EUTELSAT W3B & BSAT 3b = Ariane 5 ECA (V197) – FRGUI – 28.10.10 21:51 UTC

Автор Salo, 10.07.2010 13:53:10

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Ярослав

да, видать вибрации при старте были спутнику неприятны...

VSATman

Цитироватьа все западные КА, которые запускаются Протоном на чем чешут с ГПО на ГСО?
Да, похоже был не прав..но ведь совсем глупо получается - тащим на "целевую орбиту" 5000х36000 км 2 маршевых ЖРД + остатки топлива.. вместо одного..

Salo

http://www.spacenews.com/launch/101029-eutelsat-w3b-declared-total-loss.html
ЦитироватьFri, 29 October, 2010
Eutelsat W3B Declared Total Loss; Plans Under Way To Deorbit Craft[/size]
By Peter B. de Selding

PARIS — The Eutelsat W3B satellite launched Oct. 28 was declared a total loss following discovery of a sizable leak in its fuel reservoir and ground teams, as of late Oct. 29, were preparing a maneuver to send it into the atmosphere to be destroyed, Eutelsat and satellite builder Thales Alenia Space.

Starting Nov. 1, the 5,370-kilogram W3B will be guided toward an atmospheric re-entry, probably above the South Pacific Ocean, industry officials said. The procedure will likely force Eutelsat and Thales Alenia Space to work with regional maritime authorities to clear a corridor in the South Pacific for any W3B debris that might survive atmospheric re-entry.

W3B ground teams on Oct. 29 determined that the fuel leak aboard the satellite is so serious that it was not feasible to attempt to place the spacecraft in geostationary orbit, and then to push it into a graveyard orbit at least 250 kilometers above the geostationary arc 36,000 kilometers over the equator.

Europe's Ariane 5 ECA rocket, in what appeared to be a smooth flight, placed W3B into a transfer orbit with a perigee of 249.2 kilometers and an apogee of 35,907 kilometers, which was the satellite's intended destination.

From this transfer position, spacecraft use their own power to circularize their orbit in the days following launch to reach final geostationary position about 36,000 kilometers over the equator.

W3B ground teams spent much of the night of Oct. 28-29 debating whether it would be possible, or advisable, to conduct the series of firings of the satellite's on-board engine needed to raise the spacecraft into a graveyard orbit. That option was rejected later in the day Oct. 29 when the assessment of the extent of the fuel leak hit home.

What remained unknown as of late Oct. 29 was the cause of the leak. Emmanuel Grave, Thales Alenia Space executive vice president for telecommunications satellites, said the leak in the oxidizer tank is too large to have escaped notice as the satellite was being prepared for integration into the Ariane 5 rocket alongside Japan's BSat-3b satellite, which was launched at the same time and is reported in good health. That would suggest that the reservoir was somehow damaged after it was placed under the Ariane 5 ECA rocket's fairing.

Grave refused to speculate on what might have happened between that time and the moment W3B was released in orbit, saying a board of inquiry would be established to review the telemetry from W3B and from the Ariane 5 rocket.

Teams from Thales Alenia Space and Paris-based Eutelsat tracking the satellite after its separation from the Ariane 5 upper stage from a control center in Rambouillet, France, duly noted that it sent the expected signals once in orbit. But soon after, the satellite's telemetry also disclosed a leak in the propellant system that is so large that there is no hope of squeezing even a limited commercial life from W3B.

Grave said the priority now is to determine how best to dispose of W3B. From transfer orbit, the spacecraft is not within radio contact of ground teams for long periods. Decisions must be made as to how much fuel life is available, and whether that fuel should be used to raise W3B's perigee to provide a more-stable orbit, or guide it into a controlled destructive atmospheric re-entry, perhaps over the South Pacific Ocean.

Thales Alenia Space officials have experience in this type of maneuver, having been forced to send their Astra 1K satellite, owned by SES of Luxembourg, into the atmosphere after the malfunction of a Proton rocket upper stage in November 1995.

Grave declined to speculate on what caused the leak beyond saying it must have occurred after the launch. He said the components used are not new, and that nothing in the satellite's monthlong preparation at the French Guiana spaceport suggested an issue with the propellant reservoir.

