Spaceflight and Rocket Lab will put a Japanese shooting-star satellite into orbit

Seattle-based Spaceflight says it’s handling the pre-launch logistics for a Japanese satellite that’s designed to spray artificial shooting stars into the sky.

Tokyo-based ALE’s spacecraft is just one of seven satellites due to be sent into orbit from New Zealand as early as Nov. 25, aboard a Rocket Lab Electron launch vehicle.

It’ll be the 10th Electron launch, earning the nickname “Running Out of Fingers.” It’ll also be the first launch to test the guidance and navigation hardware as well as the sensors that Rocket Lab will eventually use to help make the Electron’s first stage recoverable.

No recovery will be attempted during this mission.

The shooting-star satellite, ALE-2, is already making headlines in New Zealand. It’s designed to release particles from its sun-synchronous orbit below the International Space Station’s altitude, according to a timed schedule. When the particles re-enter Earth’s atmosphere, they’re supposed to burn up and create the appearance of meteors as seen from the ground.

In addition to the entertainment factor, ALE says scientists participating in the Sky Canvas project will be able to study the path of the particles during re-entry. That could lead to more accurate predictions of the path of satellites during orbital decay, and perhaps contribute to studies of weather and climate change.

“This launch gets us much closer to realizing the world’s first man-made shooting star,” ALE’s CEO, Lena Okajima, said in a news release. “We really appreciate Spaceflight`s support and attention to our mission, and we’re honored to take this big step with them.”

Some observers say the Sky Canvas project will be a distraction for astronomers as well as an attraction for skywatchers. Similar examples include the “Humanity Star” disco-ball satellite that Rocket Lab launched in 2018, and SpaceX’s first batch of 60 Starlink satellites.

When plans for the project came to light in January, The Sun said the mission’s primary purpose was to “wow the world’s mega-rich with dazzling light displays.”Others have said the justification for the display is “highly questionable” or “highly debatable on the moral, ecological, legal and political levels.”

The New Zealand Herald quoted the nation’s economic development minister, Phil Twyford, as saying he approved the payload for launch after receiving assurances from the New Zealand Space Agency that the project was safe, that there were no environmental concerns, and that “the light pollution impact is negligible.”

Spaceflight’s president and CEO, Curt Blake, focused on his company’s expertise rather than the glitter factor in today’s news release. Spaceflight is the launch logistics subsidiary of Seattle-based Spaceflight Industries, which also has the Black Sky geospatial data company under its wing.

“Our experience offering end-to-end launch services across multiple launch vehicles continues to be highly valued by organizations — regardless if they’re a newer customer like ALE, or an experienced constellation developer,” Blake said. “Our expertise and long-standing relationships provide reliability, flexibility, and the confidence that we’ll get customers to space as efficiently as possible. We’re really looking forward to taking ALE on our third Electron launch this year.”

Spaceflight’s two earlier launches took place in June and August.

The six other spacecraft to be sent into low Earth orbit, or LEO, during the “Running Out of Fingers” mission are 2-inch-wide PocketQube satellites, manufactured by Alba Orbital. Here’s how Rocket Lab describes the payloads:

• ATL-1: A payload from Advanced Technology of Laser from Hungary, designed to test a new thermal isolation material in space, run a thermal insulator material experiment and conduct DVB-T band spectrum monitoring.
• Fossasat-1: A satellite developed by Fossa Systems, a Spanish non-profit organization. The communications satellite uses low-power radio transmissions to provide IOT connectivity.
• NOOR 1A and NOOR 1B: These satellites from Stara Space will demonstrate LEO-to-LEO intersatellite link technology communicating with ground stations on Earth. Such technologies will be required to create a real-time global communications constellation in space.
• SMOG-P: A novel spectrum-monitoring payload built by students at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics in Hungary. Smog-P features a spectrum analyzer to measure artificial electromagnetic pollution from space.
• TRSI Sat: ACME AtronOmatic is a U.S.-German software application development company that provides flight tracking services to the aviation community and to mobile applications such as MyRadar, a weather radar application for mobile devices.

