Jonathan's Space Report

No 805 2022 Apr 28 Somerville, MA

International Space Station

Expedition 67 begin at 0721 UTC on Mar 30

On Mar 24, two Japanese cubesats (IHI-SAT1 and KITSUNE) were deployed from J-SSOD-21, extracted from the Kibo airlock by the Japanese RMS arm

On Mar 30 at 0721 UTC Soyuz MS-19 undocked from the Rassvet module, carrying astronauts Shkaplerov, Dubrov and Vande Hei on their return journey to Earth Soyuz MS-19 landed in Kazakhstan at 1128 UTC

On Apr 8 SpaceX launched Dragon Endeavour on mission Axiom Ax-1, carrying Axiom Space crew Mike Lopez-Alegria, Larry Connor, Eytan Stibbe and Mark Pathy Ax-1 reached the Waypoint 2 hold point 20 metres from the PMA-3 docking unit at 1137 UTC Apr 9; software issues delayed the final approach until 1225 UTC Endeavour docked with the IDA-3 adapter at 1229 UTC

On Apr 18 astronauts Artem'ev and Matveev made spacewalk VKD-52 from the Poisk module to outfit the European Robotic Arm on the Nauka module They installed the EMMI external control panel and a payload mount The airlock was depressurized from 1433 to 2145 UTC and the hatch was open from 1501 to 2137 UTC

Following weather delays, Endeavour undocked from PMA-3 at 0110 UTC Apr 25, completing Ax-1's visit to ISS Ax-1 landed off the coast of Florida near 80 25W 30 92N at 1706 UTC Apr 25

Dragon C212 'Freedom' was launched on Apr 27 for the Crew-4 mission, with astronauts Lindgren, Hines, Cristoforetti and Watkins Freedom docked with port IDA-3 at 2237 UTC Apr 27

On Apr 28 Artem'ev and Matveev made spacewalk VKD-53 to continue ERA robot arm activation Poisk was depressurized from 1436 to 2247 UTC and the hatch was opened from 1448 to 2240 UTC The ERA was checked out, including a test of walking off from one base location on Nauka to another At 1645 UTC a bundle of thermal insulation removed from the arm was thrown into space; it is likely to be cataloged as 1998-067TM

Chinese Space Station

The Tianzhou-2 cargo ship undocked from the Tianhe module at 0759 UTC Mar 27 and at around 1430 UTC maneuvered from a 373 x 383 km x 41 47 deg to a 377 x 432 km x 41 47 deg orbit Tianzhou-2 was deorbited on Mar 31 at 1040 UTC with reentry over the South Pacific

Shenzhou 13 undocked from the Tianhe nadir port at 1644 UTC Apr 15 with the station crew (Zhai, Yang and Ye) and landed near 41 39N 100 09E in the Dongfeng Landing Site at about 0156:37 UTC The orbital module was jettisoned prior to deorbit but has not yet been cataloged

The Tianzhou-3 cargo ship undocked from Tianhe aft port at 2102 UTC Apr 19 and redocked with the forward port at 0106 UTC Apr 20

Starlink

Group 4-12, with 53 satellites, was launched from Canaveral on Mar 19 Group 4-14, with 53 satellites, was launched from Cape Canaveral on Apr 21

Erratum: Group 4-9 had 47 satellites, not 49

Meridian-M

On Mar 22 Russia launched Meridian No 20L, a Meridian-M military communications sat built by ISS Reshetnev

Hwasongpho-17

On Mar 24 North Korea launched a Hwasongpho-17 missile from Sunan Airport on a suborbital trajectory with near-orbital energy The vehicle reached an apogee of 6200 km and splashed down outside Japanese territorial waters about 200 km to the west of the Tsugaru Strait

Note: Colin Zwirko and other analysts have presented evidence suggesting that the missile launched was actually the same as the Hwasong-15, and not the same as the 'true Hwasong-17' involved in a failed launch on Mar 16 For now, I am still using the missile name used by the North Koreans: they're allowed to rename the HS-15 as 'HS-17' if they want But if the analysis holds up, I'll distinguish it in my launch vehicle tables from the 'true HS-17' Things will probably be clearer following further launches