An official with the Arianespace launch consortium said the company will be reviewing launch telemetry in detail but that, after a first view, the launch did not appear to encounter any special stresses as the rocket climbed through the atmosphere and sustained the usual period of maximum dynamic pressure on the vehicle.

In an Oct. 29 statement, Eutelsat said it will immediately order a new satellite, to be called W3D, as a result of the loss of W3B. The company will also keep at their current location at 16 degrees west the three satellites that W3B was intended to replace.

A nearly identical satellite, called W3C, is under construction at Thales Alenia Space and scheduled for launch, aboard a Chinese Long March rocket, in mid-2011.

W3B was insured as part of a $2.5 billion, seven-satellite package secured by Eutelsat in 2008. It is the second satellite in this group to suffer a major anomaly, following the W2M spacecraft, which had a solar array problem and is operating at reduced capacity.

Pending the results of the W3B failure investigation, the smooth countdown for the 39th consecutive Ariane 5 success makes it more likely that Evry, France-based Arianespace will be able to conduct the two next Ariane 5 missions as scheduled in late November and late December. Completing six flights before it closes its 2010 accounts is important for the company, whose financial equilibrium has been upset by launch delays of flights that have placed a seven-launch year beyond its reach.

W3B, a Spacebus 4000C3 satellite frame, carries 53 Ku- and three Ka-band transponders and was designed to produce more than 12 kilowatts of power at the end of its 15-year life. It was to have replaced the Eurobird 16, W2M and Sesat 1 satellites at the 16 degrees east slot. These three satellites then would have been redeployed to other locations.

In addition to serving Eutelsat's 11.2 million television homes in Central Europe, W3B's beams were to focus on Mauritius and Reunion islands in the Indian Ocean, and on sub-Saharan Africa. The African coverage was to provide cellular-telephone backhaul and Internet access.

W3B initially was intended for launch aboard a Chinese Long March vehicle. Eutelsat switched to Ariane, and transferred its Chinese launch reservation to another Eutelsat satellite, when a temporary shortage of certain made-in-Europe components raised questions about whether W3B as launched would be "ITAR-free," meaning devoid of U.S. parts prohibited for export to China.

The BSat-3b satellite, built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, uses Lockheed Martin's A2100 satellite skeletal structure and an example of how light this satellite frame can get. BSat-3b weighed just 2,060 kilograms at launch and carries 12 130-watt Ku-band transponders. It will be added to BSat's fleet for direct-to-home television and operate at 110 degrees east.
"Были когда-то и мы рысаками!!!"

YAV

Да, жалко птичку. Видел его в сборочном цехе Талеса, красивая машина была, даже позавидовал белой завистью, как его любовно собирали.

Salo

http://www.spacenews.com/satellite_telecom/101103-eutelsat-strong-growth-key-markets.html
ЦитироватьIn response to the failure, Eutelsat will be leaving in place the three satellites it has stationed at 16 degrees east to assure service until the W3C spacecraft, now under construction, is launched in mid-2011. A W3D satellite is expected to be ordered in the coming weeks as well.
"Были когда-то и мы рысаками!!!"

Salo

http://www.spacenews.com/satellite_telecom/101105-failed-w3b-satellite-orbit-decades.html
ЦитироватьFri, 5 November, 2010
Eutelsat Will Not Attempt To Deorbit Failed W3B Satellite[/size]
By Peter B. de Selding

    PARIS — The Eutelsat W3B satellite declared a total loss less than 24 hours after its Oct. 28 launch because of a leak in its propulsion system will spend the next 20 to 30 years in its parking orbit following ground teams' inability to guide it into a controlled atmospheric re-entry, satellite manufacturer Thales Alenia Space said Nov. 5.

    The company said that it has rendered the satellite inert to the extent possible — emptying its helium pressurization tank and whatever fuel remains in liquid state and can be discharged, as well as draining its batteries — to minimize the likelihood that W3B explodes on contact with any orbital debris it may encounter in its elliptical orbit.

    The satellite, which weighed 5,370 kilograms at launch, developed a large leak in a line delivering oxidizer to the propellant tank at some point between lifting off aboard an Ariane 5 ECA rocket from Europe's Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, and when it was released into orbit.

