Jonathan's Space Report
No. 774 Draft 2019 Dec 27 Somerville, MA
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International Space Station
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Expedition 61 continues.
On Dec 23 the BCDU FRAM (the adapter for the recently used spare BCDU) was moved
from the Dextre EOTP to the CRS-19 Dragon trunk, where it will be destroyed on
reentry.
On around Dec 27, the failed MSBU S/N C250636 (brought inside on Sep 5) and
the failed BCDU S/N 011 (brought inside on Oct 18) were transferred to the CRS-19
Dragon's cabin for return to Earth.
On Dec 27 at 0128 and 0436 UTC the Progress MS-13 cargo ship docked to the Pirs module
fired its engines to raise the ISS orbit from 411 x 422 km to 415 x 422 km.
On Jan 3 to 4 the Dextre arm was used to transfer the Space Debris
Sensor (SDS) and SOLAR payloads from the Columbus external payload
facility to external attachment points on the PCM module of the S.S.
Alan Bean (Cygnus NG-12) cargo ship for reentry disposal. SDS was
launched in 2017 on Dragon CRS-13, but failed in Jan 2018. SOLAR was
launched on STS-122 in 2008. On Jan 6 a Resupply Stowage Platform
(possibly RSP 1008/SE177, launched on STS-131) was moved from the PMM1D3
rack location to the Bean's pressurized module for disposal.
On Jan 7 at about 0500 UTC the Canadarm-2 unberthed the Dragon CRS-19 ship from the
Harmony module. Dragon was released back into orbit at 1005 UTC, and performed
three separation burns between 1008 and 1020 UTC. The plume from one of those firings
was reported to have made the Cygnus NG-12 solar arrays wobble, which is something
one tries to avoid. Dragon fired its thrusters to deorbit at 1451 UTC until 1504 UTC,
jettisoned the trunk section at 1508 UTC and entered the atmosphere at 1524 UTC
with splashdown near 121.0W 31.2N at 1542 UTC.
On Jan 15 astronauts Koch and Meir, in suits EMU 3004 and 3008, made spacewalk US EVA-62
to continue battery replacements from the EP8 pallet to the P6 truss 4B channel.
The airlock was depressurized from 1130 to 1904 UTC. Transfers made were:
NiH 0104 from P6 4B1 to EP8-Z
Li-ion 21 from EP8-F to P6 4B1
NiH 0106 from P6-4B2 to EP8-F
Adapter plate 0014 from EP8-F to P6 4B2
NiH 0101 from P6-4B3 to P6-4B2 on top of the adapter plate
Li-ion 22 from EP8-E to P6-4B3
NiH 0103 from P6-4B4 tp EP8-Y
On Jan 20 Meir and Koch completed the P6 4B battery work with US EVA-63. The airlock
was depressurized from 1127 to 1833 UTC. Transfers made were:
Adapter plate 0013 from EP8-E to P6-4B4
NiH 0098 from P6-4B6 to P6-4B4 on top of the adapter plate
Li-ion 23 from EP8-C to P6-4B6
NiH 0102 from P6-4B5 to EP8-C
Adapter plate 0011? from EP8-C to P6-4B5
CZ-5
----
China's largest rocket, the Chang Zheng 5, made a successful third flight on Dec 27,
after a major engine rework following the failure of the second flight in July 2017.
The CZ-5 second stage put the Shi Jian 20 communications satellite in supersync
transfer orbit.
Jilin-1 KF-1
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On Jan 15 China's SAST launched a CZ-2D with Chuanguang's biggest satellite to date, the 1.5t Jilin-1 Kuanfu-1.
The rocket also placed three smaller satellites in orbit, two Satellogic Nusat imagers (Sophie and Marie)
and Guodian Gaokeji's Tianqi-5.
Starlink
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The third launch of 60 Starlink satellites, V1.0 Batch 2, was orbited on Jan 7.
As I have previously reported, the unexpected brightness of Starlink
satellites has caused widespread concern among astronomers. Thousands of
such satellites could dominate the visible view of the night sky in dark
areas; the bright satellites crossing the field of view of astronomical
detectors could cause bright streaks, electronic cross-talk and `ghost
images' compromising deep exposures of faint objects. At a meeting of
the American Astronomical Society in January, SpaceX representatives
seemed confident they would be able to reduce the brightness of future
satellites so that they would no longer be naked eye objects, and
expressed committment to iterative improvements to address the concerns
of professional astronomers. I welcome the willingness of SpaceX to address
the issue (nevertheless, I do think some formal regulations on light pollution
are needed, because other constellations will also be an issue).
