Galileo-FOC FM19 (Tara), Galileo-FOC FM20 (Samuel), Galileo-FOC FM21 (Anna), Galileo-FOC FM22 (Ellen) - Ariane 5-ES (VA244) - Kourou ELA-3 - 11:24:48 25.07.2018

[tnt22]

http://www.arianespace.com/mission-update/ariane-5-initial-build-up/

Ariane 5 | June 28, 2018

Ariane 5 is ready to receive its Galileo satellites for launch by Arianespace in July


After being hoisted for installation in the Spaceport's Launcher Integration Building, Ariane 5's vehicle equipment bay is lowered into position on the core cryogenic stage (photo at left), which was followed by integration of the EPS storable propellant stage (at right).

The next Ariane 5 launcher to orbit Galileo navigation satellites has completed its initial build-up in French Guiana, continuing preparations for Arianespace's July mission – which is designated Flight VA244 in the company's numbering system.

This heavy-lift vehicle underwent its assembly process inside the Spaceport's Launcher Integration Building, beginning with the mating of its two solid propellant strap-on boosters and the core cryogenic stage. The next steps were the launcher's vehicle equipment bay integration atop the core stage, followed by installation of the storable propellant stage – which is the configuration used on this Ariane 5 ES version of Arianespace's workhorse launcher.

After completion of verifications and systems checkout by ArianeGroup, production prime contractor the launcher, Ariane 5 will be moved to the Spaceport's Final Assembly Building for integration of its four-satellite payload of Galileo FOC (Full Operational Capability) satellites.

Спойлер

Sending satellites to a circular medium Earth orbit

A dispenser system will secure the four Galileo FOC satellites in place during their ascent to a targeted release in a circular medium Earth orbit (MEO) using a pyrotechnic separation system.

As Europe's own global navigation satellite system, Galileo is operated under civilian control, offering guaranteed high-precision positioning around the world. Its initial services began in December 2016, allowing users equipped with Galileo-enabled devices to combine Galileo and GPS data for better positioning accuracy.

The European GNSS Agency (GSA) is responsible for operating the Galileo satellite navigation systems on behalf of the European Union. Galileo spacecraft are built by OHB System in Bremen, Germany, and the navigation payloads provided by Airbus-owned Surrey Satellite Technology in the United Kingdom.

[свернуть]

[tnt22]

DutchSpace‏ @DutchSpace 5 ч. назад

Nice progress for our next 4 babies at #CSG , fueling has been completed
#VA244 #Galileo #ESA

[tnt22]

DutchSpace‏ @DutchSpace 4 ч. назад

Meanwhile, in the #BAF at #CSG our #Ariane5 fairing is getting the logo's...
#VA244 #Galileo #ESA

[tnt22]

DutchSpace‏ @DutchSpace 2 ч. назад

Our fairing...
#VA244 #Galileo #ESA



1 ч. назад

Oh and the @RuagSpace A-Team ;-)
#VA244 #Galileo #ESA

[tnt22]

DutchSpace‏ @DutchSpace 32 мин. назад

Night Ops...
#CSG

[tnt22]

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Navigation/Next_four_Galileo_satellites_fuelled_for_launch

Fuelling Galileo satellites

NEXT FOUR GALILEO SATELLITES FUELLED FOR LAUNCH

3 July 2018
Europe's next four Galileo satellites have been fuelled for launch at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, in preparation for their launch on 25 July.

The four satellites were placed into their protective containers to be transported fr om the S1A processing building to the S3B payload preparation building, wh ere they were filled with the hydrazine fuel that will keep the satellites manoeuverable during their 12-year working lives.

The next step is to fit the quartet onto the dispenser that holds them in place securely during launch then releases them out into space with a pyrotechnic separation system once the Ariane upper stage reaches its 22 922 km-altitude target orbit.


Naming Galileo's launcher

After that, the satellites plus dispenser will be fitted onto the upper stage then enclosed by the two sides of the protective launch fairing – one of which has had the mission logo added to it.

Meanwhile the Ariane 5 for this launch – known as Flight VA244 – has undergone assembly inside the Spaceport's Launcher Integration Building.


Satellite transfer

Спойлер

The Galileo System began Initial Services on 15 December 2016, and more than 100 million devices are using Galileo today.

About Galileo

Galileo is Europe's own global satellite navigation system, consisting of both the satellites in space and their associated ground infrastructure.


Galileo satellites

The definition, development and in-orbit validation phases were carried out by ESA, and co-funded by ESA and the European Commission. This phase created a mini-constellation of four satellites and a reduced ground segment to validate the overall concept, ahead of further deployment.