    Japan's BSat-3b telecommunications satellite, which was a co-passenger on the launch, is healthy in orbit and showing no sign that anything was amiss either during the launch or during the satellites' separation, BSat-3b manufacturer Lockheed Martin Space Systems of Newtown, Pa., announced Nov. 4.

    The Arianespace launch consortium of Evry, France, said its analysis of telemetry data from the launch likewise has turned up no evidence of out-of-boundary vibrations during the rocket's climb through the atmosphere, or any issues during the satellites' release into their parking orbits.

    An Arianespace official said the company, conscious of the questions that its customers may have, has sent written assurances to the owners of satellites on upcoming Ariane 5 launches stating that Arianespace sees no reason to delay the next launch, scheduled for Nov. 25. That launch will carry the Intelsat 17 satellite for Washington- and Luxembourg-based Intelsat, and the Hylas-1 satellite for Avanti Communications of London.

    The Thales Alenia Space statement said a board of inquiry has been established to investigate what happened with W3B. The board includes the satellite's owner, Paris-based Eutelsat, prime contractor Thales Alenia Space, and propulsion system provider Astrium Satellites. Arianespace  also is taking part in the inquiry as an observer, mainly to provide telemetry from the launch.

    The inquiry is expected to last one month, but may be extended. A preliminary report is expected in mid-November.

    In the 24 hours following the launch, Thales Alenia Space and Eutelsat concluded that W3B did not have enough usable propellant to be guided into a graveyard orbit, generally defined as 200-300 kilometers higher than the satellite's intended operating position 36,000 kilometers above the equator.

    The Ariane 5 ECA rocket had dropped off W3B in the specified transfer orbit, with a perigee of 249.2 kilometers and an apogee of 35,907 kilometers. With an orbit-raising maneuver excluded, the manufacturer began designing a series of steps to guide the satellite into the atmosphere, preferably over the southern Pacific Ocean.

    But by Nov. 3 the ground controllers concluded that de-orbiting the satellite would not be possible  in light of a propulsion situation  even more desperate than previously  thought. The fuel had begun to freeze, and while the usual partial deployment of the solar arrays provided battery power, the satellite could not be moved.

    After performing the propellant purge and other passivation efforts to reduce debris risk, Thales Alenia Space and Eutelsat informed the North American Aerospace Defense Command that W3B should be considered an inert object.

    Thales Alenia Space estimated that the satellite's elliptical orbit, which was not substantially changed in the abortive attempt to achieve ignition, will keep W3B in space for between 20 and 30 years before the natural forces of gravity and the Earth's residual atmosphere pull it down. While there are not many satellites that have been stranded in this position, there are numerous rocket upper stages that are left there after launch.
"Были когда-то и мы рысаками!!!"

Salo

http://www.spacenews.com/satellite_telecom/101124-eutelsat-searching-answers-w3b-failure.html
ЦитироватьWed, 24 November, 2010
Eutelsat Still Searching for Answers in W3B Failure[/size]
By Peter B. de Selding

PARIS — Eutelsat Chief Executive Michel de Rosen on Nov. 24 said he remains confident that investigators will find the cause of the propulsion-system failure on Eutelsat's W3B telecommunications satellite. But he conceded that, one month after the failure, the inquiry is still searching for a smoking gun.

"We are lucky in the sense that, unlike some other satellite failures, we have been able to isolate the problem in the propulsion system," de Rosen said here during the "Space Perspectives 2011" conference organized by Euroconsult and the French aerospace industries association, Gifas.

"The chief technical officer of Eutelsat is on the board of inquiry, as is the chief technical officer of Thales Alenia Space, the manufacturer. The board also includes the presence of Astrium, the builder of the propulsion system, and of Arianespace, the launch services provider, to provide [launch] metrics," he said. "I do believe there will be a clear explanation, but we need to let them work a little longer."

W3B developed a leak in its oxidizer tank that became so serious in the minutes after launch that the satellite could neither be raised into a proper retirement orbit nor sent on a guided descent into the Pacific Ocean. It is expected to spend several decades in the same highly elliptical transfer orbit in which it was left following separation from the Ariane 5 ECA rocket after launch.

In an interview, de Rosen said he has heard too many theories about what may have happened to W3B to believe any of them at this point. "We have got very good people on this board of inquiry and I will let them reach their conclusions."

