News Upcoming Rocket Launches

[Notebook]

Everbody deserves a day off, especially on weekends!

Worth watching the launch replay, it certainly lit the surroundings up.

N.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Rokot Clustered launch May 23, 2008

A clustered launch of four Russian satellites will be performed today at Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 19:30 Moscow DST (4:30 P.M. GMT, 15:30 UTC, 11:30 A.M. EDT). Three military communication Gonets-M (#2,3,4) satellites and Yubileyny Scientific/Educational satelline will be delivered to Earth's orbit by Rokot Launch vehicle with Briz-KM upper stage.

Gonets-M ("Messenger") is a NPO Prikladnoi Mekhaniki (NPO PM) product, a comms Store/Dump satellite with 5 to 7 years lifetime. Mass of each satellite is 280 kg. A typical working orbit is 1400 km x 1414 km, inclination 82.6°. These three satellites will serve Russian Ministry of Defence's needs.

The Yubileyny ("Anniversary") is a Russian technology development satellite which was built by NPO PM to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to be placed into Earth orbit. The satellite will broadcast audio and video about the history of the Soviet and Russian space programmes, as well as signals imitating those broadcast by Sputnik 1. These signals are intended for reciept by Amateur radio enthusiasts. Also, it carries a number of scientific instruments to use by Russian universities for educational purposes: experimental spacecraft attitude sensing devices, Earth infrared imager, Earth visible light imager, a magnetometer. The unpressurized bus of the satellite is viewed by NPO PM as a test specimen for a future development of new generation satellites with masses ranging 30 to 100 kgs.

The Rokot ("Roar") Launch vehicle is a derivative of RS-18 (UR-100, NATO's SS-19 "Stiletto") ICBM adapted for into-orbit launches. Produced by Khrunichev space centre, Moscow.

Fueled Rocket's Weight: 107.5 metric tons
Number of stages: 3
Propellant components: Asymmetric Dimethyl Hydrazine; Nitrogen Tetroxide.
Full Length: 29.1 m
Diameter: 2.5 m
Payload delivered to LEO, 200*200 km, inc 63° is 1950 kilograms
Orbit Parameters precision: +/- 1...2 % by altitude; +/- 0.03...0.05 % by inclination

The Briz-KM ("Breeze") upper stage is designed to be used as the Rokot lv's third stage. The last Briz series (Briz-M's) upper stage flight was a failure due to a pressurized manifold rupture because of an untested performance during extremely long burns.
It is also produced by Khrunichev space centre. Parameters:

Full mass: 6475 kg
Propellant Reserve: up to 5055 kg
Main Engine: S5.98, max thrust 2.0 metric tons
Number of Main Engine's ingitions: 8
Maxumum Autonomous Flight time: 7 hours

 

[SiberianTiger]

Launch has been commenced

All the four satellites have been delivered to orbit today after a successful lauch off the Area 133's LC #3 of Plesetsk Cosmodrome which has taken place at 15:20:09 UTC. The three Gonets-M satellites have been given official designations Cosmos-2437, Cosmos-2438 and Cosmos-2439.

 

[Spicer]

Space X's Falcon 1

Falcon 1 will launch on June 23rd. Anyone want to make bets on it's chances for success???

 

[DaveS]

Falcon 1 will launch on June 23rd. Anyone want to make bets on it's chances for success???

Nope. It has been delayed. No new date yet.

 

[Woo482]

that launcher on the pictures a few post up looks like an upper stage of some thing

 

[SlyCoopersButt]

In a little over four hours a Delta II should be launching from Vandenberg Air Force Base California with OSTM aboard. http://www.ulalaunch.com/index_webcast.html
Launch Date: June 20
Launch window: 3:46 a.m. EDT - 3:55 a.m. EDT
(12:46 a.m. PDT - 12:55 a.m. PDT)

 

[Notebook]

Arianespace Flight - ProtoStar I & BADR-6


A dual launch for direct-to-home TV broadcasting:


Arianespace will boost two direct TV broadcast satellites into orbit on its fourth launch of the year: ProtoStar 1 for American operator ProtoStar Ltd. and BADR-6 for Middle-East operator Arabsat.

Launch Window:

>> KOUROU: From 6:47 p.m. to 7:21 p.m. on July 4, 2008.
>> WASHINGTON: From 5:47 p.m. to 6:21 p.m. on July 4, 2008.
>> UTC: From 9:47 p.m. to 10:21 p.m. on July 4, 2008.
>> PARIS: From 11:47 p.m. to 00:21 a.m. on July 4-5, 2008.
>> RIYAD: From 12:47 a.m. to 01:21 a.m. on July 5, 2008.
​

Follow the launch live on the internet:
http://www.videocorner.tv/index.php?langue=en


Live webcasting start 20 minutes before lift-off.
Video streaming will be available in RealMedia and WindowsMedia formats.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


​

Arianespace Vol - ProtoStar I & BADR-6


Un lancement pour la Télévision Directe :


Pour son 4ème lancement de l’année, Arianespace mettra en orbite deux satellites de télécommunications, principalement dédiés à la Télévision Directe : ProtoStar I pour l’opérateur américain ProtoStar Ltd et BADR-6 pour l’opérateur de satellites Arabsat.


Fenêtre de lancement :

>> KOUROU : de 18h47 à 19h21, le 4 juillet 2008.
>> WASHINGTON : de 17h47 à 18h21, le 4 juillet 2008.
>> GMT : de 21h47 à 22h21, le 4 juillet 2008.
>> PARIS : de 23h47 à 00h21, le 4-5 juillet 2008.
>> RIYAD : de 00h47 à 01h21, le 5 juillet 2008.

