Jonathan's Space Report
No. 794 draft 2021 Jun 4 Somerville, MA
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International Space Station
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Dragon CRS-22 docked at IDA-3 at 0909 UTC Jun 5.
On Jun 10 at 2249 UTC the Canadarm-2 extracted the IROSA solar array package from CRS-22's trunk.
At 0343 UTC Jun 11 the package was stowed on the POA (`Payload ORU Accommodation') on the station
truss' Mobile Base System. The MBS was later moved to worksite 8 at the end of the truss railway
to put the IROSA package nearer the P6 truss where the new arrays are to be installed.
CRS-22 delivered the Nanoracks NRCSD-20 package to ISS; the crew moved it to the Kibo module airlock and
on Jun 14 the Japanese RMS arm extracted NRCSD-20 from the airlock. Two cubesats, RamSat and SOAR,
were ejected from it at 0505 UTC Jun 14. NRCSD-20 was then placed back in the airlock.
RamSat is a 2U student satellite from Robertsville Middle School, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
SOAR is a 3U cubesat from the University of Manchester to study materials coatings and aerodynamics
in lower LEO.
On Jun 16 astronauts Pesquet and Kimbrough made a spacewalk in suits
3009 and 3006 to attempt installation of IROSA array 2B, as US EVA-74.
The crew lost some time due to problems with Kimbrough's spacesuit, but
eventually removed array 2B from the IROSA launch package and attached
it to the support bracket at the base of the 2B array mast on truss
segment P6. However, they were unable to unfold the two halves of the
array cylinder and returned to the airlock with the array still in a
packed configuration.
Quest was depressurized from 1204 to 1926 UTC and the hatch was open from 1210 to 1923 UTC.
On Jun 20 US EVA-75 saw the completion of 2B IROSA deployment. EVA-75
used spacesuits 3009 (Pesquet) and 3015 (Kimbrough) with SAFER units 13
and 15. The airlock was depressuized at 1135 UTC and repressurized at
1810 UTC (50 mbar level). The hatch was open from 1141 to 1807 UTC. EV1
was outside 1147 to 1755, EV2 from 1154 to 1745. The astronauts went on
to battery power at 1142 UTC and back to station power around 1805 UTC?.
The IROSA 2B array was unfolded at 1300 UTC and deployed from 1524 to
1535 UTC. The 2nd IROSA array, 4B, remains attached to the carrier on
the MBS POA and will be installed on EVA-76.
SXM-8
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On Jun 6 SpaceX launched the SXM-8 digital radio broadcasting satellite
for Sirius XM. Launch mass of the satellite is approximately 7000 kg.
The F9 first stage landed on the droneship JRTI. SXM-8 and the F9 second
stage were placed in a 235 x 19384 km transfer orbit.
CZ-2D
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The first of the Beijing-3 series of imaging satellites was launched from Taiyuan by a SAST CZ-2D
on Jun 11. The satellite is operated by 21st Century Aerospace Technology of Beijing.
The Beijing-1 satellite was built for them by Surrey Satellite and launched in 2005.
21AT also leased the capacity of the DMC-3 satellites from Surrey, launched in 2015, and branded
the data as Beijing-2.
TacRL-2
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The first US Space Force Tactical Responsive Launch, TacRL-2, flew successfully on Jun 13, placing
the Odyssey satellite in orbit. The Northrop Grumman L-1011 Stargazer aircraft took off
from runway 30/12 at Vandenberg Space Force Base at about 0710 UTC and headed out over the California
coast. At 0811 UTC the airplane dropped its Pegasus XL launch vehicle at about 123.5W 35.3N.
The Pegasus first stage ignited 5 seconds later and after about 8 minutes stage 3 burnout left
the third stage and the Odyseey satellite in sun-synchronous orbit with a 23:43 local time descending node.
Odyssey is a satellite dedicated to `space domain awareness', which is US military jargon for
tracking other satellites and space debris.
NROL-111
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On Jun 15 Northrop Grumman launched a Minotaur 1 rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport
at Wallops Island, Virginia on the NROL-111 launch mission for the US National Reconnaissance Office.
Three small satellites were placed in low Earth orbit. Their mission is not known; I am labelling them
as communications for now but that's a very low confidence guess.
Shenzhou 12
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China's first human spaceflight launch in over 4 years took off on Jun 17. The CZ-2F placed Shenzhou 12
in orbit on its way to a rendezvous with the Tianhe/Tianzhou-2 complex.
Crew of Shenzhou 12 are Nie Haipeng, Liu Boming and Tang Honbo. The spaceship docked with the forward
port of the Tianhe module at 0754 UTC.
