SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 - Transporter-3 - Launching January 13, 2022
Screenshot from SpaceX Webcast of the launch of Transporter-3
Mission Rundown: SpaceX B5 - Transporter-3
Written: August 5, 2022
Going down south to see some friends of mine
SpaceX has conducted its second orbital launch of the year, named Transporter-3. The southbound liftoff occurred at the opening of a 29-minute launch window at 10:25 AM EST (15:25 UTC) on Thursday, January 13, from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
This is the third dedicated SmallSat Rideshare Program mission operated by SpaceX, which delivered 105 satellites to a 525-kilometer altitude Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO).
Following stage separation, the second stage’s Merlin Vacuum engine ignited, beginning the six minute long burn toward an initial parking orbit. The second stage performed a “dogleg” maneuver to keep its heading slightly west of due south to reach its desired orbital inclination, while avoiding overflight of populated areas.
Meanwhile, the first stage used its attitude control thrusters to perform a flip maneuver before reigniting three Merlin engines for the boostback burn. This burn nullified all of the booster’s horizontal velocity and then placed the stage on a trajectory back towards Landing Zone 1. The last RTLS landing was the Transporter-2 mission in June of 2021.
While the payload mass or destination orbit usually prevents the first stage from preserving the energy needed for this boostback burn, Transporter missions are usually relatively light and target low orbits, enabling this “Return to Launch Site” (RTLS) flight profile and removing the need for downrange drone ship recoveries.
The same three Merlin engines lit again to perform the entry burn, protecting the booster from reentry heating. The single center engine then lit one final time to land B1058-10 on the pad at LZ-1.
The second stage performed a coast phase which lasted until T+ 55 minutes. A brief, two-second burn placed the upper stage and the payload stack into the final orbit. Payload deployments began at T+00:59:50 and continued until T+01:27:10.
B1058-10 will have made its tenth flight after launching the following missions:
B1058-11 did not perform a static fire test after refurbishment and waiting for an east coast launch out of the Cape. SpaceX has omitted this safety precaution several times so far. It is not required to perform a static fire test inhouse missions like Starlink, that will save money and time before the launch.
SpaceX is the first entity ever that recovers and reflies its fairings. After being jettisoned, the two fairing halves will use cold gas thrusters to orientate themselves as they descend through the atmosphere. Once at a lower altitude, they will deploy drogue chutes and parafoils to help them glide down to a soft landing for recovery.
Falcon fairings halfs have been recovered and reused since 2019. Improved design changes and overall refurbishment procedures have decreased the effects of water landings and led to an increased recovery rate of fairings.
The fairings are a new pair. Both fairings survived the landing. The active fairing is equipped with four pushrods to separate the other passive fairing. Nitrogen gas is pumped into the fairing to prevent humid air from entering, corroding and damaging the payload.
Fairings have evenly spaced venting ports that have been redesigned a number of times by having first ten, then eight and now having their venting ports built as close pairs along the fairing edge. This prevents saltwater from the ocean from flooding and sinking the fairing, and makes refurbishment toward the next flight easier.
The Transporter-3 Payload
SpaceX will launch 105 satellites into a Sun-Synchronous Orbit. These satellites are either directly attached to the three ESPA rings A, B and C or indirectly to dispensers attached to them. The four 24 inch ports on ESPA ring A and B and six 15 inch ports on ESPA ring C are secured to the Payload Adaptor Fitting on top of the 2nd stage.
SpaceX is launching payloads from companies such as Planet, Capella Space, Kepler, Guardian, Exolaunch, Nanoracks, Satellogic, Spaceflight, and a large number of other companies and universities.
This list below is written with the following sources: Everyday Astronaut on launch order, NasaSpaceFlight on payloads and EOportal on some closer details.
• ION Satellite Carrier. A platform developed and operated by Italian company D-Orbit. The platform features a customizable 64U satellite dispenser capable of hosting a combination of CubeSats that fits the volume. Throughout a mission, ION Satellite Carrier can release the hosted satellites individually, changing orbital parameter between one deployment and the next. Each of the miniature CubeSats weighs a few kilograms.