Suivez le lancement en direct sur Internet :
http://www.videocorner.tv/index.php?langue=fr


Diffusion vidéo en direct à partir de H-20 mn.
Des flux aux formats RealMedia et WindowsMedia seront disponibles.​

 

[SiberianTiger]

The last German "Spion" out of 5 is in orbit

It's a bit too late for it to be regarded an upcoming launch, but better late than never.

The Russian Space Force's press release states:
"A Cosmos 3M carrier rocket, launched at 06:40 Moscow time (02:40 GMT) from the Plesetsk space center in northern Russia has successfully orbited a German SAR-Lupe satellite," Lt. Col. Alexei Zolotukhin said.
The German SAR-Lupe satellite is designed to provide high-resolution radar images to NATO military commanders in Europe. It offers spatial resolution of less than 1 meter, and allows imaging at night and through clouds.
"Control over the satellite has been passed onto the customer," the spokesman said.

The commenced launch was the conlcuding one in the course of the contract signed in 2003 by FGUP Rosoboronexport, PO Polyot and German Company OHB Systems AG, that made provision for launching of five German Radio Reconnaisance satellites SAR-Lupe using Russian Kosmos-3M launchers. The first launch was done off Plesetsk at December 19, 2006, the second one at July 2, 2007, the third at November 1, 2007 and the fourth at March 27, 2008. All of them were successful.

NORAD # 33245
number COSPAR 2008-036-B
# orbit at epoch 2
Inclination 98,156
Agrument of Perigee 181,092
Period 1h 34m 18s (94.30 min.)
Perigee x Apogee 469 x 500 km

The pic:

The launch video link (narration is in Russian):
http://tvroscosmos.ru/frm/kosmostv/zvezda/zvezda220708.php

 

[SiberianTiger]

Persona / Soyuz 2-1b launch off Plesetsk at July 25, 2008

Launch date: July 25, 2008

Launch time: not specified yet

Launch site: Plesetsk Cosmodrome

Launch vehicle: Soyuz 2-1b improved Soyuz family rocket (note: it's going to be the first launch of this class from Plesetsk), produced by TsSKB Progress, Samara.

Launch customer: Russian Ministry or Defence

Launch contractor: Russian Space Force

Spacecraft specification: Persona (Russian: "Very Important Person" :speakcool: ) is a new generation miliraty electro optical sensing satellite. It's believed that it features an optical system developed from the Araks (Arkon) satellite and mounted to a Resurs-DK1 derived structure. Mass estimation is between 7000 and 7800 kg. Most probable manufacturer: TsSKB Progress, Samara.

Target orbit: believed to be the SSO.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Smoking place talks have gone the long way, but eventually the most possible launch time is 22:40 MST (Jul 25, 2008 18:40 UTC).

 

[SiberianTiger]

The launch has been postponed for one day, until July 26th, due to additional checks that are necessary to perform on the rocket's guidance software, according to the State Commission's head Maj. Gen. Oleg Ostapenko.

 

[Spicer]

Any idea if this launch will be webcast viewable? I'd love to see it! I've never seen a Pletsk soyuz launch.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Any idea if this launch will be webcast viewable? I'd love to see it! I've never seen a Pletsk soyuz launch.

There is a chance to see a video report at Vesti-Roscosmos afterwards. I'll try to post links if anything comes up.

 

[SiberianTiger]

The launch has been commenced on time, the spacecraft separation is confirmed. According to NORAD data:

NORAD # 33272
number COSPAR 2008-037-A
Epoch (UTC) 26.07.2008 19:55:09
# orbit per epoch 1
Inclication 98.325
RAAN 281.018
Eccentricty 0.0388083
Argument of Perigee 77.693
Orbits per day 15.34913431
Period 1h 33m 48s (93.80 мин.)
Major half-axis 6 839 км
Perigee x Apogee 196 x 727 км
BStar (braking coefficient) 0.000000000 1/ER
Mean Anomaly 287.953

The satellite has been assigned the official name Cosmos-2441.

The rocket's residual contrail as seen from Moscow:

23:15 MST:

23:18 MST:

 

[SiberianTiger]

11-09-2008 Soyuz-U / Progress M-65 Launch

Perfectly in line with the schedule, Soyuz-U launcher lifted off from Baikonur pad 1 at 11:50:02 p.m. Moscow time (19:50:02 GMT), on Sept. 10, 2008, thus initiating Progress M-65 supply mission to the International Space Station. In appr. 530 s, the space vehicle was successfully placed in the orbit.

Russian Progress cargo vehicle carries propellant, food, water and consumables essential for the station and the crew. Progress M-65 docking to the ISS is scheduled for Sept. 13, at 01:01a.m. Moscow time (Sept. 12 09:01p.m. GMT).

The rocket stack's assembly, roll-out and erection video

The launch video (from Russian TV)

 

[astrosammy]

Is there any way to see Progress launches live on the internet? I searched for hours yesterday but did not find anything.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Is there any way to see Progress launches live on the internet? I searched for hours yesterday but did not find anything.

Of course, there was a live webcast! I just didn't know that someone here was caring about a Progress launch. I apologize and won't let this to repeat! :sorry:

The next webcasted Russian launch will be Nimiq 4 Canadian sat on Proton M / Briz M from Baikonur, Sept. 19th

 

[DaveS]

Tommorow's docking has been postponed due to JSC being closed for hurricane Ike.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Tommorow's docking has been postponed due to JSC being closed for hurricane Ike.

This is mostly because the American segment has to be prepped for an arrival of a space ship. It takes passing through of some sophisticated commands from the ground control.