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Jonathan's Space Report
No. 765 draft 2019 May 1 Somerville, MA
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JSR 764 is now permalinked at http://planet4589.org/space/jsr/back/news.764.txt
International Space Station
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Cygnus NG-11 remains at the ISS.
On May 1-2 the Canadarm-2 and Dextre arms were used to replace a failed Main Bus Switching
Unit on the ISS S0 truss. The failed MBSU supported the channel 3 solar arrays.
It was exchanged with an MBSU on External Stowage Platform 2. This replacement unit was originally
the channel 2 MBSU, which failed in 2017, was brought inside ISS, repaired, and replaced on ESP-2.
There are 7 MBSUs on ISS:
Launch order Launch year Current role
MBSU 1 2002 Failed, on ELC-2 since 2013
MBSU 2 2002 Active as MBSU-3 since 2019
MBSU 3 2002 Failed, on ESP-2 since 2019
MBSU 4 2002 Active as MBSU-4 since 2002
MBSU 5 2005 Active as MBSU-2 since 2017
MBSU 6 2007 Active as MBSU-1 since 2012
MBSU 7 2013 Spare on ESP-2 since 2013
On May 4 SpaceX launched Dragon CRS-17 towards the Station. The CRS-17 trunk carries
OCO-3, a carbon measuring experiment, and STP-H6, with a set of USAF Space Test Program
experiments. STP-H6's experiments include XCOM, an X-ray transmitter which will carry
out communications experiments using the ISS NICER X-ray observatory as a receiver -
giving a whole different meaning to "X-band".
Electron
--------
On May 5 Rocket Lab launched Electron mission 6, nicknamed 'That's A Funny Looking Cactus'.
The payload was USAF Space Test Program mission STP-27RD, consisting of the 150 kg
Harbinger satellite and two cubesats.
Harbinger is a small imaging radar satellite built by York Space Systems (Denver)
and will carry out a mission for the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command.
SPARC-1 (Space Plug-and-Play Architecture Cubesat) is a 6U mission from
the USAF Research Lab and the Swedish defense agency FMV, testing
advanced computing hardware in space.
The Falcon Orbital Debris Experiment (Falcon-ODE) 1U cubesat from the USAF Academy, will release
2cm and 4cm steel spheres to act as tracking targets.
Beidou DW45
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The 45th Beidou satellite was Beidou-2 G8, a replenishment satellite for the older Beidou phase 2
system. It was launched to geotransfer orbit on May 17.
RISAT-2B
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India's RISAT-2B radar imaging satellite was launched on May 22. It replaces the Israeli-built
RISAT-2, launched in 2009. Mass of RISAT-2B is 615 kg.
Yaogan-33
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The launch of China's Yaogan-33 radar satellite on May 23 was a failure. The third stage burn
was not performed successfully and the vehicle did not reach orbit.
Starlink
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SpaceX launched its first batch of 60 Starlink satellites on May 24.
The Falcon 9 rocket placed the satellites in a 434 x 442 km x 53.0 deg.
Each one is about 200-250 kg (the press kit says 227 kg, but this is
suspiciously close to the metric equivalent of 500 pounds, so it's
possible they really mean 500+-50 lb = 227 +- 23 kg). The satellites are
a flat panel with krypton-propellant electric thrusters and a single
deployable solar panel.
Observers in Europe saw the satellites as a spectacular string of mag 2
to 3 objects a few hours after launch.
Erratum
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IOD-1 GEMS is owned by Satellite Applications Catapult Ltd., although
built by Orbital Microsystems and ClydeSpace. Catapult has a ground
station at Goonhilly in Cornwall, site of the first transatlantic satcom
link.
