Screenshot from SpaceX Webcast of the launch of Transporter-4
Mission Rundown: SpaceX B5 - Transporter-4
Written: August 6, 2022
Lift Off Time | April 1, 2021 - 16:24:17 UTC - 12:24:17 EDT |
Mission Name | Transporter-4 |
Launch Provider | SpaceX |
Customers | Numerous |
Rocket | Falcon 9 Block 5 serial number B1061-7 |
Launch Location | Space Launch Complex 40 - SLC-40 Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida |
Payload | 40 Commercial and Government CubeSats, Microsats, Pocket Qubes, and Orbital Transfer Vehicles |
Payload mass | ~2 500 kg ~ 5 500 pounds - guesswork |
Where are the satellites going? | Sun Synchronous Polar Orbit - 640 km x 655 km x 97,95° Sun Synchronous Polar Orbit - 490 km x 510 km x 97,39° |
Will they be attempting to recover the first stage? | Yes. JRTI is towed by the Tug, Zion M Falgout |
Where will the first stage land? | Just Read the Instructions 532 km downrange |
Will they be attempting to recover the fairings? | Yes. Recovery ship Bob will salvage the fairings 604 km downrange north of Cuba |
Are these fairings new? | Yes. Type 3.1 fairing with 4x2 venting ports, thermal steel tip, lowered protrusion and no acoustic tiles |
This will be the: | – 146th flight of all Falcon 9 rockets – 86th re-flight of all Falcon 9 boosters – 90th flight of Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket – 72th re-flight of Block 5 booster – 82th SpaceX launch from SLC-40 – 111th booster landing overall – 12th mission for SpaceX in 2022 |
Where to watch Where to read more in depth | SpaceX YouTube link Want to know or learn more link ask Tim Dodd |
Launch debriefing (This is what happens) 1st Stage went almost straight up before MECO to gain maximum height Horizontal velocity by 1st stage is usually 7000 km/t after MECO 2nd stage went straight into a 650 km orbit SES 2, SES 3 lowered the initial orbit to 500 km Jumps in telemetry is acquisition/loss of signal | T-00:08:16 Host: T 00:00:00 T+00:01:15 T+00:02:29 T+00:02:45 T+00:03:09 T+00:05:32 T+00:05:44 T+00:09:59 T+00:10:07 T+00:14:08 T+00:28:49 - T+01:08:05 - T+00:59:50 T+01:18:01 T+01:26:10 | SpaceX live feed at 04:20 Youmei Zhou checking the weather report Liftoff at 12:57 - 16:24:17 UTC - Video-Audio delay MaxQ at 14:11 - Audio 8 seconds earlier MECO 15:30, stage separation 15:34 SES-1 at 15:41 - Green TEA-TAB ignition Fairing separation at 16:05 - No acoustic tiles visible 1st stage apogee at 18:29 - 4 179 km/h at 233 km Reentry burn 21:40 by 3 Merlin 1D# for 30 seconds Landing burn 22:55 by 1 Merlin 1D# - for 33 seconds SECO at 23:04 and coasting in a elliptical orbit 1st deployment begins at 27:05 - 16:38:18 UTC SES-2 and SECO-2 in 3 seconds at 44:41 gave a velocity break from 27 686 km/h to 27 221 km/h SES-3 and SECO-3 in 3 seconds at 1:21:02 gave a velocity boost from 27 297 km/h to 27 622 km/h - audio only 2nd deployment begins at 1:14:49 - 17:38:59 UTC SpaceX resumes live feed at 1:30:58 Rap up from SpaceX at 1:34:16 |
South bound to catch some Cuban rays
SpaceX has launched Transporter-4, the fourth dedicated smallsat rideshare mission under their rideshare program. Transporter-4 – with its batch of 40 payloads – launched on a flight-proven Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) on April 1 at 12:24:16 pm EDT (16:24:16 UTC).
This is the fourth dedicated SmallSat Rideshare Program mission operated by SpaceX, which delivered 40 satellites first to a 650 kilometer and then to a 500 kilometer Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO). The two orbits required a lighter payload for this change. This will require a 1st stage to perform a longer burn to change course in flight as well.
Following stage separation, the second stage’s Merlin Vacuum engine ignited, beginning the six minute long burn toward an initial parking orbit. SpaceX used the “Polar Corridor” for this mission that allows launches from CCSFS to reach polar orbits. With populated islands to the south, rockets have to complete a “dogleg” maneuver to avoid them – essentially flying around them.
While the payload mass or destination orbit usually don’t prevents the first stage from preserving the energy needed for this boostback burn, Transporter 4 mission are relatively light and target two orbits, disabling a “Return to Launch Site” (RTLS) flight profile and creating the need for downrange drone ship recovery.
