For 2016, the European launch service provider is facing lots of wind shifts in the market as they continues to adapt to a world where serious competition is approaching quickly. And....well it seems that some effects have already crept in today.
Like a shortage of riding satellites of the right size, for example. :shifty:
Due to a lack of smaller sized comsats flying with them around this period, the usual share ride of the Ariane 5 will take a break today with just a single comsat flying up today, a first time for Arianespace's bread and butter business since TerreStar-1 in July 2009! The plan that the next Ariane 5 flight after this one will probably do the same shows that the "double ride" business might be pretty hard to do in the future. Time to move on to the Ariane 6, maybe? :uhh:
So about today's passenger.....Intelsat 29e is one of the most powerful comsat ordered by the world's largest geostationary orbit user ever, with lots of spotbeams to cover the Western hemisphere and provide your favorite wi-fi services on your next trans-Atlantic flights. A few more satellites of this "Epic" system will follow over the next few years.
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):
|
00:20:41
|
23:20:41
|
20:20:41
|
18:20:41
|
15:20:41
on:
|
Jan. 27, 2016
|
Jan. 27, 2016
|
Jan. 27, 2016
|
Jan. 27, 2016
|
Jan. 27, 2016
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[highlight][eventTimer]2016-01-27 23:20:41?before|after;%dd% Days %hh% Hours %mm% Minutes %ss% Seconds %c%[/eventTimer] Ariane flight VA-228 Launch[/highlight]
Live Coverage Of The Launch:
- Arianespace: http://www.arianespace.tv/ (begins at 20 minutes before lift-off)
PAYLOAD/U]
Intelsat 29e communication satellite:
Mission Summary
Intelsat S.A. announced in September 2012, that it has ordered construction of the Intelsat 29e satellite (IS-29e). IS-29e was ordered in 2009 as an then unassigned satellite in a four satellite package.
IS-29e will have a high throughput C- and Ku-band payload for Intelsat's Epic system. The satellite will provide between 25 and 30 gigabits per second of bandwidth for fixed and mobile customers in North and South America and over the North Atlantic maritime and aeronautical routes.
The payload is powered by two solar wings, each with four panels of ultra triple-junction gallium arsenide solar cells.
Intelsat 29e will be launched as a single passener on a dedicated Ariane-5ECA rocket in 2016, as apparently no suitable co-passenger could be found.
Parameter | Value
Working Orbit:
|
GEO
Orbital Location:
|
50° West
Coverage:
|
Northern, Middle and Southern America, North Atlantic
ApA at separation:
|
35546 km
PeA at separation:
|
250 km
Inc at separation:
|
0.5°Intelsat 29e
Customer:
|- Intelsat
Prime contractor:
|- Boeing
Platform:
|- BSS-702MP
Mass at Separation:
|- 6552 kg
Dry Mass:
|- ?
Stabilization:
|- 3 axis stabilized
Dimensions (stowed):
|- 6 x 3 x 2 m
Dimensions (deployed span):
|- ?
On-board power:
|- 15.8 kW at end of life
Communication Payload:
|- 20 C-band transponders
- 25 Ku-band transponders
- Ka-band spotbeams
Life time:
|- 15 years
C-band Transponders coverage:
|Ku-band Transponders coverage:
|Ka-band spotbeam 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/log2016.html#rate:
Code:
================================================================
Vehicle Successes/Tries Realzd Pred Consc. Last Dates
Rate Rate* Succes Fail
================================================================
Ariane 5-ECA 52 53 .98 .96 52 12/11/02 2002-
Ariane VA228 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 9,430 meters/second, and will be at an altitude of about 560 kilometers.
Ariane VA228 Ascent Timeline
Start of synchronized sequence|-00:07:00|23:13:41|
Ignition of the cryogenic main stage engine (EPC)|00:00:00|23:20:41|
Liftoff (Ignition of solid boosters)|00:00:07.3|23:20:48.3|
End of vertical climb and beginning of pitch rotation (10 seconds duration)|00:00:12.6|23:20:53.6|
Beginning of roll manoeuvre|00:00:17.0|23:20:58.0|
Jettisoning of solid boosters|00:02:24|23:23:05|
Payload Fairing Separation|00:03:38|23:24:19|
Shut-down of main cryogenic stage|00:08:46|23:29:27|
Separation of main cryogenic stage|00:08:52|23:29:33|
Ignition of upper cryogenic stage (ESC-A)|00:08:56|23:29:37|
End of first ESC-A thrust phase / Injection|00:24:43|23:45:24|
Separation of Intelsat 29e satellite|00:29:52|23:50:33|
Weather forecast for Kourou, French Guiana on January 27, 2016 (8 p.m.)
Cloudy with showers. Low 23C. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 km/h. Chance of rain 40%.
8 PM|25°C|22°C|80%|24%|0%|61%|1013 hPa|11 km/h ENE|
References
http://www.arianespace.com
http://www.arianespace.tv
http://www.intelsat.com
http://www.arianespace.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Dossier-de-presse-VA-228-final-GB.pdf
http://english.wunderground.com/q/zmw:00000.1.81403?
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com
http://www.spacelaunchreport.com
http://space.skyrocket.de