at latitudes lower than 45 degrees.

Спойлер

O3b Networks was founded back in 2007 to start an effort of connecting "the Other 3 Billion" – referring to the population of the world without readily available access to broadband data services.  Backed by industry giants Google and SES over the first years of operation, O3b proved its business model by attracting a number of customers for the initial constellation including U.S. Department of Defence contracts.


Integration of O3b Satellites around their payload adapter – Photo: Arianespace/ESA/CNES/Optique Video du CSG

In 2016, O3b Networks was acquired as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Luxembourg-based SES, one of the world's largest telecommunications providers. SES plans to continue operating and expanding the current constellation of O3b satellites in equatorial orbits before upgrading to a much more powerful system called O3b mPower that will deliver nearly 30,000 spot beams in its initial configuration and allow for smart routing of traffic between the constellation in Medium Earth Orbit and SES satellites parked in the Geostationary Belt.

The four O3b satellites launching on Friday were ordered from Thales Alenia Space in 2015 as part of an eight-satellite expansion order for the first generation constellation. These eight satellites have some performance enhancements over the first dozen launched in 2013 and 2014 and will help extend O3b services into the second half of the 2020s.


Image: Thales Alenia Space

Based on the ELiTeBus satellite platform, each O3b satellite weighs in at 700 Kilograms and hosts twelve fully steerable Ka-Band antenna assemblies operating at the 4.3 GHz frequency. Ten are used to connect to remote terminals while the remaining two provide the gateway links needed to connect the remote customers to the Internet.

Each satellite can deliver a throughput in excess of 12.5 Gbit/s with an end-to-end latency better than 240 milliseconds since the satellites only orbit at around 25% the distance of their counterparts in Geostationary Orbit.

>> O3b Satellite & Constellation Overview

Friday's Soyuz launch comes nearly ten months after the most recent mission of the Russian workhorse launcher from its equatorial launch site. It also marks the return to flight for Arianespace after the VA241 anomaly involving the company's Ariane 5 rocket "taking a wrong turn."


Photo: Thales Alenia Space

On the January 25 mission, Ariane 5 flew 20 degrees off its planned course because a programming error of the rocket's Inertial Measurement System was not detected during pre-launch verifications, taking the launcher much closer to the nearby town of Kourou than it would normally come and delivering its two satellites into a less-than-optimal orbit.

An Independent Enquiry Commission chaired by the European Space Agency studied the root cause of the anomaly and green-lighted an action plan developed by ArianeGroup and Arianespace to implement enhanced end-to-end verification of mission specific parameters prior to launch. ESA declined to publish the independent commission's report or answer questions related to it.

Soyuz VS18 was pushed from a planned Tuesday liftoff to Friday, providing three days for what Arianespace called "additional checks as part of the resumption of launches from the Spaceport in French Guiana." The Soyuz ST-B rocket for this mission was moved from the MIK launcher integration facility to the ELS launch pad on March 2nd followed by the rollout of the upper composite comprising the encapsulated satellites and Fregat upper stage on March 6.


Photo: Arianespace/ESA/CNES/Optique Video du CSG

Towering 46-meters above its ELS launch pad, still protected inside the Mobile Service Gantry, Soyuz will enter an eight-hour countdown sequence on Friday. Initially going through a series of pre-launch checks, Soyuz will be cleared by the Russian State Commission around five hours ahead of the day's T-0 time with propellant loading operations starting at the L-4 hour mark to load the four boosters, core stage and third stage with 274 metric tons of Liquid Oxygen and Kerosene. In addition, the Soyuz receives Nitrogen and Helium to act as tank pressurization gas while the boosters & core also receive highly reactive Hydrogen Peroxide to drive the engine turbopumps.

Standing fully-fueled, Soyuz will be revealed atop is launch pad with one hour to go in the countdown when the Service Gantry will be moved to its launch position. The four satellites will move to internal power around 20 minutes before launch and a final check at L-10 minutes will give clearance for the six-minute Automated Countdown Sequence.