Eutelsat is expected to receive a W3B total-loss insurance payment of about 245 million euros ($333 million) and is expected to sign a contract for a replacement satellite in the coming weeks. Whether Eutelsat will seek a new procurement with competitive bids, or ask Thales Alenia Space to provide a W3B twin, is not known.

Paris-based Eutelsat has asked Thales Alenia Space to speed production, to the extent possible, of the similar W3C satellite that is scheduled for launch in 2011 aboard a Chinese Long March rocket.

Eutelsat, which is the world's third-largest commercial satellite fleet operator when ranked by revenue and also one of the industry's most profitable companies, is scheduled to launch its first all-Ka-band broadband satellite in mid-December aboard an International Launch Services Proton rocket from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

During the conference, de Rosen and Ferdinand Kayser, chief executive of the SES Astra division of fleet operator SES of Luxembourg, debated whether Eutelsat has made a gamble with Ka-Sat that it may regret.

"Questions remain open on Ka-band," Kayser said in outlining why SES, which is using conventional Ku-band for its European consumer broadband service, has declined to build its own Ka-band satellite. Ka-band's principal advantage over Ku-band is that, being little used, there is much more bandwidth available for the moment. Eutelsat's Ka-Sat will generate some 70 gigabits per second of throughput.

"We are in the business of operating satellites that last for 15 years in orbit," Kayser said. "We must be able to prove to our shareholders that these will be profitable each time we launch. We have been more prudent, or less courageous perhaps, than our competitor Eutelsat."

De Rosen retorted immediately: "That's interesting, we think it's you who are the most audacious, or courageous, by investing in a Ka-band constellation. It's called O3B is it not?"

O3B is a startup operator based in Britain's Channel Islands that is planning a constellation of 20 medium-orbit satellites delivering Ka-band to telecommunications operators and corporate networks in the developing world. The company, now managed by SES's former chief financial officer, Mark Rigolle, is said to be close to closing a financial package of $1.1 billion to build and launch the satellites with the backing of France's export-credit agency, Coface.

SES has distributed Ka-band capacity over several of its satellites now in construction and has said it is ready to switch its consumer broadband service to Ka-band when necessary. But it has declined to take the risk of a large, all-Ka-band spacecraft.

Once Ka-Sat is launched and in operation, de Rosen said, Eutelsat will proceed cautiously with commercialization with its 68 distribution partners throughout Europe. He declined to say how heavily the Ka-Sat business model will lean on prospective military sales, including Ka-band links to high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles, but conceded that this is part of the business plan.

Eutelsat, de Rosen said, will let Ka-Sat operate for about a year before deciding whether to order a backup Ka-band satellite.
"Были когда-то и мы рысаками!!!"

интересующийся

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/news/press_releases/2010/1207-ss-bsat.html
ЦитироватьLockheed Martin-Built BSAT-3b Satellite Begins Service for Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation of Japan

NEWTOWN, Pa., December 8th, 2010 -- – The BSAT-3b broadcasting satellite, designed and built by Lockheed Martin [NYSE] for the Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation (B-SAT) of Japan, is now operational following successful on-orbit deployment and checkout of all spacecraft systems. The spacecraft is located at orbital location 110 degrees east and is expected to provide more than 15 years of service for B-SAT.

BSAT-3b features 12 130 W Ku-band channels, eight operating simultaneously and is based on the A2100A platform manufactured by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems (LMCSS), Newtown, Pa. The satellite broadcasts high-definition television to homes and businesses throughout Japan and links ground stations with 90 million HDTV terminals across the country.

"I am very pleased that LMCSS has delivered the perfect satellite to B-SAT again," said B-SAT President and CEO Kazuo Takenaka. "B-SAT expects high reliability from BSAT-3b, which will support digital broadcasting service in Japan in conjunction with BSAT-3a."

"The successful handover of BSAT-3b to B-SAT is the culmination of extraordinary teamwork and program performance," said LMCSS President Joseph Rickers. "BSAT-3b will be a tremendous asset to B-SAT's spacecraft fleet, and I commend both B-SAT and Lockheed Martin for this achievement."