Three Merlin engines lit for 29 seconds to perform the ‘entry burn’, protecting the booster from the stresses of atmospheric reentry.
The single center engine then lit one final time to land B1061-7 on ‘JRTI’ the dronship ‘Just Read The Instructions’ ~532 km downrange. It was the 112th landing overall and the 38th consecutive successful landing of a Falcon rocket.
Second stage burned for 9 minutes 59 seconds to insert itself directly into its initial orbit. This orbit measured 640 km x 655 km. The 2nd stage then deployed three payloads.
After deployment, the second stage turned 180 degrees, coasted for 11 minutes before Second Engine Start (SES)-2 for two seconds, breaking its orbit. After another 40 minute coast, Stage 2 burned its engine for the third time for just one second to place itself into its final orbit of 490 x 510 km at an inclination of 97.4 degrees.
Starting at T+1 hour and 14 minutes, the rest of the payloads began deploying. The deployment sequence lasted for 12 minutes.
B1061-7 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.
B1061-7 will have made its seventh flight after launching the following missions:
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-4 Payload
SpaceX will launch 40 satellites into two Sun-Synchronous Orbits. These satellites are either directly attached to the two ESPA rings A and B or indirectly to dispensers attached to them. The eight 24 inch ports on ESPA ring A and B are secured to the Payload Adaptor Fitting on top of the 2nd stage.
SpaceX have been launching payloads from many space companies such as Planet, Capella Space, Kepler, Guardian, Exolaunch, Nanoracks, Satellogic, Spaceflight, and a large number of other companies and universities.
The largest satellite onboard is the Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (EnMAP) German hyperspectral satellite. With a mass of 980 kg, EnMAP will be used to monitor and characterize Earth’s environment on a global scale. Once in operation, it will be used to provide unique data that will be used to address environmental changes.
EnMAP was originally supposed to launch on the Indian PSLV rocket but was moved to the Falcon 9. It will operate for five years in a 650 km orbit.
Also onboard, Satellogic Inc. will launch four updated ÑuSat Mark IV satellites and their new Mark V satellite. These Earth-imaging satellites will see in both visible and infrared light will increase ÑuSat’s constellation size to 27 satellites.
The flight will also carry a transfer stage – the D-Orbit ION Satellite Carrier Vehicle (SCV) 005 Almighty Alexius. Almighty Alexius is a free-flying, self-propelled CubeSat deployer to carry hosted or deployable payloads. It is the fifth ION-SCV, having been used previously on the Vega VV16 in September 2020 and all previous Transporter missions.
ION Satellite Carrier is 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 parameters between one deployment and the next. Each of the miniature CubeSats weighs a few kilograms.
Almighty Alexius will carry 8 total payloads – 4 Kleos Space CubeSats, 3 CubeSats from the University of Chile, and a passive payload for Spacelust called Upmosphere.
This picture from ExoLaunch Inc. shows their capability to deploy many types of payloads.
As another one of many multi-launch partners for the smallsat rideshare program, Exolauch Inc. once again has ports for their customers. Exolaunch is a German-based launch service and separation system provider for smallsat payloads.
On the CarboNIX separation ring, the NanoAvionics microsatellite bus MP42 will be launched for their customer OQ Technology. The EXOpod CubeSat deployer will carry the ARCSAT satellite for the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment. Another EXOpod will also carry a single 12U CubeSat for Omnispace.
Spaceflight, Inc. has several ports on Transporter-4. One such payload is Lynk 05 for Lynk Global Inc. to test communications with mobile phones. Three more payloads are the HawkEye 360 Hawk-4A, 4B, and 4C transportation-monitoring satellites.
Other customers to be serviced by Transporter-4 come from a wide range of companies and countries. These include GNSS Navigation and Occlusion Measurement Satellites (GNOMES)-3, Albania-1, BDSat, RROCI, Pixxel, 12 Swarm Spacebees, and more.
Deployment schedule of Transporter-4
After the 2nd stage engine first cut-off the deployment begins in this order. This list is written with the following sources: Everyday Astronaut on launch order, NasaSpaceFlight on payloads, EOportal on some details and Günters Space Page with even finer details.