Photo: Arianespace/ESA/CNES/Optique Video du CSG (O3b F1)

Checking off its final countdown steps, Soyuz will power up its telemetry systems, purge its engines with inert nitrogen, pressurize its tanks and switch to onboard power & control. At T-20 seconds, the Launch Command is issued and all engines of the boosters and the core stage are ignited to first soar to an intermediate thrust level before ramping up to full thrust.

Liftoff is timed for precisely 16:37:06 UTC, 1:37 p.m. local time in French Guiana to allow the O3b satellites to reach their precisely planned injection point within the existing constellation. Rising from its pad, Soyuz will complete a brief vertical climb before pitching and rolling onto a due-easterly departure path on an equator-hugging trajectory that will ultimate lead it into an equatorial orbit.

Burning 1,600 Kilograms of propellant per second, Soyuz will quickly pass the speed of sound and encounter Maximum Dynamic Pressure as it makes its way out of the atmosphere. The four boosters will shut down their RD-107A engines at T+118 seconds after each burned nearly 40 metric tons of propellant to help Soyuz accelerate to a speed close to two Kilometers per second. Swinging outward, the 19.6-meter long boosters will drop away from the core stage that will continue firing its RD-108A engines at full throttle, pushing Soyuz into space with a thrust of 102 metric ton-force.


VS18 Launch Profile – Image: Arianespace/Lavochkin Association

Three minutes and 55 seconds into the mission, Soyuz will split open and separate its fairing halves, revealing the four O3b satellites around their cylindrical payload adapter. After burning over 90 metric tons of propellant, RD-108A will shut down four minutes and 45 seconds into the mission followed two seconds later by the ignition of the Block I upper stage and the pyrotechnic separation of the 27.8-meter core.

Soaring to a thrust of 30 metric ton-force, the RD-0124 engine will be in action for four and a half minutes, in the process burning 25,400 Kilograms of Oxygen and Kerosene. Separation of the Fregat is planned nine minutes and 23 seconds into the mission onto a sub-orbital arc from wh ere the upper stage will make three burns to initially reach a stable orbit, then maneuver into an elliptical transfer orbit and eventually circularize the orbit directly above the equator – creating a mission of over two hours.

Fregat, loaded with 7,100 Kilograms of self-igniting propellants, will fire up its 2,000-Kilogram-force main engine one minute after separating from the Soyuz on a burn of exactly four minutes, aiming for a Low Earth Parking Orbit of 160 by 205 Kilometers, inclined 5.16 degrees. This will be followed by a brief passive coast phase of only eight and a half minutes to allow Fregat to complete the second & longest burn of the mission while crossing the equator so that the high point of the resulting orbit is placed over the equator on the opposite side of the planet.


Image: Arianespace

The second burn is programmed to start at T+22 minutes and 50 seconds and runs for seven minutes and 36 seconds to inject the stack into a transfer orbit of 190 by 7,869 Kilometers at a slightly reduced inclination of 3.88 degrees. Next will be the mission's longest coast phase as Fregat has to climb all the way to the apogee of the transfer orbit for the circularization maneuver, taking the vehicle halfway around the globe.

Re-start of the S5.92 main engine is planned one hour, 52 minutes and 45 seconds into the mission and the burn will last for five minutes and six seconds – accomplishing the circularization of the orbit at 7,830 Kilometers and a reduction of inclination to 0.04 degrees. This will set the stage for the separation of the first two O3b satellites at T+2 hours and one minute, using loaded springs to push the satellites off into opposite directions.

The separation of the second pair of satellites will be preceded by a 17-second re-start of the Fregat upper stage two hours and 16 minutes after launch so that they will be placed into a slightly different orbit to ease the process of drifting them into the proper slots within the constellation. Separation of the second pair at T+2 hours and 23 minutes will mark the end of the VS18 primary mission, the first of up to four Soyuz missions from the CSG in 2018.