CZ-6A

The first Chang Zheng 6A was launched by SAST on Mar 29 The rocket is also referred to as 'Chang Zheng 6 Gao' (Improved CZ-6) It has 4 strapon solid boosters, and two LOX-kerosene core stages

The rocket placed two satellites in orbit: CASIC's Tiankun-2 and SAST's Pujiang-2

CZ-11

CALT launched a Chang Zheng 11 on Mar 30 The rocket placed a cluster of three passive Tianping-2 calibration satellites in orbit

Astra

It now turns out that 20 SpaceBEEs were launched on Astra LV0009, four of which were New Zealand-flagged SpaceBEE-NZs

Transporter 4

On Apr 1 SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 carrying the Transporter 4 stack with the German ENMAP hyperspectral imaging satellite and a collection of smaller satellites After launch at 1624 UTC, the first stage landed on the droneship Just Read The Instructions after an unusually high apogee trajectory, and the second stage reached an initial 636 x 651 km orbit at 1634 UTC The ENMAP, LEO-1 and GNOMES-3 satellites were deployed in this orbit Two further burns at 1652 and 1732 UTC lowered the second stage orbit to 496 x 510 km The remaining satellites were deployed between 1738 and 1750 UTC; the final deployment was D-Orbit's ION SCV-005, which caries further satellites for later deployment

ION SVC-005, nicknamed Almighty Alexius, deployed PlantSat and two Kleos satellites on Apr 9 and Apr 11

Electron 25

RocketLab launched the 25th Electron from New Zealand on Apr 2, placing two more BlackSky imaging satellites in orbit

GF3-03

The third Gao Fen 3 radar satellite was launched on Apr 7 into the same 06:00 local time orbital plane as the previous two satellites in the series

Kosmos-2554

Russia launched an electronic intelligence satellite, Lotos-S1 No 806 (code named Kosmos-2554), on Apr 7 The satellite went to an initial 239 x 900 km orbit, but circularized it to 899 x 909 km on Apr 9

ZX-6D

The Zhongxing-6D communications satellite was launched to geotransfer orbit on Apr 15 It is intended to replace ZX-6A As of Apr 28 the satlelite was in geostationary orbit at 130E

DQ-1

The Daqi Huanjing Jiance Weixing, Atmosphere Environment Monitoring Satellite, is a research satellite with a lidar to monitor atmospheric CO2 It was launched on Apr 15 to a sun-sync orbit in the 01:35 local time orbital plane

USA 327

On Apr 17 SpaceX launched NRO mission NROL-85 to a 63 5 deg orbit, probably around 1000 km altitude The Falcon 9 upper stage was deorbited The USA 237 payload is probably part of the INTRUDER signals intelligence system On previous launches, the Space Force has cataloged a second payload as 'debris', (which was not very convincing as the 'debris' has been observed to carry out orbital manuevers) However, no second payload has yet appeared on this mission

Chinese satellite orbit changes

Shiyan 9 and Shiyan 10, launched to elliptical transfer orbit last year, have both made major orbital maneuvers

Early in March Shiyan 10, launched in Sep 2021, changed its orbit from 1019 x 40178 km x 51 1 deg to 1853 x 38878 km x 63 6 deg, and then on Apr 7 to a synchronized 1484 x 38877 km x 63 6 deg Molniya orbit

On Mar 20 Shiyan 9 was still in the 486 x 35796 km x 19 7 deg orbit it was stuck in since Mar 2021, but on Mar 30 it was found in a 35733 x 35849 km x 19 7 deg inclined geosynchronous orbit at longitude 145E

