Jonathan's Space Report
No. 792 Draft 2021 Apr 23 Somerville, MA
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International Space Station
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On Apr 23 at 0949:02 UTC SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 from Kennedy Space
Center LC39A with the Dragon SpX Crew-2 mission. Booster B1061, on its
2nd flight, landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You. The
second stage reached a 190 x 213 km x 51.6 deg orbit 8m49s after launch
The Crew Dragon payload consists of Crew Dragon capsule C206
"Endeavour", on its second flight, and a new Crew Dragon Trunk (the 4th)
on its first and only flight. Aboard C206 were astronauts Shane
Kimbrough (NASA), Megan McArthur (NASA), Akihiko Hoshide (JAXA) and Thomas Pesquet (ESA).
The second stage was deorbited on the first orbit and reentered west of Australia.
Endeavour reached a rendezvous with the ISS at a range of 400 metres at 0820 UTC Apr 24,
and docked with the IDA-2/PMA-2 port at 0908 UTC.
On May 2 at 0035 UTC Resilience undocked from IDA-3/PMA-3 with the Crew-1 astronauts
Hopkins, Glover, Noguchi, and Walker. Resilience made burns at 0040, 0128, 0214 and 0407 UTC
lowering its orbit slightly to about 400 km. At 0558 UTC the Dragon trunk was jettisoned
into a 406 x 411 km orbit. The SpaceX commentary implied the trunk and the deorbit propellant total 6000 lb (about
2700 kg) and the Dragon entry mass was 21000 lb (9500 kg); since I estimate the deorbit prop needed to be about
400 kg, that would imply the trunk mass is a surprisingly large 2300 kg.
Dragon's deorbit burn was frmom 0603:12 to 0619:39 UTC and decreased the spaceship's
velocity by 115.2m/s; entry interface was at 0645 UTC and the vehicle splashed down off the
coast of Panama City, Florida, near 86.0W 29.75N, at about 0656:43 UTC May 2.
OneWeb
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36 OneWeb satellites were launched on Apr 25 aboard a Soyuz from
Vostochniy into a 444 x 454 km x 87.4 deg parking orbit.
USA 314
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On Apr 26 United Launch Alliance launched a Delta 4 Heavy from
Vandenberg AFB's Space Launch Complex 6 on mission NROL-82. The rocket
placed a heavy National Reconnaissance Office payload codenamed USA 314
in a 525 x 758 km x 98.0 deg, 1300 LTDN sun-synchronous orbit. USA 314
is thought to be a version of the CRYSTAL imaging space satellite.
CZ-6
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China's SAST launched Chang Zheng 6 no. Y5 from Taiyuan on Apr 27, placing 9 satellites in
a 1030 LTDN sun-synch orbit:
Qilu-1, radar imaging satellite for the Shandong Industrial Technology Research Institute.
Qilu-4, optical imaging satellite for the Shandong Industrial Technology Research Institute.
Foshan-1 is an imaging satellite for Jihua Labs in Foshan; it's not
clear whether they also built the satellite. Jihua Labs appears to be operated by the
Guandong provincial government.
Taijing 2-01, an imaging sat from Weina Xingkong Co. (MinoSpace).
Tianqi 09; IoT comms sat for Guodian Gaokeji, built by Shanghai ASES.
Zhongan Guotong 1 (also called Hangsheng 1), from Zhongan Guotong Sat Tech Dev Co (Shenzhen) and
Hunan Hangsheng Satellite Technology (Changsha).
Satellite for real time imaging and data transmission.
NEO-1, from Shenzhen Origin Space Tech Co. Ltd., with an imager (perhaps
for asteroid surveys, or just a test version for now?) and an active
debris removal experiment (with a target and a net, like RemoveDebris).
Jin Zijing ('Golden Bauhinia') 1-01 and 1-02): two imaging sats from
Lingzhong Kongjian Jishu (Beijing Zero G Lab). Previously the G.
