Screenshot from SpaceX Webcast of the launch of Transporter-5
Mission Rundown: SpaceX B5 - Transporter-5
Written: August 6, 2022
Lift Off Time | May 25, 2022 - 18:35:00 UTC - 14:35:00 EDT |
Mission Name | Transporter-5 |
Launch Provider | SpaceX |
Customers | Numerous |
Rocket | Falcon 9 Block 5 serial number B1061-8 |
Launch Location | Space Launch Complex 40 - SLC-40 Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida |
Payload | 59 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 - 537 km x 540 km x 97,39° |
Will they be attempting to recover the first stage? | Yes - 1st stage will do a Boost Back Burn |
Where will the first stage land? | LZ-1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida |
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? | No. Type 3.1 fairing with 4x2 venting ports, thermal steel tip, lowered protrusion and no acoustic tiles |
This will be the: This is the 100th launch of a single stick Falcon 9 rocket - I counted - Trice Amos 6 was ready to launch, but it exploded on the Pad - So it don’t count by my account - Statistics is a weird thing | – 156th flight of all Falcon 9 rockets – 95th re-flight of all Falcon 9 booster – 100th flight of a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket – 81st re-flight of a Block 5 booster – 86th SpaceX launch from SLC-40 – 121st booster landing overall – 22nd mission for SpaceX in 2022 |
Where to watch Where to read more in depth | SpaceX YouTube link Want to know more link ask Tim Dodd |
Launch debriefing (This is what happens) 1st Stage went almost sideways after MECO gaining little height Horizontal velocity by 1st stage is usually 7000 km/t after MECO Boost Back Burn cut that back with -8000 km/t 2nd stage got into SSO at 537-540 km altitude Jumps in telemetry is acquisition/loss of signal | T-00:07:09 Host: T 00:00:00 T+00:01:15 T+00:02:19 T+00:02:31 T+00:02:36 T+00:03:55 T+00:04:33 T+00:06:52 T+00:08:05 T+00:08:33 T+00:08:35 T+00:55:10 T+00:55:33 - T+00:59:04 T+01:15:01 T+01:25:32 | SpaceX live feed at 04:51 Kate Tice Liftoff at 11:59 - 18:35:00.198 UTC - Video-Audio delay MaxQ at 13:15 - Audio 2 seconds earlier MECO 14:19, stage separation 14:23 SES-1 at 14:31 - No green TEA-TAB ignition Boost back burn 3 Merlin 1D# at 14:35 for 48 seconds Fairing separation at 15:55 - No acoustic tiles visible 1st stage apogee at 16:33 - 1 002 km/h at 146 km Reentry burn 18:51 by 3 Merlin 1D# for 26 seconds Landing burn 20:04 by 1 Merlin 1D# - for 34 seconds SECO at 20:32 and coasting in a elliptical orbit Payload experiment begins at 27:05 - 18:43:35.000 UTC SpaceX resumes live feed at 1:07:10 SES-2 and SECO-2 in 3-4 seconds at 1:07:33 gave a velocity boost from 27 295 km/h to 27 620 km/h Deployment begins at 1:14:49 - 19:34:04.198 UTC SpaceX resumes live feed at 1:30:58 after blackout Rap up from SpaceX at 1:34:32 |
Another fishing expedition gone south
At 18:27 UTC (2:27 p.m. EDT) on May 25, SpaceX launched yet another Falcon 9 rocket. Lifting off from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Falcon 9 is carrying several dozen payloads to a sun-synchronous orbit for the Transporter-5 rideshare mission. The flight featured a somewhat rare return to launch site (RTLS) landing, with the first stage touching down at Landing Zone-1 at Cape Canaveral.
Transporter-5 – with its batch of 59 payloads – is the fifth dedicated rideshare mission for SpaceX. These rideshare missions are intended to compete with other smallsat launch companies in the aerospace industry such as Astra and Rocket Lab, which utilize small launch vehicles to give smallsat payloads a dedicated flight.
