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Two commercial Earth-imaging satellites launched by a Chinese Long March 2D booster Wednesday are flying in lower-than-planned orbits after an apparent rocket mishap, according to tracking data published by the U.S. military.
The two SuperView 1, or Gaojing 1, satellites are flying in egg-shaped orbits ranging from 133 miles (214 kilometers) to 325 miles (524 kilometers) in altitude at an inclination of 97.6 degrees.
The satellites would likely re-enter Earth’s atmosphere within months in such a low orbit, and it was unclear late Wednesday whether the craft had enough propellant to raise their altitudes.
The high-resolution Earth-observing platforms were supposed to go into a near-circular orbit around 300 miles (500 kilometers) above the planet to begin their eight-year missions collecting imagery for Siwei Star Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., a government-owned entity.
The 1,234-pound-pound (560-kilogram) satellites lifted off at 0323 GMT Wednesday (10:23 p.m. EST Tuesday) from the Taiyuan space center in northern China’s Shanxi province on top of a 13-story Long March 2D rocket, according to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency.
The launch occurred at 11:23 a.m. Beijing time, marking China’s 22nd attempted space launch of the year, and the 21st rocket mission to reach orbit.
But the two-stage launcher did not put the SuperView 1 satellites into the expected orbit, raising concerns among outside observers that the Long March 2D ran into problems.
The mission also carried a small amateur radio satellites made by Beijing high school students.
The SuperView 1 satellites are designed to collect optical black-and-white imagery with a resolution of less than 20 inches (about 50 centimeters), making them the highest-resolution civilian Earth-observing satellites launched by China.
The satellites can capture imagery in nearly 7.5-mile-wide (12-kilometer) swaths, turning to observe multiple locations on a single pass, or record images of the same point from multiple angles, allowing processors on the ground to generate stereo three-dimensional images
.Artist’s concept of Beijing Space View’s planned constellation of optical and radar imaging satellites. The spacecraft illustrated at upper left is one of the SuperView 1 satellites launched Wednesday. Credit: Beijing Space View
Color images from the SuperView 1 satellites will have a resolution of around 6 feet, or 2 meters, according to information released by Beijing Space View Technology Ltd., which holds exclusive rights to distribute and sell SuperView 1 imagery globally for mapping, land use, urban planning, agricultural, oil and gas exploration, maritime, security, defense and intelligence applications, the company said.
Beijing Space View’s sister-company Siwei WorldView is a joint venture between Siwei Surveying and Mapping Technology Co. Ltd., Navinfo and DigitalGlobe, the Colorado-based owner of the WorldView and GeoEye commercial Earth observation satellites.
The two distributors sell high-resolution imagery commercially in the Chinese market from China’s own civilian-operated remote sensing observatories and international satellites like the WorldView and GeoEye series, South Korea’s Kompsat family of spacecraft, Japan’s ALOS satellite, the Spanish-owned Deimos missions, and Kazakhstan’s KazEOSat 1 Earth observation platform.
The SuperView 1 satellites — if they can be salvaged and commissioned — would have given China its own commercial imaging spacecraft.
Two more SuperView satellites are scheduled to launch in mid-2017, and Siwei Star aims to have a fleet of more than two dozen Earth observation craft in orbit by 2022, including 16 SuperView-type optical satellites, four platforms with even better optical imaging capabilities, four X-band synthetic aperture radar satellites to observe through clouds and darkness, and multiple video and hyperspectral imaging spacecraft.
The next Delta 4 launch is planned for March from Cape Canaveral. It will be the mission to launch the Air Force's Wideband Global SATCOM 9 communications satellite into orbit using the same type of rocket used tonight -- the Medium+ vehicle with four strap-on solid boosters.
United Launch Alliance's next mission is just eight days away. That is when an Atlas 5 rocket will launch the commercial EchoStar 19 broadband satellite from the Cape. Launch is planned for Dec. 16 at 1:26 p.m. EST (1826 GMT).
12/04/2016 11:53 WEATHER: Favorable forecast for Wednesday's Delta 4 launch from Florida
CAPE CANAVERAL -- Air Force meteorologists are expecting good weather to launch the Delta 4 rocket with a military communications satellite Wednesday evening from Cape Canaveral. Read our ful story.
