Jonathan's Space Report

No 786 2020 Nov 22 Somerville, MA

International Space Station

Expedition 64 is now underway under the command of Sergey Ryzhikov

The Nanoracks NRCSD-19 payloads delivered to the ISS on Cygnus NG-14 were deployed on Nov 5 One correction: Djara is a Lemur satellite developed by Spire Global, but it is operated by the Australian Office of National Intelligence to test an FPGA supercomputing chip in space

The SpaceX Crew-1 mission was launched at 0027 UTC on Nov 16 from Kennedy Space Center with Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Soichi Noguchi and Shannon Walker Crew Dragon capsule C207 'Resilience' entered orbit and separated from the Falcon 9 second stage at 0039 UTC, beginning orbit manuevers to rendezvous with the ISS Resilience docked with the IDA-2 port on ISS at 0401 UTC Nov 17 and the crew boarded ISS at 0602 UTC

On Nov 18 astronauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov carried out the first ever spacewalk from the Poisk module, VKD-47 All previous Russian ISS spacewalks were from Pirs, and in the 11 years since Poisk's launch its airlock had lain dormant Now the Pirs module is scheduled to be removed from the ISS, so Poisk's airlock is being brought into service

I count depress(urized) activities' (DPA) from the point where the airlock pressure reaches 50 mbar By this rule, Nov 18 saw two DPAs, which I label VKD-47a and VKD-47 Roskosmos counts from first hatch open to last hatch close, and considers VKD-47 as a singlevykhod' (EVA, in NASA jargon) The timeline:

1446 UTC: Poisk airlock first depressurization begins 1453 UTC: Poisk depressurized below 50 mbar, begin VKD-47a (my rule) 1512 UTC: Poisk airlock hatch open, begin VKD-47 (Roskosmos rule) The astronauts inspected the hatch seals 1520 UTC: Poisk airlock hatch closed 1523 UTC: Airlock repressurized above 50 mbar, end VKD-47a (my rule) 1527 UTC: Airlock repress stopped at 350 mbar 1539 UTC: Poisk airlock second depressurization begins 1544 UTC: Airlock below 50 mbar, begin VKD-47 (my rule) 1555 UTC: Poisk airlock hatch open again 1606 UTC: Kud-Sverchkov egress airlock 1616 UTC: Ryzhikov egress airlock with pressurized container for new flow regulator 1739 UTC Zarya Flow regulator No 1 replacement abandoned; could not open container 1816 UTC Pressurized container returned to airlock 1923 UTC Transit-B antenna cable relocated from Pirs to Poisk 2015 UTC Retrieve old Impakt exterior sample plate on Zvezda 2030 UTC Install new Impakt exterior sample plate on Zvezda 2054 UTC Jettison of two decontamination towels 2134 UTC Ryzhikov ingress 2145 UTC Kud-Sverchkov ingress 2159 UTC Poisk airlock hatch closed 2205 UTC Airlock repressurization above 50 mbar [Spacewalk underway at this writing; to be updated]

VKD-47a depress time: 30m VKD-47a hatch open time: 8m VKD-47 depress time: (JCM rule) 6h21m VKD-47 hatch open time: 6h04m VKD-47 Ryzhikov time outside: 5h18m VKD-47 Kud-Sverchkov time outside: 5h39m VKD-47 'official' Roskosmos time 6h47m48s (1st hatch open to 2nd hatch close):

GPS III SV-04

The fourth GPS Block 3 satellite was launched on Nov 5 on a Falcon 9 Launch had been delayed because of engine contamination issues The first stage, B1062, landed on OCISLY

CZ-6

The fourth Chang Zheng 6 launch, CZ-6 Y3, flew from Taiyuan on Nov 6 and placed a cluster of small satellites in 1030 LT sun-synchronous orbit

Ten of the payloads were imaging satellites for the Uruguayan/Argentine Satellogic company The other three are:

BY70-03, an amateur radio satellite Its full name is Zhongguo qing shaonian kepu weixing bayi 03 xing 'Taiyuan hao', which means Chinese Youth Science Satellite BY-03 'Taiyuan' Students from Taiyuan Jinshan Middle School helped build it

Tianyan 05 is also called Dianzi keji daxue hao weixing, or more loosely translated, UESTC Satellite, after the Univ of Electronic Science and Technology (Dianzi keji daxue) in Chengdu The sat was built by Weina (Minospace) and Guoxing Aerospace; it has an imager and a THz `6G' experimental communications payload Tianyan 05 uses the MN50 bus The satellite has the additional alternate name Xingshidai-12

Beihang Kongshi Weixing yi hao (Beihang Konghsi 1 satellite) carries technology payloads It was built by Tianyi (which calls it TY-20) and BUAA (Beijing Hangkong Hangtian Daxue, Beijing U of Aero and Astro) It includes a ThrustMe NPT30 electric propulsion system

Galactic Energy

Galactic Energy (Beijing) has developed a small solid launch vehicle, Gushenxing-1 ("Ceres-1") using demilitarized solid motors, probably from the DF-21 missile