• Alba Cluster 3 of Alba Orbital. A PocketQube dispenser of the largest PocketQube deployment so far with satellites manifested for launch from a total of eight different countries, including pico-satellites from Innova Space (Argentina), TU Delft (Netherlands) and Ariel University (Israel).
• Capella 7 & Capella 8 of Capella Space. The two microsatellites have a launch mass of 112 kg. Each satellite has two 500 mm x 900 mm deployable solar arrays, a 8 m2 deployable antenna and a 3 m long boom deployed from the principal bus structure.
• ICEYE 15 & ICEYE 16. Two SAR satellites of ICEYE US (Irvine, CA) with ExoLaunch service provider.
• Sich-2-30 EO 170 kg Mini Satellite of SSAU Urkraine.
• UMBRA-02 SAR microsatellite of Umbra Space, Santa Barbara, CA.
• BRO-5 of Unseenlabs, France. A satellite system for maritime domain awareness.
• Dodona, a 3U CubeSat of USC (University of Southern California). Dodona is part of Lockheed Martin's larger La Jument program and Dodona is the first is a series of demonstration flights. The La Jument payload suite includes low SWAP (size, weight and power) optical and infrared cameras that employ algorithms to enhance imagery on-orbit, plus Lockheed Martin's Compass advanced mission planning app.
• DEWASAT-1, a 3U and a 6U CubeSat of DEWA (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority) under its Space-D program (technology demonstration). The 3U CaubSat was designed and developed at its R&D Centre in the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.
• ETV-A1, a 16U CubeSat of the British company Sen. The satellite is equipped with UHD (Ultra High Definition) video cameras. The service, which will include a freely accessible app for individuals, will be used for monitoring environmental events and natural disasters such as wildfires, floods and storms, as well as monitoring climate change and movement of large groups of people.
• Flock 4 SuperDoves, 44 in total, of Planet San Francisco. Planet is using the launch of Transporter-3 to replenish or augment their EO constellation. — This marks Planet's first launch with SpaceX under the new multi-year, multi-launch rideshare agreement signed in 2021. 3) Planet was able to establish contact with all of the SuperDove satellites, many within two minutes of the final deployment, upholding Planet's record of successfully connecting with 100% of all Planet satellites launched. Our constellations provide daily insights about the Earth's resources and global events. With the latest addition of 44 SuperDove satellites, our PlanetScope product will continue to offer our customers satellite data captured from the latest and strongest technology. We use just-in-time manufacturing to ensure we can continually innovate the technology onboard our spacecraft before shipment to the launch site.
• Gossamer-Piccolomini of Lunasonde, a US startup company of Tucson, AZ. Lunasonde is pioneering subsurface imaging while providing a sustainable approach to resource exploration. Using satellite-based ultra-low frequency radar, Lunasonde makes the underground world visible, fundamentally transforming our understanding of planet Earth. Gossamer-Piccolomini is a 1U CubeSat.
• HYPSO-1, a 6U CubeSat of NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology), Trondheim, Norway. Its specific mission is to detect and characterize ocean color features such as algal blooms, phytoplankton, river plumes. etc. HYPSO (HYPerspectral Smallsat for Ocean Observation) is flying a HSI (Hyperspectral Imager), a pushbroom instrument with wavelengths of 387–801nm at 3.33 nm bandpass and a swath width of 70 km.
• IRIS-A, a 2U CubeSat of NCKU (National Cheng Kung University) of Tainan, Taiwan. The objective is to demonstrate Internet of Things (IoT) communication technology in space.
• Kepler, a mission of four CubeSats of Kepler Communications, Toronto, Canada, deploying a data relay network.
• LabSat & SW1FT EO mission of SatRevolution, a Polish company.
• Lemur-2, four 3U CubeSats of Spire Global Inc. of San Francisco. Spire Global didn't set out to become a provider of signals intelligence (SIGINT). But with the accidental discovery that its antennas for weather forecasting were also picking up signals being used to jam the Global Positioning System, the pivot just made sense, according to Spire's new-ish head of US government sales, Conor Brown.