The Transporter-5 mission featured the Sherpa-AC Orbital Transfer Vehicle OTV from Spaceflight Inc, injected into a 525 km Sun Synchronous Orbit. The flight also carried the Italian space tug ION SCV-006 built by D-Orbit which will carry additional CubeSats. Another tug is the Momentus VR-3 which carries multiple PocketQubes and 1 CubeSat.
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 a boostback burn, Transporter 5 mission are relatively light and target a single orbit, abling a “Return to Launch Site” (RTLS) flight profile and cancel the need for downrange drone ship recovery.
Three Merlin engines lit for 29 seconds to perform the ‘entry burn’, protecting the booster from the aerodynamic stresses and chock bow plasma burns caused by the atmospheric reentry. The single center engine then lit one final time to land B1061-8 on LZ-1. It was the 122th landing overall and the 48th consecutive successful landing of a Falcon rocket.
Second stage burned for 9 minutes 59 seconds to insert itself into its transfer orbit. This orbit measured 207 km x 537 km. During this transfer orbit the initiation of the Outpost Mars Demo 1 experiment was performed by the hosted NASA payload, where a number of cuts were made in a space grade plate to demonstrate friction cuts and veldings.
After that the second stage coasted for 55 minutes before Second Engine Start (SES-2) for 3-4 seconds, entering its orbit of 490 x 510 km at an inclination of 97.4 degrees. Starting at T+00:59:00 minutes, the rest of the payloads began deploying. The deployment sequence then lasted for 16 minutes 22 seconds.
B1061-8 didn’t 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.
B1061-8 will have made its eighth 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-5 Payload
SpaceX will launch 59 satellites into two Sun-Synchronous Orbits. These satellites are either directly attached to the four ESPA rings A, B, C and D or indirectly to dispensers attached to them. The sixteen 24 inch ports on ESPA ring A - D are secured to the Payload Adaptor Fitting on top of the 2nd stage.
SpaceX has been launching numerous 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 flight will also carry a transfer stage – the D-Orbit ION Satellite Carrier Vehicle (SCV) 006. SCV 006 Thrilling Thomas is a free-flying, self-propelled CubeSat deployer to carry hosted or deployable payloads. It is the sixth 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.
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 microsatellite will be mounted and launched for their customer Technology. The EXOpod CubeSat deployer will carry the CubeSats. And from the EXOport porthole size - 24 inch to 15 inch - reducer plate, Exolaunch will deploy a number of ‘Toolbox’ sized 12U to 24U CubeSats.
This picture from ExoLaunch Inc. shows their capability to deploy many types of payloads.
Among the satellites that Transporter-5 deployed into sun-synchronous orbit, rideshare aggregator ExoLaunch accounted for 21 satellites, including satellites for ICEYE, Satellogic and Spire. Smallsat manufacturer Terran Orbital flew satellites for several customers, such as Fleet, GeoOptics and NASA.
Other companies that had satellites on Transporter-5 are HawkEye 360, which flew another cluster of three radio-frequency intelligence satellites; GHGSat, which launched three satellites to monitor greenhouse gas emissions; and Umbra, which launched a synthetic aperture radar imaging satellite.
Spaceflight Inc. is taking 5 spacecraft, including 2 hosted payloads onboard the Sherpa-AC OTV (Orbital Transfer Vehicle), to a sun-synchronous orbit to an altitude of 525 km.
Deployment schedule of Transporter-5
After the 2nd stage engine first cut-off the deployment begins in this order. This list is written with following sources: Everyday Astronaut on launch order, NasaSpaceFlight on payloads, EOportal on some details and Günters Space Page with even finer details.
