Upgrades begin, Ariane 5 rocket deploys three US-made satellites to orbit – Spaceflight Now



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An Ariane 5 rocket takes off Saturday from the Guyanese Space Center in South America. Credit: ESA / CNES / Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – S. Martin

An Ariane 5 rocket put a robotic space tug and a pair of commercial communications satellites into orbit on Saturday following a flaming explosive from French Guiana, starting new upgrades in Arianespace’s first mission since suspension temporary launch operations earlier this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The European rocket Ariane 5 and its three US-built payloads lifted off from the ELA-3 launch pad at the Guyanese Space Center at 6:04 p.m. EDT (9:04 p.m. GMT; 7:04 p.m. Guyana time). Overlooking 2.9 million pounds of thrust from its two solid rocket thrusters and hydrogen-powered mid-stage engine, the Ariane 5 traversed cloud layers and arched eastward from the Jungle spaceport on the northeastern shore of South America.

Less than an hour later, the rocket successfully deployed three commercial satellites. This was the 300th orbital launch attempt from the European spaceport in French Guiana since 1970.

Ariane 5’s third launch in 2020 was previously scheduled for July 31, but a sensor problem on the rocket’s mid-stage hydrogen tank forced Arianespace officials to abandon the countdown approximately two minutes before takeoff.

Ground crews from the Guyanese Space Center returned the rocket to its assembly building and replaced the sensor last week, then returned the Ariane 5 to the launch pad on Thursday.

The launch team delayed the Ariane 5’s takeoff by 31 minutes on Saturday to await better wind conditions at altitude.

Once the winds improved, the countdown resumed and the Ariane 5 fired on its launch pad, exceeded the speed of sound in less than a minute, then lost nearly two and a half its two solid rocket thrusters with side straps. minutes after takeoff.

Flying due east, the rocket released its Swiss-made payload fairing approximately three and a half minutes after the start of the mission, when the Ariane 5 reached altitude above the thicker and lower layers of the atmosphere. .

After nine minutes, the midstage of the Ariane 5 shut down its Vulcain 2 engine and fell, leaving the HM7B engine from the cryogenic upper stage of the rocket to complete the task of placing the three satellite payloads of the Ariane. mission in an egg-shaped geostationary transfer orbit extending over 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) above the equator.

The HM7B engine shut down nearly 26 minutes after the start of the flight, and the Ariane 5’s upper stage began maneuvering to release its payloads into orbit.

The first satellite to separate from the Ariane 5 rocket was the 7,270 pound (3,298 kilogram) Galaxy 30 communications satellite. Owned by Intelsat, Galaxy 30 will provide commercial video and television broadcasting services across North America.

With C-band, Ku-band and Ka-band transponders, the Galaxy 30 will also provide high-speed connectivity to Intelsat customers.

Built by Northrop Grumman, the satellite also carries an L-Band Area Augmentation System payload for the Federal Aviation Administration to support navigation services for civil aviation in the United States, including precise altitude and position data for departing and arriving aircraft at busy airports.

“Today’s launch of the Galaxy 30 demonstrates Intelsat’s long-term commitment to our North American media customers,” said Stephen Spengler, CEO of Intelsat. “At Intelsat, we are constantly innovating, investing and improving our fleet of satellites and our terrestrial infrastructure. The Galaxy 30 is a great example of how we help our customers stay ahead of changing consumer demands, now and in the future. “

The second mission expansion vehicle (left) and the Galaxy 30 communications satellite (right) in a clean room at the Guyana Space Center. Both satellites were manufactured by Northrop Grumman. Credit: ESA / CNES / Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – P. Piron

The Galaxy 30 will use its onboard liquid fuel engine to reshape its orbit more than 22,000 miles above the equator, where the satellite’s speed will match that of the Earth’s rotation. Intelsat plans to park the satellite at 125 degrees west longitude before it begins commercial service.

Northrop Grumman’s second mission expansion vehicle was placed under the Galaxy 30 satellite during Saturday’s launch, a robotic satellite maintenance vessel designed to link to another satellite in geostationary orbit.

The MEV-2 spacecraft, weighing 2338 pounds (2875 kilograms) at launch, separated from the upper stage of the Ariane 5 a few minutes after the Galaxy 30. The MEV-2 follows the MEV-1 mission launched in October 2019 aboard a Russian Proton rocket.

