Launch News Proton-M/Briz-M launch with Sirius FM-6, October 25/26, 2013

[Notebook]

Dear Sirs!

The Proton-M - Breeze-M launch vehicle with the В«Sirius-FM6В» satellite on board is scheduled to be launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on 20.10.2013 at 18 h 12 m 56 s UTC (20.10.2013 22 h 12 m 56 s Moscow Local Time).
Real time broadcast of the launch will be available from 30 minutes before start on the Khrunichev Space Center web site:
http://coopi.khrunichev.ru/main.php?id=201
without password.

Owners of the portable device can watch the launch in test mode on
http://www.space-center.ru .

Best regards,
[email protected]

 

[orb]

Photos:

• http://www.khrunichev.ru/main.php?id=297
  
  
• http://www.roscosmos.ru/19900/

Rollout video - tvroscosmos:

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

The newest satellite for the largest satellite radio operator in the United States has now finally reached the launch pad after a long, convoluted journey from construction to rocket roll-out.

When ordered in 2007, Sirius FM-6 was once planned to be placed into a "tundra orbit" like 3 of its predecessors - a high elliptical orbit at 63.4 degrees inclination with an orbital period of 24 hours - that would place it constantly overhead high latitude regions, but it was later decided to place it into a regular GEO slot. In late 2011 it was shipped to Baikonur for launch in January 2012 (then moved to February and then early March), only to find the previous Proton launch delayed twice. When that launch did occur with the SES-4 satellite, that satellite almost failed to deploy its solar arrays. With this satellite being of the same satellite bus (Space Systems/Loral's LS-1300), it was decided to ship the satellite back to the factory for modifications. When it was done, no launch slots can be obtained until today - more than 1.5 years after its first visit to Baikonur. In the interim 3 Protons failures delayed the launch even further. In fact another delay was averted at the last minute when a Briz-M problem was cleared yesterday!

Interestingly the Proton rocket for this launch was also on its 2nd visit to Baikonur - it was being transported to Baikonur for the launch of Satmex-6 last November when it was damaged during the journey, and it was shipped back to Khrunichev for repairs.

This is the 6th commercial mission of the year for ILS and the 83rd ILS Proton mission since the first commercial flight of the Proton in April 1996.

This is the 6th Sirius XM satellite launched with Proton and the 27th SSL-built satellite launched on Proton.

Launch location:

Baikonur Launch pad no. 200/39 46° 2'23.85"N, 63° 1'54.98"E

Launch dates and times:

[table="head"]{colsp=6}Launch times

Time Zone|

Baikonur / UTC+6 ​

|

Moscow / UTC+4 ​

|

Universal / UTC ​

|

Washington / EDT ​

|

Los Angeles / PDT ​

Launch time (Primary): ​

|

00:08:06​

|

22:08:06​

|

18:08:06​

|

14:08:06​

|

11:08:06​

on: ​

|

Oct. 26, 2013​

|

Oct. 25, 2013​

|

Oct. 25, 2013​

|

Oct. 25, 2013​

|

Oct. 25, 2013​

{colsp=6}

[highlight][eventTimer]2013-10-25 18:08:06?before|after;%dd% Days %hh% Hours %mm% Minutes %ss% Seconds %c%[/eventTimer] Sirius FM-6 Launch[/highlight]​

[/table]

Live Coverage Of The Launch:

• International Launch Services: http://siriusfm6.imgondemand.com/ (begins at 20 minutes before lift-off)
• TSENKI Video Streams: http://www.tv-tsenki.com/livechoose.php
• Khrunichev COOPI (login: ? password: ?): http://coopi.khrunichev.ru/main.php?id=200
• Owners of PDA can watch the launch in test mode on: http://www.space-center.ru

PAYLOAD

Sirius FM-6 communication satellite:

Mission Summary
Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) and Sirius Satellite Radio announced in August 2007 that SS/L has been awarded a contract from Sirius to build Sirius FM-6, a new, high-power satellite designed to operate in a highly inclined elliptical orbit (HIEO). This satellite is the sixth SS/L-built spacecraft in the Sirius fleet.

