The Eastern Hemisphere has been the powerhouse of Earth's development for the last few decades, and space utilization is no exception to this theorem.
Today's Ariane 5 launch marks exactly that, with both passengers coming from Asia. Arabsat 6B is the newest comsat for the big Middle East satellite operator and GSAT-15 is one of the new members of the communication satellite fleet of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Both satellites will provide various broadcasting and relaying tasks to the western and southern parts of Asia.
Launch location:
Kourou Launch pad ELA-3 5° 14'06.34"N, 52° 46'06.34"W
Launch dates and times:
Time Zone |
Paris /CEST
|
Universal / UTC
|
Kourou / UTC-3
|
Washington / EST
|
Los Angeles / PST
Launch time (Primary):
|
22:34:00
|
21:34:00
|
18:34:00
|
16:34:00
|
13:34:00
on:
|
Nov. 10, 2015
|
Nov. 10, 2015
|
Nov. 10, 2015
|
Nov. 10, 2015
|
Nov. 10, 2015
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[highlight][eventTimer]2015-11-10 21:34:00?before|after;%dd% Days %hh% Hours %mm% Minutes %ss% Seconds %c%[/eventTimer] Ariane flight VA-227 Launch[/highlight]
Live Coverage Of The Launch:
- Arianespace: http://www.arianespace.tv/ (begins at 20 minutes before lift-off)
PAYLOAD 1
Arabsat 6B (Badr 7) communication satellite:
Mission Summary
ARABSAT has selected in January 2009 the consortium of Astrium and Thales Alenia Space to build and deliver in orbit the new satellite Badr 7 (or Arabsat 6B). The contract was modifified to include Ka-band capacity and was signed in January 2013.
Arabsat-6B will be co-located with the rest of Arabsat's Badr constellation of Direct-To-Home satellites at its 26° East video "hot-spot", extending in-orbit capacity for television services. Also a Eurostar-3000 model, equipped with a payload featuring 24 transponders in Ku-band and 24 Ka-band spot-beams as well as 3 Ka-band transponders, Arabsat-6B will have a spacecraft power of 12 kW at the end of its 15-year design lifetime.
Astrium and Thales Alenia Space are jointly responsible for building the satellites and delivering them in orbit. Astrium, the leading partner, will supply the Eurostar-3000 platforms and integrate the satellites. Thales Alenia Space will design and build the communications payloads. The team will also upgrade the ground control segment for the extended ARABSAT satellite fleet.
Parameter | Value
Working Orbit:
|
GEO
Orbital Location:
|
26° East
Coverage:
|
Middle East, Africa and Central Asia
ApA at separation:
|
35786 km
PeA at separation:
|
250 km
Inc at separation:
|
4°Arabsat 6B
Customer:
|- Arabsat
Prime contractor:
|- Airbus Defence and Space
Platform:
|- Eurostar E3000
Mass at Separation:
|- 5798 kg
Dry Mass:
|- ?
Stabilization:
|- 3 axis stabilized
Dimensions (stowed):
|- 8.5 x 3.0 x 3.5 m
Dimensions (deployed span):
|- ?
On-board power:
|- 11.5 kW at end of life
Communication Payload:
|- 27 Ku-band transponders
- 24 Ka-band spotbeams
Life time:
|- 15 years
Ku-band Transponders coverage:
||
PAYLOAD 2
GSAT-15 communication satellite:
Mission Summary
GSAT-15 is an Indian geostationary Ku-band communications satellite.
GSAT-15 was approved by the Government on 17 July 2013. The satellite built on the I-3K bus carries 24 Ku-band transponders and a GAGAN (GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation) payload. It will provide replacement for the Ku-band capacity of INSAT-3A and INSAT-4B satellites to augment and support the existing DTH and VSAT services in the country. The GAGAN payload of GSAT-15 will meet the in-orbit redundancy requirement for Safety of Life (SOL) operations benefiting the civil aviation services in the country.
Parameter | Value
Working Orbit:
|
GEO
Orbital Location:
|
93.5° East
Coverage:
|
India
ApA at separation:
|
35786 km
PeA at separation:
|
250 km
Inc at separation:
|
4°GSAT-15
Customer:
|- ISRO
Prime contractor:
|- ISRO
Platform:
|- I-3K
Mass at Separation:
|- 3164 kg
Dry Mass:
|- ?
Stabilization:
|- 3 axis stabilized
Dimensions (stowed):
|- 3.0 x 1.7 x 2.0 m
Dimensions (deployed span):
|- ?
On-board power:
|- 6.2 kW at end of life
Communication Payload:
|- 24 Ku-band transponders
- GAGAN satellite navigation payload
Life time:
|- 12 years
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 51 52 .98 .96 51 12/11/02 2002-
Ariane VA227 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 payload is jettisoned at T+220 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 640 kilometers.
Ariane VA227 Ascent Timeline
Start of synchronized sequence|-00:07:00|21:27:00|
Ignition of the cryogenic main stage engine (EPC)|00:00:00|21:34:00|
Liftoff (Ignition of solid boosters)|00:00:07.3|21:34:07.3|
End of vertical climb and beginning of pitch rotation (10 seconds duration)|00:00:12.6|21:34:12.6|
Beginning of roll manoeuvre|00:00:17.0|21:34:17.0|
Jettisoning of solid boosters|00:02:23|21:36:23|
Payload Fairing Separation|00:03:24|21:37:24|
Shut-down of main cryogenic stage|00:08:58|21:42:58|
Separation of main cryogenic stage|00:09:04|21:43:04|
Ignition of upper cryogenic stage (ESC-A)|00:09:08|21:43:08|
End of first ESC-A thrust phase / Injection|00:25:02|21:59:02|
Separation of Arabsat 6B satellite|00:27:21|22:01:21|
Separation of Sylda 5|00:30:52|22:04:52|
Separation of GSAT-15 satellite|00:43:24|22:17:24|
Weather forecast for Kourou, French Guiana on November 10, 2015 (6 p.m.)
Partly cloudy with isolated thunderstorms possible. High 32C. Winds ENE at 15 to 25 km/h. Chance of rain 30%.
6 PM|28°C|23°C|74%|24%|0%|33%|1011 hPa|14 km/h E|
References
http://www.arianespace.com
http://www.arianespace.tv
http://www.arabsat.com
http://www.isro.org
http://www.arianespace.com/images/launch-kits/launch-kit-pdf-eng/VA227-launchkit1-GB.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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