00:08:35 | Outpost Mars Demo 1 experiment initiation, Nanoracks |
| Mars Demo-1 of Nanoracks. Nanoracks will launch a self-contained hosted payload platform to demonstrate on-orbit debris-free robotic metal cutting. This demonstration opens the door to further Outpost development, including physical modification of upper stages. |
00:55:33 | 2nd stage engine restarts (SES-2) 3-4 second Orbit insertion burn |
00:55:36 | 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-2) |
00:59:04 | CICERO-2 Vehicle 2 deploys, GeoOptics, Terran Orbital |
| CICERO-2 (Community Initiative for Cellular Earth Remote Observation) is a constellation of low-Earth Orbiting (LEO) 6U-XXL micro-satellites for performing GPS and Galileo radio occultation (GNSS-RO) of Earth’s atmosphere and surface remote sensing by GNSS reflection. They are operated by GeoOptics. Cicero-2 2 is listed as Tyvak-0821. |
00:59:09 | Platform-1, SharedSat 2 deploys, Exolaunch |
| Platform-1 - Spartan (Shared Platform for Applied Research and Technology Affirmation) is the second of several upcoming Shared Satellite Missions, empowering EnduroSat’s commercial partners and their space capabilities. It enables the easiest way to perform technology demonstrations as well as scientific and commercial programs without the need to operate your own satellite or ground infrastructure. The Shared Satellite Service includes integration, validation and testing, launch and operations of the 6U satellite and all the payloads, thereby opening a paradigm improvement in space accessibility and simplifying space operations. Direct access to the payload data is instantly available in the cloud via EnduroSat’s own Digital Ground Station. |
00:59:18 | NASA Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator 3 deploys, Terran Orbital |
| PTD-3 (Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator-3) is a NASA payload flying on a non-government commercial CubeSat. This demonstrator will benefit future missions by demonstrating the operation of new subsystem technologies in orbit. PTD-3 is carrying the TBIRD system to demonstrate the high-data-rate capabilities of laser communications from a CubeSat in LEO. |
00:59:17 | LEMUR 2 KAREN_B deploys, Spire Global, Exolaunch |
| Spire Global satellites are manifested on the SpaceX Transporter-5 Mission through a multi-launch agreement between Spire and ExoLaunch. Spire announced that it will launch five satellites (Lemur-2) on the upcoming SpaceX Transporter-5 Mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Lemur-2 satellites - Earth observation, traffic monitoring are built by Spire and launched since September 28, 2015. Lemur-2 satellites carry three payloads: STRATOS (GPS radio occultation payload), SENSE (AIS-receiver), AirSafe ASD-B payload. This is Lemur number 153. |
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00:59:37 | URDANETA deploys, Exolaunch |
| Urdaneta-Armsat-1, a 16U satellite features Satlatis' iSIM-90 imager, which has previously flown on the CASPR experiment onboard the STP-H7 palette attached to the ISS. The imager has 1.8 m ground resolution and a 14.3 km swath width. It operates in 4 spectral bands (RGB, NIR). |
00:59:46 | CICERO-2 Vehicle 1 deploys, GeoOptics, Terran Orbital |
| CICERO-2 (Community Initiative for Cellular Earth Remote Observation) is a constellation of low-Earth Orbiting (LEO) 6U-XXL micro-satellites for performing GPS and Galileo radio occultation (GNSS-RO) of Earth’s atmosphere and surface remote sensing by GNSS reflection. They are operated by GeoOptics. Cicero-2 1 is listed as Tyvak-0820. |
00:59:56 | LEMUR 2 VanDenDRIES deploys, Spire Global, Exolaunch |
| Lemur-2 satellites - Earth observation, traffic monitoring are built by Spire and launched since September 28, 2015. Lemur-2 satellites carry three payloads: STRATOS (GPS radio occultation payload), SENSE (AIS-receiver), AirSafe ASD-B payload. This is Lemur number 156. |
01:00:05 | Spark-2 deploys, Omnispace, Exolaunch |