Sirius FM-6 provides nearly double the power of the satellites in Sirius' existing first-generation in-orbit HIEO constellation, continuing to improve service for Sirius subscribers. Scheduled for completion in 2010, the new satellite provides more than 15 years of service life.

The spacecraft design is mostly identical to Sirius FM-5.

It was to replace the Sirius FM-1 and FM-2 satellites, which would have reduced the HIEO-constellation from three to two satellites, but it was later decided, that FM-6 would also be placed into the geostationary orbit at 116.15° west.

[table="head"]{colsp=2}Summary
Parameter|Value

Working Orbit:​

|GEO

Orbital Location:​

|115.2° West

Coverage:​

|North America

ApA at separation:​

|35786 km

PeA at separation:​

|4126 km

Inc at separation:​

|23.2°
[/table]

[table="head"]Characteristics|

Sirius FM-6​

Customer:​

|

• Sirius Satellite Radio

Prime contractor:​

|

• Space Systems/Loral

Platform:​

|

• LS-1300

Mass at Separation:​

|

• 6018 kg

Dry Mass:​

|

• ?

Stabilization:​

|

• 3 axis stabilized

Dimensions (stowed):​

|

• ?

Batteries:​

|

• ?

Payload:​

|

• 1 X/S-band transponder

Life time:​

|

• 15 years

Coverage:​

|

• 
  
  

|

[/table]

Launch Vehicle:

[table="head"]{colsp=2}Characteristics

|[table="head"]{colsp=2}

Proton-M / Briz-M​

Prime contractor:​

|

• Khrunichev Space Centre
  

GRAU Index:​

|

• 8K82KM

Height:​

| 58.2 m with upper stage and payload fairing

Diameter:​

| max 7.4 m

Liftoff mass:​

| 705 metric tonnes

Payload mass:​

| ~22 tonnes at LEO

1st stage:​

|

• 6 X RD-275 engines
• Empty 30.6 tonnes
• Propellants 419.41 tonnes (UDMH and NTO)
• Thrust in vacuum 1069.8 tonnes of force
• Thrust at sea level 971.4 tonnes of force

2nd stage:​

|

• 1 X RD-0211 engine 3 X RD-0210 engines
• Empty 11.4 tonnes
• Propellants 156.113 tonnes (UDMH and NTO)
• Thrust in vacuum 237.4 tonnes of force

3rd stage:​

|

• 1 X RD-0213 engine & 1 X RD-0214 vernier engine
• Empty 3.7 tonnes
• Propellants 46.562 tonnes (UDMH and NTO)
• Thrust in vacuum 59.36 (core) + 3.15 (vernier) tonnes of force

Upper Stage:​

|

• GRAU Index: 14S43
• Common Name: Briz-M
• Designer & Manufacturer: Khrunichev Space Centre
• Dimensions: Length 2.654 m, Diameter 4 m
• Empty Mass 2.2 tonnes
• Propellants 6 660 kg UDMH + 13 260 kg N2O4
• Flight time: no less than 24 hours

• Main Engine: 1 X 14D30
• Thrust in vacuum 2.0 tonnes of force
• ISP 328.6 s
• Main engine restarts: up to 8 times

• Precision Manoeuvering Engines: 4 X 11D458
• Thrust in vacuum 400 N each
• ISP 252 s

• RCS Engines: 12 X 17D58E
• Thrust in vacuum 13.3 N each
• ISP 274 s

Payload Fairing:​

|

• Diameter 4.35 m
• Length 11.6 m

[/table]
[/table]

The vehicle's reliability statistics according to http://www.spacelaunchreport.com/log2013.html#rate:

================================================================ 
Vehicle     Successes/Tries Realzd Pred  Consc. Last     Dates    
                             Rate  Rate* Succes Fail    
================================================================
Proton-M/Briz-M  61    67    .91  .90      5    12/08/12 2001-

Sirius FM-6 Ascent Profile
The Proton-M first three stages place the orbital unit (OU), which consists of a Breeze-M upper stage, adapter system and Sirius FM-6, into a 51.5° inclination suborbital trajectory.

Proton-M powered flight lasts 582 seconds. The OU powered flight begins at the moment of the third stage separation.