• MDASat-1, these are three 3U CubeSats (Maritime Domain Awareness Satellite) of the CPUT (Cape Peninsula University of Technology) AIS constellation. The data the mission gathers will typically help the South African government effectively manage the Nation's territorial waters. Additionally, a significant development is that South Africa will possess the home-grown know-how to acquire this vital information.
• NuX-1 (NuSpace Pte. Ltd., Singapore, a 3U CubeSat to provide IoT services.
• OroraTech 1, a 3U CubeSat of OroraTech, a spin-off company of TUM (Technical University of Munich), Germany. The objective is wildfire monitoring.
• STORK-1, STORK-2 CubeSat EO mission of SatRevolution, a Polish company.
• Tevel. The Tevel AMSAT mission consists of eight 1U CubeSats developed by the Herzliya Science Center in Israel, each carrying an FM transponder.
• VZLUSat-2, a 3U CubeSat of the Czech Aerospace Research Centre. The objective is to demonstrate a future Czech satellite constellation.
• FOSSA PocketPOD x 2, a PocketCube dispenser of Fossa Systems, Spain.
• Challenger of Intuidex Inc., Bethlehem, PA, USA. Intuidex a provider of cutting-edge defense software and technology, has teamed with Quub (Mini-Cubes, LLC), a satellite manufacturer, to produce and launch a first-of-its-kind, high functionality, low-cost satellite CubeSat to provide enhanced situational awareness and early warning anomaly detection using sensor data.
• CShark Pilot-1 of Fossa Systms S.L, Spain. The CShark Pilot-1 2P Earth Observation and IoT Satellite are testing new low power communication techniques and miniaturized optical systems for remote sensing.
• Delfi-PQ, a 3P PocketQube developed by TU (Technical University) Delft, The Netherlands. DelfiPQ is the start of an iteratively developed line of PocketQubes with the aim to enable new and unforeseen missions with distributed networks of PocketQubes. Delfi-PQ is testing a LOFAR payload and a laser retro reflector.
• EASAT-2, a 1.5P, one of two twin PocketQube satellites from AMSAT-EA.
• FOSSASAT-2E5, FOSSASAT-2E6, IoT CubeSats of FOSSA Systems.
• Grizu-263, a CubeSat of the Grizu-263 Space Team of Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University, Turkey.
• HADES, a 1.5P PocketCube developed by AMSAT-EA (Spain). HADES is also an FM/FSK voice and data repeater for amateur use and carries an SSTV camera module developed and manufactured in the Department of Radioelectronics of the Brno University of Technology in the Czech Republic.
• LAIKA (FOSSASAT-2E4, FOSSASAT-2B), 2U CubeSats (technology demonstration) of FOSSA Systems.
• MDQube-SAT1, an in-orbit technology demonstration CubeSat of Innova Space, Buenos Aires, Argentina. The mission launched in Alba Orbital's flight proven AlbaPod to deploy the satellites in a Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
• PION-BRI, a PocketCube IoT satellite of PionLabs, Sao Paulo, Brazil. The PION-BR1 picosatellite is PION's low-power technology demonstrator as an educational platform.
• SanoSat-1, Nepal-PQ1 is Nepal's first PocketQube picosatellite (5 x 5 x 5 cm) developed by Orion Space. The primary function of the satellite is to collect wind, temperature, and humidity data and communicate findings with ground stations in Nepal. The PocketQube is developed by Orion Space in collaboration with AMSAT-Nepal and AMSAT-EA. The primary payload of SanoSat-1 is a radiation sensor which measures space radiation.
• SATTLA-2A, SATTLA-2B. A 2p PocketQube developed by Ariel University (Israel), which will utilize WiFi cards for extreme long-range link applicable to transmit video for over 600 km in LOS conditions.