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http://www.arianespace.com/mission-update/vs18-lrr/

Soyuz | March 8, 2018
Soyuz receives the "go" for Arianespace's March 9 liftoff with O3b MEO satellites


Soyuz has been cleared for Arianespace's March 9 liftoff with four O3b MEO satellites, which are contained in the "upper composite" – shown here after integration atop the launcher in French Guiana.

Authorization has been given for tomorrow's Arianespace Soyuz launch from French Guiana, providing the "all clear" for this medium-lift mission that will orbit four O3b Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites.

Approval was granted today after the regular pre-launch review for Arianespace flights – which confirmed the readiness of Soyuz and its multi-satellite payload, the launch site and associated infrastructure at the Spaceport, as well as the network of downrange tracking stations.

Спойлер

The March 9 mission – designated VS18 in Arianespace's numbering system – will be performed from the purpose-built ELS launch facility for Soyuz. Liftoff is scheduled at precisely 1:37:06 p.m. local time in French Guiana, with the four passengers to be deployed during a flight lasting approximately 2 hrs., 22 min.

After their launch by Arianespace, the O3b spacecraft will be operated by SES Networks to provide the world with low latency, fiber-like connectivity in the growing mobility, fixed data and government markets. The trapezoidal-shaped Ka-band relay platforms, produced by Thales Alenia Space, have a liftoff mass of 700 kg. each.

Twelve O3b satellites currently are in orbit, launched by Arianespace utilizing its medium-lift Soyuz workhorse to carry four spacecraft each on launches that began in June 2013, followed by missions in July and December 2014.

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LAUNCH READINESS REVIEW

VS18_RAL_EN.pdf - фактически, не является PDF-файлом

VS18_RAL_FR.pdf - 186.7 KB, 2 стр, 2018-03-08 17:41:49 UTC

[azeast]

http://tass.ru/kosmos/5016848

ПАРИЖ, 7 марта. /ТАСС/. Запуск российской ракеты-носителя "Союз" с космодрома в Куру во Французской Гвиане перенесен с 6 на 9 марта из-за дополнительных проверок, инициированных Национальным центром космических исследований Франции. Об этом глава центра Жан-Ив Ле Галь рассказал в среду в Париже, сообщило агентствоFrance-Presse.

Ле Галь пояснил, что 25 января при запуске европейской ракеты-носителя Ariane 5 с космодрома Куру произошло нарушение траектории ее полета. Ракета на 20 градусов отклонилась от расчетной траектории в направлении города Куру (26 тыс. жителей).
"Это не создало никакой угрозы для населения города, отклонение находилось в пределах допустимых параметров. Тем не менее мы принимаем меры по усилению уровня безопасности во время пусков ракет, - сказал Ле Галь. - Именно по этой причине я дал указание провести дополнительные проверки на космодроме Гвианского космического центра при подготовке предстоящего пуска ракеты-носителя "Союз".
Пуск "Союза" теперь назначен на 9 марта на 19:37 мск. Российской ракете предстоит вывести на орбиту четыре среднеорбитальных телекоммуникационных спутника системы O3b для оператора SES. Спутники коммуникационной системы O3b уже три раза выводились на орбиту российскими "Союзами" с космодрома Куру: в июне 2013 года, а также в июле и декабре 2014 года.

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https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/03/09/vs-18-mission-status-center/

Live coverage: Soyuz rocket readied for liftoff with four O3b broadband satellites
March 9, 2018 Stephen Clark

03/09/2018 08:24 Stephen Clark

Officials gave a go-ahead for liftoff of a Soyuz rocket Friday during a launch readiness review convened Thursday to assess the status of the Russian-built booster and four O3b broadband communications satellites on a launch pad in French Guiana.