00:14:08 | EnMap deploys - 16:38:18 UTC |
| EnMAP (Environmental Mapping and Analysis Programme) is a hyperspectral Earth observation satellite. Hyperspectral instruments will record solar radiation reflected from the Earth, from visible light to near infrared. This will provide accurate information about the condition of the Earth's surface and how it is changing. The mission, which is to be launched in 2012, is scheduled to last for five years. |
00:16:48 | LEO-1 deploys |
| Leo-1 - Spark-1 - L1. Three names for Omnispace planned mobile communications global hybrid network based on 3GPP standards. These two Leo-1 and Leo-2 CubeSats will support 3GPP-defined ( the 3rd Generation Partnership Project telecommunications specifications that unite standard development organizations) Narrow-Band IoT (Internet of Things) radio interface and will serve to advance the development and implementation of Omnispace’s global hybrid network. |
00:17:38 | GNOMES-3 deploys |
| GNOMES-3 (GNSS Navigation and Occultation Measurement Satellites) by PlanetiQ is a planned constellation of 20 small ~30 kg microsatellite to provide radio occultation data for weather forecasting, climate research, and space weather monitoring. |
00:28:43 | 2nd stage engine starts (SES-2) ‘deorbit burn’ |
00:28:45 | 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-2) |
01:08:28 | 2nd stage engine restarts (SES-3) ‘orbit insertion burn’ |
01:08:29 | 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-3) |
01:14:42 | ARCSAT deploys 1:14:51 on SpaceX time bar |
| ARCSAT was built by the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI). 6U CubeSat with the skill to inflate a balloon in space. Radar tracking target practice. Maybe. |
01:14:54 | AlfaCrux deploys 1:15:02 |
| AlfaCrux 1U CubeSat satellite is designed for educational and technical investigations of narrowband communication and its applications carried out by researchers, students, and amateur radio operators interested in radio technique without pecuniary interest. Possible in-orbit technical demonstrations include digipeater solutions, scintillation impacts in the satellite communication link, and data collection systems. |
01:15:07 | 12 Swarm spacecraft deploys 1:15:15 |
| SpaceBEE picosatellites, built to the 0.25U CubeSat form factor, are a constellation of 150 picosats to provide two-way satellite communications and data relay. With 170 satellites to be manufactured by Swarm Technology. It’s swarming in space. |
01:16:22 | Shankuntala deploys 1:16:30 |
| Pixxel TD-2 named Shankuntala satellite are 6U CubeSat technology demonstrators for an Indian earth observation constellation built by Pixxel. Weighing less than 15 kg, TD-2 is capable of capturing orbital images in more than 150 bands of color from the visible and infrared spectrum with a resolution of 10-meters per pixel. |
01:16:39 | BD-Sat deploys |
| BD-Sat is a Czech 1U-CubeSat mission by the Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC). BD SENSORS is testing pressure transmitters in open space conditions. The experiment also includes verifying the function of the supercapacitor bank. It’s a future powerful source for storing electricity for satellite systems. |
01:17:08 | BRO-7 deploys |
| BRO-7 (Breizh Reconnaissance Orbiter) developed by UnseenLabs, is a spectrum monitoring and electromagnetic intelligence service (SIGINT) for maritime and aerial traffic surveillance. The satellite, built by GOMSpace, is a 6U CubeSat featuring the UnseenLabs built spectrum monitoring payload. |
01:17:28 | NewSat-27 deploys |
| ÑuSat 27 (NewSat 27, Aleph-1 27, Sally Ride) The 90 satellites in the constellation are identical 51 cm × 57 cm × 82 cm spacecraft of 37.5 kg mass. The satellites are equipped with an imaging system operating in visible light and infrared. The constellation will allow commercially available real-time Earth imaging and video with a ground resolution of 1 m. |
01:17:44 | NewSat-23 deploys |
| ÑuSat 23 (NewSat 23, Aleph-1 23, Annie Maunder) The 90 satellites in the constellation are identical 51 cm × 57 cm × 82 cm spacecraft of 37.5 kg mass. |
01:18:43 | NewSat-24 deploys |
| ÑuSat 24 (NewSat 24, Aleph-1 24, Kalpana Chawla) The 90 satellites in the constellation are identical 51 cm × 57 cm × 82 cm spacecraft of 37.5 kg mass. |
01:20:18 | NewSat-25 deploys 01:20:24 - 26 seconds early - audio only |
| ÑuSat 25 (NewSat 25, Aleph-1 25, Mária Telkes) The 90 satellites in the constellation are identical 51 cm × 57 cm × 82 cm spacecraft of 37.5 kg mass. |
01:22:48 | NewSat-26 deploys 01:22:23 - 25 seconds early |
| ÑuSat 26 (NewSat 26, Aleph-1 26, Mary Somerville) The 90 satellites in the constellation are identical 51 cm × 57 cm × 82 cm spacecraft of 37.5 kg mass. |
01:23:25 | Hawk 4C deploys 01:22:59 - 26 seconds early |
| HawkEye 360 is developing a space-based civil global intelligence network that will use radio frequency (RF) technology to help monitor transportation across air, land and sea and assist with emergencies, which is essentially a civil SIGINT (Signal Intelligence) mission. The satellites will geolocate more signals across a wider frequency range with improved accuracy and reduced data latency for more timely delivery to customers. |
