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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket fired through a thick shroud of coastal fog and orbited Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, deploying a trio of radar observation satellites to launch a $ 900 million mission aimed at to the Canadian government.
The Radarsat Constellation mission, made up of three identical Earth observation satellites, led by the Canadian Space Agency, is one of the most expensive missions in the history of the country's space program.
The three Radarsat satellites took off from the Vandenberg 4-East space launch complex at 07:17:10 PDT (10:17:10 EDT, 14:10 10:00 GMT). A few seconds later, the Falcon 9 emerged from a thick layer of fog, as seen by a distant mountain tracking camera that allowed to see live the rocket's rise.
Nine main Merlin engines fueled with kerosene propelled the rocket into the air with a push of 1.7 million pounds. However, the spectators, photographers and personalities gathered at Vandenberg for the launch were prevented by the fog layer covering the spaceport on the central coast of California.
After turning south over the Pacific Ocean, the first leg of the Falcon 9 propelled the rocket into the upper atmosphere and was closed approximately 2 minutes 13 seconds after the mission began. The propeller separated and re-ignited a subset of its engines to reverse course and return to Vandenberg.
The first 15-storey stage relay landed at Landing Zone 4, just 400 meters from its launch pad, about eight minutes after take-off. It was the 41st time SpaceX had landed one of its boosters, and the second to return to Vandenberg.
The first step, launched Wednesday, had already taken place on March 2, from Florida, to carry SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule on its first unmanned test flight to the International Space Station.
Meanwhile, the second leg of the Falcon 9 continued to operate its unique Merlin engine for up to eight-and-a-half minutes. The upper floor stopped, crossing the Antarctic and the Indian Ocean, then briefly relaunched its Merlin engine to place the Radarsat satellites in an almost circular orbit inclined at 97.8 degrees from the equator.
A specially designed distributor, manufactured by Ruag Space in Sweden, used a unique tilt mechanism to position the Radarsat satellites to separate them from the launcher. The spacecraft, each weighing approximately 1,430 kilograms (3,150 pounds), deployed one at a time from the rocket.
A camera on board the rocket showed the satellites floating in space and the last spacecraft separated from the Falcon 9 at 8:19 PDT (11:19 am EDT; 15:19 GMT).
US Army tracking data indicated that the satellites were flying at an altitude between 581 and 601 km, and Canadian officials said that the ground crews had received the first signals from the state on the one hand. of the three Radarsat satellites, confirming their health after the successful launch on Wednesday.
The satellites will extend their flat-screen radar antennas, each with an area of about 9 square meters, in the first two days of the mission, according to MDA, the main contractor for the Radarsat Constellation mission. The radars will be lit for the first time 10 or 11 days after their launch, said MDA officials, to begin the functional checks and to carry out the first test images.
The full commissioning and calibration campaign will take between three and six months, before the Canadian Space Agency will declare the RCN satellites operational and ready for regular observations, officials said.
More than 125 Canadian companies from seven provinces participated in the development and construction of the three new Radarsat satellites. Canada's new fleet of Earth Observation Space Vehicles follows Radarsat 1 and Radarsat 2 – launched in 1995 and 2007 – and is designed to continue the operations of the country's satellite system until at least 2026.
"This is extremely important for Canada," said Mike Greenley, MDA Group President, in a pre-launch interview for Spaceflight Now.
The RCN project costs the Canadian government about $ 900 million ($ 1.2 billion Canadian), including satellite development, launch and seven years of planned operations, according to Steve Iris, RSM mission leader. at the Canadian Space Agency.
This makes the RCM one of the most expensive space missions Canada has ever conducted and one of the most expensive payloads ever launched by SpaceX.
Each RCM satellite carries a C-band radar instrument, with a network of deployable antennas, transmitters and receivers.
Unlike optical cameras, radars can see through clouds and make observations day and night. Radar instruments emit signals and measure waves reflected from the Earth's surface, providing information about structures, ships, forests, ice and crops.
"Earth observation is essential, and radar-based Earth observation gives Canada an excellent ability to manage the sovereignty and security of Canadians," Greenley said.
A dozen Canadian government agencies, including the military, use Radarsat data. This wide use should continue with RCM.
"In addition to our resource-based economy that requires monitoring of our forest, mining, energy and agricultural industries, our northern latitudes sensitive to climate change benefit from space-based radar systems capable of observing the Earth day and night by n & rsquo; No matter what time. conditions, "said Magdalena Wierus, project management engineer at the Radarsat Constellation Mission of the Canadian Space Agency.
Most of Canada's long coastline is in remote areas of the Arctic, away from earth observation posts.
"We have a low population density in northern Canada. There is not a lot of monitoring infrastructure, and this is where the impact of climate change, especially on permafrost, is most marked, "Iris said at a pre press conference -launch. "So, with the constellation mission, we will be able to monitor this area every day and watch for subtle changes such as soil deformation due to melting permafrost. We can do it four times a day, which is a huge advantage over what we are doing now. "
During the spotlight observation, each of the three RCM satellites has a better resolution in azimuth of 1 meter (3.3 feet) and a range of 3 meters (9.8 feet). This is comparable to the imaging power of Radarsat 2.
But with three satellites, the RCM can cover more territory.
"It's a three-satellite mission, each orbiting the Earth and spaced regularly, every 96 minutes at an altitude of about 600 kilometers," said Wierus. "One of the main improvements of the constellation is that together they are able to ensure an accurate visit to one point of the Earth every four days, compared to Radarsat 2, which makes an exact visit every 24 days.
"Now, why is it important? This is because we can use these images to measure changes in ground motion, for example, which can help us better understand what is happening on Earth, "she said. "The RCM has the ability to image a given location on 90% of the Earth's surface on a daily basis, but it will mostly mimic Canadian territory."
Along with maritime surveillance and environmental monitoring, the MRC satellites will monitor the movement of icebergs as well as the retreat and growth of glaciers and ice sheets. Observation satellites will also monitor natural disasters, such as floods, and detect water pollution.
"The main demand from government users was to cover Canada's landmass and maritime approaches on a daily basis, including Arctic images four times a day," said Wierus. "RCM is able to cover all areas of Canada in 24 hours, which was not possible with Radarsat 2."
Wierus said the Canadian Space Agency is examining ways to disseminate data collected by the Radarsat Constellation Mission outside the Canadian government, allowing scientists, businesses and the public to access RCM images.
In addition to the radar imaging sensor, each RCM spacecraft houses a radio receiver to collect identification messages transmitted by maritime vessels.
"If they are superimposed on the radar images, this can help locate the ships likely to have problems or unreliable vessels that do not want to be found," said Wierus.
According to Greenley, MDA is helping the Canadian government develop an open data access policy for the MRC. Radarsat 2, which is still operational, is a commercial satellite that has been partially funded by the Canadian government, with additional private sector investment from MDA, which is now part of Maxar.
MDA owns Radarsat 2, while the Canadian government owns the MRC satellites.
The Canadian government claims to use approximately 250,000 RCM images per year, more than the government's demand for imagery from previous Radarsat missions.
Wednesday's launch was the seventh SpaceX mission of the year and the second of Vandenberg in 2019. SpaceX teams on the Space Coast in Florida are preparing a Falcon Heavy triple-core rocket for the company's next launch, scheduled for June 24th: 30:00 EDT (03:30 GMT on June 25th).
The Falcon Heavy will take off from the 39A platform at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
Another launch of the Falcon 9 from nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force airbase is scheduled for July 21 to allow SpaceX's next SpaceX replenishment mission to reach the space station.
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Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @ StephenClark1.
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