The three solid stages are 1 4, 1 4 and 1 2 metres in diameter; a fourth liquid-propellant stage is used for orbit insertion Gunshenxing-1 Y1 was launched on Nov 7 from Jiuquan, reaching orbit successfully with the Tianqi-11 satellite for the Guodian Gaokeji company

PSLV

ISRO launched its second PSLV-DL on Nov 7, placing in orbit the EOS-1 radar satellite EOS-1 was formerly called RISAT-2BR2, and follows on from earlier RISAT satellites Co-passengers included the R2 test satellite for NanoAvionics of Vilnius, four SpireGlobal Lemur-2 satellites, and four Kleos Scouting Mission satellites for commercial signals intelligence for Kleos Space of Luxembourg

Tiantong-1-02

China's second Tiantong satellite, Tiantong 1 hao 02 xing, was launched on Nov 12 to geotransfer orbit The satellite has an S-band antenna for communications by mobile users

NROL-101

United Launch Alliance flew Atlas V mission AV-090 on Nov 13 from Cape Canaveral into a orbit with an inclination of around 55 to 60 degrees AV-090 was an Atlas V 531 variant, using the new Northrop Grummann (formerly Hercules) GEM 63 solid boosters for the first time The launch was for the US National Reconnaissance Office and was designated NROL-101 The payload was USA 310, a secret NRO satellite Observations of the Centaur propellant dump over the western US suggested that the orbit was a medium altitude one and it was soon discovered by Marco Langbroek and Cees Bassa in a highly unusual 11033 x 11068 km, 58 degree orbit The satellite therefore does not appear to be one of an existing series, and its mission is at present unclear

Vega VV17

The Arianespace Vega has suffered its second failure Launched northwards from the Centre Spatial Guyanais, Vega's three solid stages appear to have worked correctly However, the liquid propellant AVUM fourth stage malfunctioned at the beginning of its burn, losing attitude control Arianespace reports that control system cables were connected to the wrong sockets during assembly The AVUM and its attached payloads presumably fell in the Arctic, just possibly making it as far as the coast of Yakutia

Since the orbit would have had a perigee not much less than zero, maybe around -500 km, I am giving the launch a 'U' ('uncataloged) designation: 2020-U01 I use these designations for launches which are marginally orbital, and therefore 'interesting' in my opinion Launches which fall further short of orbit get 'F' (failed to orbit) designations The list of 'U' launches is at https://planet4589 org/space/gcat/data/ldes/U html

The payloads of VV17 were the Spanish imaging satellite SARSAT-Ingenio and the French Taranis scientific satellite, which would have studied lightning sprites and related phenomena

Electron 16

The Electron 16 launch Return to Sender' took off from New Zealand on Nov 20, placing a cluster of small satellites in a 1440 local time sun-synchronous orbit: Alchemy and Augury (DragRacer A and B): two 6U satellites from TriSept Corp, Millenium Space and Tethers Unlimited Alchemy has a 70-metre-longTerminator Tape' drag tether to make it reenter quickly; Augury does not have the tape and will be used as a control, decaying normally As I understand it the two satellites were deployed attached to each other It is not clear when they will separate or when the tether will be deployed; BRO-2 and BRO-3 for Unseen Labs, 6U satellites providing commercial radio spectrum monitoring; Te Waka Amiorangi o Aotearoa (APSS-1), a 1U satellite for the Auckland Program for Space Studies of the University of Auckland It carries a Langmuir probe to study possible ionospheric precursors to earthquakes; SpaceBEE 22 to 45, a set of twenty-four 0 25U communications satellites for Swarm Technologies

Sentinel-6

SpaceX launched the European Union's `Sentinel 6 Michael Freilich' oceanographic satellite on Nov 21 from Vandenberg AFB Sentinel-6 carries the Poseidon-4 sea surface height radar altimeter, continuing the series begun by TOPEX-Posideon satellite and continued by the Jason series Poseidon is developed by ESA and CNES; the satellite calso carries NASA/JPL equipment for orbit determination and GNSS radio occultation The satellite is named in honor of American oceanographer Michael Freilich (1954-2020)

The Falcon 9 first stage returned to Vandenberg, landing at Landing Zone 4 The second stage was left in an orbit slightly below the payload

AC-10a

The Aerocube 10a satellite released its fourth passive atmospheric probe on around Nov 18

Table of Recent Orbital Launches

Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL Catalog Perigee Apogee Incl Notes