The Soyuz-2.1b rocket, crowned with a Fregat upper stage, is set for blastoff from the European-run Guiana Space Center at 1637:06 GMT (11:37:06 a.m. EST; 1:37:06 p.m. French Guiana time) Friday.

Спойлер

Four commercial communications satellites poised to join the O3b broadband network, owned by the large telecom operator SES, are mounted atop the Soyuz rocket.

The O3b satellites are fastened to a specially-built dispenser, and it will take the Soyuz rocket around 2 hours, 23 minutes, to deploy all four spacecraft into a circular orbit 4,865 miles (7,830 kilometers) over the equator.

Built by Thales Alenia Space, the quartet of O3b satellites awaiting launch Friday will join 12 others launched on three previous Soyuz missions from French Guiana in 2013 and 2014.

Another four O3b satellites are due for liftoff on a Soyuz flight from the South American spaceport in 2019.

The O3b network provides broadband connectivity to Internet service providers, network operators, governments and maritime customers, including cruise ships. O3b is short for the "other 3 billion," a nod to the nearly half of the world's population without access to reliable broadband Internet services.

Eight upgraded O3b satellites ordered from Thales Alenia Space in December 2015 will answer growing demand for the "fiber-like" connectivity offered by the space network, which is positioned in a "medium Earth orbit" more than four times closer to the planet than conventional telecom satellites in geostationary orbit.

The lower altitude reduces the latency, or lag time, experienced by customers sending and receiving data through the network.

The Soyuz launch Friday will mark the 18th flight of the venerable Russian booster from French Guiana since October 2011.

Ground crews installed the O3b satellites and the Fregat upper stage, already closed inside the Soyuz payload fairing, atop the rocket on its launch pad Tuesday.

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Russian officials will meet with Arianespace management around five hours before liftoff Friday morning to approve fueling of the Soyuz rocket with kerosene and liquid oxygen.

Propellant loading into the three-stage Soyuz rocket should begin around 1207 GMT (7:07 a.m. EST; 9:07 a.m. French Guiana time), with completion expected approximately three hours later.

The mobile gantry will roll back to launch position at around 1527 GMT (10:27 a.m. EST; 12:27 p.m. French Guiana time), revealing the Soyuz rocket for liftoff.

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Официальная трансляция на ТыТрубе

Arianespace VS18 - Live Launch (EN)

arianespace

Запланировано на 9 мар. 2018 г.

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Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight сейчас

Arianespace's Soyuz-ST-B/Fregat-MT (VS18) is launching in four hours time (16:37 UTC), tasked with lofting four O3b satellites (FM13-16) from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

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SES‏Подлинная учетная запись @SES_Satellites сейчас26 секунд назад


It's launch day! Follow the #O3b MEO launch live on http://arianespace.com  or http://youtube.com/arianespace  Begins 15 minutes before liftoff - scheduled for 1:37:06PM KOUROU, FRENCH GUIANA time

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03/09/2018 17:21 Stephen Clark

The launch team is loading more than 500,000 pounds of liquid oxygen and kerosene propellant into the rocket this morning, plus hydrogen peroxide to drive the engines' gas turbines and liquid nitrogen to keep the propellant tanks pressurized.

The Soyuz countdown sequence begins 5 minutes, 10 seconds prior to liftoff, then the Fregat upper stage will transition to internal power five minutes before launch.

The umbilical arm servicing the upper stage and payloads will pull away at T-minus 2 minutes, 25 seconds. The Soyuz rocket is operating on internal power at T-minus 40 seconds, and the final servicing mast retracts from the rocket 20 seconds later.

The ignition sequence of the Soyuz rocket's kerosene-fueled core stage and four strap-on boosters begins 17 seconds before liftoff, and all engines should be at full thrust three seconds before launch.

Спойлер

Flying for the 18th time from the Guiana Space Center in South America, the Soyuz will head east over the Atlantic with four O3b broadband satellites, heading for a circular orbit 4,865 miles (7,830 kilometers) over the equator. Separation of the first two O3b satellites is scheduled for 2 hours, 1 minute, after liftoff, followed by deployment of the second pair at Plus+2 hours, 22 minutes.