12/05/2016 20:23 PREVIEW: Upgraded satellite for communications among U.S. military forces to launch
CAPE CANAVERAL -- The backbone of the U.S. military's global communications network, relied upon by soldiers, ships, jets, aerial drones and allied nations around the world, will receive a new satellite with unprecedented capacity following its launch Wednesday atop a Delta 4 rocket. Read our launch preview story
Follow the Delta 4 rocket's ascent into orbit from Cape Canaveral's Complex 37 launch pad with the U.S. Air Force's WGS 8 communications satellite. Liftoff is scheduled for Wednesday at 6:53 p.m. EST. See the timeline
12/06/2016 15:08 LRR: Final readiness review clears Delta 4 and WGS 8 for launch
Sporting upgraded internal electronics to provide 90 percent more capacity than its sister-satellites, the U.S. military's eighth Wideband Global SATCOM communications satellite will be launched into space Wednesday aboard a Delta 4 rocket.
The United Launch Alliance vehicle is scheduled for liftoff at 6:53 p.m. EST (2353 GMT) from Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral. The evening's launch window will remain open for 49 minutes.
If the launch slips to Thursday evening for some reason, the launch window moves one minute later.
Government and contractor managers convened the Launch Readiness Review today to assess preparations for the mission and granted approval to enter into the countdown on Wednesday as planned.
The mobile service tower will be rolled back from the 217-foot-tall rocket shortly before noon EST and fueling operations will commence at 2:30 p.m. EST.
We will have complete live play-by-play coverage of the count and launch on this page, as well as a webcast of liftoff
A reminder that if you will be away from your computer but would like to receive countdown updates, sign up for our Twitter feed to get text messages on your cellphone. U.S. readers can also sign up from their phone by texting "follow spaceflightnow" to 40404. (Standard text messaging charges apply.)
WGS 8 will join the growing constellation of WGS satellites in geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles above the Earth that provide global communications coverage to the U.S. military and allies.
The $426 million satellite furthers bolsters the primary communications network that provides "anytime, anywhere" connectivity to soldiers, ships, aircraft and unmanned drones.
"Warfighters use WGS for tactical communications, performing numerous military operations (and) humanitarian missions," said Thomas Becht, civilian deputy director and business manager for the Air Force's Military Satellite Communications Systems Directorate at the Space and Missile Systems Center in Los Angeles.
Boeing is the builder of the WGS fleet and ULA has launched all of the craft to date. The final two in the series will be deployed by the end of 2018.
WGS 8 carries the first Wideband Digital Channelizer at the heart of its communications package, essentially doubles the available capacity as compared previous WGS satellites.
"It's an additional satellite, so 1/8th of the constellation, plus the satellite has nearly twice as much capacity as the previous ones," said Charlotte Gerhart, the Air Force's WGS 8 program manager.
This will be the 34th Delta 4 rocket launch since 2002 and the 28th Delta 4 to fly from Cape Canaveral.
The two-stage rocket was processed in the Horizontal Integration Facility, then rolled to the pad. It was hydraulically raised into the vertical position atop the launch table on Oct. 18.
A countdown dress rehearsal and fueling exercise occurred on Nov. 16 and the payload, already encapsulated in the rocket's five-meter nose cone, was transported to the pad for mating with the rocket on Nov. 21.
Weather forecasters give an 80 percent chance of acceptable launch conditions. Clouds too thick to safely fly through are the only concern threatening the weather rules.
12/07/2016 13:14
Tower rollback is underway at Complex 37 to reveal the 217-foot-tall Delta 4 rocket for tonight's launch.
12/07/2016 13:40 Gantry rolled back for launch
The 330-foot tall mobile service tower has been retracted at Cape Canaveral's pad 37B for this evening's launch of the Delta 4 rocket that will place the Wideband Global SATCOM satellite No. 8 into space for the Air Force.
The wheeled structure moved along rail tracks to its launch position about the length of a football field away from the rocket. The 9-million pound tower shielded the Delta from the elements during the its stay on the pad, provided workers 360-degree access to the various areas on the vehicle and was used to attach the solid rocket boosters and payload during the launch campaign. The tower is 90 feet wide and 40 feet deep.
Crews will spend the next couple of hours securing the complex for launch before leaving the danger area around the pad. All workers must be clear of the area for the start of hazardous operations in the countdown, which include fueling the Delta 4's first and second stages with supercold liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen propellants
Testing of communications links between the rocket and Air Force Eastern Range will occur after fueling is accomplished. Steering checks of the RS-68A engine and upper stage RL10B-2 powerplant are on tap in the last hour of the count.
