What are the orbital launches in December?

Launches will be made by several countries, involving rockets, experimental satellites, communications or even manned tourist missions

For December, 15 orbital launches are planned with dates already defined, reaching 15 launches. Due to the embargo on the disclosure of information on Chinese space activities imposed by the Chinese government, there is now great uncertainty about the country's orbital launches.

The first orbital launch of December is expected to take place today, the 2nd, at 22:57, with the launch of a new set of satellites Starlink. The mission Starlink 4-3 will place 53 satellites into orbit Starlink and will be launched by the rocket Falcon 9-130 (B1062.4) from Cape Canaveral SFS Launch Complex SLC-40, Florida.

Developed by SpaceX, the satellites Starlink v1.0 they have a mass of about 260 kilograms and carry an in-band communications payload. Ku/Ka, in addition to an intersatellite optical communications system.

together with the satellites Starlink two satellites will be placed in orbit blacksky. The satellite constellation blacksky is a set of microsatellites for terrestrial observation, with a resolution of one meter.

These satellites have an image system SpaceView-24, built by Exelis from Harris Corp, with an opening of 24 centimeters. They can image the ground with a resolution of 0,9 to 1,1 at an orbital altitude of 500 kilometers. They are equipped with on-board propulsion for 3 years. The satellites are built by Spaceflight Services and are based on the model SCOUT.

The operational satellites Block 2 are characterized by their improvements over the pioneers Block 1. They have larger solar panels and can produce four-band and panchromatic images. Each can produce a thousand images a day, either in photo or video mode.

 

Starlink Satellite

 

two new satellites Galileo will be put into orbit on December 3rd at 00:27. the satellites Galileo-FOC FM24 'Shriya' e Galileo-FOC FM25 'Nikolina' will be launched on the VS26 mission by a rocket Soyuz ST-B/Fregat-MT from CSG Kourou's ELS Launch Complex, French Guiana.

With a launch mass of 733 kilograms each and a lifetime of over 12 years, the satellites Galileo are platform based SmartMEO and are developed by OHB-System GmbH (platform) and by SSTL (charge).

The satellite STPSat-6 will be put into orbit on December 5th by the United Launch Alliance. this will be the mission AV 093 and will be launched by a rocket Atlas-V/551 from Cape Canaveral SFS, Florida Launch Complex SLC-41 at 09:04 am.

O STPSat-6 is an experimental satellite for the Space Test Program (STP) of the United States Department of Defense. It's based on the platform A-500 from Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems and will transport various experiments to geostationary orbit, the main experiment being the SABRS-3 (Space and Atmospheric Burst Reporting System), which will provide nuclear detonation detection and space environment data, and is designed to complement the nuclear detonation detectors on board current GPS satellites.

In this mission the LDPE-1 (Long Duration Propulsive EELV Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA)) which is an experimental satellite built for the Air Force Space and Missile Center (AFSMC) to carry small payloads and place small satellites into orbit.

On December 6, at 23:00, a rocket is due to be launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center Kuaizhou-1A. The cargo on board is unknown.

 

LDPE-1

 

This year's last manned space mission is due to launch at 07:38 am on December 8th and will transport two space tourists to the International Space Station. THE Soyuz MS-20 will be launched by a rocket Soyuz-2.1a from Launch Pad PU-6 of Launch Complex LC31 at Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.

The flight was contracted by Space adventures to the Roscosmos State Space Corporation and is intended only for a commercial tourism flight, not carrying any element for the permanent crew of the ISS. The mission will last just over 12 days.

The crew comprises cosmonaut Alexander Misurkhin (Commander, Russia), and space tourists (or space flight participants) Yusaku Maezawa (Japan) and Yozo Hirano (Japan). The alternate crew consists of Alexander Skvortsov (Commander, Russia) and space tourist (or spaceflight participant) Shun Ogisu.

The satellite IXPE will be released by SpaceX at 6:00 am on the 9th of December. The launch will be carried out by a rocket Falcon 9 from the Kennedy Space Center LC-39A Launch Complex, Merritt Island – Florida.

O IXPE (Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer) is an X-ray observatory run by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, with the goal of measuring the linear polarization of astronomical objects as a function of energy, time and, where relevant, their position to improve understanding the way X-ray emissions are produced in objects such as magnetars, isolated pulsars, pulsating winds from nebulae and supernova remnants, microquasars, active galaxies and super massive black holes.

O IXPE it is equipped with X-ray optics manufactured at the Marshall Space Flight Center and focal plane gas detectors supplied by Italy.