Oct 25 1908 Glonass-K No 15L Soyuz-2-1B/Fregat Plesetsk LC43/4 Navigation 75A S46805 19125 x 19150 x 64 8 Oct 26 1519 Yaogan 30 hao 07 zu 01 xing) Chang Zheng 2C Xichang Sigint 76A S46807 589 x 604 x 35 0 Yaogan 30 hao 07 zu 01 xing) Sigint 76B S46808 589 x 604 x 35 0 Yaogan 30 hao 07 zu 01 xing) Sigint 76C S46809 589 x 604 x 35 0 Tianqi Xingzuo 06 ) Comms 76D S46810 589 x 604 x 35 0 Oct 28 2121 CE-SAT-IIB ) Electron Mahia LC1 Imaging 77F S46818 508 x 524 x 97 5 Flock 4e'-1 ) Imaging 77A S46813 511 x 528 x 97 5 Flock 4e'-2 ) Imaging 77H S46820 511 x 528 x 97 5 Flock 4e'-3 ) Imaging 77G S46819 511 x 528 x 97 5 Flock 4e'-4 ) Imaging 77J S46821 511 x 528 x 97 5 Flock 4e'-5 ) Imaging 77E S46817 511 x 528 x 97 5 Flock 4e'-6 ) Imaging 77K S46822 511 x 528 x 97 5 Flock 4e'-7 ) Imaging 77B S46814 505 x 528 x 97 5 Flock 4e'-8 ) Imaging 77D S46816 507 x 524 x 97 5 Flock 4e'-9 ) Imaging 77C S46815 505 x 525 x 97 5 Nov 5 0905 Bobcat-1) ISS, LEO Tech 98067 SPOC ) Imaging 98067 Nov 5 1040 Neutron-1 ISS, LEO Sci 98067 Nov 5 1215 Djara ISS, LEO Tech 98067 Nov 5 1315 Descent ) ISS, LEO Tech 98067 SAT-TLA 1 ) Tech 98067 Lemur-2-Unnamed) Com/Met 98067 Nov 5 2324 GPS III SV-04 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Nav 78A S46826 402 x 20183 x 55 0 Nov 6 0318 Nusat-9 (Alice) ) Chang Zheng 6 Taiyuan Imaging 79A?S46827 465 x 473 x 97 3 Nusat-10 (Caroline) ) Imaging 79 Nusat-11 (Cora) ) Imaging 79 Nusat-12 (Dorothy) ) Imaging 79 Nusat-13 (Emmy) ) Imaging 79 Nusat-14 (Hedy) ) Imaging 79 Nusat-15 (Katherine) ) Imaging 79 Nusat-16 (Lise) ) Imaging 79 Nusat-17 (Mary) ) Imaging 79 Nusat-18 (Vera) ) Imaging 79 Taiyuan BY70-3 ) Comms 79 Beihang Kongshi 1 ) Comms 79 Tianyan 05 ) Imaging 79 Nov 7 0712 Tianqi-11 Gushenxing-1 Jiuquan Comms 80A S46904 485 x 501 x 97 4 Nov 7 0941 EOS-1 ) PSLV-DL Satish Dhawan FLP Imaging 81A 568 x 576 x 36 9 Lemur-2-Ozarak ) Com/Met 81D 565 x 578 x 36 9 Lemur-2-Jindra ) Com/Met 81E 565 x 578 x 36 9 Lemur-2-Wallace ) Com/Met 81F 565 x 576 x 36 9 Lemur-2-Jeremiah) Com/Met 81G 565 x 576 x 36 9 R2 ) Tech 81 KSM-1A ) Sigint 81 KSM-1B ) Sigint 81 KSM-1C ) Sigint 81 KSM-1D ) Sigint 81 Nov 12 1559 Tiantong-1 02 Chang Zheng 3B Xichang Comms 82A S46917 170 x 35820 x 28 4 Nov 13 2332 USA 310 Atlas V 531 Canaveral SLC41 Radar? 83A S46918 11033 x 11068 x 58 5 Nov 16 0027 Resilience Falcon 9 Kennedy LC39A Spaceship 84A S46920 189 x 208 x 51 6 Nov 17 0152 SEOSAT-Ingenio) Vega CSG Imaging U01 A09651 -500? x 250?x 98 5 Taranis ) Science U01 A09652 -500? x 250?x 98 5 Nov 18? AC-10a Probe 04 AC-10a, LEO Science 19-22N S46928 469 x 482 x 51 6 Nov 20 0220 Augury ) Electron Mahia LC1 Tech 85 S46931? 501 x 521 x 97 4 Alchemy ) Tech 85 BRO-2 ) Sigint 85 BRO-3 ) Sigint 85 Te Waka Amiorangi o Aotearoa) Sci 85 SpaceBEE 22 to 45 ) Comms 85 Nov 21 1717 Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich Falcon 9 Vandenberg SLC4E Oceanog 86A S46984 1308 x 1327 x 66 0

Table of Recent Suborbital Launches

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

Oct 1 Black Dagger Boosted Zombie Fort Wingate? Target 100? White Sands Oct 13 1336 NS-13 New Shepard W Texas Test 106 W Texas Oct 29 0727 GT236GM Minuteman 3 Vandenberg LF09 Op Test 1300? Kwajalein Nov 2 1040 DEUCE 3 Black Brant IX White Sands UV Astron 285 White Sands Nov 17 0550 FTM-44 Target ICBM-T2? Meck, Kwajalein Target 1000? Pacific (intercepted) Nov 17 0605? FTM-44 KV SM-3 Block IIA DDG-18, Pacific Interceptor 200? FTM-44 interception

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