Success led to the current Full Operational Capability phase, fully funded by the EU and managed by the European Commission. The European Commission and ESA have a delegation agreement by which ESA acts as system design authority and procurement agent on behalf of the European Commission.

[свернуть]

Fitting Ariane 5 together

[tnt22]

https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/07/03/arianespace-aims-for-busy-second-half-of-2018/

Arianespace aims for busy second half of 2018
July 3, 2018 | Stephen Clark

Europe's first mission to Mercury, a quartet of Galileo navigation spacecraft, a global winds observatory, and a new European weather satellite have arrived at an equatorial launch base in French Guiana in preparation for launches in the coming months.

The set of European missions are set to ride into space aboard four rockets, amid several more commercial flights carrying communications satellites to orbit, in what is shaping up to be a busy second half of the year for Arianespace, the French company which oversees Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega launch operations at the European-run spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

The rapid-fire launch campaigns are already underway at the space center on the northeastern coast of South America, where technicians are preparing rocket and satellite hardware for liftoff.

Galileo navigation network ready to receive reinforcements

Спойлер

Arianespace will kick off its second-half launch schedule July 25 with an Ariane 5 rocket flight carrying four Galileo navigation satellites into an orbit more than 14,000 miles (around 23,000 kilometers) above Earth.

Liftoff is set for for an instantaneous opportunity at 1125:01 GMT (7:25:01 a.m. EDT; 8:25:01 a.m. French Guiana time) on July 25.

The four new Galileo spacecraft, built by OHB in Germany with navigation payloads provided by SSTL in the United Kingdom, will add to Europe's home-grown navigation network, an analog to the U.S. Air Force-run Global Positioning System. With the July 25 launch, Europe will have launched 26 satellites into the operational Galileo fleet, which needs 24 active spacecraft, plus six spares, to provide independent global positioning and timing services.

But two of the Galileo satellites were launched into the wrong orbit in 2014, and another is afflicted with an antenna program, limiting its utility.

Managed by the European Commission — the European Union's executive arm — and supported by the European Space Agency, the Galileo program has 12 more satellites in development for additional launches beginning in late 2020.

The four Galileo satellites set for launch later this month arrived at the Guiana Space Center on two trans-Atlantic airplane shipments in May and June, and the core components of the Ariane 5 launcher for the July 25 flight arrived in French Guiana from Europe aboard Ariane Group's rocket transport vessel on May 30.


The Ariane 5 rocket's upper stage, powered by an Aestus engine, was stacked atop the launcher June 18 in preparation for the liftoff of four new Galileo navigation satellites July 25. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – JM Guillon

Workers at the French Guiana launch base have fueled the four Galileo satellites with maneuvering propellants for their 12-year navigation missions, and ground crews have assembled the Ariane 5 rocket with its cryogenic core stage, twin solid rocket boosters, vehicle equipment bay, and storable propellant upper stage.

Mounted on its vertical launch table, the Ariane 5 will be transferred to from the spaceport's launcher integration building to the nearby final assembly building for attachment of the mission's four satellite passengers and payload shroud.

The upcoming Ariane 5 mission, numbered VA244 in Arianespace's flight sequence, will be the 33rd and last to fly with an Aestus engine, a powerplant fueled by toxic hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide, which can be stored for long durations. Unlike the hydrogen-fueled HM7B engine used on most Ariane 5 flights, the Aestus engine can be reignited multiple times in space, allowing it to place payloads such as the Galileo navigation satellites directly into high-altitude orbits.

Ariane Group is developing a restartable cryogenic engine named Vinci to replace the HM7B on Europe's new Ariane 6 rocket set for a maiden flight in mid-2020.

[свернуть]

[tnt22]

DutchSpace‏ @DutchSpace 3 ч. назад

This week will be interesting at #CSG there will be a "Dance of the launchers" Ariane 5 #VA243 will move from BAF to ZL3 so our Ariane 5 #VA244 can move from BIL to BAF, after which #VA243 can move back into BIL, at the same time the Vega P80 stage for #VV12 will move to ZLV

[tnt22]

DutchSpace‏ @DutchSpace 2 ч. назад

Good morning gorgeous... #VA244 #IWishThereWasAWebcamAtCSG

[tnt22]

DutchSpace‏ @DutchSpace 5 мин. назад

Our launcher being transferred from #BIL to #BAF
#Ariane5 #Galileo #ESA #VA244

[tnt22]