Immediately after the separation of the third stage booster, the Breeze-M stability engines start, damping the angular velocities of the third stage separation and then providing orbital unit orientation and stability during coast flight along a suborbital trajectory to await the first burn. The upper stage follows a five-burn injection profile.

Sirius FM-6 Ascent Timeline

[TABLE="head"]Event|Time rel lift-off|Time UTC|Comment
Ignition Start Sequence|-00:00:02.5|18:08:03.5|
Stage 1 Ignition (40% thrust)|-00:00:01.75|18:08:04.25|
Command Stage 1 (100% thrust)|-00:00:00.9|18:08:05.1|
Maximum Dynamic Pressure|00:01:02|18:09:08|
1st/2nd Stage Separation|00:02:00|18:10:06|
2nd/3rd Stage Separation|00:05:27|18:13:33|
Payload Fairing Separation|00:05:47|18:13:53|
3rd Stage/Breeze M Separation|00:09:42|18:17:48|
1st Burn Ignition|00:11:46|18:19:52|
1st Burn Shutdown|00:16:13|18:24:19|1st Burn's Duration 00:04:27
2nd Burn Ignition|01:07:33|19:15:39|
2nd Burn Shutdown|01:25:19|19:33:25|2nd Burn's Duration 00:17:46
3rd Burn Ignition|03:28:19|21:36:25|
3rd Burn Shutdown|03:39:48|21:47:54|3rd Burn's Duration 00:11:29
APT Jettison|03:40:38|21:48:44|
4th Burn Ignition|03:42:05|21:50:11|
4th Burn Shutdown|03:47:59|21:56:05|4th Burn's Duration 00:05:54
5th Burn Ignition|08:52:04|03:00:10|
5th Burn Shutdown|08:58:17|03:06:23|5th Burn's Duration 00:06:13
Spacecraft Separation|09:11:20|03:19:26|
[/TABLE]

Weather forecast for Baikonur, Kazakhstan on October 26, 2013 (12 a.m.)

Partly cloudy. Low of 3C. Winds from the NNE at 10 to 15 km/h.

Time|Temps|Dew Point|Relative Humidity|Precip|Snow|Cloud cover|Pressure|Wind|Weather
11 PM|4°C|-4°C|58%|0%|0%|74%|1028 hPa|13 km/h NNE|

Mostly Cloudy

References
http://www.federalspace.ru
http://tvroscosmos.ru
http://www.khrunichev.ru
http://www.ilslaunch.com
http://tihiy.fromru.com/Rn/RN_Proton.htm
http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/sirius-cdr-6.htm
http://www.siriusxm.com/
http://www.tsenki.com
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com
http://www.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru
http://www.spacelaunchreport.com
http://english.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=44.84999847,65.50000000

 

[IronRain]

The launch is delayed by 24-hours:

The Launch of a Proton-M/Briz-M Launch Vehicle with the Sirius FM-6 satellite has been delayed 24 hours. Originally, launch was planned to occur on Sunday, but the T-0 target has been moved to the backup day on Monday.

Initially, it was reported that teams found a problem with the Briz-M Upper Stage during testing at the launch pad. However, the issue was discussed and the Briz was cleared for launch. On Sunday, Russian sources reported that the launch is being delayed on request of the customer side due to problems with a ground station.

Countdown operations will get underway on Monday, 11 hours and 30 minutes ahead of launch. Liftoff will kick off a 9-hour 11-minute, 20-second flight to Geostationary Transfer Orbit. The mission starts with a nominal ascent mission performed by the Proton Rocket followed by a series of five Briz-M burns over the course of nine hours to boost the stack into its planned insertion orbit for Sirius FM-6 release early on Tuesday.

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

The same issue reported on the last post has pushed this launch to October 25.

 

[N_Molson]

Launch in 3 hours 30 minutes. Can't be at home, I'm going to miss it

 

[Urwumpe]

Real-life Kerbal Space Program: Lets see if it works now...

 

[MattBaker]

Real-life Kerbal Space Program: Lets see if it works now...

Who forgot the "Revert to launch" button?