It will be the second Arianespace flight of the year, and third Soyuz launch anywhere so far in 2018.

Russian officials, Arianespace top management and representatives from the French-run spaceport met around five hours before liftoff to authorize fueling of the three-stage Soyuz rocket with kerosene and liquid oxygen.

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Stéphane Israël‏ @arianespaceceo 2 мин. назад

We're counting down to #Arianespace's first #Soyuz launch in 2018! Liftoff of Flight #VS18 with four #O3b satellites is set for 1:37 PM local time in French Guiana (16:37 UTC). @SES_Satellites @Thales_Alenia_S

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Stéphane Israël‏ @arianespaceceo сейчас1 минуту назад


Еще




We're counting down to #Arianespace's first #Soyuz launch in 2018! Liftoff of Flight #VS18 with four #O3b satellites is set for 1:37 PM local time in French Guiana (16:37 UTC).

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03/09/2018 21:07     Stephen Clark

The launch pad's 174-foot-tall mobile service gantry will be retracting soon to reveal the Soyuz booster. The mobile structure will be secured in launch position about 260 feet from the rocket.
The tower's retraction to launch position allows ground teams to complete radio checks with the rocket's tracking beacon and destruct system.

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http://spaceflight101.com/soyuz-vs18/flight-profile/

Soyuz VS18 Flight Profile (O3b FM13-16)

Launch Timeline

Спойлер

[TH]Time[/TH][TH]Event[/TH]

T-0:00:20	Launch Command
T-0:00:14	Preliminary Thrust Level
T-0:00:05	To Full Thrust Level
T+0:00:00	LIFTOFF
T+0:01:58	Booster Separation
T+0:03:55	Payload Fairing Jettison
T+0:04:45	Core Stage Shutdown
T+0:04:47	3rd Stage Ignition & Staging
T+0:04:57	Aft Section Cover Jettison
T+0:09:23	3rd Stage Separation
T+0:10:23	Fregat Ignition
	Burn Duration: 04:00
T+0:14:23	Fregat Upper Stage Cutoff
T+0:22:50	Fregat Re-Start
	Duration: 08:36
T+0:31:26	Fregat Shutdown
T+1:52:45	Fregat Re-Start
	Duration: 05:06
T+1:57:51	Fregat Shutdown
T+2:01:11	O3b #1 & #2 Separation
T+2:16:11	Fregat Re-Start (17 Seconds)
T+2:22:51	O3b #3 & #4 Separation

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Mission Data

Спойлер

Mission: Soyuz VS18
Launch Vehicle: Soyuz ST-B (2-1B)
Launch Site: ELS, Guiana Space Center
Payload: 4 O3b (2,800kg)
Total Payload Mass: 3,198kg
Launch Date: March 9, 2018
Launch Time: 16:37:06 UTC
Ascent Duration: 2 Hours 23 Minutes

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Orbital Data

Спойлер

Orbit at Fregat Separation:
Type: Sub-Orbital Trajectory
Perigee: -1,186 km
Apogee: 194 km
Inclination: 5.27°

Parking Orbit:
Type: Low Earth Orbit
Perigee: 160 km
Apogee: 205 km
Inclination: 5.16°

Transfer Orbit:
Type: MEO Transfer Orbit
Perigee: 190 km
Apogee: 7,869 km
Inclination: 3.88°

Target Orbit:
Type: Equatorial Medium Earth Orbit
Perigee: 7,830 km
Apogee: 7,830 km
Inclination: 0.04°

Disposal Orbit:
Type: Equatorial Medium Earth Orbit
Perigee: 7,673 km
Apogee: 7,673 km
Inclination: 0.06°

Image: Arianespace/Lavochkin Association

Image: Arianespace/Lavochkin Association

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