The latest launch includes a modified satellite, Starlink 1130, with a
special dark coating on the bus to reduce its brightness. This
satellite will be used to improve SpaceX's models of satellite light
scattering, allowing engineers to evaluate design improvements for
future versions of the satellite.
It will be important to get visual magnitude estimates of Starlink 1130
once it reaches its operational orbit.
Stage 2 of the Falcon 9 was deorbited south of Australia, reentering
at approximately 0448 UTC Jan 7 after 1.6 orbits.
TJS 5
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On Jan 7 China launched the Tongxing Jishu Shiyan 5 satellite to
geotransfer orbit. The TJS series of `experimental communications
satellites' is believed to be a cover for a range of military programs,
and TJS 5 appears to be an SAST/Shanghai `Houyan' early warning
satellite like 2017's TJS 2.
Crew Dragon
-----------
Crew Dragon C205 was launched from KSC LC39A at 1530 UTC Jan 19 on a Falcon 9
for the Inflight Abort Test.
A preplanned shutdown of core stage B1046 at 90s into flight triggered
an inflight abort and the Super Draco thrusters pushed Dragon to a 44 km apogee
followed by a parachute-aided splashdown in the Atlantic. The Falcon 9
disintegrated in flight 7 seconds after separation.
Errata
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Danna Barnett informs me that Tyvak-0092 is actually built for Israel's Elbit Systems
and not for an Italian company. Elbit calls the satellite NANOVA; it has a UHF comm
payload.
The dual-engine Centaur on the Atlas V N22 uses the RL10-A4-2 engine, not RL10-A4-1.
Table of Recent Orbital Launches
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Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL. Catalog Perigee Apogee Incl Notes
Dec 5 1729 Dragon CRS-19 Falcon 9 Canaveral SLC40 Cargo 83A S44821 203 x 378 x 51.7
Dec 6 0800? Kosmos-2543? Kosmos-2542, LEO Inspector 79D S44835 368 x 858 x 97.9
Dec 6 0818 ALE-2 ) Electron Mahia LC1 Tech 84A S44824 397 x 415 x 97.0
NOOR 1A ) Com 84D S44827 348 x 403 x 97.0
NOOR 1B ) Com 84E S44828 348 x 403 x 97.0
SMOG-P ) Sigint 84J S44832 348 x 403 x 97.0
TRSI-Sat ) Tech 84H S44831 348 x 403 x 97.0
FossaSat-1) Tech 84F S44829 348 x 403 x 97.0
ATL-1 ) Sigint/Tech 84G S44830 348 x 403 x 97.0
Dec 6 0934 Progress MS-13 Soyuz-2-1A Baykonur LC31 Cargo 85A S44833 186 x 219 x 51.6
Dec 7 0255 Jilin-1 Gaofen 02B Kuaizhou-1A Taiyuan Imaging 86B S44837 531 x 544 x 97.5
Dec 7 0852 HEDE-2A ) Kuaizhou-1A Taiyuan Comms 87 S44839 495 x 511 x 97.4
HEDE-2B ) Comms 87 495 x 511 x 97.4
Tianqi-4A ) Comms 87 495 x 511 x 97.4
Tianqi-4B ) Comms 87 495 x 511 x 97.4
Tianyi-16 ) Imaging 87 495 x 511 x 97.4
Tianyi-17 ) Imaging 87 495 x 511 x 97.4
Dec 11 0854 Kosmos-2544 Soyuz-2-1B/Fregat Plesetsk LC43/3 Nav 88A S44850 19125 x 19150 x 64.8
Dec 11 0955 RISAT-2BR1) PSLV-QL Satish Dhawan Radar 89A S44852 564 x 574 x 37.0
Izanagi ) Radar 89 568 x 579 x 37.0
1HOPSAT ) Imaging 89 568 x 579 x 37.0
Duchifat-3) Tech 89C S44854 568 x 579 x 37.0
Tyvak-0092) Comms 89 568 x 579 x 37.0
Tyval-0129) Tech 89 568 x 579 x 37.0
Lemur-2-Unnamed) AIS/Met 89 568 x 579 x 37.0
Lemur-2-Unnamed) AIS/Met 89 568 x 579 x 37.0
Lemur-2-Unnamed) AIS/Met 89 568 x 579 x 37.0