The MEV-1 mission docked with the Intelsat 901 in February, locking onto the satellite after making the first docking between two commercial satellites and the very first link between two objects in geostationary orbit. The Intelsat 901 was launched in 2001 and was low on fuel. The Mission Extension Vehicle is designed to support attitude control of a customer satellite and extend its useful life.

Intelsat has purchased life extension services for two of its satellites from Space Logistics, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman that manages the commercial robotic maintenance program. The Intelsat 901 resumed commercial communications services in April.

After several months of in-orbit and phasing maneuvers, the MEV-2 mission will perform a similar docking and mission extension service from 2021 for the Intelsat 10-02 communications satellite, which was launched in 2004. MEV-2 will provide Intelsat 10-02 with an additional five years of useful life, helping it to provide media and broadband services in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and South America.

“Today’s launch was particularly important for Intelsat as Northrop Grumman’s innovative MEV-2 was launched alongside the Galaxy 30,” Spengler said in a statement. “Intelsat was proud to partner with Northrop Grumman earlier this year to pioneer the future of space maintenance with MEV-1 and our Intelsat 901 satellite. We look forward to this next exciting maintenance mission with Intelsat 10. -02. “

The BSAT-4b communications satellite during launch preparations at the Guyanese Space Center. Credit: ESA / CNES / Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – S. Martin

With Galaxy 30 and MEV-2 deployed, the Ariane 5 threw in a carbon composite fairing that enclosed the mission’s third passenger satellite – the Japanese-owned BSAT-4b broadcast station – upon launch. BSAT-4b separated from the rocket more than 47 minutes after takeoff from French Guiana.

The BSAT-4b satellite, manufactured by Maxar, will be positioned in geostationary orbit 110 degrees east longitude over the Asia-Pacific region. BSAT-4b will broadcast 8K and 4K ultra-high-definition television services directly to homes for Japanese operator B-SAT. The new satellite will be a backup for BSAT-4a, which launched in 2017, helping deliver television broadcasts from next year’s Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Stéphane Israël, CEO of Arianespace, said Saturday’s mission was a “perfect start”.

Wearing masks to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19, officials at the Guyanese Space Center celebrated the successful launch with nudges instead of the usual handshakes and high-fives.

Saturday’s mission was Arianespace’s first since the start of the coronavirus pandemic that forced preparations to launch the European spaceport in French Guyana to stop in March. Work on the launch campaigns partially resumed in May, and Arianespace planned to launch a light-class, solid-fuel Vega rocket at the end of June with a group of 53 small satellites.

But a series of consistently unacceptable upper winds prevented the mission from launching, and engineers had to recharge the batteries of the rocket and some of the mission’s small satellite payloads. Arianespace officials then turned to the next Ariane 5 rocket on the company’s launch schedule.

Arianespace will try again to launch the small satellite carpooling mission of the Vega rocket around August 31 (September 1 in Europe).

Saturday’s launch debuted with several upgrades to the Ariane 5 rocket, including modified pressure vents on its payload fairing. Engineers will collate data on the modified vent configuration to ensure it meets stringent requirements for the launch of the $ 10 billion James Webb Space Telescope on an Ariane 5 rocket next year.

The launcher also had a lighter vehicle equipment bay, part of the rocket that contains the Ariane 5’s avionics and guidance systems. This increases the lift capacity of the Ariane 5’s. about 187 pounds, or 85 kilograms, according to Arianespace.

And the Ariane 5 flew on Saturday with a new autonomous tracking system, which will ultimately be used operationally on the new generation Ariane 6 rocket. The autonomous system uses signals from European Galileo navigation satellites to determine the location of the rocket, streamlining range safety requirements, which currently rely on extensive ground infrastructure – such as radars – to track departing rockets of the Guyanese Space Center.

“This launcher was the most efficient we have ever launched, with 10.2 tonnes (metric) available for satellites,” Israel said. “So many innovations tonight for us.”

With Saturday’s launch, there are eight more Ariane 5 rockets to launch before Arianespace’s transition to the new Ariane 6 launcher, according to Daniel Neuenschwander, director of space transportation at the European Space Agency.

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Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @ StephenClark1.



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