Jonathan's Space Report No. 838 2024 Oct 25 Somerville, MA ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- International Space Station --------------------------- Expedition 72 began on Sep 23, with Suni Williams (ISS commander), Barry Wilmore, Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, Aleksandr Grebyonkin, Aleksey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, and Don Pettit. Dragon Freedom (capsule C212) was launched on the Crew-9 mission on Sep 28 at 1717 UTC, carrying Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov. It docked with IDA-2 on ISS at 2130 UTC Sep 29. Progress M-28, docked with ISS, made a 1.7 m/s orbit raising burn on Oct 4. On Oct 8 two cubesats, CySat-1 and DORA, were deployed from the Kibo module using Voyager Space's NRCSD-28 dispenser. Dragon Crew-8 undocked on Oct 23 at 2105 UTC, carring astronauts Dominick, Barratt, Epps and Grebyonkin. Crew-8 jettisoned its trunk into orbit at 0635 UTC Oct 25, and then made its deorbit burn, landing off the coast of Pensacola, Florida at 0729:02 UTC Oct 25. IGS Radar-8 ----------- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries launched H-IIA flight F49 on Sep 26 with the Japanese Cabinet Office's IGS Radar-8 spy satellite. Orbital data are not available. SAST launches -------------- SAST launched a CZ-2D on Sep 27 with the Shijian 19 recoverable microgravity satellite. SJ-19 carries a set of plant seeds for free fall germination experiments. It consisted of a recoverable capsule and a service module of apparently new design. The last similar mission was SJ-10 in 2016. SJ-19's recovery capsule was deorbited and landed in the Dongfeng recovery zone near Jiuquan at 0239 UTC Oct 11. SAST launched a CZ-6A on Oct 15 with a cluster of 18 Qianfan internet satellites. SAST launched a CZ-4C on Oct 15 with the Gao Fen 12-05 radar satellite. SAST launched a CZ-6 on Oct 22 with three Tianping-3 radar calibration satellites. CALT launches ------------- CALT launched a CZ-2C on Oct 23 with three Yaogan 43 hao 03 zu satellites. Vulcan Cert-2 -------------- On Oct 4 ULA launched the second Vulcan VC2S from Canaveral. Although part of an SRB nozzle appears to have failed on ascent, ULA reported that the spacecraft made orbit and that the Centaur made three burns to enter a hyperbolic escape orbit. The circa-1500-kg dummy payload remained attached to the Centaur. ULA initially released no quantitative information on its orbital parameters. Space Force tracked the parking orbit as 492 x 498 km x 30.0 deg. The Catalina and ATLAS asteroid surveys discovered it as object C43KHJ1, in a 735 x -237885 km x 26.7 deg escape orbit with C3 = 3.55 km**2/s**2. It will enter a 0.94 x 1.03 AU x 0.2 deg solar orbit on around Oct 12. ULA later confirmed the C3 value. The Centaur will make a very close return approach to Earth on 2029 Feb 27; estimated 2953 km perigee based on preliminary observations. Hera ---- ESA's Hera mission was launched on Oct 7 on a Falcon from Canaveral to a 0.99 x 2.27 AU x 2.3 deg solar orbit. Hera will encounter and orbit the asteroid Didymos and study the state of its moon Dimorphos, which NASA's DART probe smashed into in 2022. Hera carries two 6UXL cubesats, Milani and Juventas, which will separate from it after Didymos arrive, and orbit and land on Dimorphos. HGW 03 ------ Hulianwang Gaogui Weixing 03 (High Orbit Satellite Internet 3) was launched on 2024 Oct 10 by CZ-3B to geotransfer orbit. On Oct 21 it was tracked in GEO. The three HG satellites are at 34E, 153E and 77W. Starship --------- The fifth Starship test flight was launched on 2024 Oct 13 from Starbase. It completed a successful flight. Following Booster separation at 69 km altitude, the