Cassiope, три POPACS, CUSat 1&2, DANDE - Falcon 9 v1.1 - Ванденберг SLC-4E - 29.09.2013

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/tracking/index.html

April • Falcon 9 • Cassiope
Launch window: TBD
Launch site: SLC-4E, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Cassiope satellite for the Canadian Space Agency. Cassiope carries a communications relay payload for a commercial digital broadcast courier service and an instrument to observe the Earth's ionosphere. The rocket will fly in the Falcon 9 v1.1 configuration with upgraded Merlin 1D engines, stretched fuel tanks, and a payload fairing.

[Salo]

http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/cassiope-1.htm

CASSIOPE 1


CASSIOPE 1 [MDA]

MacDonald Dettwiler (MDA) is developing a space mission around a new generation of smaller cost-effective satellites. CASSIOPE (Cascade SmallSat and Ionospheric Polar Explorer) is a multifunctional mission designed to serve both a scientific and a commercial purpose.

Scheduled for launch in 2007, this small satellite mission will feature the first in a new generation of multi-purpose satellite platforms that will be adaptable for use in a variety of future Canadian space missions.

MDA is the prime contractor for the space and ground infrastructure for the CASSIOPE Mission including system engineering, design, assembly, integration, testing, launch and operation of the spacecraft.

The CASSIOPE Mission will carry the experimental Cascade payload to demonstrate the world's first commercial space-based digital courier service. When proven, future operational missions will provide a large-scale data transfer service to remote commercial, civil and military clients anywhere in the world. Similar to the operations of a traditional courier company, Cascade will pick-up a parcel at close of business day, and deliver it to geographically dispersed destinations before work starts the next day. The difference is that the service will utilize a small satellite and the packages will be very large digital data files. Initially, one Low Earth Orbit satellite will orbit above the Earth at an altitude of 300 to 1,500 km once every 1.5 hours, providing multiple opportunities each day for the pick-up and delivery of data anywhere on Earth. As demand increases, capacity can be expanded by adding additional satellites. Cascade is accessed through small turnkey terminals with built-in mass storage capacity and 1-2 meter antennas. The terminal communicates with the Cascade control centre to schedule pickup and confirm delivery. As the satellite comes overhead, the data is transmitted at 1.2 gigabits per second - 12 times faster than the operating speed of most office LANs. At that speed, the contents of a typical music CD would be transferred in a little over 4 seconds and a full length DVD movie in little more than a minute. This point-to-point delivery system ensures a high degree of security. CASSIOPE will operate in the higher frequency Ka-Band radio spectrum providing greater bandwidth.

Developed by a scientific team led by the University of Calgary, ePOP will be Canada's first space environment sensor suite, providing Canadian scientists with the opportunity to understand the impact the variability of the Sun has on the space environment. ePOP will carry a suite of eight scientific instruments, including plasma sensors, radio wave receivers, magnetometers, CCD cameras, and a beacon transmitter. The ePOP payload will lead to a comprehensive understanding of plasma processes in the polar ionosphere – a region in the upper atmosphere.

- IRM (Imaging rapid scanning mass spectrometer): Composition, density, velocity, temperature (1-40 amu, 1-70 eV)
- SEI (Suprathermal electron imager): Suprathermal electro and photoelectron energy and pitch angle spectra (<200 V)
- NMS (Neutral mass and velocity spectrometer): Neutral composition, density, velocity, temperature (1-40 amu, 0.1-2 km/s)
- FAI (Fast auroral imager): Fast broadband visible (10 per sec) and slower monochromatic imgages (630 nm)
- RRI (Radio receiver instrument): HF and VLF wave electic field polarization and propagation
- MGF (Magnetic field instrument): Magnetic field perturbation and field aligned currents
- GAP (Navstar attitute, position occultation experiment): Ionospheric Irregularities (differential GPS); spacecraft attitude (Navstar interferometry)
- CER (Coherent EM radiation tomography experiment): Ionospheric Irregularities (differential line of-sight plasma wave propagation delays)

Nation:    Canada
Type / Application:    Communication, store dump, Science
Operator:    CSA
Contractors:    MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA), Magellan Aerospace (Bus)
Equipment:    
Configuration:    MAC-200
Propulsion:    
Power:    Solar cells, batteries
Lifetime:    2 years
Mass:    ~500 kg
Orbit:    300 km × 1500 km

[Salo]

http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/popacs.htm

POPACS


POPACS

POPACS (Polar Orbiting Passive Atmospheric Calibration Sphere) is a mission by a collaboration between Morehead State University, Gil Moore, the University of Arkansas, Planetary Systems Corporation, Montana State University, et. al. to assess changes in the density of the upper atmosphere in response to heightened solar activity. Launch is sponsored by the Air Force Space Test Program.

