NROL-47: Topaz 5 (TBD) - Delta IV-M+(5,2) [D-379] - Vandenberg SLC-6 - 12.01.2018 22:11 UTC

[tnt22]

Зоны А и B (NMr, NAm)
 

[LRV_75]

Вот сейчас ULA покажет КАК нужно запускать сверх секретные и сверх дорогие космические аппараты национального управления военно-космической разведки США )))

[tnt22]

NOTMAR на 2-ю ст РН

HYDROPAC 47/2018 (29,61)

SOUTHWESTERN INDIAN OCEAN.
DNC 02, DNC 29.
1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS 102323Z TO 110339Z JAN,
   ALTERNATE 2323Z TO 0339Z COMMENCING DAILY
   11 AND 12 JAN IN AREA BETWEEN
   51-30S 62-00S AND 034-30E 046-12E.
2. CANCEL THIS MSG 130439Z JAN 18.

( 050914Z JAN 2018 )

[tnt22]

Зона затопления 2-й ст РН

[tnt22]

https://sattrackcam.blogspot.ru/2018/01/what-is-nrol-47-and-in-what-orbit-will.html

Wednesday, 10 January 2018

What is NROL-47 and in what orbit will it be launched?

Hot after the excitement and drama of the Zuma launch (see my previous post), a new classified launch is upcoming on Wednesday January 10, when ULA will launch NROL-47, a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), on a Delta IV fr om Vandenberg SLC-6 in California.

Спойлер

From Maritime Broadcast Warnings, the launch window opens at 20:30 UT and closes at 01:26 UT.

The launch is in Westward direction, into retrograde orbit. This has led some space news websites to assume that the NROL-47 payload is the 5th TOPAZ (FIA Radar) satellite.

But is it? I have some doubts.

If it is TOPAZ 5, then it is clearly a deviation from the previous four launches. The launch hazard zones from published Maritime Broadcast Warnings show that the launch azimuth is different - previous TOPAZ missions all launched into azimuth 220 degrees, but NROL-47 launches into azimuth 200 degrees, a 20 degree difference.
 

NROL-47 Launch hazard areas (red) compared to the areas of four TOPAZ (FIA Radar) launches
click map to enlarge

This can be clearly seen on the map above, wh ere the NROL-47 hazard zones are in red, and the hazard zones from the four TOPAZ in purple, green, light blue and dark blue. The azimuth and locations of the zones from the four TOPAZ launches are all quite similar, but those of NROL-47 stand out as different.

All the four TOPAZ satellites are in a 123.0 degree inclined retrograde orbit. The NROL-47 launch azimuth results in a retrograde orbit too, but with an orbital inclination of 108.6 degrees, not 123.0 degrees: a 14.4 degree difference.

The orbital altitude aimed for appears to be different too. The four TOPAZ satellites are in 1100 x 1110 km orbits. But the location of the Delta IV Upper Stage de-orbit zone (between South Africa and Antarctica), its shape and the opening time of the window (23:23 UT) points to the NROL-47 payload going into a 1500 km altitude orbit instead.
 

estimated trajectory of NROL-47
click map to enlarge

So if this is the 5th TOPAZ launching as NROL-47 on Wednesday, then it is going into a quite different orbit compared to the previous four TOPAZ: different in orbital inclination as well as in orbital altitude.

In theory, the Delta IV rocket could do a "dogleg" and (when launching at 20:30 UT) deliver the NROL-47 payload into the 123.0 degree inclined orbital plane of TOPAZ 1 (FIA Radar 1). But why do that, if previous TOPAZ launches simply launched directly into the 123.0 degree inclination orbit?

So in my view, the jury is still out regarding the identity of NROL-47. It could be a 5th TOPAZ but in a quite different orbit compared to the previous four (in itself possible: the Lacrosses also occupied two different orbital inclinations). It could also be something new. If something new, it likely will be a radar satellite (like TOPAZ), given the retrograde character of the orbit.

orbital constellation of TOPAZ 1, 2, 3 and 4 in 123.0 degree inclined orbits
The orbits are spaced 90 degrees in RAAN
click image to enlarge

The deliberate re-entry of the Upper Stage happens 1.5 revolutions (2h 55m) after launch.

