Jonathan's Space Report

No 703 2014 Oct 17 Somerville, MA

LVDB

The orbital/suborbital launch vehicle database http://planet4589 org/space/lvdb/ has been updated

International Space Station

Expedition 41 is underway with commander Max Suraev and flight engineers FE-5 Reid Wiseman and FE-6 Alex Gerst On Sep 25 at 2025 UTC the Soyuz TMA-14M ferry ship was launched from Baykonur with the remaining Ex-41 crewmembers FE-1 Aleksandr Samokutyaev, FE-2 Elena Serova and FE-3 Barry 'Butch' Wilmore The port solar array failed to deploy after Soyuz separated from the launch vehicle third stage, but this did not impact the rendezvous Soyuz TMA-14M docked with the Poisk module at 0211 UC Sep 26 Serova is the fourth Russian woman in space and the first since 1997

Dragon CRS-4 has arrived at ISS The SSRMS Canadarm-2 grappled it at 1052 UTC Sep 23 and berthed it to the Harmony node at 1321 UTC

The NanoRacks cubesat deployer package was returned to the Kibo airlock on Sep 16 following trouble with the deployments The problems have been traced to incorrectly tightened screws, and replacement deployers are expected to be sent to ISS

Astronauts Wiseman and Gerst made US spacewalk EVA-27 on Oct 7 The airlock was depressurized at about 1225 UTC and repressurized at 1843 UTC The failed Pump Module, serial number 04, which was stowed on the Mobile Base System's POA mount during an EVA on 2013 Dec 21, was relocated to External Stowage Platform 2 A new unit called the Mobile Transporter Relay Assembly (MTRA) was attached to the transporter to provide backup power I'm not sure what flight the MTRA was launched on Wiseman used EMU 3010 and Gerst used EMU 3003

On Oct 15 Wiseman and Wilmore made spacewalk EVA-28 They replaced the SSU (Sequential Shunt Unit) on solar wing 3A, attached to the S4 truss, and worked on external cameras and electronics The replacement SSU has been on the ISS for some time; again, I'm not sure which launch it went up on; I'm also not certain which EMUs were used for this EVA

Kosmos reentry over Colorado

Ted Molczan remarked on the discussion in the last JSR that his analysis shows that a relatively small piece of debris (50-100 kg class compared to the multi tonne Kosmos satellite) matches the visual observations from the Colorado area, and that the timing is more consistent with an object ejected just prior to the Sep 2 deorbit burn with drag properties similar to other Kobal't-M ejected debris I find his analysis convincing; it is still unclear exactly what the ejected debris from Kobal't-M satellites is, but my best guess remains the solar panels

X-37B

The third X-37B mission, launched in 2012 Dec, is expected to land shortly after almost two years in space On May 5 it was observed to still be in a 382 x 405 km x 43 5 deg orbit, similar to the parameters achieved a few months after launch However between then and early October it made several orbit lowering burns; it was last observed on Oct 6 in a 259 x 285 km orbit As of Oct 17 its orbital lifetime was 674 days

The record durations in space for vehicles that have been recovered on Earth are:

 Hayabusa               7
1 years
 Stardust               6
9 years
 Genesis                3
1 years (crashed) 
(X-37B FLT-3            674 days so far)
 X-37B FLT-2            469 days
 HEXAGON 1218-4         270 d
 USERS                  261 d
 HEXAGON 1216-4         260 d
 Salyut 5 KSI           249 d
 X-37B FLT-1            224 d
 Soyuz TMA-9            215 d
 Kosmos-2290 SpK-22   ca
 210 d?
 Soyuz TM-27            207 d

Luch

The Khrunichev Proton launch vehicle returned to flight Sep 27, launching the Luch satellite for the Russian Defense Ministry The satellite is built by ISS Reshetnev Earlier-generation Luch satellites were used for data relay, analogously to the NASA TDRS and NRO SDS systems On Oct 16 Luch was in a 35796 x 35896 km x 0 0 deg orbit drifting west over 54 deg E

   Luch series satellites

   Cover name        Russian secret name    Active               Status

   Kosmos-1700       Al'tair 11             1985 Oct-1986 Aug    Drifting in GEO
   Kosmos-1897       Al'tair 12             1987 Nov-1992 Oct?   Drifting in GEO
   Kosmos-2054       Al'tair 14             1989 Dec-1997 Mar    Drifting in GEO
   Luch              Al'tair 13             1994 Dec-1998 Aug    Drifting in GEO
   Luch-1            Gelios 11              1995 Oct-1999 Jun?   Drift near 74E
   Luch-5A           -                      2011 Dec             GEO 167
1E
   Luch-5B           -                      2012 Nov             GEO  16
0W
   Luch-5V           -                      2014 Apr             GEO  95
2E
   Luch              Olimp-K?               2014 Sep             GEO drift

SJ-11

China launched the 7th satellite in the Shi Jian 11 constellation on Sep 28 into a 686 x 705 km x 98 1 deg orbit 'Shi Jian Shiyihao 07 xing' was placed in an 1130 local time sun-synchronous orbit This is one of the larger Chinese military satellite constellations and remains mysterious; the speculation that it carries infrared missile warning sensors remains unconfirmed