A build-in hold is slated for T-minus 4 minutes, during which time teams will go through final polling to grant clearance to launch. The Delta 4 will transition to internal power as the count resumes, ordnance will be armed and the propellant tanks pressurized as clocks target the main engine ignition time at T-minus 5 seconds.
Liftoff remains scheduled for 6:53 p.m. EST (2353 GMT).
"This launch will significantly enhance the WGS constellation, providing vital wideband communications anytime, anywhere to U.S. warfighters and our international partners through broadcast, multicast and point to point connections," said Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, Space and Missile Systems Center commander and Air Force program executive officer for Space.
"WGS 8 maintains the core capability to support X- and Ka-band communications simultaneously, while also increasing communication capacity."
The satellite will be operated in geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles above Earth to provide communications to all branches of the U.S. military and some allied nations.
"The demand for ever-increasing reliable and secure satellite communications has been at the forefront of the WGS mission," said Greaves. "WGS provides communication connectivity across all mission areas, including air, land and naval warfare."
12/07/2016 14:42
The rocket's guidance system is being turned on and tested for launch.
12/07/2016 14:53 L-6 hours
Now 6 hours till launch. The countdown is proceeding well and the launch team is not reporting any issues. A full weather briefing to mission managers will occur in about an hour.
12/07/2016 14:59 Launch events preview
12/07/2016 15:18 Photos: Delta 4 and WGS 8 ready to fly
Some shots of the vehicle taken a little while ago during tower rollback. Credit: Alex Polimeni
12/07/2016 15:43 Weather forecast still 80% GO
In the pre-fueling weather update, all conditions are favorable at Cape Canaveral for liftoff of the United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket.
The odds of acceptable weather for an on-time launch this evening at 6:53 p.m. EST (2353 GMT) are 80 percent. A cloud thickness violation is the only concern, but those conditions are not expected until early tomorrow. The worry is if the clouds move in early.
12/07/2016 15:48
At the launch pad, clearing of personnel is underway in preparation for the start of fueling operations this afternoon and liftoff at 6:53 p.m. EST.
12/07/2016 15:53 Countdown in built-in hold
T-minus 4 hours, 15 minutes and holding. The countdown has entered a 15-minute-long built-in hold, a pre-planned pause designed to give the team time to catch up on any work that could be running behind schedule. Once the clocks resume ticking, the main countdown for this evening's launch operation will begin.
12/07/2016 16:04
The launch team is reporting on station for the start of fueling operations. Some 170,000 gallons of cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen will be loaded today.
12/07/2016 16:07
Team is GO to begin fueling operations.
12/07/2016 16:08 Countdown has resumed
T-minus 4 hours, 15 minutes and counting. The team is ready for cryogenic fueling as the countdown is underway for today's opportunity to launch the Delta 4 rocket with the Wideband Global SATCOM satellite.
A final planned hold is scheduled into the countdown at the T-minus 4 minute mark.
Liftoff remains targeted for 6:53 p.m. EST.
12/07/2016 16:33 Fueling ops underway
A "go" has been given to start the cold gas chilldown conditioning of the liquid hydrogen system. This is the precursor to filling the vehicle with propellant.
12/07/2016 16:47 MST rollback gallery
A photo gallery of today's gantry rollback for the Delta 4 rocket launch is posted here.
(ULA pic)
12/07/2016 17:03 CBC LH2 tanking begins
The cold gas chilldown conditioning of the liquid hydrogen system has been accomplished. Liquid hydrogen propellant will begin to flow into the Common Booster Core in "slow-fill" mode. That is sped up to "fast-fill" after a small portion of the tank is loaded.
Chilled to Minus-423 degrees Fahrenheit, the liquid hydrogen will be consumed by the RS-68A main engine along with liquid oxygen during the first four minutes of the launch.
12/07/2016 17:08 CBC LOX chilldown
And now the chilldown of the liquid oxygen system on Delta's Common Booster Core is starting. This preps the tank and pumping to guard against shock when the supercold oxidizer begins flowing into the rocket a short time from now. The first stage will be loaded with 40,000 gallons of supercold LOX.
12/07/2016 17:10
Liquid hydrogen flow is confirmed. About 110,000 gallons of LH2 will fill the rocket's first stage.
Still targeting 6:53 p.m. EST (2353 GMT) for launch today.