| Spark-2, Omnispace LEO-2 is a planned mobile communications global hybrid network based on 3GPP standards. Thales Alenia Space was contracted in 2020 to design and build an initial set of two satellites for operation in non-geostationary orbit (NGSO). These initial satellites 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. This announcement marks a key milestone as Omnispace initiates the development of its new generation NGSO satellite constellation which will operate in the S-band. |
01:00:24 | LEMUR 2 Tennyson Lily deploys, Spire Global, Exolaunch |
| Lemur-2 satellites - Earth observation, traffic monitoring are built by Spire and launched since September 28, 2015. Lemur-2 satellites carry three payloads: STRATOS (GPS radio occultation payload), SENSE (AIS-receiver), AirSafe ASD-B payload. This is Lemur number 155. |
01:00:47 | GHGSat-C4 Penny deploys |
| GHGSat-C3, -C4 and -C5, three nanosatellites (each 15 kg) of GHGSat Inc. Montreal, built by SFL (Space Flight Laboratory) of Toronto with gas detection payloads provided by ABB. The three new GHGSat commercial high-resolution satellites will join the company’s current constellation already in orbit – GHGSat-D (Claire), GHGSat-C1 (Iris) and GHGSat-C2 (Hugo). |
01:01:00 | Planetum-1 and SPiN-1 deploy, manifested by Exolaunch |
| Planetum 1 is a 1U Cubesat designed by Planetum, a cluster of Prague observatories and planetariums, to teach and popularize astronomy and cosmonautics. Planetum1 features an active orientation system that allows precise maneuvering as well as pointing of the satellite camera with an accuracy better than 1.5°. The satellite also is equipped with a device to measure the Earth's magnetic field. SPiN 1, (Space Products and Innovation 1) is an 1U CubeSat standard built by Space Products and Innovation to demonstrate in-orbit reconfiguration and the use of the modular satellite assembly with off-the-shelf components through MA61C (MAGIC, Multipurpose Adapter Generic Interface Connector) universal adapter. |
01:01:09 | LEMUR 2 HANCOM-1 deploys, Spire Global, Exolaunch |
| Lemur 2 HANCOM-1 inSPACE, a spin-off by Korea Aerospace Research Institute - will host an optical payload on a Spire Global HANCOM-1, this is Lemur number 152 a 6U CubeSat satellite. |
01:01:21 | GHGSat-C3 Luca deploys |
| GHGSat-C3 nanosatellites (15 kg) of GHGSat Inc. Montreal, built by SFL (Space Flight Laboratory) of Toronto with gas detection payloads provided by ABB. |
01:01:38 | NASA CubeSat Proximity Operations Demonstration deploys, Terran Orbital |
| CPOD A (Close Proximity Operations Demonstration) and CPOD B. These are NASA payloads flying on non-government commercial CubeSats. CPOD will validate the technologies that are needed to support rendezvous, proximity operations, docking, servicing, and formation flight by utilizing a pair of identical nano-satellites and leveraging the inherent relative low costs of their vehicle manufacture and launch capabilities. It will also validate use of a completely new set of low power miniature components and software approach. |
01:01:50 | Connecta T1.1 deploys, manifested by Exolaunch |
| Connecta T1.1 is a Türkish communication test satellite built by Plan-S. It is a 3U-cubesat which carries a software defined satellite which will be used for bidirectional M2M/IoT communication trials. It uses UHF commercial band in both TMTC and IoT links. There are also independent S-band Tx and Rx lines deployed in the satellite. |
01:01:59 | LEMUR 2 MIMI1307 deploys, Spire Global, Exolaunch |
| Lemur-2 satellites - Earth observation, traffic monitoring are built by Spire and launched since September 28, 2015. Lemur-2 satellites carry three payloads: STRATOS (GPS radio occultation payload), SENSE (AIS-receiver), AirSafe ASD-B payload. This is Lemur number 154. |
01:02:13 | GHGSat-C5 Diako deploys |
| GHGSat-C5 nanosatellites (15 kg) of GHGSat Inc. Montreal, built by SFL (Space Flight Laboratory) of Toronto with gas detection payloads provided by ABB. |
01:03:18 | Foresail-1 deploys, manifested by Exolaunch |
