Jonathan's Space Report No. 765 2019 Jun 2 Somerville, MA --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- International Space Station --------------------------- 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". Dragon arrived at ISS on May 6, with SSRMS grapple at 1101 UTC and berthing on Harmony nadir at 1422 UTC. On May 10-11 OCO-3 was installed on site EFU3 of the Kibo Exposed Facility, and STP-H6 was installed on site 3 of Express Logistics Carrier ELC-3. The CATS experiment, launched in 2015, was removed from the Kibo EF and installed in Dragon's trunk for disposal; the SCAN testbed, launched in 2012, was similarly removed from the ELC-3 and stowed in the trunk. A failed BCDU (battery charge-discharge unit), launched in 2006, was removed from the P4 truss on Apr 3 and placed on ELC-1; on May 16 it was brought inside the Kibo airlock. On May 29 astronauts Ovchinin and Kononenko made a spacewalk, VKD-46, from the Pirs module, using spacesuits Orlan MKS-4 and MKS-5. For this spacewalk, to celebrate the 85th birthday of the first spacewalker on May 30, they wore backpacks decorated with the slogans "Leonov Number 1" and "Happy Birthday Aleksey Arkhipovich" (in Russian, of course). They depressurized the airlock at about 1530 UTC and opened the hatch at 1542 UTC. They installed a commemorative portrait of Leonov on the EVA ladder, retrieved a decontamination towel left tied to a handrail by Yuriy Lonchakov in Dec 2008; retrieved a thermal sensor boom, 'Test' exposure cassettes, the IMPAKT experiment and Vinoslivost' panels, cleaned windows on the airlock module, and disassembled the Obstanovka experiment. Two Obstanovka experiment boxes and two mounting booms were jettisoned between 1945 and 2101 UTC. The hatch was closed at 2143 UTC and the airlock was repressurized at 2148 UTC. 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 ----------- 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 -------- 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 --------- 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 -------- SpaceX launched its first batch of 60 Starlink Ku-band internet 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. As of May 30 it appears the satellites are mostly in the mag 4 to 7 range with frequent flares to mag 2 and occasional brighter flares, depending on illumination conditions and satellite orientation. (For the nonastronomers: bigger mag is fainter, mag 1 = brightest stars in the sky and mag 6 = barely naked-eye visible at a dark site). The brightness of the satellites has raised concerns in the astronomical community - a full constellation of many thousand satellites could interfere with observations and, if they are brighter than mag 5 or so, might dominate the naked-eye night sky in dark locations. However, it is likely to take some weeks before we really understand how much of the time the satellites are bright and whether it's a real problem. SpaceX have now stated that they will look at ways to reduce the reflectivity of later satellites. In the meantime, the 60 satellites launched so far are fascinating to watch, if you live somewhere less cloudy than Boston has been lately. SpaceX report that 56 of the 60 satellites are working as expected, and 4 have some problems but are in communication with the ground. In addtion, there are a further 4 debris objects which tumble with large observed brightness variations Glonass ------- Glonass-M No. 58 (Uragan-M No. 758) was launched on May 27, replenishing the Russian navigation system. It will probably get the official cover name Kosmos-2534. Yamal-601 --------- Yamal-601, a communications satellite for the Russian company Gazprom Space Systems built by ISS Reshetnev, was launched on May 30 by a Proton from Baykonur into geotransfer orbit. Hayabusa-2 ---------- Hayabusa-2 ejected a second small `target marker' onto the surface of Ryugu at about 0219 UTC May 30, during another descent to about 10 metres above the asteroid. WGS 10 ------ The USAF Wideband Global Satcom 10 satellite, launched on Mar 16 to a mildly supersynchronous 462 x 44260 km x 27.0 deg transfer orbit, is using an unusual ascent path to GEO. By Mar 26 its orbit was near-synchronous and equatorial but elliptical, 25876 x 45130 km x 0.2 deg. Since then it has slowly circularized and by May 30 its orbit was 34716 x 36850 km. This is in contrast to the usual practice of getting one end of the ellipse to the GEO height quickly and only then adjusting the other. The WGS 10 strategy may allow comms with a single ground station more quickly. SSO-A ----- Three more SSO-A cubesats have been identified: objects J, U and W are SPAWAR-CAL-O, SPAWAR-CAL-R, and SPAWAR-CAL-OR. They are 1U cubesats for the US Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) used for calibration of space tracking systems and carry optical and radar reflectors. Erratum ------- 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 ---------------------------------- 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 ) Comms . ... ) . Starlink 60 ) Comms 29BM S44294 450 x 453 x 53.0 May 27 0623 Glonass-M No 58 Soyuz-2-1B/Fregat Plesetsk LC43/4 Navigation 30A S44299 19128 x19156 x 64.8 May 30 1742 Yamal-601 Proton-M/Briz-M Baykonur Comms 31A S44307 6423 x35712 x 17.8 Table of Recent Suborbital Launches ----------------------------------- 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 10 SM-3 KV SM-3-IB USS Roosevelt, Hebrides Test 150? Atlantic May 23 Shaheen II RV Shaheen II Somniani? Op Test 300? Arabian Sea .-------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Jonathan McDowell | | | Somerville MA 02143 | inter : planet4589 at gmail | | USA | twitter: @planet4589 | | | | JSR: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html | | Back issues: http://www.planet4589.org/space/jsr/back | | Subscribe/unsub: http://www.planet4589.org/mailman/listinfo/jsr | '-------------------------------------------------------------------------'