Bauhinia constellation was associated with Hong Kong Aerospace Tech
Group, unless that's an unrelated system with the same name. JZ-1-02 is also
called Lingque-1 D02.
Vega VV18
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Arianespace's light Vega launcher made a successful return to flight with launch
of the Pleiades Neo 3 imaging satellite for Airbus Space and Defense - Intelligence.
The AVUM upper stage then lowered its orbit by 15 km and deployed NorSat-3 for the
Norwegian Space Centre, Bravo for Aurora Insight, ELO Alpha for Eutelsat, and
two Lemur satellites for Spire Global. The Vega AVUM stage was deorbited
over the Indian Ocean west of Australia at 0425 UTC Apr 29.
Intiially no orbital data were released for Pleiades Neo 3, but TLEs became
available on Mar 3 showing it in a 624 x 626 km x 97.9 deg, 1030 LT SSO.
Although it is a commercial imagery satellite, military intelligence may be
one if its major customers.
Tianhe
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The Tianhe core module for China's new Tiangong-3 space station was launched from Wenchang
on Apr 29. The 22600 kg module was placed in orbit by a CZ-5B rocket.
The large 21-tonne CZ-5B core stage remains in orbit and is expected to make an uncontrolled reentry
on May 8 or 9.
This is the second CZ-5B launch; the core stage reentries from these launches are the
largest deliberate uncontrolled reentries in over 30 years. Other rockets with large core
stages are designed to avoid leaving the stages in orbit.
Starlink
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60 more Starlinks were launched from Cape Canaveral on Apr 29. The Falcon 9 first stage
landed on the JRTI droneship.
Another 60 were launched on May 4 from Kennedy Space Center, with the first stage landing on OCISLY.
Yaogan 34 and 30-08
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China launched the Yaogan 34 satellite on Apr 30 to a 1000 km orbit,
The orbital height and orbital plane of the satellite is matched to the
three Yaogan 31 group 02 satellites.
On May 6 China launched three Yaogan-30 signals intelligence satellites, Group 8 nos, 1-3.
Ingenuity
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The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter made its third flight on Apr 25 at 0831 UTC. It reached 5m
altitude and went 50m downrange, then returned to its starting point and
landed after an 81s flight. Flight 4, at 1439 UTC Apr 30, went 133m south and returned,
also at 5 m altitude, in a 117 second flight.
Table of Recent Orbital Launches
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Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL. Catalog Perigee Apogee Incl Notes
Apr 6 2100? Jackie (AC-10a Probe 5) AC-10a, LEO Calib 19-022P 462 x 475 x 51.6
Apr 7 1634 Starlink 2048 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Comms 27A S48092 261 x 280 x 53.0
Starlink 2404
Starlink 2412
Starlink 2414
Starlink 2417-2418
Starlink 2421
Starlink 2428
Starlink 2430
Starlink 2436-2440
Starlink 2442-2445
Starlink 2447-2452
Starlink 2454-2455
Starlink 2458-2460
Starlink 2462-2469
Starlink 2471-2476
Starlink 2478-2493
Starlink 2503