12/07/2016 17:20 Upper stage LH2 chilldown
The launch team is preparing to start fueling the Delta 4 rocket's upper stage. And with that the "go" has been given to start the chilldown conditioning of the upper stage liquid hydrogen system.
12/07/2016 17:21
CBC liquid hydrogen tanking operation is switching from "slow-fill" to "fast-fill" mode.
12/07/2016 17:27 CBC LOX tanking
The CBC liquid oxygen chilldown is complete. "Slow-fill" mode is beginning to load a small percentage of the tank. The process then speeds up to the "fast-fill" mode until the tank is nearly full.
12/07/2016 17:33
SMC Commander @SMC_CC
A beautiful sight. #DeltaIV WGS-8 satellite on the pad and proceeding toward 1853ET launch today. @ulalaunch @45thSpaceWing @AF_SMC
3:26 PM - 7 Dec 2016
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12/07/2016 17:38
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Tory Bruno ✔ @torybruno
Mission coin
10:19 PM - 6 Dec 2016
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12/07/2016 17:43
CBC liquid oxygen tanking operation is switching from "slow-fill" to "fast-fill" mode.
12/07/2016 17:43 Upper stage LOX chilldown
The "go" has been given for the upper stage liquid oxygen chilldown in advance of filling that tank.
12/07/2016 17:47 Upper stage LH2 tanking
After chilldown of the upper stage liquid hydrogen system, the clear was given for loading the rocket's tank with 14,000 gallons. The launch team is actively filling the upper stage's liquid hydrogen tank with propellant for the RL10 engine.
12/07/2016 17:53 L-3 hours
Now three hours till launch. The Delta 4 rocket is being loaded with supercold liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen as the countdown rolls on for launch at 6:53 p.m. EST (2353 GMT).
Complex 37 has two giant sphere-shaped fuel tanks to store the cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. The LOX tank holds 250,000 gallons and LH2 sphere about 850,000 gallons.
The cryogenics are fed from the storage tanks through pipelines to the pad. For the Common Booster Core, the propellants are routed up to the launch table upon which the rocket sits. Tail service masts, the large box-like structures at the base of the vehicle, feed the oxygen and hydrogen to the booster via separate umbilicals.
The upper stage receives its cryos from the middle swing arm that extends from the Fixed Umbilical Tower to the front-side of the rocket.
12/07/2016 17:59 Upper stage LOX tanking
Chilldown of the upper stage liquid oxygen system is complete for loading the rocket's tank with 6,000 gallons of supercold LOX.
This is the last of the rocket's four cryogenic supplies to be filled in today's countdown to launch.
12/07/2016 18:12 CBC LH2 loaded
Fast-filling of the CBC liquid hydrogen tank has completed. After post-filling checks and valve tests, the tank will be placed in topping mode. The launch team will confirm the propellant is conditioned for flight.
12/07/2016 18:18 CBC LOX loaded
The CBC liquid oxygen loading just finished. The tank has been loaded with its supercold oxidizer that is chilled to Minus-298 degrees F. Topping will be completed as the count rolls on.
12/07/2016 18:52 Upper stage LOX loaded
Loading of the upper stage liquid oxygen tank has been accomplished.
12/07/2016 18:52 L-2 hours
Two hours and counting! Still targeting 6:53 p.m. EST (2353 GMT) for launch tonight.
This is the 8th satellite for the Wideband Global SATCOM military communications network that began launching in 2007. WGS is the backbone of the Defense Department's information grid that spans the world.
12/07/2016 19:04 Upper stage LH2 loaded
The vehicle is fully fueled! Loading of the upper stage liquid hydrogen tank has been accomplished as fueling wraps up this evening at Complex 37.
The 900,000-pound rocket stands fueled and ready for launch at 6:53 p.m. EST from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
12/07/2016 19:33 L-80 minutes
Now entering into the final 80 minutes of the countdown to launch of Delta 376 and the eighth Wideband Global SATCOM military communications satellite for the U.S. Air Force.
All is quiet in the launch control room, activities are on schedule and the team is not reporting any technical concerns.
12/07/2016 19:37
The flight slews and commanding tests for the vehicle steering systems are being performed. The Common Booster Core, the strap-on solid rocket motors and upper stage engine nozzle steering checks are being run through pre-launch test patterns.