Table of Recent Orbital Launches

Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL Catalog Perigee Apogee Incl Notes Mar 1 1438 GOES T Atlas V 541 Canaveral SLC41 Weather 21A 8896 x 35276 x 9 4 Mar 3 1425 Starlink 3503-3504 Falcon 9 Kennedy LC39A Comms 22A 304 x 315 x 53 2 Starlink 3508 Starlink 3519 Starlink 3536 Starlink 3539 Starlink 3541-3542 Starlink 3545 Starlink 3547-3549 Starlink 3551 Starlink 3553-3556 Starlink 3559-3560 Starlink 3562-3568 Starlink 3570-3572 Starlink 3574-3579 Starlink 3582-3585 Starlink 3587-3588 Starlink 3590-3591 Starlink 3593-3595 Starlink 3597-3598 Mar 5 0601 Yinhe 2-01 Chang Zheng 2C Xichang Comms 23A S51946 480 x 502 x 63 4 Yinhe 2-02 Comms 23B S51947 480 x 502 x 63 4 Yinhe 2-03 Comms 23C S51948 480 x 502 x 63 4 Yinhe 2-04 Comms 23D S51949 480 x 502 x 63 4 Yinhe 2-05 Comms 23E S51950 480 x 502 x 63 4 Yinhe 2-06 Comms 23F S51951 480 x 502 x 63 4 Xuanming Imaging 23G S51952 480 x 502 x 63 4 Mar 8 0506? Noor 2 Qased Shahroud Imaging 24A S51954 495 x 513 x 58 3 Mar 9 1345 Starlink 3538 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Comms 25A 301 x 315 x 53 2 Starlink 3589 Starlink 3618 Starlink 3635-3636 Starlink 3640 Starlink 3642-3645 Starlink 3647-3657 Starlink 3659-3660 Starlink 3663-3664 Starlink 3666-3669 Starlink 3671-3672 Starlink 3674-3675 Starlink 3677 Starlink 3679-3681 Starlink 3689-3692 Starlink 3694-3697 Starlink 3699-3700 Starlink 3704 Mar 15 1622 S4-CROSSOVER ) Astra Kodiak LP3B Comms 26A 470 x 537 x 97 5 ORESAT0 ) Tech SpaceBEE 112 to 127 ) Comms SpaceBEE NZ-11 to NZ-14 ) Comms Mar 17 0709 Yaogan 34-02 Chang Zheng 4C Jiuquan Imaging 27A 1092 x 1097 x 63 4 Mar 18 1555 Soyuz MS-21 Soyuz-2-1a Baykonur LC31 Spaceship 28A 200 x 224 x 51 7 Mar 19 0442 Starlink 3534 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Comms 29A 303 x 317 x 53 2 Starlink 3537 Starlink 3558 Starlink 3658 Starlink 3661-3662 Starlink 3665 Starlink 3670 Starlink 3673 Starlink 3676 Starlink 3678 Starlink 3682 Starlink 3684 Starlink 3685 Starlink 3687 Starlink 3693 Starlink 3698 Starlink 3701-3703 Starlink 3705-3723 Starlink 3725-3727 Starlink 3729-3738 Starlink 3743 Mar 22 1248 Meridian No 20L Soyuz-2-1a/Fregat Plesetsk LC43/4 Comms 30A 973 x 39767 x 62 8 Mar 24 0900 IHI-SAT ISS, LEO Comms/Tech 98067TJ Mar 24 1210 KITSUNE ISS, LEO Comms 98067TK Mar 24 0534 HS-17 RV Hwasongpho-17 Sunan Test U01 -6249 x 6239 x 41 3 Mar 29 0950 Tiankun-2 Chang Zheng 6A Taiyuan LC9A Tech 31A 589 x 603 x 97 8 Pujiang-2 Sci/Img 31B Mar 30 0229 Tianping-2A Chang Zheng 11 Jiuquan Cal 32A 581 x 603 x 97 8 Tianping-2B Cal 32B Tianping-2C Cal 32C Apr 1 1624 Transporter 4 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Deployer 33 ION SCV 005 Deployer 33 496 x 510 x 97 4 ENMAP Imaging 33C? 636 x 651 x 98 0 LEO-1 Comms 33 GNOMES-3 Comms 33 ARCSAT Sigint 33 Alfa Crux Tech 33D 499 x 511 x 97 4 Shakuntala Imaging 33S 492 x 509 x 97 4 BDSAT Tech 33 BRO-7 Sigint 33 Nusat-23 Imaging 33M Nusat-24 Imaging 33X Nusat-25 Imaging 33Q Nusat-26 Imaging 33 Nusat-27 Imaging 33R
Hawk 4A Sigint 33L Hawk 4B Sigint 33J Hawk 4C Sigint 33P MP42 Tech 33 Lynk 5 Comms 33F SpaceBEE 128-137 Comms 33 Apr 2 1241 BlackSky Global 18 Electron Mahia LC1A Imaging 34B 430 x 441 x 53 0 BlackSky Global 20 Imaging 34C Apr 6 2347 Gao Fen 3-03 Chang Zheng 4C Jiuquan Radar 35A 737 x 746 x 98 4 Apr 7 1120 Kosmos-2554 Soyuz-2-1b Plesetsk LC43/3 Sigint 36A 239 x 900 x 67 1 Apr 8 1517 Axiom-1 (Endeavour) Falcon 9 Kennedy LC39A Spaceship 37A 414 x 420 x 51 6 Apr 9 1422 PlantSat ION SVC005, LEO Sci 033AH Apr 11 0713 KSF2-C ION SVC005, LEO Sci 033AJ Apr 11 1816 KSF2-D ION SVC005, LEO Sci 033AK Apr 14? SUCHAI-2 ION SVC005, LEO Sci 033AM Apr 14? SUCHAI-3 ION SVC005, LEO Sci 033AL Apr 15 1200 Zhongxing-6D Chang Zheng 3B Xichang Comms 38A 231 x 35765 x 28 5 Apr 15 1816 Daqi Huanjing Jiance Weixing Chang Zheng 4C Taiyuan Sci 39A 680 x 690 x 98 1 Apr 17 1313 USA 327 P/L 1 (INTRUDER) Falcon 9 Vandenberg SLC4E Sigint 40A 1008 x 1207 x 63 4 Apr 21 1751 Starlink Falcon 9 Canaveral SLC40 Comms 41A 304 x 318 x 53 2 Apr 27 0752 SpX Crew-4 (Freedom) Falcon 9 Kennedy LC39A Spaceship 42A 191 x 211 x 51 7