| Foresail 1 is a 3U-CubeSat mission of the Finnish Center of Excellence for Sustainable Space, hosting two payloads - the particle telescope (PATE) from the University of Turku and deorbiting plasma brake device from the Finnish meteorological institute. The spacecraft is designed and built in Aalto University. PATE is a particle detector capable of measuring electrons and protons, their energies and pitch angles. The electrons are monitored with a range from 80 to 1600 keV with a single channel, while the protons are monitored with a range from 8 to 30 MeV in two energy channels. The secondary payload is the Electrostatic Plasma Brake, developed by the Finnish Meteorological Institute. The device is designed to lower the orbit altitude of the satellite and finally deorbit the satellite. |
01:03:49 | Centauri-5 - Tyvak 0212 deploys, Fleet Space, Terran Orbital |
| Centauri 5 is a pathfinder satellite for Fleet Space Technologies' planned 140 satellite network for global satellite connectivity to the Internet of things (IoT) designed for use in the energy, utilities, and resource industries. The Centauri satellites are built to the 6U CubeSat form factor. They weigh less than 10 kg and are the size of a shoe box, have 119 times the data capacity compared to its Centauri 1 & 2 predecessors and are integrated with the satellite bus/avionics in an ongoing collaboration with US nanosatellites systems designer Tyvak. |
01:04:04 | CnCE V4 and CnCE V5 deploys, Spaceflight Inc |
| CNCE Blk 2 satellites, called CNCE 4 and CNCE 5 satellites by the Missile Defense Agency, will replicate an advanced on-orbit concept of operations involving satellite-to-satellite communications and satellite-to-ground communications in the space environment. |
01:04:20 | Newsat 28 deploys, Satellogic |
| ÑuSat 28 (NewSat 28, Aleph-1 28, Alice Lee), an Argentinean earth observation satellite from the Aleph-1 constellation developed and operated by Satellogic S.A. The 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 for commercially available real-time Earth imaging and video with a ground resolution of 1 m. The satellites were developed based on the experience gained on the BugSat 1 (Tita) prototype satellite.
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01:04:42 | Sherpa-AC1 deploys, Spaceflight Inc - 01:04:49 visible delay 7 seconds |
| Sherpa-AC1 is a CubeSat deployer of Spaceflight Inc. The Sherpa-AC, developed by Spaceflight Inc., is a free flying satellite deployer featuring chemical propulsion. - Xona Space Huginn mission (the hosted Xona mission is described on the eoPortal of ESA). - TROOP-3 (Train-Rapid on Orbit Payload) of NearSpace Launch Inc. will provide 24/7 telemetry plus critical mission data while hosting payloads for experimental testing. As a hosted payload, TROOP will remain attached to the Sherpa OTV for the duration of the vehicle’s life in orbit, which will be around eight years. NearSpace Launch’s goal is to help organizations track and report the location of their spacecraft to fight orbit debris and is planning many more missions with Spaceflight to enable these capabilities for more organizations. Apparently Sherpa-AC 1 deployed its three payloads; CNCE 4, CNCE 5 and AMS before itself deployed, which I believe is not in the general plan. Logically Sherpa-AC 1 should deploy, move away to another orbit and then deploy its payload. Was there no faith in Sherpa-AC 1. |
01:05:28 | Varisat-1C deploys, Momentus |
| VariSat-1C a technology demonstration mission. The overall goal of the VariSat-1C mission, operated by VariSat LLC, Texas, USA, is to experiment and gain flight heritage with a satellite designed to support HF marine data communications. The 6U CubeSat, size 12 x 25.4 x 36.6 cm and with a mass of 11kg will be launched. VariSat-1A & B was either canceled or postponed. |
01:05:43 | AMS deploys, Spaceflight Inc |
| AMS (Agile Micro Satellite) is a mission featuring a 6U CubeSat spacecraft to demonstrate that a CubeSat can reliably operate in very low earth orbit. It is led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory. AMS will initially launch to an altitude of 500 kilometers and will use electric propulsion to maneuver to the lowest altitude possible. By demonstrating CubeSat performance at such low altitudes, the U.S. Air Force, and others will be able to leverage the technology to conduct important new Earth observation and other civil and military space missions. The satellite features an ENPULSION thruster offering active thrust vector control without moving parts, the IFM Nano Thruster SE. This effect is achieved by the segmented extractor which enables the steering of the beam and achieves precise thrust pointing. |