12/07/2016 19:45
Steering checks are complete
12/07/2016 19:53 L-60 minutes
Now entering the final 60 minutes until the Delta 4 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral at 6:53 p.m. EST (2353 GMT). Here's a look at some stats about the mission. This will be:
The 376th Delta rocket launch since 1960
The 34th Delta 4 rocket mission since 2002
The 6th Medium+ (5,4) configuration to fly
The 52nd main engine from RS-68 family used
The 10th RS-68A main engine flown
The 52nd-53rd-54th-55th GEM-60 solid rocket motors flown
The 475th production RL10 engine to be launched
The 37th RL10B-2 engine launche
The 28th Delta 4 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral
The 36th launch from Pad B at Complex 37
The 19th use of Delta 4 by the Air Force
The 101st Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle flight
The 114th United Launch Alliance mission since 2006
Preview the deployment of the advanced GOES-R weather satellite aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket in the pre-launch news conference held at Kennedy Space Center on Thursday, Nov. 17.
Briefing participants are:
* Stephen Volz, assistant administrator for satellite and information services at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
* Greg Mandt, GOES-R system program director at NOAA
* Sandra Smalley, director of NASA’s Joint Agency Satellite Division
* Omar Baez, NASA launch director
* Scott Messer, program manager for NASA Missions at United Launch Alliance
* Clay Flinn, launch weather officer from the 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
GOES-R mission briefing
The GOES-R mission briefing details this new observatory that the improve the quality of weather forecasts across the United States.
Briefing participants include:
* Steven Goodman, GOES-R program scientist from NOAA
* Joe Pica, director of the Office of Operations at the National Weather Service
* Sandra Cauffman, deputy director of NASA’s Earth Science Division
* Damon Penn, assistant administrator for response from FEMA
Thu, Nov 17 2016 9:30 AM ART — Thu, Nov 17 2016 3:00 PM ART
About
Two flagship European space programmes will combine on 17 November, as four Galileo navigation satellites are carried into orbit by an Ariane 5 rocket for the first time. Liftoff of Ariane flight VA233 is scheduled for 13:06 GMT (14:06 CET, 10:06 local time) on Thursday. The first Livestream transmission is scheduled for 12:36–13:29 GMT (13.36–14.29 CET), covering the liftoff, ascent and first phases of flight. There will be a follow-up Livestream transmission at 16:30–17:45 GMT (17.30–18.45 CET), to cover the satellite separations and confirmation of success.
European Space Agency
Galileo system status
Next Thursday 17 November at 10.06 Kourou Time/14.06 CET an Ariane 5 will launch Galileo satellites for the first time. Equipped with a specially designed dispenser, the European launcher will deploy four satellites: Galileo Sat 15,16,17 and 18. This video explains the current status of the Galileo system. It includes an interview with Paul Verhoef, ESA Navigation Programme Director.
The Soyuz booster that will send the International Space Station’s next three residents into orbit later this week rolled out of an integration hangar early Monday and rode a railroad car to its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The rocket will lift off at 2020 GMT (3:20 p.m. EST) Thursday from Baikonur, heading to orbit on a two-day chase of the space station, setting up for a radar-guided rendezvous and docking Saturday.
The Soyuz MS-03 spaceship, the third in a line of upgraded Russian crew capsules, will take the longer two-day route to the space station to continue tests of the modernized spacecraft. In recent years, Russia has typically launched Soyuz crews on a six-hour rendezvous trajectory, allowing the craft to reach the complex on the same day as launch.
Continuing a tradition dating back to the dawn of the Space Age, the Soyuz rocket emerged from its hangar at Baikonur mounted on a transport train for the trip to the launch pad.
The rollout Monday came a day after technicians installed the Soyuz capsule on the front end of the rocket. Last week, ground crews placed an aerodynamic fairing, which will jettison a few minutes into the flight, over the Soyuz spacecraft before moving the vehicle to the rocket assembly hangar.
Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, a 45-year-old Russian Air Force pilot and native of Belarus, will occupy the center seat of the Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft as commander. About to fly to the space station for the second time, Novitskiy spent 143 days in orbit on the Expedition 33 and 34 mission in 2012 and 2013.
In the capsule’s left seat will be French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, a European Space Agency astronaut who will serve as Novitskiy’s co-pilot during the flight to the space station. Pesquet, 38, was a spacecraft engineer at CNES, the French space agency, and an Air France commercial airline pilot before his selection as an astronaut in 2009.