O IXPE it has a mass of 292 kilograms and is based on the platform BCP-300 developed by ball aerospace. The observatory should be operational for two or three years.

communications satellites Ekspress-AMU 3 and Ekspress-AMU 7 will be launched on December 12th from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch is scheduled for 12:09 and will be carried out by a rocket Proton-M/Briz-M from Launch Pad PU-30 of Launch Complex LC200.

O Ekspress-AMU 3 and the Ekspress-AMU 7 will be used for domestic communications services on Russian territory. Both satellites were built by RSCC (Kosmicheskiya Svyaz), but the communications charge is provided by Thales Alenia Space. Satellites are based on the platform ekspress-1000 bus and are equipped with 16 Ku-band repeaters, 1 L-band repeater and 20 C-band repeaters.

The satellites have a useful life of 15 years in geosynchronous orbit at 96,5° east longitude (Ekspress-AMU 3) and 145th East longitude (Ekspress-AMU 7).

 

Ekspress-AMU 3 and Ekspress-AMU 7

 

A ABL Space Systems is expected to carry out the inaugural launch of its low-cost RS1 rocket on December 15th at 05:00 am. The launch will take place from the Kodiak Pacific Spaceport Complex's LP-3C Launch Pad.

On board the RS1 will be the satellites L2 Aerospace 1 e L2 Aerospace 2. The two satellites will be used to test new technologies and support training activities, demonstrating a unique communications network and network architecture, as well as testing cybersecurity applications.

The Space Telescope James Webb (JWST – James Webb Space Telescope) will be placed in orbit at 12:20 pm on December 18th. The launch will be carried out by arianespace that will use a rocket Ariane-5ECA+ which will be launched from CSG Kourou's ELA3 Launch Complex, French Guiana. This is mission VA257.

Compared to currently existing observatories, the JWST will have the unique advantage of combining excellent image quality, a relatively large field of view and low backlight with a highly stable operating environment. These are very important features for the infrared observations that the JWST will need to make to see the first stars and galaxies.

JWST was developed by Northrop Grumman and ball aerospace, having a mass of 5 400 kilograms.

the communications satellite Turksat-5B will be placed in orbit by the SpaceX on December 19th. The launch will be carried out by a rocket Falcon 9 at 03:58 am from Cape Canaveral SFS, Florida Launch Complex SLC-40.

Platform based Eurostar-3000EOR, the satellite was developed by Airbus Defense and Space and by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). At launch it has a mass of 4 kilograms and its lifetime is 500 years in geosynchronous orbit. It is equipped with loads of communications Ku-band HTTPS and Ka-band HTTPS. The satellite will be operated by Turksat AS.

 

Turksat-5B Communications Satellite

 

a rocket Angara-A5/DM-03 will be launched from GIK-1 Plesetsk Cosmodrome on December 20th. The launch will take place from Launch Complex LC35/1. The rocket shall carry a launcher performance assessment charge called IPM-3 which will be placed in geosynchronous orbit.

A new logistical mission will be launched by SpaceX to the ISS at 10:06 am on December 21st. The launch of the capsule Dragon SpX-24, on the CRS-24 mission, will be carried out by a rocket Falcon 9 from the Kennedy Space Center LC-39A Launch Complex, Merritt Island – Florida.

the communications satellite Inmarsat-6 F1 will be released at 14:33 pm on December 21st by Mitsubishi Industries. The launch will be carried out by a rocket H-2A/204 from the LP1 Launch Pad of the Yoshinobu Launch Complex at the Tanegashima Space Center.

Operated by Inmarsat and developed by Airbus Defense and Space: Inmarsat-6 F1 is platform based Eurostar-3000EOR and has a mass of 5 470 kilograms. On board it carries an L-band and Ka-band communications payload. Its shelf life is 15 years.

The satellite Gao Guidao Shiyan Weixing (HOTS High Orbit Test Satellite) is expected to be released by China at 10:30 am on December 22nd. The launch will be carried out by a rocket Chang Zheng-7A from Launch Complex LC201 at Wenchang Space Launch Center, Hainan Province.

A new group of 36 satellites OneWeb will be put into orbit on December 27th. The launch will be carried out by a rocket Soyuz-2-1B/Fregat on the mission ST37 launched from Launch Pad PU-6 at Launch Complex LC31 at Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.

the constellation OneWeb to be comprised of 648 satellites to provide worldwide internet access for individual consumers and airlines, in addition to services to maritime operators, services of backhaul, wi-fi communities, emergency response services, among others.

 

Author – Rui Barbosa was born in May 1971 and graduated in Applied Physics. From an early age, Rui Barbosa became interested in the space theme. On May 3, 2001 starts the Orbit Bulletina, dedicated to Astronautics and the Conquest of Space, which celebrates its 20th anniversary. Currently, Rui Barbosa shares his passion for the Conquest of Space with mountain activities.

 

 



Comments

Ads