Lemur-2-Unnamed) AIS/Met 89 568 x 579 x 37.0
Dec 16 0722 Beidou DW 52 ) Chang Zheng 3B/YZ1 Xichang LC3 Nav 90A S44864 21528 x 22192 x 55.0
Beidou DW 53 ) Nav 90B S44865 21528 x 22192 x 55.0
Dec 17 0010 JCSAT-18/Kacific-1 Falcon 9 Canaveral SLC40 Comms 91A S44868 272 x 20319 x 26.9
Dec 18 0854 CSG 1 ) Soyuz ST-A/Fregat CSG ELS Radar 92A S44873 622 x 623 x 97.8
CHEOPS ) Astronomy 92B S44874 698 x 709 x 98.2
ANGELS ) Comms 92D?S44876 508 x 527 x 97.4
EyeSat ) Astronomy 92E?S44877 508 x 527 x 97.4
OPS-SAT ) Tech 92F?S44878 508 x 527 x 97.4
Dec 20 0322 CBERS-4A ) Chang Zheng 4B Taiyuan Imaging 93A S44879 615 x 635 x 98.0
ETRSS-1 ) Imaging 93
Tianqin-1 ) Sci/Tech 93
BDSAGR-1 ) Imaging 93
Yuheng ) Comms 93
Shuntian ) Comms 93
Yizheng 1 ) Imaging 93
Xingshidai 8 ) Imaging 93
Dec 20 1136 Starliner OFT Atlas V N22 Canaveral LC41 Spaceship 94A S44900 180 x 221 x 51.6
Dec 24 1203 Elektro-L No. 3 Proton-M/DM-03 Baykonur LC81/24 Weather 95A S44903 35372 x 35571 x 0.6
Dec 26 2312 Gonets-M No. 24 Rokot Plesetsk LC133/3 Comms 96A S44905 1500 x 1508 x 82.5
Gonets-M No. 25 Comms 96B S44906 1500 x 1508 x 82.5
Gonets-M No. 26 Comms 96C S44907 1500 x 1508 x 82.5
Dec 27 1245 Shi Jian 20 Chang Zheng 5 Wenchang Comms 97A S44910 180 x 67690 x 19.4
Jan 7 0219 Starlink 1066 ) Falcon 9 Canaveral SLC40 Comms 01A S44914
Starlink 1069-1104 ) Comms 01
Starlink 1106-1119 ) Comms 01
Starlink 1121-1126 ) Comms 01
Starlink 1128 ) Comms 01
Starlink 1130 ) Comms 01
Starlink 1144 ) Comms 01BM S44973
Jan 7 1520 TJS 5 Chang Zheng 3B Xichang Comms 02A S44978 195 x 35804 x 27.5
Jan 15 0253 Jilin-1 Kuanfu 1 ) Chang Zheng 2D Taiyuan Imaging 03A S45016 477 x 492 x 97.3
Sophie ) Imaging 03
Marie ) Imaging 03
Tianqi-5 ) Comms 03
Jan 16 0302 Xinhe 1 Kuaizhou 1A Jiuquan Comms 04A 1200 x 1213 x 80.0?
Table of Recent Suborbital Launches
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On Jan 7 Iran launched a series of Zulfiqar and Qiam-1 missiles against US military targets in Iraq.
The exact number and mix of missiles is unknown.
Date UT Payload/Flt Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission Apogee/km Target
Dec 10 0930 CHI Black Brant IX Svalbard Ionosphere 360 Arctic
Dec 11 1753 New Shepard NS12 New Shepard West Texas Test 105 West Texas
Dec 12 1630 IRBM Test Castor 4B? Vandenberg TP-01 Test 500? Pacific
Jan 7 2245? HE Warhead Zulfiqar ?, Iran Weapon 100? Al Asad, Iraq
Jan 7 2245? HE Warhead Zulfiqar ?, Iran Weapon 100? Erbil, Iraq
Jan 7 2245? HE Warhead Zulfiqar ?, Iran Weapon 100? Al Asad, Iraq
Jan 7 2245? HE Warhead Zulfiqar ?, Iran Weapon 100? Al Asad, Iraq
Jan 7 2245? HE Warhead Qiam-1 ?, Iran Weapon 100? Al Asad, Iraq
Jan 7 2245? HE Warhead Qiam-1 ?, Iran Weapon 100? Al Asad, Iraq
Jan 7 2315? HE Warhead Zulfiqar ?, Iran Weapon 100? Al Asad, Iraq
Jan 7 2315? HE Warhead Zulfiqar ?, Iran Weapon 100? Erbil, Iraq
Jan 7 2315? HE Warhead Qiam-1 ?, Iran Weapon 100? Erbil, Iraq
Jan 9 0800 S-310-45 S-310 Uchinoura Test 131 Pacific
Jan 19 RV K-4 Visakhapatnam Test 500? Indian Ocean
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| Jonathan McDowell | |
| Somerville MA 02143 | inter : planet4589 at gmail |
| USA | twitter: @planet4589 |
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