Estimated search orbits, based on a 108.6 degree orbital inclination, are here. South Africa will have two visible passes after launch
 

[свернуть]

Posted by SatTrackCam Leiden at 1/10/2018 12:06:00 am

[tnt22]

Компания ULA будет транслировать запуск

на сайте компании

ulalaunch.com/webcast.aspx

или

на ТыТрубе

youtube.com/watch?v=3rCjIaCBldY

[tnt22]

Delta IV NROL-47 Mission Profile

United Launch Alliance

Опубликовано: 9 янв. 2018 г.

(1:18 )

[tnt22]

http://spaceflight101.com/delta-iv-nrol-47/nrol-47-delta-iv-launch-preview/

ULA Delta IV Set for West Coast Launch with Classified National Reconnaissance Office Satellite
January 9, 2018


The encapsulated NROL-47 payload before installation atop its Delta IV booster – Photo: United Launch Alliance

United Launch Alliance is gearing up for the final West Coast launch of the single-stick Delta IV rocket, planned fr om Vandenberg's SLC-6 at 21:00 UTC on Wednesday with the classified NROL-47 satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office to replenish the U.S. spy satellite fleet.

Спойлер

Keeping with the theme of classified spaceflight business, this will be the second launch in just four days involving a classified primary payload after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted the top-secret Zuma satellite Sunday night. ULA and the NRO will be hoping for a better outcome as reports emerged that Zuma was likely met with an untimely demise shortly after arriving in orbit.

As with every National Reconnaissance Office mission, the launch comes without much public information. To that end, the duration of Wednesday's launch window and any information on what is hidden under Delta's payload fairing are closely guarded secrets, as is the mission's target orbit. Live coverage of the launch will end less than four minutes after launch when Delta IV will separate its protective payload fairing and push toward orbit out of public sight.


NROL-47 Mission Patch – Credit: NRO

Unlike Zuma whose secrecy apparently outlived its mission, NROL-47's identity can be revealed with fair certainty before it even launches due to the unique "backwards" orbit it is targeting as shown by the launch hazard area published for Wednesday's mission. This type of retrograde orbit, inclined >100°, is only used by the radar satellite program of the National Reconnaissance Office which has seen four launches to date.

Radar reconnaissance has become an important element of modern-day space-based intelligence-gathering as it allows for imaging at day and night and through clouds, even penetrating foliage to reveal what optical-image reconnaissance satellites can not see. The U.S. began the development of large radar reconnaissance satellites in the 1970s and launched five satellites, code-named Lacrosse, between 1988 and 2005 aboard the Space Shuttle and Titan IV rockets.

Topaz, the current radar satellite series, finds its roots in the Future Imagery Architecture (FIA) – a program initiated in 1999 to consolidate the NRO's optical and radar imaging programs. As procurement information shows, the first launch under FIA was expected within five years, but the program ran so hopelessly behind schedule and over budget that it was canceled in late 2005. Under the re-structured program, the optical side of FIA was abandoned in favor of the existing Keyhole satellites built by Lockheed Martin while the radar component of the program continued development by Boeing.


Vandenberg in the orbital plane of USA 215 at launch time – Image: Spaceflight101 / JSatTrak

The first FIA Radar Satellite launched in 2010 as NROL-41 on an Atlas V 501, the next two followed in 2012 and 2013 as NROL-25 and 39 on Delta IV M+(5,2) and Atlas V 501 rockets and the fourth, NROL-45, took flight in 2016 on a Delta IV M+(5,2). To date, the Delta IV M+(5,2) has exclusively been flown in support of the Topaz program, adding further confidence that Wednesday's launch will be lifting the next member of the constellation.

Orbital data collected by amateur satellite trackers shows the four Topaz satellites in orbits of 1,100 by 1,105 Kilometers at an inclination of 123 degrees with a separation of roughly 90 degrees in right ascension between the four constellation planes. Vandenberg Air Force Base will be in the orbital plane of Topaz 1 (NROL-41, USA 215) at 21:08 UTC on Wednesday, coinciding with the opening of the launch window and indicating NROL-47 may be the replacement for the oldest member of the system.