01:23:36 | Hawk 4B deploys 01:23:10 - 26 seconds early |
| HawkEye 360 is developing a space-based civil global intelligence network that will use radio frequency (RF) technology to help monitor transportation across air, land and sea and assist with emergencies, which is essentially a civil SIGINT (Signal Intelligence) mission. The satellites will geolocate more signals across a wider frequency range with improved accuracy and reduced data latency for more timely delivery to customers. |
01:24:13 | Hawk 4A deploys 01:23:47 - 26 seconds early |
| HawkEye 360 is developing a space-based civil global intelligence network that will use radio frequency (RF) technology to help monitor transportation across air, land and sea and assist with emergencies, which is essentially a civil SIGINT (Signal Intelligence) mission. The satellites will geolocate more signals across a wider frequency range with improved accuracy and reduced data latency for more timely delivery to customers. |
01:25:46 | MP42 deploys 01:25:20 - 26 seconds early |
| M42 is a microsat project being developed by the Lithuanian NanoAvionics as a pathfinder mission for their M6P cubesat platform. It is a ride-share mission for two customers. One of the payloads on board is OQ Technology's Tiger 3, which provides basic commercial IoT and M2M services, using 5G connectivity, to customers with a focus on Africa, Middle East, Asia and Latin America. |
01:25:58 | Lynk Tower 01 deploys 01:25:32 - 26 seconds early |
| Lynk 05 (Lynk Tower 01) is an experimental communications satellite built by Lynk Global Inc. (formerly UbiquiLink) to test communications with standard mobile phones. Lynk is building a network of small satellites to provide affordable cellular coverage to unmodified cellular devices, enabling messaging, data, IoT, emergency communications everywhere on the planet. These spacecraft have enabled Lynk to conduct the world’s first orbiting cell tower demonstrations for a space-based cellular network. |
01:26:17 | SCV-005 Almighty Alexius deploys 01:25:51 - 26 seconds early |
| ION-SCV 005 (ION-SCV 005 Almighty Alexius, Spacelust) developed by Italian company D-Orbit, is a free-flying CubeSat deployer and technology demonstrator. The CubeSat carrier will host several CubeSats to be deployed once in orbit. Upmosphere serves as a passive hosted payload).
+ PlantSat (Satellite of the University of Chile for Aerospace Investigation)is a 3U CubeSat satellite, built by students and engineers of the University of Chile. Its main mission is to monitor the behavior of a plant in a microgravity environment and in extreme conditions of solar radiation. Its goal is to study in low earth orbit the growth of a suitable plant, replicating the conditions that life will experience on Mars’ surface. These conditions include low gravity force and high solar radiation. + KSM (Kleos Scouting Mission) PPM A1, 1B, 1C and 1D satellites of Kleos Space, a Luxembourg-based New Space geolocation company, will be used for a scouting mission to geolocate maritime radio to guard borders, protect assets, and save lives. +SUCHAI 2 (Satellite of the University of Chile for Aerospace Investigation) 3U CubeSat carrying 2 magnetometers, 1 Langmuir probe, 2 particle counters and 1 star tracker. +SUCHAI 3 (Satellite of the University of Chile for Aerospace Investigation) 3U CubeSat carrying 2 magnetometers, 1 Langmuir probe, 2 particle counters and 1 star tracker. |
The SpaceX deployment callout this time was 26 seconds early in this deployment time table. This just goes to show that you can’t trust published deployment schedules.
Some callouts are based on quad-cubesat deployers located on a dispenser plate mounted on a ESPA ring “A1-4 or B1-4” or at the top of ESPA B as port B5, where the EnMAP satellite will be mounted.
Just where the rest was mounted - nobody knows or talks about.
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.
NanoAvionics MP42 satellite took a fisheye selfie going south over Australia. The moon is small.
The 9 ports on the two ESPA rings are not accounted for in detail as I would like.
From the 2nd stage top bulkhead there is attached a 12 foot fairing mounting ring onto which the Payload Adaptor Fitting is mounted; it tapers into where the ESPA rings are mounted. On the ESPA rings there are 4 to 6 portholes depending on their size, from where Microsats and plates can be attached, the plates are attachment points for smaller rings with CubeSat dispensers in all sizes from 1/4U to 12U.
All of them have a name and are made by a company, a college school, a university or a government office. There are space companies like Exolauch Inc. who collect a bunch of CubeSat and give their own spin on all these links on the chain between 2nd stage and deployment. Therefore it’s a puzzle that is very hard to put together.
Just how hard is it to write a freaking payload list that is logical to read?
And don’t ever spend even more time editing this one.
Author Austin Desisto link | Coauthor/Text Retriever Johnny Nielsen link to launch list |
No comments:
Post a Comment