Veteran NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, 56, will launch in the the right seat of the Soyuz spaceship on her third spaceflight. Whitson first lived on the space station as a flight engineer and science officer on the Expedition 5 mission in 2002, the launched again in 2007 to command the Expedition 16 mission.
Whitson, a native of Iowa, has accumulated more than 376 days in space during her two previous flights.
Docking of the Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft with the station’s Rassvet module on Saturday is scheduled for around 2201 GMT (5:01 p.m. EST). Expedition 50 commander Shane Kimbrough and flight engineers Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko will welcome the three new crew members.
Whitson will command the station’s Expedition 51 crew next year after the departure of Kimbrough, Ryzhikov and Borisenko.
The Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft will remain docked to the space station until April or May.
NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet address media before departing their training complex at Star City, Russia, for the launch site in Kazakhstan. Credit: NASA/Stephanie Stoll
The arrival of the three fresh residents will kick off a busy couple of months on the space station.
“There will be quite a bit of traffic and crew time associated with that,” said Sam Scimemi, NASA’s space station program director at NASA Headquarters.
An Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo craft that arrived at the outpost in October is set to depart the complex Nov. 21 with a load of trash. Before heading for a destructive re-entry, the Cygnus supply ship will deploy several CubeSats and conduct a fire experiment inside a self-contained box within the craft’s pressurized module.
A Russian Progress cargo and refueling freighter is set for launch Dec. 1 from Baikonur, with docking expected Dec. 3.
Then a Japanese HTV supply mission will blast off aboard an H-2B rocket Dec. 9, setting up for its automated rendezvous and capture with the space station’s robotic arm Dec. 13.
The HTV mission will deliver six lithium-ion batteries to kick off a multi-year effort to replace the space station’s aging nickel-hydrogen battery system. The battery changeout will require at least two spacewalks in January, and perhaps as many as four EVAs if astronauts run into any trouble.
“During the next increment, they will be busy,” Scimemi said Monday during a meeting of the NASA Advisory Council’s human exploration and operations subcommittee. “There are going to be some challenges. We’ve got two EVAs scheduled to install the batteries, and another couple of EVAs as contingency if they don’t go so well.”
Other activities, aside from a heavy slate of science experiments, will include maintenance on the station’s carbon dioxide removal assembly, activation of a new galley, and preparations to relocate a docking port on the complex, Scimemi said.
Photos of the Soyuz rocket’s rollout Monday are posted below, including images of the launch pad’s gantry towers enclosing the booster backdropped by nearly full moon.
China successfully launches Yunhai-1(01) satellite for environment monitor
Published: 2016-11-11 23:33
Last Modified: 2016-11-12 11:22
Location: Jiuquan,China;
Duration: 0'51
Source: China Central Television (CCTV)
Restrictions: No access Chinese mainlan
Shotlist
Jiuquan City, Gansu Province, northwest China - Nov 12, 2016
1. Yunhai-1(01) satellite lifted off by Long March-2D
2. Animation of Yunhai-1(01) in orbit
3. Various of launch controllers
Storyline
China successfully launched a Yunhai-1(01) satellite with a Long March-2D carrier rocket Saturday from its Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.
The Yunhai-1(01) satellite is mainly designed for detecting environmental elements in the atmosphere and ocean, the space environment, disaster prevention and reduction, and scientific experimentation.
Both the satellite and its carrier rocket are designed and made by the Shanghai Institute of Spaceflight Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
Saturday's is the 240th flight of China's Long March carrier rockets. NOTE: VIDEO EDITED
A companion to the world’s most powerful private Earth-imaging satellite rocketed into space today from the U.S. west coast atop an Atlas 5 to double the amount of high-resolution imagery available on the commercial market and satisfy the demands of customers clamoring for more.
The 10-year mission of the WorldView 4 satellite began at 10:30:33 a.m. local time (1:30:33 p.m. EST; 1830:33 GMT) as the United Launch Alliance booster powered away from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California after an extended wait to fly.
The launch was postponed eight weeks by a 12,500-acre wildfire that scorched Vandenberg in late September and the lengthy repairs to the base’s power grid in the aftermath.
Today’s liftoff culminated an 8-hour countdown highlighted by retraction of the mobile service gantry and the loading of 66,000 gallons of cryogenic propellants into the two-stage vehicle.
Following the signature status check — “Go Atlas,” “Go Centaur,” “Go WorldView 4” — declaring readiness in the final seconds, the main engine rumbled to life and 189-foot-tall rocket gracefully ascended from the pad.