Table of Recent Orbital Launches
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Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL. Catalog Perigee Apogee Incl Notes
Apr 1 0357 EMISAT ) PSLV-QL Satish Dhawan SLP Sigint 18A S44078 736 x 758 x 98.4 0930LT SSO
BlueWalker 1 ) IoT Comms 18AD S44105 434 x 515 x 97.5
M6P ) IoT Comms 18AF S44109 434 x 515 x 97.5
Astrocast-0.2 ) IoT Comms 18F S44083 494 x 510 x 97.5
Danu Pathfinder 1 ) AIS Comms 18AB S44103 490 x 507 x 97.5
Lemur-2-JohanLoran ) AIS/ADS-B/Met 18G S44084 494 x 510 x 97.5
Lemur-2-Beaudacious ) AIS/ADS-B/Met 18H S44085 493 x 510 x 97.5
Lemur-2-Elham ) AIS/ADS-B/Met 18J S44086 493 x 510 x 97.5
Lemur-2-Victor-Andrew) AIS/ADS-B/Met 18K S44087 493 x 510 x 97.5
Flock 4a-1/ Dove 2218) Imaging 18B S44079 494 x 510 x 97.5
Flock 4a-2/ Dove 2201) Imaging 18C S44080 494 x 510 x 97.5
Flock 4a-3/ Dove 2206) Imaging 18D S44081 494 x 510 x 97.5
Flock 4a-4/ Dove 2220) Imaging 18E S44082 494 x 510 x 97.5
Flock 4a-5/ Dove 2227) Imaging 18T S44095 493 x 507 x 97.5
Flock 4a-6/ Dove 220b) Imaging 18S S44094 494 x 507 x 97.5
Flock 4a-7/ Dove 222d) Imaging 18R S44093 494 x 507 x 97.5
Flock 4a-8/ Dove 2213) Imaging 18Q S44092 494 x 507 x 97.5
Flock 4a-9/ Dove 2224) Imaging 18W S44098 493 x 507 x 97.5
Flock 4a-10/Dove 2205) Imaging 18V S44097 493 x 507 x 97.5
Flock 4a-11/Dove 2223) Imaging 18U S44096 493 x 507 x 97.5
Flock 4a-12/Dove 2209) Imaging 18AE S44108 494 x 507 x 97.5
Flock 4a-13/Dove 220c) Imaging 18AA S44102 492 x 507 x 97.5
Flock 4a-14/Dove 222c) Imaging 18Z S44101 492 x 507 x 97.5
Flock 4a-15/Dove 2207) Imaging 18Y S44100 493 x 507 x 97.5
Flock 4a-16/Dove 222b) Imaging 18X S44099 493 x 507 x 97.5
Flock 4a-17/Dove 2212) Imaging 18L S44088 493 x 510 x 97.5
Flock 4a-18/Dove 2215) Imaging 18M S44089 493 x 510 x 97.5
Flock 4a-19/Dove 2235) Imaging 18N S44090 493 x 510 x 97.5
Flock 4a-20/Dove 2232) Imaging 18P S44091 493 x 510 x 97.5
AISAT-1/PSLV-C45-PS4 Tech/Comms 18AC S44104 435 x 515 x 97.5
Apr 4 1101 Progress MS-11 Soyuz-2-1A Baykonur LC31 Cargo 19A S44110 407 x 411 x 51.6
Apr 4 1703 O3b FM17 ) Soyuz ST-B/Fregat CSG ELS Comms 20A S44112 7809 x 7839 x 0.0
O3b FM18 ) Comms 20B S44113 7818 x 7839 x 0.0
O3b FM19 ) Comms 20C S44114 7830 x 7840 x 0.0
O3b FM20 ) Comms 20D S44115 7839 x 7841 x 0.0
Apr 5 0156 SCI Hayabusa-2, Ryugu space Weapon 14076 D00957 Ryugu impact
Apr 5 0214 DCAM-3 Hayabusa-2, Ryugu space Imaging 14076 D00958 Ryugu space
Apr 11 2235 Arabsat 6A Falcon Heavy Kennedy LC39A Comms 21A S44186 320 x89807 x 23.0
Apr 17 2046 S.S. Roger Chaffee ) Antares 230 MARS LA0B Cargo 22A S44188 285 x 380 x 51.6
SASSI-2 ) Science 22C? A09407 201 x 291 x 51.6
ThinSat 1A ) Tech 22D? A09408 201 x 291 x 51.6
ThinSat 1B ) Tech 22E? A09409 201 x 291 x 51.6
ThinSat 1C ) Tech 22F? A09410 201 x 291 x 51.6
ThinSat 1D ) Tech 22G? A09411 201 x 291 x 51.6
ThinSat 1E ) Tech 22H? A09412 201 x 291 x 51.6
