Cosmic Penguin
Geek Penguin in GTO
Any business that depends on spaceflight, even mature ones like telecommunications via satellites, is a risky business (as the Mexican government found out 2 weeks ago). So when a big satellite TV company decides to put 2 comsats on the same rocket, you know they have pretty solid trust on that rocket!
This is exactly what is happening today with satellite TV giant DirecTV putting 2 of their new satellites - 1 directly owned and another for one of their local partners in Mexico - on the same Ariane 5 that will launch later today. Both satellites will provide HD TV services across North, Central and South America, with DirecTV-15 being the company's second satellite bringing 4K TV signals to their customers after DirecTV-14 launched last December and Sky Mexico-1 being their first dedicated satellite.
The pairing of both satellites requires quite a bit of trust to Arianespace, which is not surprising since their schedule is booked full at least up to 2017 and beyond!
Launch location:
Kourou Launch pad ELA-3 5° 14'06.34"N, 52° 46'06.34"W
Launch dates and times:
Time Zone |
Paris /CEDT
|
Universal / UTC
|
Kourou / UTC-3
|
Washington / EDT
|
Los Angeles / PDT
Launch time (Primary):
|
23:16:00
|
21:16:00
|
18:16:00
|
17:16:00
|
14:16:00
on:
|
May 27, 2015
|
May 27, 2015
|
May 27, 2015
|
May 27, 2015
|
May 27, 2015
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[highlight][eventTimer]2015-05-27 21:16:00?before|after;%dd% Days %hh% Hours %mm% Minutes %ss% Seconds %c%[/eventTimer] Ariane flight VA-223 Launch[/highlight]
Live Coverage Of The Launch:
- Arianespace: http://www.arianespace.tv/ (begins at 20 minutes before lift-off)
PAYLOAD 1
DirecTV-15 communication satellite:
Mission Summary
DirecTV contracted with EADS Astrium in November 2011 to design and manufacture the DirecTV 15, a new high-power telecommunications satellite to provide back-up capacity and fleet expansion for television services to US customers in homes and businesses.
Based on Astrium’s Eurostar-3000 platform, the new satellite, DIRECTV 15, will have a payload comprising 30 high power transponders in Ku-band, 24 transponders in Ka-band, 18 transponders in Reverse Band, and will be able to operate from up to five orbital locations from 99°W to 119°W, covering Continental US (CONUS), Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
DIRECTV 15 is scheduled for launch in 2015. The spacecraft will have a launch mass of 6,300 kg, an electrical power of 16 kW and is designed to deliver more than 15 years of in-orbit operations.
Parameter | Value
Working Orbit:
|
GEO
Orbital Location:
|
102.8° West
Coverage:
|
Continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico
ApA at separation:
|
35786 km
PeA at separation:
|
249.5 km
Inc at separation:
|
4.4°DirecTV-15
Customer:
|- DirecTV
Prime contractor:
|- Airbus Defence & Space
Platform:
|- Eurostar-3000
Mass at Separation:
|- 6205 kg
Dry Mass:
|- ?
Stabilization:
|- 3 axis stabilized
Dimensions (stowed):
|- 2.9 x 2.3 x 5.9 m
Dimensions (deployed span):
|- 42 m
On-board power:
|- 18 kW at end of life
Communication Payload:
|- 28 Ku-band transponders
- 25 Ka-band/reverse band transponders
Life time:
|- 15 years
Transponders coverage:
|- ?
|
PAYLOAD 2
Sky-Mexico 1 communication satellite:
Mission Summary
Orbital Sciences Corporation was selected by DIRECTV to build SKY MEXICO-1 (SKYM-1). The SKYM-1 satellite design is based on Orbital's highly successful, flight-proven, GeoStar-2 satellite platform, and will be manufactured and tested at Orbital's satellite manufacturing facility in Dulles, Virginia.
The SKYM-1 spacecraft will carry 24 active Ku-band transponders and 2 active R-Band transponders providing Direct-to-Home broadcast services to the Mexico, Central America, and Caribbean Regions. The satellite will be located at 78.8° West Longitude and will produce approximately 5.0 kilowatts of payload electrical power.
Parameter | Value
Working Orbit:
|
GEO
Orbital Location:
|
78.8° West
Coverage:
|
Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean
ApA at separation:
|
35786 km
PeA at separation:
|
249.5 km
Inc at separation:
|
4.4°Sky-Mexico 1
Customer:
|- Sky Mexico
Prime contractor:
|- Orbital ATK
Platform:
|- GEOStar-2.4E
Mass at Separation:
|- 2962 kg
Dry Mass:
|- ?
Stabilization:
|- 3-axis stabilized
Dimensions (stowed):
|- 4.7 x 3.0 x 2.5 m
Dimensions (deployed span):
|- ?