SJ-11 (Shi Jian Shiyihao) series satellites Satellite Launch Current orbit Local time of desc node 01 xing 2009 Nov 12 683 x 701 km x 98 0 deg 0837 02 xing 2011 Jul 29 684 x 700 x 98 2 1356 03 xing 2011 Jul 6 687 x 699 x 98 1 1045 04 xing 2011 Aug 18 Failed to orbit 05 xing 2013 Jul 15 687 x 701 x 98 2 1534 06 xing 2014 Mar 31 686 x 704 x 98 2 0908 07 xing 2014 Sep 28 685 x 699 x 98 1 1130

Himawari-8

A Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-IIA rocket placed the Japan Meteorological Agency's Himawari-8 weather satellite in geostationary transfer orbit Oct 7 On Oct 15 the satellite was in a 35756 x 35813 km x 0 1 deg orbit over 140 8E

IRNSS

India's PSLV-XL rocket launched the country's third dedicated navigation satellite on Oct 16 The 1425 kg IRNSS-1C was launched to a subsynchronous transfer orbit of 271 x 20600 km x 17 9 deg

Ariane 5

Ariane mission VA220, vehicle 574, launched two communications satellites to GTO on Oct 16 Payloads were the Intelsat/DirectTV joint venture, IS-30/ISDLA-1; and Argentina's first domestic GEO comsat, ARSAT-1 IS-30's Ku-band payload is leased to DirectTV as DLA-1 for broadcast to Latin America

Chinese UN registration

China recently submitted satellite registration information to the UN for satellites launched between Jan 2012 and Mar 2014 They registered 33 satellites, but failed to register 11: the two spaceflights Shenzhou 9 and 10, the secret military satellite Kuaizhou-1, the Hong Kong based ABS-2, and several secondary payloads: Tiantuo-1, Fengniao-1, XY-1, Yaogan 16 subsats 1 and 2, and Yaogan 17 subsats 1 and 2 This low level of compliance is disappointing, since earlier Chinese registrations were much more complete

Galileo/Soyuz and Proton failures

Russian officials report that the failure of the Fregat stage during the Aug 22 Galileo launch was caused when a cryogenic helium line installed too close to a hydrazine propellant supply line caused the hydrazine to freeze The root cause, according to Arianespace, was a design error that failed to require thermal separation of the lines (and so, specifically, not a quality control error as previously suggested) The failure of a Proton third stage in May is reported to have occurred when a turbopump attachment bracket suffered structural failure - the statement is less clear this time whether or not the this was due to poor workmanship

Table of Recent (orbital) Launches

Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL

Sep 4 0015 Chuangxin 1-04 ) Jiuquan Comms 51B Ling Qiao ) Comms 51A Sep 5 0929 Flock 1b-17 ) ISS, LEO Imaging 98-67FF Flock 1b-18 ) Imaging 98-67FE Sep 7 0500 Asiasat 6 Falcon 9 v1 1 Canaveral SLC40 Comms 52A Sep 8 0322 Yaogan 21 ) Chang Zheng 4B Taiyuan Imaging 53A Tiantuo 2 ) Imaging 53B Sep 11 2205 Measat 3b ) Ariane 5ECA Kourou ELA3 Comms 54A Optus 10 ) Comms 54B Sep 17 0010 CLIO Atlas V 401 Canaveral SLC41 Sigint? 55A Sep 21 0552 Dragon CRS-4 Falcon 9 v1 1 Canaveral SLC40 Cargo 56A Sep 25 2025 Soyuz TMA-14M Soyuz-FG Baykonur LC1 Spaceship 57A Sep 27 2028 Luch Proton-M/Briz-M Baykonur LC81/24 Data relay 58A Sep 28 0513 SJ-11 07 Chang Zheng 2C Jiuquan Surveillance? 59A Oct 7 0516 Himawari-8 H-IIA Tanegashima Weather 60A Oct 15 2002 IRNSS-1C PSLV-XL Sriharikota FLP Navigation 61A Oct 16 2144 Intelsat IS-30 ) Ariane 5ECA Kourou ELA3 Comms 62 ARSAT-1 ) Comms 62

Suborbital missions

Flight NASA 36 288DS was launched from White Sands Sep 30 with the Naval Research Lab's VAULT 2 0 solar telescope

Table of Recent (suborbital) Launches

Date UT Payload/Flt Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission Apogee/km

Sep 2 0202 EPL-ME VS-30/EPL Alcantara Test 130? Sep 9 Sparrow Target Blue Sparrow? F-15D, Med Sea Target 100? Sep 10 RV Bulava K-551,White Sea Test 1000? Sep 11 0541 Agni RV Agni I Chandipur Op Test 500? Sep 12 1300 USN RV Trident D-5 Sub, Pacific O Test 1000? Sep 12 1300 USN RV Trident D-5 Sub, Pacific O Test 1000? Sep 12 1300 USN RV Trident D-5 Sub, Pacific O Test 1000? Sep 23 1445 Mk 12/21 RV? Minuteman III Vandenberg LF09 Op Test 1300? Sep 30 VAULT 2 0 Black Brant IX White Sands Solar UV 290? Oct 12 0427 MDA Target? Terrier Lynx Wallops I Target? 150?

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