Table of Recent Suborbital Launches

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

Mar 4 2348 Recon test? Hwasong-8 LV? Sunan Test 550 Sea of Japan Mar 5 1127 LAMP Black Brant IX Poker Flat Auroral 429 Alaska Mar 9 1825 HERSCHEL Black Brant IX White Sands Solar UV 302 White Sands Mar 12 Target Black Dagger Ft Wingate Target 100? White Sands Mar 21 2312 BOLT-2 Terrier Malemute Wallops I Hypersonic 281 Atlantic Mar 29 FTT-21 Target Black Dagger Ft Wingate Target 100? White Sands Mar 30 Dummy payload Hyunmoo TLV SIRIUS, Anhueng Test 150? E China Sea? Mar 31 1358 NS-20 New Shepard West Texas Tourist flight 107 West Texas Apr 7 1247 INCAA 1 Terrier Malemute Poker Flat Auroral 340 PF Range Apr 7 1250 INCAA 2 Black Brant IX Poker Flat Auroral 208 PF Range Apr 9 RV Shaheen 3 Somniani? Op Test 500? Arabian Sea Apr 18 SLBM RV Hyunmoo 4-4 SS-083, Anhueng Test 150? E China Sea? Apr 18 SLBM RV Hyunmoo 4-4 SS-083, Anhueng Test 150? E China Sea? Apr 20 1212 RV Sarmat Plesetsk Test 1000? Kura

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