 

[N_Molson]

It is going to work. I have a good feeling about it.

---------- Post added at 07:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:19 PM ----------

First steps of the launch are nominal, the 3 rocket stages performed as expected :

1829 GMT (2:29 p.m. EDT)
T+plus 21 minutes. International Launch Services confirms the Breeze M upper stage has completed the first of five burns in this mission. The first burn was designed to accelerate the rocket and payload from a suborbital trajectory into a low-altitude parking orbit.

The Breeze M is now in a coast phase until ignition of the second upper stage burn at about 1916 GMT (3:16 p.m. EDT).

1821 GMT (2:21 p.m. EDT)
T+plus 13 minutes. Officials confirm successful shutdown of the Proton's third stage and separation of the Breeze M upper stage, which should be firing now for the first of five burns. But ILS has not been able to confirm the successful ignition yet.

This first burn should last about four-and-a-half minutes, placing the Breeze M and Sirius FM6 in a circular parking orbit 107 miles high with an inclination of 51.5 degrees.

1818 GMT (2:18 p.m. EDT)
T+plus 9 minutes, 45 seconds. Proton's second stage has been confirmed to have separated, and the third stage RD-0213 engine has begun its burn, producing 131,000 pounds of thrust. The rocket's payload fairing has also been released now that the launcher is in the upper atmosphere.

1812 GMT (2:12 p.m. EDT)
T+plus 3 minutes, 30 seconds. The second stage's RD-0211 main engine and RD-0210 vernier engines continue firing at full power of 540,000 pounds of thrust.

1811 GMT (2:11 p.m. EDT)
T+plus 2 minutes, 55 seconds. The Proton's first stage has shut down and jettisoned, and the second stage engines are firing with a half-million pounds of thrust.

1810 GMT (2:10 p.m. EDT)
T+plus 70 seconds. The Proton rocket has passed the speed of sound and the phase of maximum aerodynamic pressure as it heads northeast from Baikonur on an azimuth of 61.3 degrees.

1808 GMT (2:08 p.m. EDT)
Liftoff of the Proton rocket with Sirius FM6, a 6.6-ton satellite to transmit music and information to more than 25 million Sirius XM Radio subscribers in North America.

1807 GMT (2:07 p.m. EDT)
T-minus 60 seconds minutes. The ignition sequence for the six first stage RD-276 engines begins at T-minus 2.5 seconds, reaching a 40 percent thrust level at T-minus 1.75 seconds and 100 percent thrust at T-minus 0.9 seconds.

Temperature at the launch site is 44 degrees Fahrenheit with mostly cloudy skies and favorable winds.

---------- Post added 10-26-13 at 12:00 AM ---------- Previous post was 10-25-13 at 07:24 PM ----------

Still good, 4 burns on 5 done.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2013
2212 GMT (6:12 p.m. EDT)
International Launch Services confirms the completion of the Breeze M's third burn, a successful jettison of the stage's auxiliary propellant tank, and a good fourth burn.

The Breeze M and Sirius FM6 should now be in a transfer orbit with a low point of 267 miles, a high point of 22,247 miles, and an inclination of 49.1 degrees.

The upper stage will coast for nearly 5 hours before igniting a fifth and final time to inject Sirius FM6 into geostationary transfer orbit.

Separation of the Sirius FM6 satellite is scheduled for 0320 GMT (11:20 p.m. EDT).

1950 GMT (3:50 p.m. EDT)
The Breeze M upper stage has finished the second of five burns planned for today's mission, ILS says. The nearly 18-minute burn was supposed to place the stage and Sirius FM6 in an intermediate orbit with a low point of 167 miles, a high point of 3,106 miles and an inclination of 50.3 degrees.

After a two-hour coast, the Breeze M will ignite its main engine again at about 2137 GMT (5:37 p.m. EDT) for two back-to-back burns separated by a brief intermission to jettison the stage's auxiliary propellant tank.

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

The 5th burn was done without issue and the spacecraft has separated! :thumbup:

http://www.ilslaunch.com/newsroom/news-releases/ils-proton-successfully-launches-sirius-fm-6-satellite-sirius-xm-radio

 

[Cosmic Penguin]