ThinSat 1F ) Tech 22J? A09413 201 x 291 x 51.6
ThinSat 1G ) Tech 22K? A09414 201 x 291 x 51.6
ThinSat 1H ) Tech 22L? A09415 201 x 291 x 51.6
ThinSat 1I ) Tech 22M? A09416 201 x 291 x 51.6
ThinSat 1J ) Tech 22N? A09417 201 x 291 x 51.6
ThinSat 1K ) Tech 22P? A09418 201 x 291 x 51.6
ThinSat 1L ) Tech 22Q? A09419 201 x 291 x 51.6
Apr 20 1441 Beidou DW44 Chang Zheng 3B Xichang Navigation 23A S44205 193 x35788 x 28.5
Apr 29 2252 Tianhui-2 01 zu 01 xing ) Chang Zheng 4B Taiyuan Imaging 24A S44207 506 x 517 x 97.4 0600LT SSO
Tianhui-2 01 zu 02 xing ) Imaging 24B S44208 506 x 517 x 97.4 0600LT SSO
May 4 0648 Dragon CRS-17 Falcon 9 Canaveral SLC40 Cargo 25A S44222 204 x 382 x 51.6
May 5 0600 Harbinger ) Electron Mahia LC1 Radar 26E S44229 484 x 512 x 40.0
SPARC-1 ) Tech 26B S44226 493 x 511 x 40.0
AFOTEC-1 ) Cal 26A S44225 496 x 511 x 40.0
May 17 1548 Beidou DW45 Chang Zheng 3C Xichang LC2 Navigation 27A S44231 198 x35743 x 19.4
May 22 0000 RISAT-2B PSLV-CA Satish Dhawan FLP Radar 28A S44233 550 x 558 x 37.0
May 22 2249 Yaogan 33 Chang Zheng 4C Taiyuan Radar F04 F01439 -6000?x 500?x 97.8?
May 24 0230 Starlink 01 ) Falcon 9 Canaveral SLC40 Comms 29A S44235 434 x 443 x 53.0
Starlink 02 )
... )
Starlink 60 )
Table of Recent Suborbital Launches
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Sandia National Labs launched two Terrier Malemute rockets with technology payloads in April,
according to T. Rummler from Sandia.
The Trident II test on May 9 sent its reentry vehicles into the South Atlantic Ocean off the
coast of Namibia.
The University of Southern California's student rocket group RPL flew a rocket called Traveler IV
to 103 km on Apr 21, a record apogee for a student built rocket.
Date UT Payload/Flt Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission Apogee/km Target
Apr 5 2214 AZURE 1 Black Brant XIA Andoya Auroral 320 Norwegian Sea
Apr 5 2216 AZURE 2 Black Brant XIA Andoya Auroral 320 Norwegian Sea
Apr 11 1651 CLASP 2 Black Brant IX White Sands Solar UV 274 White Sands
Apr 21 Traveler IV Traveler Spaceport America Test 103 Spaceport America
Apr 23 HOT SHOT 2 Terrier Malemute Kauai Tech 320? Pacific
Apr 24 HOT SHOT 3 Terrier Malemute Kauai Tech 320? Pacific
May 1 0942 GT230GM Minuteman III Vandenberg LF10 Op Test 1300? Kwajalein
May 2 1334? New Shepard NS-12 New Shepard West Texas Test 105 West Texas
May 3 2045 Momo TF-3 Momo Taiki Test 118 Pacific Ocean
May 9 0740 GT229GM Minuteman III Vandenberg LF09 Op Test 1300? Kwajalein
May 9 DASO-29 Trident II D-5 USS Rhode Island, ETR Op Test 1000? S Atlantic
May 23 Shaheen II RV Shaheen II Somniani? Op Test 300? Arabian Sea
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| Jonathan McDowell | |
| Somerville MA 02143 | inter : planet4589 at gmail |
| USA | twitter: @planet4589 |
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