Un vídeo publicado por United Launch Alliance (@ulalaunch) el
A fog bank remained off the coast, giving mostly clear skies with only wispy high cirrus clouds as backdrop for the Atlas 5 heading downrange.
The first stage fired for four minutes before the Centaur upper stage took over for its 11-minute burn to accelerate the 5,479-pound payload into the targeted sun-synchronous orbit.
WorldView 4 was released from the launcher just 19 minutes after liftoff.
It marked the 137th successful launch in a row for the Atlas program spanning 23 years, the 66th for the Atlas 5 over the span of 14 years and extended United Launch Alliance’s mission record to 112 in nearly 10 years.
WorldView 4, built by Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale, California, and owned by DigitalGlobe of Westminster, Colorado, radioed home healthy system data 45 minutes after its launch.
The Centaur upper stage, still operating after releasing the primary payload, on its next orbit deployed seven cubesats, collectively called ENTERPRISE, for a National Reconnaissance Office rideshare effort, then fired its main engine again to escape Earth and enter solar orbit for a permanent, safe disposal.
The cubesats will perform a variety of experiments and demonstrate high-tech operational concepts for students, national laboratories and government entities, according to the NRO.
In the coming weeks and months, the WorldView 4 craft will settle into its 383-mile (617-km) operational orbit with a period of 97 minutes, open the telescope aperture and undergo a rigorous testing and commissioning period. It should begin taking commercial imagery for retail early next year.
And it will come not a moment too soon for clients seeking DigitalGlobe’s 30 centimeter commercial imagery, a resolution unmatched by competitors in the marketplace.
The make and model of a car can be identified using that quality of space imagery.
An artist’s concept of WorldView 4. Credit: DigitalGlobe
DigitalGlobe currently offers the highest resolution imagery of the Earth’s surface — seeing objects 31-cm or just one-foot across — with its WorldView 3 satellite launched by Atlas 5 two years ago.
But that craft’s capacity is mostly reserved for the company’s biggest customer — the U.S. government. The addition of WorldView 4 will effectively double the amount of 30-cm imagery that can be taken commercially from space, opening the floodgates to sell the data to other customers.
WorldView 4 has a backlog of orders to fill from foreign governments, intelligence agencies and commercial clientele waiting to buy such data, and allowed to do so by U.S. authorities.
“We are especially pleased with the unprecedented early demand for WorldView 4,” said Jeffrey Tarr, DigitalGlobe chief executive officer.
Customers for the company’s special direct-access program are given priority reach to the entire WorldView constellation and new clients have been signing up to receive WorldView 4 imagery even before the craft was launched.
“Importantly, WorldView 4 will substantially increase our ability to image the world with resolution, accuracy and clarity far beyond that of all other commercial providers, enabling us to better serve our international defense and intelligence customers and unlock new commercial use cases,” Tarr said.
WorldView 1 caught this sequence of images of the Atlas 5 launching WorldView 3 from Vandenberg in 2014. Credit: DigitalGlobe +
DigitalGlobe gives customers confidentiality in targeting areas to survey, guaranteed access and data distribution rights, and pre-event and post-event imagery for emergency management in a crisis.
“With the additional 30 cm capacity that we’re bringing online with WorldView 4, and the investments we’ve made in our constellation Direct Access Facility program, we are meeting the growing demand from new and existing customers alike,” Tarr said.
WorldView 4 is designed to see objects as small as 1-foot-wide (31 cm) in panchromatic mode and has a color capability with 4-foot resolution (1.24 m). It will image 263,000 square miles (680,000 square km) of the Earth’s surface per day, doubling the capacity of WorldView 3 now in service providing the same quality high-res data.
The craft uses the Global Positioning System satellite network and onboard star trackers to determine its precise location in orbit relative to the spot on Earth being observed. The imaging options include shooting targeted scenes, large-area collections or long, narrow strips of land.
Built around Lockheed Martin’s LM 900 small satellite design, WorldView 4 stands 18 feet (5.5 meters) tall and has a wingspan of 26 feet (8 meters) when the five power-generating solar arrays are extended.
WorldView 4 in the factory. Credit: Lockheed Martin
Harris Corp., which built the camera system on WorldView 4, says the primary mirror was manufactured to an accuracy of 1/1000th of a human hair. It has an aperture of 3.6 feet (1.1 meters).