Apr 8 2301 Shiyan 6-03 Chang Zheng 4B Taiyuan Imaging? 28A S48157 992 x 1001 x 99.5
Apr 9 0742 Soyuz MS-18 Soyuz-2-1a Baykonur Spaceship 29A S48159 192 x 228 x 51.6
Apr 23 0949 Endeavour (SpX Crew-2) Falcon 9 Kennedy LC39A Spaceship 30A S48209 210 x 228 x 51.6
Apr 25 2214 OneWeb SL0165 )
OneWeb SL0176 ) Soyuz Vostochniy PU1S Comms 31 443 x 454 x 87.4
OneWeb SL0179-189)
OneWeb SL0191-209)
OneWeb SL0217-220)
Apr 26 2047 USA 314 Delta 4H Vandenberg SLC6 Imaging 32A S48246? 525 x 758 x 98.0
Apr 27 0320 Qilu-1 ) Radar 33 496 x 510 x 97.4
Qilu-4 ) Chang Zheng 6 Taiyuan LC16 Imaging 33
Foshan-1 ) Imaging 33
Zhongan Guotong 1) Imaging 33
Tianqi 09 ) Comms 33
NEO-1 ) Tech 33
Taijing 2-01 ) Imaging 33
Jin Zijing 1-01 ) Imaging 33
Jin Zijing 1-02 ) Imaging 33
Apr 29 0150 Pleiades Neo 3 ) Vega CSG ZLV Imaging 34A
NorSat-3 ) Com (AIS) 34B S48269? 609 x 614 x 97.8
AII Bravo ) Sigint 34
Lemur 2161 ) Com/Met 34
Lemur 2162 ) Com/Met 34
ELO Alpha ) Com 34
Apr 29 0323 Tianhe Chang Zheng 5B Wenchang LC101 Station 35A S48274 170 x 382 x 41.5
Apr 29 0344 Starlink 2029 Falcon 9 Canaveral SLC40 Com 36A-BM 257 x 282 x 53.0
Starlink 2061
Starlink 2441
Starlink 2457
Starlink 2470
Starlink 2477
Starlink 2495
Starlink 2498
Starlink 2501-2502
Starlink 2504
Starlink 2506-2507
Starlink 2509-2520
Starlink 2523-2524
Starlink 2527-2528
Starlink 2530
Starlink 2532-2538
Starlink 2540-2550
Starlink 2555-2559
Starlink 2562
Starlink 2564-2567
Starlink 2569
Starlink 2580
Apr 30 0727 Yaogan 34 Chang Zheng 4C Jiuquan Imaging? 37A S48341 1092 x 1095 x 63.4
May 4 1901 Starlink 1904 Falcon 9 Kennedy LC39A Comms 38A
Starlink 2499
Starlink 2505
Starlink 2526
Starlink 2560-2561
Starlink 2563
Starlink 2568
Starlink 2570-2576
Starlink 2578
Starlink 2581
Starlink 2585-2596
Starlink 2598-2614
Starlink 2521-2624
Starlink 2626
Starlink 2628
Starlink 2630-2631
Starlink 2635-2637
Starlink 2641
Starlink 2643
Starlink 2674
May 6 1811 Yaogan 30 hao 08 zu 01 xing ) Chang Zheng 2C Xichang Sigint? 39A
Yaogan 30 hao 08 zu 02 xing ) Sigint? 39B
Yaogan 30 hao 08 zu 03 xing ) Sigint? 39C
Tianqi 12 ) Comms 39D
Table of Recent Suborbital Launches
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Date UT Payload/Flt Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission Apogee/km Target
Feb 3 RV Ghaznavi Somniani? Test 80? Arabian Sea?
Feb 4 ABM Target B-611? Taiyuan Test 200? Urumqi
Feb 4 Interceptor DF-21? Urumqi? Interceptor 100? Takla Makan
Feb 5 0905 OS-X6B OS-X6B Jiuquan? Test 300 Jiuquan?
Feb 9 2330 USN RV Trident II Sub, 76W 28N Op. Test 1000? S Atlantic
Feb 24 0749 GT237GM Minuteman III Vandenberg LF10 Op. Test 1300? Kwajalein
Feb 27 HE RV Zulfiqar Sanaa? Weapon 150? Riyadh
Mar 3 Chem. release Terr.Terr.Oriole Wallops Ionosphere 300? Atlantic
Mar 12 1345 SOUREX RH-560 Mk III Satish Dhawan Atmosphere 300? Bay of Bengal
Apr 14 1651 NS-15 New Shepard West Texas Test 106 West Texas
Apr 19 0830 SHIELDS Black Brant IX White Sands UV Astron 285 White Sands
Apr 28 0800? M51 payload MSBS M51 Landes Test? 1000? Atlantic
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| Jonathan McDowell | |
| Somerville MA 02143 | inter : planet4589 at gmail |
| USA | twitter: @planet4589 |
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