Quelle: GeekWire

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Update: 9.11.2019

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Trying for the perfect 10

Rocket Lab is aiming for a “perfect 10” when it launches its next rocket from Mahia in about three weeks time.

The United States-based company today announced its 10th mission from the Launch Complex 1 facility at Onenui Station would launch microsatellites from five different countries.

The launch window for the flight, named Running Out Of Fingers, opens on November 25.

On board the rideshare mission are six spacecraft comprising 5cm PocketQube microsatellites from UK-based satellite manufacturer and mission management provider Alba Orbital.

The final payload on board was procured by satellite rideshare and mission management provider Spaceflight for ALE Co, Ltd, a Tokyo-based company creating microsatellites that simulate meteor particles.

The mission will also continue efforts to research how rockets can be re-used.

A Rocket Lab statement said the Electron rocket’s first stage would not be recovered from this mission but would include new hardware and sensors to inform future recovery efforts.

Rocket Lab founder and chief executive Peter Beck said increasing launch frequency for small satellite operators was the key driver behind Rocket Lab’s reusability programme.

“Reaching our 10th flight within only two years of commercial operations is an incredible achievement. Thanks to the continued dedication and passion of the teams at Rocket Lab, responsive and frequent access to space is the new normal for small satellites. As we move beyond once-a-month missions towards our goal of weekly launches, recovering and reusing Electron could play a significant role in increasing launch frequency.”

Among the payloads is one from Advanced Technology of Laser (ATL) from Hungary, designed to test a new thermal isolation material in space, conduct a thermal insulator material experiment, and DVB-T band spectrum monitoring.

Also on board will be a picosatellite developed by Spanish non-profit organisation Fossa Systems. The small spacecraft is a communications satellite that uses low-power radio frequency to provide “internet of things” connectivity.

A novel spectrum monitoring payload built by students at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics in Hungary, Smog-P features a spectrum analyser to measure man-made electromagnetic pollution from space.

A satellite from ACME AtronOmatic, a US-Germany based software application development company, for a weather radar application for mobile devices.

In addition, Tokyo-based ALE Co., Ltd ‘s ALE-2 satellite aims to create human-made shooting stars by simulating re-entering meteor particles. The satellite includes multiple redundant attitude sensors and controllers, as well as a propulsion system for manoeuvres.

Quelle: The Gisborne Herald

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Update: 26.11.2019

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Quelle: RocketLab

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Update: 29.11.2019

Quelle: Rocket Lab

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Rocket Lab prepares for a critical step towards booster recovery on 10th Electron flight

Rocket Lab’s Electron small satellite launch vehicle is scheduled to enter double digits in the next few days. If all goes to schedule, Rocket Lab’s 10th Electron will lift off from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand, now no earlier than Saturday, the 10th anniversary of an extremely important event in Rocket Lab’s history.

The flight, given the name “Running out of fingers”, will be a rideshare mission, lofting seven small satellites into orbit.

Six of these satellites are manufactured by an English company, Alba Orbital. Four of the satellites, are constructed and managed by Alba Orbital but are flying on behalf of other institutions, while two identical ones are owned by Alba Orbital, as a testbed for an in-development satellite bus.

This first two are Unicorn 2B and Unicorn 2C developed by Alba Orbital alongside the European Space Agency (ESA). The pair are intended to test Alba Orbital’s Unicorn-2 small satellite bus, which they hope to market later down the line for a variety of applications.

The other four satellites provided by Alba Orbital are ATL-1, a satellite developed by the Hungarian company, ATL limited, set to test a new form of thermal insulation. SMOG-P, a satellite developed by the Budapest University of Technology and Economics to measure human-made electromagnetic pollution.

