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Abandonment of the Spaceflight SSO-A: SmallSat Express launch attempt to conduct additional pre-flight inspections. Once completed, we will confirm a new launch date.
– SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 17, 2018
<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Previously:"data-reactid =" 33 ">Previously:
A great convergence is coming for the two subsidiaries of Spaceflight Industries, based in Seattle.
Spaceflight, which handles small satellite launch logistics, is gearing up for its most ambitious mission to date: the 'carpool' launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that will deliver at least 64 satellites to a satellite synchronous pole to orbit pole.
The SSO-A mission, also known as SmallSat Express, will take off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Among the dozens of payloads of SSO-A, the first satellite designed for what should be a constellation of Earth Observation spacecraft for BlackSky, the other subsidiary of Spaceflight Industries.
BlackSky already has a prototype satellite in space, called Pathfinder-1, and the company also markets multispectral images from a satellite squadron of other companies. But its world-class satellites will turn things around in terms of image resolution and image diffusion in near real-time.
This mission is also an important step for SpaceX. The first enhanced Block 5 launch booster has already been the subject of two flights in May and August. This will be the first three-time reminder flight (with a launch from each of SpaceX's three operational launch pads). The launch of SmallSat Express will also break the record of 18 SpaceX launches in a calendar year – a record set last year.
If all goes as planned, the first-stage propeller will perform a complex set of maneuvers after separation to land on SpaceX's west coast landing craft.
Spaceflight's flying choreography promises to be as complex as SpaceX's choreography. Once the second leg has reached orbit, a multitude of satellites will be sent from the base of the payload stack and two satellite deployers in free flight. The main payloads are two Planet SkySat Earth observation satellites, which are about the size of a mini-refrigerator and weigh about 250 pounds, but other satellites are as small as tissue boxes.
In addition to the SkySat satellite and the BlackSky Global satellite, here are a dozen other notable payloads:
- Orbital Reflector: Artist Trevor Pagler and the Nevada Museum of Art send a nanosatellite containing a reflective plastic sheet. When the leaf is unrolled, it should shine in the night sky after sunset and before sunrise (may annoy astronomers).
- ENOCH: An Egyptian-style Egyptian style canopic of 24 carats, containing the soul of African-American astronaut Robert Lawrence, is screened for the artistic project of sculptor Tavares Strachan and the Los Art Museum. Angeles County.
- Elysium Star 2: This nanosatellite transports the cremated remains of loved ones that will be scattered into orbit in the form of a "shooting stars memorial".
- FalconSat-6, STPSat-5, ICE-Cap, ORS-7: Several satellites are currently being used by Coast Guard and Army researchers to test advanced technologies and study the space environment.
- Capella-1: This terrestrial imaging satellite, piloted by Capella Space, will help the company fine-tune its synthetic aperture radar imaging system.
- Audacy Zero: Audacy will test a Ka-band miniaturized radio system that could serve as the basis for the world's first commercial satellite relay network.
- HawkEye 360 Pathfinder: Three satellites will monitor radio signals to track ships at sea, including "dark ships" that may engage in illegal activities.
- IRVINE-02: Developed by high school students from Irvine, California, to test an electric propulsion system and a laser communication system.
- WeissSat-1: Developed by college students at the Weiss School in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, to test a lab-on-chip experiment to assess the viability of thawed bacteria in the space.
The launch of the SmallSat Express has not always been easy. Spaceflight entered into a carpool agreement with SpaceX more than three years ago, but delays in the launch schedule forced major satellite reworkings.
Spaceflight President Curt Blake said his team had started charging "change fees" to customers who had to switch from one launcher to another due to scheduling constraints.
Some of these change fees have subsidized costs for other satellite operators who have held vacant positions on satellite deployers. It's a bit like airlines and discount travel websites like Priceline offer last-minute deals to fill the empty seats of passenger planes.
"We have changed to a system that is much more like an airline," Blake told GeekWire. "We work with the idea of flexible rates, all that stuff."
Another problem is related to how Spaceflight plans to deploy all these satellites from spaceflight spacecraft. The interior of space cited an orbital debris expert, T.S. from CelesTrak. Kelso, saying that Spaceflight's method seemed "irresponsible".
"This is endangering the time and resources of a large number of small operators who might never even hear their satellites," Kelso said.
Filling a SpaceX Falcon 9 flight is worth it, especially when Spaceflight offers smaller rockets, such as India's PSLV and Rocket Lab's Electron?
It's a thorny issue, even for Blake. In a recent commentary for SatMagazine, he stated that the SmallSat Express mission was "an incredibly complex business" and suggested "it is more likely that small and medium-sized launchers will become the vehicles of choice for future mission-only missions. carpooling. . "
But in our follow up interview, Blake exposed a more nuanced viewpoint: in his eyes, the Falcon 9 is like a bus, while the smaller Electron is like a taxi.
"If a lot of people want to go from Kirkland to downtown Seattle [and] they all want to leave at 7:30 in the morning to get to work, the bus is a great solution to this. If you want to go somewhere at a time when not everyone wants, or if you want to go to a place where not many people want to go … then you'd better take a taxi, "he said.
In the same way, the Falcon 9 is suitable for satellite operators loaded with satellites who all wish to send their spacecraft simultaneously in a helical orbit. But satellite operators who face time constraints or have special needs would be better off paying the higher cost per kilogram for an Electron launch, Blake said.
In both cases, Spaceflight can arrange the trip. "We carpool on all vehicles," Blake said.
BlackSky is a special case, because of its status as a Spaceflight corporate brother under the broader aegis of Spaceflight Industries. "We know more about them," acknowledged Blake. But he said that BlackSky did not receive special treatment.
"We treat them as much as we can like any other client," Blake said.
BlackSky Global-2 will be mounted on the Falcon 9, while Global-1 is scheduled to be launched in India on November 26 as a secondary payload on a PSLV rocket. The figures seem confusing only because when BlackSky planned the first stages of its constellation, the launch of the PSLV was planned first.
Global-3 and Global-4 are expected to take off early next year, on another PSLV and an Electron. Twenty more satellites are expected to follow within a year or two, completing the constellation of Phase 1 and setting the stage for even more to come.
BlackSky has already developed a cloud-based constellation orchestration system called Gemini to automate many of the tasks needed to manage what will become more than twenty satellites. In a description of the Gemini system, written for the BlackSky website, software development director Casey Peel said he and his teammates were ready for the next chapter of their own satellite saga.
"We are excited to bring Gemini to work as soon as the goals of the next global launch are heard," Peel wrote.
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