• Tartan-Artibeus-1 (Unicorn-2TA1), a PocketCube nanosatellite of Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. It is the world's first batteryless pocketqube nanosatellite. The mission's goal is to demonstrate the viability of PocketQube-scale nanosatellites that operate reliably without batteries, eliminating the cost and complexity of battery-based power systems in nanosatellites. The sensor-equipped, 5 x 5 x 5 cm cube (1/8 the size of a CubeSat) will sense its environment and perform orbital edge computing to process sensor data in a way that is robust to intermittent operation.
• Unicorn-1, Unicorn-2A & Unicorn-2D. Unicorn-1, is a 2p built in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA). Unicorn-2A and 2D are Earth imaging 3p Pocket Qubes also developed by Alba Orbital UG (Germany). — The cluster includes Turkey's first pico-satellite, Grizu-263a which was designed by a team of engineering students from Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University and named in honour of the 1992 Kozlu coal mine disaster. The Grizu team is joined by other prestigious universities on the Alba Cluster 3 lineup such as TU Delft and Ariel University. ACME AtronOmatic, who flew TRSI-1 on Alba Cluster 2, also joined the Alba Cluster 3 roster as Alba Orbital's first returning launch customer.
• WISeSAT-1 and WISeSAT-2. WISeSat-1 and WISeSAT-2 are 2P PocketCube satellites manufactured by FOSSA Systems for WISeKey. WISeKey International Holding Ltd of Geneva, Switzerland, a leading global cybersecurity, AI, Blockchain and IoT company, today announced the successful launch of its first IoT connectivity satellites aboard the SpaceX Transporter-3 rideshare mission.
Deployment schedule of Transporter-3
After the 2nd stage engine cut-off the deployment begins in this order.
The SpaceX deployment callout, some of them are based on quad cubesat deployers located on a dispenser plate mounted on a ESPA ring “A1-4, B1-4 or C1-6” or at the top of ESPA C, where the ION SCV-004 Elysian Eleonora most likely is mounted.
The CubeSat dispenser carrier ION SCV-004 Elysian Eleonora can be built around a ‘D’ ESPA ring which can be released from C and deployed. Two hosted payloads can join the ‘D’ ring BUS, its onboard flight computer, powersource and communication systems. It’s called the D-Orbit Mission, so why not jump to that conclusion.
Capella 7, Capella 8, Umbra-02, Sich 2-30, ICEYE 15 and ICEYE 16 are all Microsats which are mounted on 7 ports on the ESPA rings next to “five” Cubesat and Picosat deployers. That could account for 12 of the 14 ports on the ESPA rings. Two ports were empty on the SpaceX YouTube broadcast, but viewers only saw one payload facing camera.
CubeSats are built within standard measurements of 10x10x10 centimeters as a 1U unit with lots of solar cells on the outside and various instruments on the inside. Planet of San Francisco’s SuperDove is a 3U CubeSat, sized as a ‘Loaf of bread’. The next size is the ‘Shoebox’ 6U which is two 3U built side by side. A 12U CubeSat is a ‘Tool Box’ that will measure 20x20x30 centimeters and fill a quad pack dispenser.
A PocketQube is a type of miniaturized satellite for space research that usually has a size of 5cm cubed per unit or 'p' (one eighth the volume of a CubeSat). This technology paves the way to ‘democratizing access to space’ as the small form factor removes significant economic barriers to orbit for smaller organizations. It looks like a ‘Rubik's Cube’.
There is a smaller size the 1/4U CubeSat, which is like a ‘Slice of bread’. SpaceBEE from Swarm Technologies, Inc. is an example of this size.
This Payload Manifest from NASA Space Flight.com is almost complete.
ICEYE 15 is missing a port number, ETV-A1 plus 5 under it in a dispenser on another port number and Alba Orbital on a third port. SpaceFlight’s Capella 8 needs a port number, so does ISILAUNCH 36’s Sich-2-1 microsatellite. That’s with 2 empty port holes and the assumption that D-Orbit Mission is the missing or probable D ring. I would believe all ports on the ESPA rings are now accounted for.
Still I say: How hard is it to write a freaking payload list, that is logical to read?
CubeSats marked USA-320-323 aren't accounted for yet.
I suddenly feel very old and tired. This is too much. Can't anybody do this instead.
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