"Lockheed Martin is particularly proud of the A2100's impressive track record," continued Rickers. "BSAT-3b represents the 37th commercial communications satellite based on the A2100 platform delivered to customers world-wide and is another example of the value of A2100 and Lockheed Martin."

BSAT-3b was based entirely on proven A2100 designs and extensive flight heritage, enhancing reliability on orbit. Lockheed Martin successfully built and launched BSAT-3a for B-SAT in August 2007 and is currently constructing BSAT-3c/JCSAT-110R, which is scheduled for launch in the second quarter of 2011.

The Lockheed Martin A2100 geosynchronous spacecraft series is designed to meet a wide variety of telecommunications needs including Ka-band broadband and broadcast services, fixed satellite services in C-band and Ku-band, high-power direct broadcast services using the Ku-band frequency spectrum and mobile satellite services using UHF, L-band, and S-band payloads. The A2100's modular design features simplified construction, increased on-orbit reliability and reduced weight and cost. The A2100 design accommodates a large range of communication payloads and serves as the platform for critical government communications programs, including the Advanced Extremely High Frequency and Mobile User Objective System satellites.

The A2100 spacecraft can also be configured for missions other than communication. It has been adapted for Lockheed Martin's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Series-R earth observing mission and serves as the spacecraft platform for Lockheed Martin's GPS III program.

 

About B-SAT

B-SAT is a unique operator of broadcasting satellites in 12GHz BSS band in Japan. The company was established in April 1993 and is located in Tokyo, Japan. Since then, B-SAT has worked toward providing stable satellite operations and continuity of broadcast services. B-SAT currently owns and manages five satellites: BSAT-3b and BSAT-3a for both analogue and digital services, BSAT-2a for analog services, BSAT-2c for digital services, and BSAT-1b for a backup satellite.
Бывает, что усердие превозмогает и рассудок

Pol

http://satellite.tmcnet.com/topics/satellite/articles/124584-thales-alenia-space-build-w3d-satellite-eutelsat-communications.htm

December 08, 2010Thales Alenia Space to Build W3D Satellite for Eutelsat Communications

Eutelsat Communications, a satellite operator, has contracted Thales (News - Alert) Alenia Space to build it a W3D satellite that will replace the W3B spacecraft lost after its launch on Oct. 28.

W3D will be co-positioned with Eutelsat's (News - Alert) W3A satellite at 7 degrees East to expand operational capacity at this longstanding location to 70 transponders from 44. It is built on Thales' Spacebus 4000 platform. Eutelsat customers with the new satellite will be receiving additional capabilities to expand their business, and the company will be able to increase in-orbit security and inject new capacity to 7degrees East to capture business opportunities in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia.

According to the company, the W3D satellite features 56 Ku and Ka-band transponders and is supposed to deliver three key coverage zones: high-power Ku-band coverage of Europe with a beam centered over Central Europe and Turkey, particularly optimized for direct-to-home (DTH) reception. The satellite can offer extensive coverage across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East as far as Central Asia, via a Ku-band beam for professional video links and data networks and Ku-band coverage of Sub-Saharan Africa and Indian Ocean islands for regional telecommunications and Internet services. Ka-band frequencies in Europe and Ku-band frequencies in Africa will be blended to interconnect the African coverage with Europe.

Officials with Eutelsat explained that working in close collaboration with the industry, they are now pushing ahead with timely delivery of W3C (News - Alert) to 16degrees East in mid-2011 and has started the clock on the W3D program, which will be completed in 24 months. The company's clear objective is to apply to both programs all appropriate recommendations of the Inquiry Board currently investigating the loss of W3B. Even as the Inquiry Board continues its work, Eutelsat is already implementing measures to tighten control of the industry's manufacturing processes.
С уважением, Павел Акулаев

Salo

http://www.spacenews.com/satellite_telecom/20110318-w3b-failure-misaligned-propellant-tube.html
ЦитироватьFri, 18 March, 2011
Panel Blames W3B Failure on Misaligned Propellant Tube[/size]
By Peter B. de Selding

    W3B satellite being prepared for launch. Credit: Arianespace photo
        W3B satellite being prepared for launch. Credit: Arianespace photo Enlarge Image

    WASHINGTON — A four-month investigation into the loss of Eutelsat's W3B telecommunications satellite less than 24 hours after launch last October has concluded that the failure was caused by a sudden, catastrophic leak in a single propellant tube connected to one of the satellite's 16 thruster motors, industry officials said.