In partnership with Planetary Systems Corporation and project director, Gil Moore, the DSSL students designed a delivery system for POPACS that will protect it during it launch and deployment in to orbit.

The spacecraft in this case are six 10-centimeter spheres filled with sand to masses of 1, 1.5, and 2 kilograms; three are painted white while three will have shiny metallic surfaces. The spheres will fly within CubeSat (3U) form factor frames as secondary payloads on the first Falcon-9 v1.1 launch from Vandenberg in early 2013, and released once in polar orbit. Air Force radars as well as ground observers—including, Moore hopes, college students—will track the orbits of these objects as they decay over 10 to 15 years to measure atmospheric density.

POPACS follows the general guidelines of a 3U cube satellite form factor that is split between a typical 2U (10 cm × 10 cm × 20 cm) cube and an atypical 1U (10 cm diameter) sphere. The sub systems and technology aboard POPACS are very unusual for a small satellite. Extraordinary sub-systems and materials include: a cold gas ADACS (Axial/Divert and Attitude Control System) MEMS (Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems) propulsion system, MEMS memory, a thermal control system, deployable solar panels, and satellite frame printed using a 3-D rapid prototyping printing process.

Nation:    USA
Type / Application:    Research (Atmospheric density)
Operator:    
Contractors:    
Equipment:    
Configuration:    CubeSat (3U) form factor
Propulsion:    None
Power:    Solar cells, batteries
Lifetime:    
Mass:    3 kg

[Salo]

http://www.newspacewatch.com/articles/faa-conf-wed-afternoon-pt-2-notes.html

Standing up pad at Vandenberg. Expect first launch there mid-year.

[Salo]

18 июня.

[igorvs]

Фото со стартовой площадки Vandenberg SLC-4E 2013.02.06

[igorvs]

Так как фотографии не отобразились, вот ссылка на них:
http://photos.dailynews.com/2013/02/photos-first-lookspacex-launch-complexvandenberg-afb/#name

[Старый]

Масса Кассиопы - 500 кг. Не маловато для такой ракеты?

[instml]

Старый пишет:
Масса Кассиопы - 500 кг. Не маловато для такой ракеты?

Испытательный пуск

[Старый]

Аааа...

[Salo]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/8591558240/in/photostream/

SpaceX Falcon 9 1.1 Production Line

On the new observation platform with my partner Randy Glein, who used to work at Hughes and Martin Marietta.

Below us, booster and second stages get ready for shipment. The white structure on the left is the paint booth, directly fed from the friction-stir-welder contraption. With version 1.1, the booster switches the 3x3 motor block to an Octaweb that's flush with the body with a ring of the new Merlin 1D engines (manufacturing, testing).

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/tracking/index.html

July 9     Falcon 9  •  Cassiope
Launch window: 1600-1800 GMT (12:00-2:00 p.m. EDT; 9:00-11:00 a.m. PDT)
Launch site: SLC-4E, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Cassiope satellite for the Canadian Space Agency. Cassiope carries a communications relay payload for a commercial digital broadcast courier service and an instrument to observe the Earth's ionosphere. The rocket will fly in the Falcon 9 v1.1 configuration with upgraded Merlin 1D engines, stretched fuel tanks, and a payload fairing. Delayed from April and June 18. [April 9]

[Salo]

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=31429.msg1037034#msg1037034

subzero788 пишет:
I've been out of the loop for a while-- what's the status of the Vandenberg pad? Is it ready to go and it's the launch vehicle acceptance testing that they're waiting on?

simonbp пишет:
That sounds right. Last I saw, the vehicle is in Texas on the test stand. Once that's done, they'll truck it back to California.

Of course, many things can crop up after arriving at the launch pad...

[Salo]

Я так понимаю прожига на полный ресурс не будет, если они ступень со стенда на старт повезут?

[Salo]

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=31429.msg1050433#msg1050433

McDew пишет:
FWIW I heard the launch was delayed to NET July 20.

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/006/130516fairing/

VIDEO: Falcon 9 fairing tested in Ohio

BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: May 16, 2013

 The payload fairing for SpaceX's upgraded Falcon 9 rocket, set to debut this summer on a launch from California, is being tested inside the world's largest vacuum chamber in Ohio as the burgeoning space transportation company breaks in to the commercial launch market.



Credit: SpaceX

 The 17-foot-diameter shroud was built entirely by SpaceX for the company's next-generation Falcon 9 rocket - called the Falcon 9 v1.1 in SpaceX's parlance.