01:06:07 | BroncoSat-1 deploys, Momentus |
| BroncoSat-1 built by students at Cal Poly, Pomona, CA. A trailblazing 1.5U CubeSat technology demonstration mission and a truly historic endeavor as our university’s first space mission. The objective is to demonstrate the use of a dedicated and Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) platform for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in the New Space Industry. |
01:06:35 | Newsat 29 deploys, Satellogic - 01:06:42 delayed 7 seconds |
| ÑuSat 29 (NewSat 29, Aleph-1 29, Edith Clarke), an Argentinean earth observation satellite from the Aleph-1 constellation developed and operated by Satellogic S.A. The 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 for commercially available real-time Earth imaging and video with a ground resolution of 1 m. |
01:08:19 | Newsat 30 deploys, Satellogic - 01:08:26 delayed 7 seconds |
| ÑuSat 30 (NewSat 30, Aleph-1 30, Margherita Hack), an Argentinean earth observation satellite from the Aleph-1 constellation developed and operated by Satellogic S.A. The 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 for commercially available real-time Earth imaging and video with a ground resolution of 1 m. |
01:08:40 | First ICEYE deploys, Exolaunch - Audio only - Entering blackout zone |
| ICEYE SAR satellites of Finland via ExoLaunch. The launch also included the second and third satellites built, licensed and operated by ICEYE US. ICEYE X17-X20 & X24 in what order? |
01:09:00 | Newsat 31 deploys, Satellogic |
| ÑuSat 31 (NewSat 31, Aleph-1 31, Ruby Payne-Scott), an Argentinean earth observation satellite from the Aleph-1 constellation developed and operated by Satellogic S.A. The 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 for commercially available real-time Earth imaging and video with a ground resolution of 1 m. |
01:09:22 | ION SCV006 Thrilling Thomas deploys, D-Orbit |
| ION SCV-006 Satellite Carrier is a satellite platform developed, manufactured, 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, the 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. + Guardian is a prototype for 6U CubeSat developed by Aistech to provide thermal images of the Earth. Aistech is planning to deploy a constellation of 20 thermal-enabled satellites. The nanosatellite, named Guardian, carries a multispectral telescope designed by Aistech Space, with a variety of sensors from the visible (RGB), near infrared (NIR), and thermal infrared (TIR) spectrum. The satellite is built by OrbAstro. + SBUDNIC is a technology demonstration 3U cubesat mission developed by the Brown University, supported by D-Orbit, AMSAT-Italy, La Sapienza-University of Rome and NASA Rhode Island Space Grant, for amateur radio experimentation in satellite communications and control using a Cubesat built on a small budget using low cost and widely available parts and very simple low bandwidth communications architecture. It also features an aerodrag device to be deployed on orbit, creating drag and slowly pushing the satellite out of its orbit. This device will allow the satellite to leave orbit within 25 years. |
01:09:44 | Umbra-03 and Umbra-04 deploys |
| Umbra-03 and Umbra-04, X-band SAR microsatellites (65 kg) of Umbra Lab, Santa Barbara, CA. The mission is to test technologies and designs, validate performance, and progress into a fully operational architecture. |
01:10:05 | HawkEye 360’s Hawk-5B deploys |
| 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. UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) will manufacture the bus and integrate the new RF payload developed by HawkEye 360. The satellites will geolocate more signals across a wider frequency range with improved accuracy and reduced data latency for more timely delivery to customers. |