Broadcast Warnings for NROL-47 (red) & NROL-45 (yellow) show the difference in azimuth – Image: Spaceflight101/Google Earth

However, one departure from the previous pattern is found in Wednesday's launch azimuth which can be gleaned from the official Notices to Airmen identifying the hazard areas associated with the mission – pointing to a 109-degree inclination as opposed to previous missions whose azimuth pointed directly to a 123-degree orbit. To reconcile the launch azimuth with the given second stage re-entry area for Wednesday's launch, an orbital altitude around 400 Kilometers above the existing Topaz constellation is indicated.

This would either place doubts on the satellite's identity as Topaz-5 or imply that it is headed into a different orbit than its predecessors. According to leaked documentation, there were to be five Topaz Block I satellites and NROL-47 is the only candidate that fits (it is the final launch of the Delta IV M+(5,2) and the Atlas V 501 only has one manifested mission with the X-37B OTV-6). The change in orbit may be motivated by a desire to exploit peculiar harmonics arising from Earth's geopotential that can influence the progression of orbital eccentricity and inclination over time.


Photo: United Launch Alliance

Preparations for the launch of NROL-47 started back on April 6, 2017 when the Delta Mariner delivering the components of the Delta IV rocket was unloaded at Vandenberg Air Force Base dock. The launch was initially set for December 13, but ULA decided to delay the mission "in order to perform additional validation of the software and systems associated with Common Avionics" – a newly designed avionics flight system, software and ground support architecture for both Atlas V and Delta IV intended to increase commonality between the two launch vehicle families and reduce cost.

Wednesday's mission will be the last Delta IV Medium, or single-stick Delta IV, to fly from Vandenberg as ULA shifts toward its new Vulcan rocket that will eventually take over for Delta IV and Atlas V with the more-expensive Delta family being the first to retire. ULA will fly out its Delta IV Medium inventory this year and only keep the Delta IV Heavy rocket in operation through 2023 for six NRO missions and the deployment of NASA's Parker Solar Probe.

Weather for Wednesday's NROL-47 launch opportunity is less than ideal with only 30% odds of favorable conditions during the classified launch window due to gusty winds up to 28kts. The backup launch slot on Thursday is showing much better conditions with only a 10% probability of violation.
 

Countdown & Launch Sequence

Photo: United Launch Alliance

Delta IV countdown operations will be initiated Wednesday morning, local time, when the Mobile Service Tower will be retracted to reveal the 66-meter tall rocket atop its SLC-6 launch pad. RIFCA, the Redundant Inertial Flight Control Assembly, will be activated and put through detailed checks while teams at the pad finish buttoning up all facilities for liftoff and Air Force Range Controllers begin watching over the launch corridor.

Propellant loading operations pick up around L-4.5 hours to fill the two-stage rocket with supercold Liquid Oxygen and Liquid Hydrogen propellant with the first stage receiving 202 metric tons of the cryogenic propellant combination and the five-meter second stage is loaded with 27,220kg. When entering the final hour of the countdown, Delta IV will complete engine steering checks and receive an optimized version of its flight software as teams proceed into a final hold of the countdown at T-4 minutes for a status check prior to committing to terminal countdown operations.

Pressing into its automated countdown sequence, Delta IV will make its way to internal power, pressurize its propellant tanks and set up its hydraulics system. A final thrust vector check on the boosters occurs at T-25 seconds and is followed by the ignition of the sparklers beneath the main engine and the handoff of control to the Delta IV rocket at T-8.5 seconds.

>> Countdown Timeline

The typical red flame of Hydrogen will erupt from the base of the rocket at T-5.5 seconds when the powerful RS-68A engine opens its fuel valve to begin its ignition process followed by the opening of the LOX valve at T-2 seconds to enable the engine to soar to a whopping thrust of 320 metric ton force.


Delta IV lifts off with Topaz-2 – Photo: United Launch Alliance

At T-0.04 seconds, Delta IV is committed to launch with Booster Ignition occurring simultaneously with Hold-Down Release and liftoff of the launch vehicle thundering uphill with a total thrust of 469,400 Kilogram-force.

Following liftoff, Delta IV will complete a short vertical ascent before beginning its Pitch & Roll maneuver at T+8 seconds to align itself with its planned launch trajectory, departing California's Central Coast to the south-west for a flight across the Pacific Ocean.