booster made a boostback burn and then a landing burn to hover next to the launch tower, which successfuly captured the booster with its mechanical arms. The Ship reached a suborbital trajectory of about -15 x 212 km x 26.2 deg, and reentered over the Indian Ocean. This time Ship survived entry well and made a controlled landing burn over the ocean, with water touchdown 1h5m after launch. A large fireball erupted from the Ship about 16s after hitting the water. Europa Clipper -------------- JPL's Europa Clipper is a mission to make multiple flybys of Jupiter I (Europa) from Jovian orbit. The 5700 kg Europa Clipper was launched on 2024 Oct 14 by Falcon Heavy from KSC to a C3=40.68 hyperbola, sending it to a 1.0 x 2.7 AU x 2 deg solar orbit on target for a Mars gravity assist. Starlink --------- Starlink Group 10-10 (23 sats) was launched from Canaveral on Oct 15 to a 53 deg orbit. Starlink Group 9-7 (20 sats) was launched from Vandenberg on Oct 15 to a 53 deg orbit. Starlink Group 8-19 (20 sats) was launched from Canaveral on Oct 18 to a 53 deg orbit. Starlink Group 6-61 (23 sats) was launched from Canaveral on Oct 23 to a 43 deg orbit. Starshield Group 1-4 was launched for the NRO from Vandenberg on Oct 24 to a 70 deg orbit. Bluebird -------- The five AST Space Mobile Bluebird satellites launched on Sep 12 jettisoned their launch vehicle adapters between Oct 5 and 23, and have deployed their large communications arrays. However, the launch vehicle adapters have not yet been cataloged. Erratum -------- The Vega launch was Sep 5, not Sep 4. Table of Recent Orbital (and near-Orbital) Launches --------------------------------------------------- Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL. Catalog Perigee Apogee Incl Notes Sep 3 0115 Yaogan 43-02 01 to 06 Chang Zheng 4B Xichang Comms? 156 489 x 501 x 35.0 Sep 5 0150 Sentinel 2C Vega CSG ELV Imaging 157A 776 x 780 x 98.6 Sep 5 1533 Starlink Group 8-11 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Comms 158 288 x 302 x 53.2 Sep 5 1830 Geely Group 03 01 to 10 Chang Zheng 6 Taiyuan Comms 159 553 x 564 x 50.0 Sep 6 0320 Starshield Group 1-3 Falcon 9 Vandenberg SLC4E Comms 160 300?x300? x 70 Sep 10 0923 Polaris Dawn Falcon 9 Kennedy LC39A Spaceship 161A 196 x1400 x51.6 Sep 11 1623 Soyuz MS-26 Soyuz-2-1a Baykonur LC31 Spaceship 162A Sep 12 0852 BlueBird 1 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Comms 163C 505 x 522 x 53.0 BlueBird 2 Comms 163D BlueBird 3 Comms 163A BlueBird 4 Comms 163E BlueBird 5 Comms 163B Sep 13 0145 Starlink Group 9-6 Falcon 9 Vandenberg SLC4E Comms 164 288 x 298 x 53.2 Sep 14 0558? Chamran-1 Qaem-100 Shahroud Tech 165B 546 x 557 x 64.1 Sep 17 0701 Kosmos-2577 Angara-1.2 Plesetsk Imaging? 166A 328 x 344 x 96.8 Kosmos-2578 Imaging? 166B 328 x 344 x 96.8 Sep 17 2250 Galileo FOC FM26 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Nav 167A 22941 x 23009 x 55.4 Galileo FOC FM32 Nav 167B 22948 x 23005 x 55.4 Sep 19 0114 Beidou DW 59 Chang Zheng 3B Xichang Nav 168A 21182 x 22334 x 55.0 Beidou DW 60 168B 21538 x 22199 x 55.0 Sep 20 0411 Jilin-1 Kuanfu 02B-01 Chang Zheng 2D Taiyuan Imaging 169A 531 x 547 x 97.6 Jilin-1 Kuanfu 02B-02 Imaging 169B Jilin-1 Kuanfu 02B-03 Imaging 169C Jilin-1 Kuanfu 02B-04 Imaging 169D Jilin-1 Kuanfu 02B-05 Imaging 169E Jilin-1 Kuanfu 02B-06 Imaging 169F Sep 20 0943 Tianqi 29 Kuaizhou 1A Xichang Comms 170A Tianqi 30 Comms 170B Tianqi 31 Comms 170C 841 x 854 x 44.9 Tianqi 32 Comms 170D Sep 20 1350 Starlink Group 9-17 Falcon 9 Vandenberg SLC4E Comms 171 286 x 295 x 53.2 Sep 20 2301 Kineis 2A Electron Mahia LC1A Comms 172A 638 x 640 x 98.0 Kineis 2B Comms Kineis 2C Comms Kineis 2D Comms Kineis 2E Comms Sep 24 0231 Jitianxing