DutchSpace‏ @DutchSpace 8 мин. назад

Extremely rare shot of 2 Ariane 5's crossing each other and even more rare as one(VA243) is at the ZL3 pad without the upper composite
#VA243 #VA244 #Galileo #ESA

[tnt22]

Stéphane Israël‏ @arianespaceceo 2 ч. назад

The th & th #Ariane5 launchers are on the move at the Spaceport! Lifting off July 25 on Flight #VA244, no. 99 is destined for the Final Assembly Building; while no. 100 (#VA243) is moving back to the Launcher Integration Building.
#flexibility #reactivity

[tnt22]

http://www.arianespace.com/mission-update/ariane-5-dual-transfer/

Ariane 5 | July 6, 2018

Dual-transfer: Ariane 5s for Arianespace's next heavy-lift missions are on the move in French Guiana


The Ariane 5 ES version for Flight VA244 (foreground) is shown on its way for payload installation at the Spaceport's Final Assembly Building. In the background, the Ariane 5 ECA version for Arianespace's following heavy-lift mission (VA243) is temporarily positioned in the ELA-3 launch zone before being transferred to the Launcher Integration Building.

Arianespace's flexibility and reactivity in responding to mission changes due to payload availability was underscored with this week's simultaneous transfer of the 99th and 100th Ariane 5 launchers – which will be utilized on consecutive multi-passenger heavy-lift flights performed fr om French Guiana in 2018.

During activity at the Spaceport, the no. 99 Ariane 5 – an ES version that will orbit four Galileo FOC (Full Operational Capability) satellites on July 25 – was transferred from the Launcher Integration Building, wh ere its basic build-up was performed, to the Final Assembly Building for payload installation. This upcoming mission is designated Flight VA244 in Arianespace's numbering system.

The Spaceport's Final Assembly Building was available due to the parallel rollout of the milestone 100th Ariane 5, which is scheduled for launch in early September carrying the Azerspace-2/Intelsat-38 satellite for Azercosmos and Intelsat, along with another payload to be announced. After moving out of the Final Assembly Building, this ECA version of Ariane 5 had a temporary stopover in the ELA-3 launch zone before heading to the Launcher Integration Building for its own pre-flight preparations.

Designated Flight VA243, the Ariane 5 ECA had been set for a late May liftoff, but its timing was shifted because additional technical checks were required for the mission's originally-scheduled co-passenger.

Ready for payload integration

Спойлер

The transfer of Flight VA244's Ariane 5 to the Final Assembly Building is a major step, signaling its readiness for integration of the mission's four Galileo satellites – which will be released to a circular medium Earth orbit (MEO).


In the Spaceport's S3 facility, one of the four Galileo FOC satellites for Flight VA244 is installed on the mission's multi-payload dispenser system.

The processing of these satellites occurred at the Spaceport's S1 building, was followed by their fueling in the S3B facility – enabling their subsequent installation atop a multi-passenger dispenser system.

As Europe's own global navigation satellite system, Galileo is operated under civilian control, offering guaranteed high-precision positioning around the world. Its initial services began in December 2016, allowing users equipped with Galileo-enabled devices to combine Galileo and GPS data for better positioning accuracy.

The European GNSS Agency (GSA) is responsible for operating the Galileo satellite navigation systems on behalf of the European Union.

Galileo spacecraft are built by OHB System in Bremen, Germany, and the navigation payloads are provided by Airbus-owned Surrey Satellite Technology in the United Kingdom.

[свернуть]

[tnt22]

DutchSpace‏ @DutchSpace 5 мин. назад

Good progress at #CSG final flight mating onto the dispenser done #VA244
#Galileo #ESA

[tnt22]

DutchSpace‏ @DutchSpace 10 мин. назад

And done.... our babies are integrated on top of our #Ariane5 launcher.... #Galileo #VA244 #ESA

[tnt22]

ArianeGroup‏Подлинная учетная запись @ArianeGroup 4 ч. назад

Getting ready for flight VA244!

[tnt22]

VA244 Teaser

arianespace

Опубликовано: 17 июл. 2018 г.

For its fourth launch of the year, Arianespace will orbit four more satellites (satellites 23 to 26) for the Galileo constellation. This mission is being performed on behalf of the European Commission under a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA).

The Flight VA244 will be from Ariane Launch Complex No. 3 (ELA 3) in Kourou, French Guiana.

(0:20)

[tnt22]

Arianespace опубликовала брошюру миссии (пока только на англ. яз.)

Launch-kit_VA244-EN.pdf - 2.6 MB, 10 стр, 2018-07-16 22:19:48 UTC

[tnt22]

[tnt22]