Delta IV will break the sound barrier after just 38 seconds and pass Maximum Dynamic Pressure at the T+45-Second mark as the launcher is powered by the RS-68A main engine and four GEM-60 solid rocket motors. The SRMs burn out one minute and 32 seconds into the flight and are jettisoned eight seconds later to ensure a safe off-shore impact.

>> Delta IV Launch Vehicle

Continuing powered ascent on the RS-68A engine of the first stage, Delta IV will keep on racing downrange on its way uphill, headed to an elliptical parking orbit. Fairing separation occurs a little over three minutes after launch, splitting open the fairing halves and rotating them outward before separation to ensure both halves cleanly depart the vehicle that will be flying through the rarefied layers of the atmosphere by that point wh ere thrust on the RS-68A increases to 363 metric ton-force. The Common Booster Core will burn until close to T+4 minutes followed by stage separation six seconds thereafter.

The RL-10B engine of the second stage will then deploy its nozzle extension and ignite on the first of two burns to boost the stack into orbit with a thrust of 11,200 Kilogram-force.


Typical Topaz Launch Trajectory & Retrograde Orbit (USA 215, 234, 247, 267) – Image: Spaceflight101/Orbitron

This first long firing of the DCSS will place the stack into an elliptical transfer orbit with an apogee at the desired orbital altitude. Next will be a coast phase to allow the second stage to climb all the way to apogee for the circularization burn to set up for spacecraft separation around 90 minutes after launch.

The Delta Cryogenic Second Stage will conduct a retrograde deorbit maneuver to set up a destructive re-entry over the Southern Indian Ocean for impact in an area south of Madagascar / South Africa some three hours after launch.

Pending the successful launch of NROL-47, satellite trackers around the world will spring into action to observe the satellite in orbit and get a fix on its orbital parameters to ascertain whether the satellite, expected to be cataloged as USA 261, will indeed enter a different orbit than its predecessors and what the precise motivation behind this change could be.

[свернуть]

[Чебурашка]

Если вероятность переноса по погоде 70%, нет смысла даже начинать заправлять

[che wi]

Перенесли на сутки.

[Pirat5]

01/11/2018 19:41   Stephen Clark
There is an 80 percent chance that weather conditions will be acceptable for liftoff of the Delta 4 rocket today.

https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/01/10/delta-4-nrol-47-mission-status-center/

01/11/2018 21:13  Stephen Clark
The countdown has resumed, and is now at T-minus 3 hours, 30 minutes and counting.

[Pirat5]

движенье

01/11/2018 21:48 Stephen Clark
Chilldown of Delta's first stage liquid oxygen system is getting underway. The chilldown procedure runs small quantities of liquid oxygen through the propellant system to prepare the plumbing for the super-cold fluid.

01/11/2018 21:37 Stephen Clark  
The cold gas chilldown conditioning of the liquid hydrogen system has been completed, clearing the way for the launch team to begin flowing super-cold liquid hydrogen into the first stage.
Stored at minus-423 degrees Fahrenheit, the cryogenic fuel will first be pumped into the first stage in a "slow fill" mode, then transitioned to a "fast fill" mode a few minutes later.
An Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-68A main engine will consume the liquid hydrogen with liquid oxygen during the first four minutes of the flight.

[che wi]

Tory Bruno‏ @torybruno · 2m

New T0 of 1355 pst #NROL47

[Pirat5]

Спойлер

01/11/2018 22:22 Stephen ClarkThe "go" has been given for the upper stage liquid oxygen chilldown in advance of filling that tank.
01/11/2018 22:44 Stephen ClarkT-minus 2 hours and counting. Including a planned hold at T-minus 4 minutes, the countdown clock is ticking toward an expected launch time of 1:58 p.m. PST (4:58 p.m. EST; 2158 GMT).

[свернуть]

[dimoncoder]

[Liss]

Пуск ожидается в 22:05 UTC = 01:05 ДМВ.

[Liss]

Тормознули на T-1 мин 25 сек.

[Liss]

Фигня с поворотными платформами. По факту отвелись, по контролю нет.

[andr59]

Так они продолжают мучаться или уже все, комментаторов не слышно..

[Liss]

andr59 пишет:
Так они продолжают мучаться или уже все, комментаторов не слышно..

Судя по http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=42699.160 , продолжают мучиться.