SpaceX is testing the fairing inside the world's largest vacuum chamber at NASA's Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio. The cavernous chamber, which can simulate the pressure, temperature and radiation environments of space, has been used to test U.S. and European launcher fairings, Mars landers and International Space Station hardware.

The Hawthorne, Calif.-based space transportation company released a video of the fairing test Thursday, showing the shroud's two clamshell-like halves separating in high-speed camera views.

The 43-foot-tall fairing will enclose satellites in the first few minutes of launch as the Falcon 9 rocket flies through the lower atmosphere. Once the launch vehicle reaches thinner air resistance at the edge of space, it will jettison the fairing to let go of the extra mass.

Elon Musk, SpaceX's CEO and chief technology officer, said the payload fairing is made of carbon fiber with an aluminum honeycomb core. He called it "the lightest material choice possible" in an email with Spaceflight Now.

The fairing tests continue at Plum Brook, according to Christina Ra, a SpaceX spokesperson.

The Falcon 9 v1.1's upgraded Merlin engine completed qualification for flight earlier this year. The Merlin 1D engine produces more thrust than SpaceX's previous Merlin engines, and its design is more robust for reusability, higher production rates and lower cost, according to SpaceX.

The Falcon 9 rocket's first stage is powered by nine Merlin engines. SpaceX redesigned the upgraded Falcon 9's first stage to arrange the engines in a circular pattern instead of the "tic-tac-toe" three-by-three engine matrix used on the first-generation Falcon 9 booster.

A vacuum-rated Merlin 1D engine with an expansive nozzle will propel the Falcon 9 v1.1's second stage.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 qualification testing, which is not yet complete, is also verifying the structural integrity of the new rocket's first stage tanks, which are stretched to hold more liquid oxygen and kerosene propellants than previous Falcon 9s.

The maiden flight of the Falcon 9 v1.1 is scheduled for July from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., with the Canadian Space Agency's Cassiope communications and space weather research satellite.

The upgraded Falcon 9's first launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla., will come in August with the SES 8 communications satellite. It will be SpaceX's first launch into geostationary transfer orbit, a high-altitude elliptical orbit commonly used by communications satellites transiting to operational positions over the equator.

All of SpaceX's Falcon 9 launches to date have flown to low Earth orbit on test flights or NASA-sponsored missions to resupply the International Space Station with the Dragon spacecraft.

Unlike most satellites, launches of the Dragon capsule do not use a fairing.

[Salo]

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=31429.msg1054132#msg1054132

Nate_Trost пишет:
You get industry scuttlebutt in these threads. Although considering that the first stage at least, is still sitting in Texas, I'd be more a little skeptical of July 20 at this point.

Things/milestones we are still waiting to hear about in this thread:

* Stage testing completed in TX
* Stage shipped from TX, arrives at VAFB
* First time stage integration at new facility
* First ever WDR of 1.1 and of the SLC-4E pad
* First time SpaceX integrates a satellite payload on a F9
* First time SpaceX has dealt with the F9 fairing as part of integration/launch prep
* Pad static-fire?

Prober пишет:
forgot the pad being complete

[Salo]

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=8184.msg1058947#msg1058947

Salo пишет:

July 9 (TBD) - Cassiope, POPACS (x6), CUSat 1&2 - Falcon 9 v1.1 - Vandenberg SLC-4E - 16:00-18:00 (or NET July 20)

Skyrocket пишет:

Another payload has joint this launch. DANDE (Drag and Atmospheric Neutral Density Explorer)
https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/d/dande

There will be only 3 POPACS satellites on this launch (personal communication with Gil Moore)

There might be also a 0.5 kg Stanford nanosatellite called SNAPS on board
http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/formal_detail.php?serialnum=289

[Salo]

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=31429.msg1059192#msg1059192

Chris Bergin пишет:
SpaceX confirming their is currently no launch date for this mission at the moment (as they work through several issues with the v1.1):

Peter B. de Selding ‏@pbdes
SpaceX: No firm date for flight of new-version Falcon 9 with Canada's Cassiope science sat. Launch will prepare F9 for geo commercial market

[Salo]

http://www.spacenews.com/article/launch-report/35562spacex-chief-says-reusable-first-stage-will-slash-launch-costs#.Uajt7tiBXTo

Meanwhile, SpaceX's upgraded, but still expendable, Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to make its inaugural launch sometime this summer from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., carrying Canada's Cassiope science satellite into low Earth orbit. The launch will flight-qualify the rocket's new engine and fairing sufficiently to trigger a series of Falcon 9 commercial missions that the company has booked.

SpaceX said May 30 that the date of the inaugural flight of the new Falcon 9 remains uncertain. Following a successful Cassiope launch, the new Falcon 9 is scheduled to begin commercial operations from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.