The imaging system, known as SpaceView 110, is capable of counting all of the people on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco from the Hollywood sign in Southern California.
Control Moment Gyroscopes will enable unmatched agility for the satellite, allowing it to slew in just 10.6 seconds from one target to another 125 miles (200 km) away.
It features a 3200-Gb solid state onboard storage capability and will communicate with the ground via X-band for data transmissions and S-band for control functions.
DigitalGlobe was founded in 1992 under the name WorldView Imaging Corp. and merged with rival GeoEye and its satellite fleet in 2013. Today, it serves three main customer groups: U.S. government, international defense and intelligence organizations, and commercial buyers.
“Our business with the U.S. government has been renewed for 15 consecutive years, under various contract vehicles, each of which has contributed to growth of the company,” said Tarr.
“DigitalGlobe and its team members are proud to provide a mission-critical service to the NGA (National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency) and end-users across the U.S. government with our best-in-class constellation and ground infrastructure.”
All five of DigitalGlobe’s sub-50cm high-resolution imagery satellites were launched by Delta 2 and Atlas 5 rockets since 2007. Photos by ULA
On the purely commercial front, the company recently struck deals with the Uber taxi service and the Esri mapping firm.
“We’ve seen customers realize the value of our high-resolution, high-accuracy 30-centimeter imagery in identifying road-related features not visible with less-capable satellites, enabling better mapping and safer navigation,” said Tarr.
The market for commercial imagery includes agriculture, mining, oil and gas, scientific researchers and land developers.
Looking ahead, DigitalGlobe has partnered with Saudi Arabia to field a cluster of small imaging satellites, sharing the capacity 50-50. Launch is expected in 2019.
“This new fleet, which we’ve now named Scout, will tip and cue our high-resolution satellites to help monitor some of the world’s volatile regions,” Tarr said.
The company also plans to start a $600 million investment some time in the next two years to replace the combined capacity of the aging WorldView 1 and WorldView 2.
“This industry-leading, multi-satellite system will deliver WorldView-class resolution, area coverage and positional accuracy with unprecedented revisit,” Tarr said.
All 66 launches by the workhorse Atlas 5 rocket for the Defense Department, National Reconnaissance Office, NASA and commercial clients. Photos by Pat Corkery, Jeff Spotts, Ben Cooper, Walter Scriptunas II, James Murati, Gene Blevins, Bill Hartenstein, Alex Polimeni and Justin Ray
Today’s launch was the sixth of eight planned this year by the Atlas 5 rocket.
The vehicle’s next flight is targeted for Nov. 19 from Cape Canaveral to deploy the advanced GOES-R geostationary weather satellite for NASA and NOAA.
Another Atlas 5 is scheduled from Vandenberg in January for the National Reconnaissance Office to deploy the classified NROL-79 payload. It had been planned for this December, but was delayed by the wildfire’s impacts to the manifest
Live coverage of the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket flight to deploy the WorldView 4 imaging satellite. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
LRR: Countdown clocks will begin ticking in the middle-of-the-night Friday morning to ready an Atlas 5 rocket at America's western spaceport to launch a commercial Earth-imagery observatory.
The Launch Readiness Review today formally gave approval to proceed into countdown operations at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to deploy the WorldView 4 satellite for DigitalGlobe.
Friday's liftoff is targeted for 10:30 a.m. local time (1:30 p.m. EST; 1830 GMT) at the opening of a 15-minute launch opportunity.
A live launch webcast can be viewed on this page.
Air Force meteorologists, as of this morning, now give 90 percent odds that the weather will allow the launch to occur. High pressure has been dominant over the region for the past several days, keeping a weather system to the northwest. At launch time Friday, the forecast calls for mostly clear skies with just some high-level cirrus, light south‐southeasterly winds of 5 to 8 knots and temperatures between 67 and 72 degrees F.
"Team V is thrilled to be launching again following the devastating wildfires we experienced in September. We are excited to launch the Atlas 5 WorldView 4 mission from Vandenberg's Western Range and are looking forward to a safe and successful mission," said Col. Chris Moss, 30th Space Wing commander at Vandenberg and the launch decision authority.
It will be the 12th Atlas 5 to fly from Vandenberg.
The launch countdown begins at 2:30 a.m. local time for the start of an eight-hour sequence to prepare the launch pad and rocket for flight.
This is United Launch Alliance's 112th flight, the 9th just this year, and the company's 19th for a commercial client.