On-board power:
|- 6 kW at end of life
Payloads:
|- 24 Ku-band transponders
- 2 reverse band transponders
Life time:
|- 15 years
Ku-band Transponder coverage:
|
Ka-band Transponder coverage:
|
|
Launch Vehicle:
Ariane 5 ECA
Prime contractor:
|- Airbus Defence and Space (ex-EADS Astrium)
Height:
| 50.5 m with upper stage and payload fairingDiameter:
| max 11.56 mLiftoff mass:
| 780 metric tonnesPayload mass:
| ~10 tonnes at GTO (1500 m/s to GEO)SOLID ROCKET BOOSTER (EAP):
|- 2 X P241 motor
- Empty 38 tonnes
- Propellants 240 tonnes (HTPB)
- Thrust in vacuum 700 tonnes of force
- Thrust at sea level 509.9 tonnes of force
CRYOGENIC MAIN CORE STAGE (EPC):
|- 1 X Vulcain-2 engine
- Empty 14.7 tonnes
- Propellants 170 tonnes (LOX + LH2)
- Thrust in vacuum 139 tonnes of force
- Thrust at sea level 96 tonnes of force
CRYOGENIC UPPER STAGE (ESC-A):
|- 1 X HM7B engine
- Empty 4.54 tonnes
- Propellants 14.9 tonnes (LOX + LH2)
- Thrust in vacuum 6.7 tonnes of force
Payload Fairing:
|- Diameter 5.4 m
- Length 17 m
- Mass 2675 kg
The vehicle's reliability statistics according to http://www.spacelaunchreport.com/log2015.html#rate:
Code:
================================================================
Vehicle Successes/Tries Realzd Pred Consc. Last Dates
Rate Rate* Succes Fail
================================================================
Ariane 5-ECA 47 48 .98 .96 47 12/11/02 2002-
Ariane VA223 Ascent Profile
The launcher’s attitude and trajectory are totally controlled by the two onboard computers, located in the Ariane 5 vehicle equipment bay (VEB).
7.05 seconds after start of the ignition of the main stage cryogenic engine at T-0, the two solid-propellant boosters are ignited, enabling liftoff. The launcher first climbs vertically for 6 seconds, then rotates towards the East. It maintains an attitude that ensures the axis of the launcher remains parallel to its velocity vector, in order to minimize aerodynamic loads throughout the entire atmospheric phase, until the solid boosters are jettisoned.
The fairing protecting the DIRECTV‑15 and SKYM‑1 spacecraft is jettisoned at T+200 seconds (once the Ariane 5 has climbed through the Earth’s dense atmospheric layers), and comes after the launcher’s boosters are jettisoned at approximately at T+142 seconds.
Once this first part of the flight is completed, the onboard computers optimize the trajectory in real time, minimizing propellant consumption to bring the launcher first to the intermediate orbit targeted at the end of the main stage propulsion phase, and then the final orbit at the end of the flight of the cryogenic upper stage. The main stage falls back off the coast of Africa in the Atlantic Ocean (in the Gulf of Guinea).
On orbital injection, the launcher will have attained a velocity of approximately 9,365 meters/second, and will be at an altitude of about 643.2 kilometers.
Ariane VA223 Ascent Timeline
Start of synchronized sequence|-00:07:00|21:09:00|
Ignition of the cryogenic main stage engine (EPC)|00:00:00|21:16:00|
Liftoff (Ignition of solid boosters)|00:00:07.3|21:16:07.3|
End of vertical climb and beginning of pitch rotation (10 seconds duration)|00:00:12.6|21:16:12.6|
Beginning of roll manoeuvre|00:00:17.0|21:16:17.0|
Jettisoning of solid boosters|00:02:23.2|21:18:23.2|
Payload Fairing Separation|00:03:26.7|21:19:26.7|
Shut-down of main cryogenic stage|00:08:51.1|21:24:51.1|
Separation of main cryogenic stage|00:08:58.1|21:24:58.1|
Ignition of upper cryogenic stage (ESC-A)|00:09:02.3|21:25:02.3|
End of first ESC-A thrust phase / Injection|00:25:11.2|21:41:11.2|
Separation of DirecTV-15 satellite|00:27:47.2|21:43:47.2|
Separation of Sylda 5|00:29:47.6|21:45:47.6|
Separation of Sky Mexico-1 satellite|00:37:58.9|21:53:58.9|
Weather forecast for Kourou, French Guiana on May 27, 2015 (6 p.m.)
Scattered thunderstorms. High 29C. Winds E at 10 to 15 km/h. Chance of rain 60%.
6 PM|27°C|23°C|78%|36%|0%|50%|1011 hPa|8 km/h ENE|
References
http://www.arianespace.com
http://www.arianespace.tv
http://www.telenorsat.com/
http://www.arianespace.com/images/launch-kits/launch-kit-pdf-eng/VA222-launchkit-EN.pdf
http://english.wunderground.com/q/zmw:00000.1.81403?
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com
http://www.spacelaunchreport.com
http://space.skyrocket.de
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