    Conclusions about what happened on a satellite that cannot be recovered are never 100 percent certain, especially in a case like W3B, which represented one of the more mysterious losses in recent years.

    "I've never seen anything like it," Eutelsat Chief Technical Officer David Bair said during a March 16 briefing here during the Satellite 2011 conference.

    Bair said Eutelsat is nonetheless satisfied that the board of inquiry looking into what happened to W3B has solved the mystery and that the satellite manufacturers in question — in this case, Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor and Astrium Satellites as propulsion-system provider — have taken the needed steps to prevent a recurrence.

    Eutelsat Chief Executive Michel de Rosen said the contractors have agreed to tighten some of their oversight procedures in the future, and notably to verify that the W3C satellite, a W3B twin now planned for launch this summer aboard a Chinese Long March rocket, has no similar issues.

    The tube's rupture was due to a faulty alignment with the thruster assembly, which the board of inquiry said was a result of poor workmanship during the satellite's assembly.

    The board further concluded that the assembly glitch was at least indirectly caused by the decision of prime contractor Thales Alenia Space to replace a so-called ITAR-free thruster with a standard unit.

    Officials familiar with the investigation said the misalignment probably would have occurred even if the change-out had not related to ITAR, or the International Traffic in Arms Regulations that govern the export of U.S.-built satellite parts.

    W3B was originally intended for launch aboard a Chinese Long March rocket. Because the U.S. government forbids U.S. satellite components from being exported to China, satellites launched there must use non-U.S. hardware in order to be beyond the reach of ITAR.

    But when Thales Alenia Space ran short of spare ITAR-free components it wanted to take to China for the launch preparations, Eutelsat opted to switch to a European Ariane 5 rocket rather than risk a delay in the launch.

    Once that decision was made, the need for the more expensive ITAR-free components disappeared and Thales Alenia Space thought it prudent to replace some ITAR-free hardware and save it for future use.

    W3B was launched together with Japan's Bsat-3b telecommunications satellite aboard a European Ariane 5 rocket. The Evry, France-based Arianespace launch operator reported that flight conditions, meaning the vibration effects that every satellite suffers as the rocket traverses the atmosphere, were within specification.

    But almost from the moment the satellite separated from the vehicle, ground teams began seeing telemetry data suggesting a severe leak in an oxidizer feed line.

    The leak was so bad that ground controllers soon realized that not only was the W3B a total loss, but that the satellite could not be raised into a graveyard orbit or sent into a controlled atmospheric re-entry to burn up over the Pacific Ocean.

    W3B, which weighed 5,370 kilograms at launch, will now spend 20 years or more as another piece of space garbage in an orbit of 250 kilometers by 35,900 kilometers. Thales Alenia Space officials said they succeeded in rendering passive the satellite's electronics to reduce the risk of explosion in orbit.

    The satellite was insured for about 245 million euros ($325 million).

    The board of inquiry included the prime and propulsion contractors, plus the French space agency, CNES; Eutelsat; and Arianespace as an observer.

    One official familiar with the investigation said that the investigation was able to identify the volume of the leaked propellant and deduce the size of the leak, as well as its location.

    The board noted a slightly off-nominal separation of the rocket's payload shroud, or fairing, but soon concluded that this could not have caused the fuel-line rupture given the location of the fuel line.

    "There is no evidence that the launch vehicle was involved in this," one official said. "The fact is that there was a need to change the thruster fairly late in the program from ITAR-free to non-ITAR-free and that the execution of this maneuver proved to be faulty."

    The misalignment had the effect of causing the fuel line to rupture under a lower level of stress than designed. One official said there had been an indication during the satellite's ground testing that the stress tolerance of this tubing may not be sufficient, but this was simply noted in the satellite preparation documents and not given any special attention.

    The tube was manufactured by Astrium from technical specifications given by Thales Alenia Space.

    Eutelsat has received a portion of its insurance claim and expects to give a final briefing to underwriters in early April.
"Были когда-то и мы рысаками!!!"