Launch News Telstar 14R atop Proton-M/Briz-M on May 20/21, 2011

[SiberianTiger]

The new Telstar 14R/Estrela do Sul 2 is expected to bring advanced communications capability for Telesat customers to some rather remote areas. The results could be life-changing in terms of healthcare, emergency response, and other applications. Such benefits will soon be leveraged, as Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) delivered the satellite ahead of schedule for the start of its launch campaign.

The Telstar 14R/Estrela do Sul 2, which is a Ku-band satellite, was completed in under two years. It has 46 Ku-band transponders — 27 that are fixed and 19 that are switchable. It also boasts five antenna beams with on-orbit switching capability, which permits its capacity to be reconfigured according to market demand. With approximately 12 kW of end-of-life power, the Telstar 14R is designed to deliver service for 15 years or more. It will provide signals to growing markets including Brazil, the continental US, the north Atlantic Ocean region, and the Andean and southern cone region of South America.

The Telstar 14R/Estrela do Sul 2 will be positioned at 63 deg. west longitude. It will replace the Telstar 14/ Estrela do Sul, which also was built by SS/L. Compared to its predecessor, the new satellite is expected to provide almost double the capacity with increased geographic coverage and power. The satellite has already arrived at the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan. Late this month, it will be launched aboard an ILS Proton Breeze M vehicle provided by International Launch Services (ILS).

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|

Australia - Sydney/AEST ​

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Baikonur / UTC+6 ​

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Moscow / MSKS UTC+4/ ​

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Universal / UTC ​

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Washington / EST ​

Launch time (Primary): ​

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5:15:19 a.m.​

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01:15:19​

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23:15:19​

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19:15:19​

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3:15:19 p.m.​

on: ​

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May 21, 2011​

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May 21, 2011​

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May 20, 2011​

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May 20, 2011​

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May 20, 2011​

{colsp=6}

[highlight][eventTimer]2011-05-20 19:15:19?before|after;%dd% Days %hh% Hours %mm% Minutes %ss% Seconds %c%[/eventTimer] Telstar 14R/Estrela do Sul 2 Launch[/highlight]​

{colsp=6}

[eventTimer]2011-05-21 04:28:00?before|after;%dd% Days %hh% Hours %mm% Minutes %ss% Seconds %c%[/eventTimer] Telstar 14R/Estrela do Sul 2 Separation From the Launch Vehicle​

[/table]

Live Coverage Of The Launch:

• International Launch Services: http://telstar14r.imgondemand.com/ (begins at 20 minutes before lift-off)
• TSENKI Video Streams: http://www.tsenki.com/broadcast/ - coverage since 21:30 MSKS (6:30 p.m. UTC) till 23:45 MSKS (8:45 p.m. UTC)
• Khrunichev COOPI (login: ? password: ?): http://coopi.khrunichev.ru/main.php?id=201
• Owners of PDA can watch the launch in test mode on: http://www.space-center.ru/

This post is a stub, I will add more info tomorrow.

 

[orb]

As usually, there's calendar event for this launch. Here you can request a reminder for that event.

 

[N_Molson]

Two heavy launches in the interval of 2 hours, what a good day ! :thumbup:

 

[GP500]

hello, new to this forum.


Was looking for some streams on this launch and found it here :thumbup:

Going to use this 1 to show it on the public observatory volunteerworking.
Ariane launch was already in my list, have to promote the European launches more


good watching,

GP500

 

[diogom]

This will be my first live Proton launch! BTW, it's time for us to invest in a sattelite.

 

[Wishbone]

Too many add-on designers to agree on anything...

 

[orb]

Spaceflight Now: Proton rocket begins commercial satellite mission

NASASpaceflight: ILS Proton-M launches with Telstar 14R

 

[IronRain]

Video of the launch

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg46kaviJgw&feature=feedu[/ame]

 

[SiberianTiger]

Sorry people, I had got distracted from finishing my 1st post in the thread and it never got finished.

And here the official Roscosmos video of the launch, taken from 5 alternative viewpoints (but how long is still left before a Russian rocketcam flies? who knows...):

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbciwugzlIM&feature=player_embedded[/ame]

I've noticed an interesting effect I didn't notice before: at 1:00 and at 3:30 (by another cam) in the vid the rocket exhaust seemingly spreads something like glowing ripples in the air. What can it be?

Meanwhile, there are yet unconfirmed reports that despite seemingly nominal launch, Telstar-14R is experiencing problems with deploying its solar arrays.

How much is it true that deploying arrays is expected by now? Also, there's a chance that there's a confusion with a story of the original Telstar-14 launch, but the source denies there's a confusion.

 

[SiberianTiger]

http://finance.alphatrade.com/story/2011-05-25/GNW/201105250900PRIMZONEFULLFEED222889.html

Telstar 14R Update

May 25, 2011 8:00:00 AM

2011 GlobeNewswire, Inc.

NEW YORK, May 25, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Loral Space & Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:LORL) today announced that following the launch of Telesat's Telstar 14R/Estrela do Sul 2 satellite on an International Launch Services (ILS) Proton rocket, one of the satellite's solar arrays did not fully deploy.

The south solar array has deployed successfully and is providing power to the spacecraft, which is stable and is otherwise operating as expected. Satellite manufacturer, Space Systems/Loral, is analyzing data from the satellite to determine what steps can be taken to maximize the satellite's lifespan and capability.

 

[orb]

Spaceflight Now: One of two reflectors opened on Intelsat New Dawn:

{...}

After several days of shaking the antenna and alternating its temperature to no avail, Intelsat officials opted to unfurl the satellite's Ku-band antenna, a similar appendage on the opposite side of the spacecraft's core.

There was some initial worry the Ku-band antenna could be afflicted by the same problem as the C-band reflector, but more careful analysis showed the best course of action would be to send the deployment command.

The Ku-band reflector, also measuring about 8.8 feet across, popped loose without incident. Testing of the satellite's Ku-band payload was completed successfully, according to Alex Horwitz, an Intelsat spokesperson.

Horwitz said "active thrusting" efforts to deploy the C-band antenna through mechanical shaking ended Monday, and Intelsat New Dawn began drifting to its final location in geostationary orbit Tuesday.

{...}