A-01 Jielong-3 DFHT, Yellow Sea Imaging 173 484 x 501 x 97.4 Fudan-1 Imaging 173 Luojia-4 01 Imaging 173 Shenqi Radar 173 Xingshidai-15 Imaging 173 Xingshidai-21 Tech 173 Xingshidai-22 Tech 173 Tianyan-15 Tech 173 Sep 24 2333 AIRSAT-01 Lijian-1 Jiuquan Radar 174 507 x 528 x 97.5 AIRSAT-02 Radar 174 Jilin-1 SAR-01A Radar 174 Yunyao-1 21 Meteo 174 Yunyao-1 22 Meteo 174 Sep 25 0401 Starlink Group 9-8 Falcon 9 Vandenberg SLC4E Comms 175 289 x 299 x 53.2 Sep 26 0524 IGS Radar 8 H-IIA Tanegashima Radar 176A 480 x 480 x 97? Sep 27 1030 Shijian 19 Chang Zheng 2D Jiuquan LifeSci 177A 320 x 347 x 41.4 Sep 28 1717 Dragon Crew-9 Falcon 9 Canaveral SLC40 Spaceship 178A 189 x 206 x 51.6 Oct 4 1125 Cert-2 Vulcan VC2S Canaveral SLC41 Test 179A 735 x -237885 x 26.7 Oct 7 1452 Hera Falcon 9 Canaveral SLC40 Probe 180A 190 x -36368 x 34.2 Oct 8 1025 CySat-1 ISS, LEO Tech 98067WZ 408 x 421 x 51.6 Oct 8 1035 DORA ISS, LEO Tech 98067XA 410 x 420 x 51.6 Oct 10 1350 HGW 03 Chang Zheng 3B Xichang Comms 181A 198 x 35774 x 28.4 Oct 13 1225 Starship 30 Starship Starbase OLP1 Test U04 -15 x 213 x 26.2 Oct 14 1606 Europa Clipper Falcon Heavy Kennedy LC39A Probe 182A 180 x -32078 x 32.9 Oct 15 0610 Starlink Group 10-10 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Comms 183 280 x 291 x 53.2 Oct 15 0821 Starlink Group 9-7 Falcon 9 Vandenberg SLC4E Comms 184 277 x 287 x 53.2 Oct 15 1106 Qianfan Jigui 02 (01 to 18) Chang Zheng 6A Taiyuan Comms 185 Oct 15 2345 Gao Fen 12-05 Chang Zheng 4C Jiuquan Radar 186A 594 x 600 x 97.9 Oct 18 2331 Starlink Group 8-19 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Comms 187 280 x 291 x 53.2 Oct 20 0513 OneWeb L20 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Comms 188 591 x 595 x 86.5 Oct 22 0010 Tianping-3A(01) Chang Zheng 6 Taiyuan Calib 189A 555 x 566 x 97.6 Tianping-3B(01) Calib 189B Tianping-3B(02) Calib 189C Oct 23 0109 Yaogan 43-03-01 Chang Zheng 2C Xichang Comms? 190A 490 x 502 x 35.0 Yaogan 43-03-02 Comms? 190B Yaogan 43-03-03 Comms? 190C Oct 23 2147 Starlink Group 6-61 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Comms 191 284 x 291 x 43.0 Oct 24 1713 Starshield Group 1-4 Falcon 9 Vandenberg SLC4E Imaging? 192 300 x 310 x 70.0 Table of Recent Suborbital Launches ----------------------------------- New Shepard flight NS-27, on Oct 23 tested a new propulsion module and a new crew capsule. The crew capsule is named the RSS Karman Line; it is possibly serial CC2.0-3, and the booster may be PM4-5, but Blue Origin has not confirmed this. Date UT Payload Rocket Site Mission Apogee Target Sep 2 0941 BOLT-1B Black Brant VC Andoya Hypersonic 254 Norwegian Sea Sep 3 1921 FURST Black Brant IX White Sands Solar UV 300? White Sands Sep 6 Agni RV Agni 4 Chandipur Op. Test 600 Indian Ocean Sep 15 0330 Warhead Toufan Yemen Weapon 300? Israel Sep 25 0044 RV DF-31? Wenchang? Test 1000? Pacific Ocean Sep 28 1800 JAKE Terrier Oriole?? Wallops I Target? 100? Atlantic Ocean Oct 1 1309 SL-15 SpaceLoft XL Spaceport America Micrograv 100? White Sands? Oct 1 1630? Warhead Shahab-3? (x180) S Shiraz Weapon 200? Israel Emad? Ghadr-110? Kheibar Shekan? Fattah-1? Oct 20 1824 Aftershock II Aftershock Black Rock Test 100? Black Rock Oct 23 1525? NS-27 New Shepard West Texas Test 101? West Texas .-------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Jonathan McDowell | | | Somerville MA 02143 | inter : planet4589 at gmail | | USA | twitter: @planet4589 | | | | JSR: https://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html | | Back issues: https://www.planet4589.org/space/jsr/back | | Subscribe/unsub: https://www.planet4589.org/mailman/listinfo/jsr | '-------------------------------------------------------------------------'