The Spanish developed FossaSat-1, which is intended to test a new type of Long Range (LoRa) Radio Frequency chirp, in the hopes it will be used to share educational information from orbit. And finally, TRSI-Sat, developed in Germany,  which will be used to test new technologies.

The seventh payload was procured by spaceflight inc, a satellite rideshare management company on behalf of ALE Co, based out of Tokyo, Japan. ALE (Astro Live Experiences) is a small startup using particles shot from small satellites to create artificial meteor showers.

Flight 10 will carry the 75kg ALE-2 into orbit, their second demonstration satellite, which follows ALE-1, launched on from Japan in early 2019.

Not only is the flight a large milestone for Rocket Lab in it being the 10th flight of their workhorse booster, but it is also a large milestone in the company’s new goal of recovering and reusing Electron’s first stage.

Earlier this year, Peter Beck, the founder and CEO of Rocket Lab, announced that Rocket Lab was working towards recovering Electron boosters, for later reuse. This would not only bring down the cost per launch of Electron but also help them work towards their goal of a once per week launch cadence.

The Electron’s first stage does not have the fuel or other necessary capabilities to perform a boost back and propulsive landings similar to rockets like SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 or Blue Origin’s in development New Glenn, so the company had to go in another direction.

Rocket Lab eventual settled on air recovery. Once Electron’s first stage separates from the second stage, it will fall back towards Earth and open a parafoil and glide down further, before being snagged by a towing hook on board a helicopter and then fully recovered to fly another day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enndCzvZpZk

Electron was never designed for this rather unorthodox method of recovery, so some changes have had to be made to the booster, known as a first stage block upgrade.

Although some previous flights have flown hardware or taken measurements in support of the Block upgrade. Flight 10 will be critically important because it will mark the debut flight of the block upgraded first stage. 

The upgraded first staged includes a Reaction Control System (RCS), which will be used to orientate Electrons for recovery and guidance and navigation hardware such as a new S-band telemetry system and onboard flight computer. A parafoil is also included to allow for Electron to be “picked up” by the recovery helicopter on later missions, it is unknown if a parafoil is included on this flight specifically though.

Electron isn’t the only thing that is being upgraded ahead of recovery efforts though. In a twitter recently Rocket Lab announced that a new radar dish had been built at Mahia. The new dish will mainly be used to track Electron’s “kick stage” separating from its second stage, although it will also be used to track other range assets during launch in order to support the catching of Electron’s first stage.

Although no recovery attempt will be made on this flight, the data gained from the flight and subsequent flights will be extremely important for when Rocket Lab makes their first attempt at booster recovery.

If Rocket Lab launches Flight 10 on schedule, currently set for the 29th of November 2019, the mission will launch exactly one day before the ten-year anniversary of a very important day in Rocket Lab’s history, the launch of their first rocket. 

On November 30, 2009, Rocket Lab launched ātea-1 (“ătea” means “Space” in Te Reo Māori, the language of the indigenous Māori people of New Zealand) from a launch stand on Great Mercury Island near New Zealand’s Coromandel Peninsula. 

The small 60kg, 6m tall sounding rocket screamed into the sky, shooting past the Karman line and delivering its 2kg payload to an altitude of 150km above the surface of the Earth, before ejecting it and letting it parachute towards the sea. 

Like all of Rocket Lab’s Electron flights today, ātea-1’s sole flight was given a name. The rocket was named Manu Karere (Māori for “Bird Messenger”) by the local Iwi (Māori tribe).

Although there were plans for it, the ātea-1 design of sounding rocket never flew again, although the rocket did launch the company into what it is today, and the Electron rocket probably never would have flown if the company had not been able to prove itself with ātea-1, so it is quite fitting that the 10th launch of Electron occurs nearly one decade after the historic launch of ātea-1.

Quelle: NS

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Update: 6.12.2019

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Launch of Next Generation Electron Booster on the Pad for Rocket Lab’s 10th Mission

Quelle: RocketLab