01:10:26 | HawkEye 360’s Hawk-5C deploys |
| 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. |
01:10:48 | HawkEye 360’s Hawk-5A deploys |
| 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. |
01:11:17 | Momentus’ Vigoride Tug deploys |
| Vigoride-3 is a space tug of Momentus Space. The total payload capacity that it can support to LEO is 250 kg with a future upgrade that could support up to 750 kg. Vigoride is capable of changing orbital planes, inclination, and propelling spacecraft to up to 2,000 km. Vigoride 3, carrying 7 small satellites. It suffered a failure of the solar arrays to deploy, which has reduced power and limited communication. The company did have initial contact with Vigoride-3 and was able to confirm the two satellite deployments, but even with Federal Communications Commission approval of the use of unplanned frequencies it has not been able to maintain two-way communications. Only three payloads haven’t deployed yet. + FossaSat 2E is a picosatellite developed by Fossa Systems, a non-profit association developing pocketqube picosatellite technology and democratizing access to space, to the 2P PocketQube form factor. 2 FossaSat 2E of 7 didn’t deploy because of power loss. + Veery FS-1 (Veery v0.2, Hatchling Veery Orion) is a picosatellite developed by Care Weather Technologies to the 1P PocketQube form factor as a technology demonstrator for their planned Veery wind scatterometer satellites. Veery FS-1 deployed later after the power loss. + SelfieSat is a 2 unit CubeSat mission built by Norwegian Orbit NTNU, a volunteer student organization educating future space engineers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The purpose of the satellite is to display a selfie of any person on earth calling it when displayed on a screen. SelfieSat didn’t deploy because of power loss. |
01:11:56 | Second ICEYE deploys, manifested by Exolaunch |
| ICEYE SAR satellites of Finland via ExoLaunch. The launch also included the second and third satellites built, licensed and operated by ICEYE US. ICEYE X18 |
01:12:29 | Third ICEYE deploys, manifested by Exolaunch |
| ICEYE SAR satellites of Finland via ExoLaunch. The launch also included the second and third satellites built, licensed and operated by ICEYE US. ICEYE X19 |
01:12:51 | Fourth ICEYE deploys, manifested by Exolaunch |
| ICEYE SAR satellites of Finland via ExoLaunch. The launch also included the second and third satellites built, licensed and operated by ICEYE US. ICEYE X20 |
01:15:22 | Fifth ICEYE deploys, manifested by Exolaunch |
| ICEYE SAR satellites of Finland via ExoLaunch. The launch also included the second and third satellites built, licensed and operated by ICEYE US. ICEYE X24 |
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 or a ‘French Flüte’ with 6U on a row. A 12U CubeSat is a ‘Toolbox’ measuring 20x20x30 centimeters and fills 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.
The CPOD, PTD-3, CENTAURI-5, and two CICERO-2 payloads from Terran Orbital Corporation.
Terran Orbital Corporation have here mounted 5 CubeSats dispensers mounted on a plate attached to one of four 24 inch portholes in the ESPA D ring. The CubeSats dispensers each will open a lid from which a 6U CubeSat will deploy, CPOD will deploy two 3U CubeSat and two Cicero-2 will each deploy a larger 6U XXL CubeSat. The power wires go to the locks on the lids on the CubeSat dispensers - note the hinges on the lids edges.
The 16 ports on the four ESPA rings are not accounted for in detail as I would like.
Some callouts are based on quad cubesat deployers located on a dispenser plate mounted on an ESPA ring port “A1-4, B1-4, C1-4 or D1-4” or at the top of ESPA D as port D5, where the heaviest satellite will be mounted.
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 of the chain between 2nd stage and deployment. Therefore it’s a puzzle that is very difficult to put together.
Just how many hours did I use to write this freaking payload list?
Author Austin Desisto link, Trevor Sesnic link | Coauthor/Text Retriever Johnny Nielsen link to launch list |