GPS
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The fifth GPS Block III navigation satellite was launched on Jun 17. The
first stage of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle landed on the droneship JRTI;
the second stage made two burns to place the GPS satellite in transfer
orbit and then made a third burn to deorbit the stage southeast of South
Africa.
Yaogan 30 Group 09
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The 9th triplet of Yaogan 30 (also called Chuangxin-5) satellites was
launched from Xichang on Jun 18. There are now 27 Yaogan-30 satellites
in orbit; they are thought to be a signals intelligence constellation
although a communications role also seems possible.
A secondary payload, the Tianqi-14 commercial IoT data relay satellite
for Guodian Gaokeji, was also deployed. The CZ-2C second stage carried
out propellant depletion venting while tumbling, resulting in one of the
notorious spiral clouds being observed under its ground track in New Caledonia
and Vanuatu.
Iranian launch failure
----------------------
There are indications that Iran attempted an orbital launch of the
Simorgh rocket from Khomeini spaceport in Semnan province on Jun 13, but
the launch failed in some way. This is the 4th failed orbital attempt of
the rocket (there was also a 2016 test launch that may not have been
intended to reach orbit).
Erratum
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In the text of JSR793 the May 15 Starlink launch was misstated as being on May 9.
Table of Recent Orbital Launches
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Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL. Catalog Perigee Apogee Incl Notes
Jun 2 1617 Fengyun 4 02 xing Chang Zheng 3B Xichang LC2 Weather 47A S48808 186 x 35808 x 28.5
Jun 3 1729 Dragon CRS-22 Falcon 9 Kennedy LC39A Cargo 48A S48831 193 x 212 x 51.6
Jun 6 0426 SXM-8 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Comms 49A S48838 235 x 19384 x 27.0
Jun 11 0303 Beijing-3 ) Chang Zheng 2D Taiyuan Imaging 50A S48840 488 x 502 x 97.5
Yangwang-1) UV Astron 50
Haisi-2 ) Imaging 50
Tianjian ) Tech 50
Jun 13 0811 Odyssey Pegasus XL Vandenberg AFB Tracking 51A S48844 405 x 452 x 97.5
Jun 13? Test satellite? Simorgh? Khomeini Test? F03
Jun 14 0505 RamSat) ISS, LEO Education 9867SL S48851 414 x 421 x 51.6
SOAR ) Tech 9867SM S48850 414 x 421 x 51.6
Jun 15 1335 USA 316 ) Minotaur 1 MARS LA0B Comms? 52A S48846 500?x 500? x 50?
USA 317 ) Comms? 52B S48847 500?x 500? x 50?
USA 318 ) Comms? 52C S48848 500?x 500? x 50?
Jun 17 0122 Shenzhou 12 Chang Zheng 2F Jiuquan Spaceship 53A S48852 193 x 486 x 41.4
Jun 17 1609 GPS III SV05 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Nav 54A S48859 394 x 20176 x 55.0
Jun 18 0630 Yaogan 30 hao 09 zu 01 xing) Chang Zheng 2C Xichang Sigint? 55A S48860 590 x 603 x 35.0
Yaogan 30 hao 09 zu 02 xing) Sigint? 55B S48861 591 x 602 x 35.0
Yaogan 30 hao 09 zu 03 xing) Sigint? 55D S48863 592 x 602 x 35.0
Tianqi 14 ) Comms 55E S48864 571 x 681 x 35.1
Table of Recent Suborbital Launches
-----------------------------------
Date UT Payload/Flt Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission Apogee/km Target
May 22 1526 VG-021 Spaceship Two Elephant Butte Test 89 Spaceport America
May 24 0535 MAPHEUS 11 IM/IM Kiruna Micrograv 216? ESRANGE
May 26 T4-B Target Terrier Oriole South Uist Target 300? Atlantic
May 26 AEGIS KV SM-3 DDG-117, D-701 Atlantic Interceptor 150? Intercept T4-B
May 27 0115 VIPER Terr. Imp. Mal. Wallops Ionosphere 151? Atlantic
May 29? FTM-31E1 Target MRBM-T3c2 Kwajalein Meck I. Target 500? Pacific
May 30 T4-B Target Terrier Oriole South Uist Target 300? Atlantic
May 30 AEGIS KV SM-3 DDG-117, D-701 Atlantic Interceptor 150? Intercept T4-B
Jun 7 0625 CIBER 2 Black Brant 9 White Sands IR Astron 310 White Sands
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| Jonathan McDowell | |
| Somerville MA 02143 | inter : planet4589 at gmail |
| USA | twitter: @planet4589 |
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