Vol. 39 No.4, January 2014 Editor: Jos Heyman FBIS

In this issue:

Satellite Update 3 Cancelled Projects: X-33 4 News Apstar-9 2 AsiaSat-9 7 ICESat-2 7 ISS 7 KSC launch Pad 39A 6 L2 and L3 Missions 2 Mars One 7 NROL-39 6 Panasonic 6 Robonaut-2 3 SGDC 2 SOAR 7 Soyuz 2-1v/Volga 7 TDRS-L 5 Tupac Katari-1 2

TIROS SPACE INFORMATION SGDC 86 Barnevelder Bend, Southern River WA 6110, Australia Tel + 61 8 9398 1322 Brazil has ordered a civil-military communications satellite from Thales Alenia Space using the (e-mail: [email protected]) Spacebus 4000 platform. The Tiros Space Information (TSI) - News Bulletin is published to promote the scientific exploration and To be known as the Satélite Geoestacionário de Defesa e Comunicações Estratégicas (SGDC) commercial application of space through the dissemination of current news and historical facts. (for Geostationary and Defense and Strategic Communications Satellite), it will carry 50 Ka In doing so, Tiros Space Information continues the traditions of the Western Australian Branch of the band transponders. Apart from the military applications, the satellite will also be used to extend Astronautical Society of Australia (1973-1975) and the Astronautical Society of Western Australia (ASWA) internet communications throughout Brazil. (1975-2006). Launch by an Ariane 5 launch vehicle is expected in 2017. The News Bulletin can be received worldwide by e-mail subscription only. Subscriptions can be requested by sending an e-mail address to [email protected]. Tiros Space Information reserves the right to refuse any subscription request without the need to provide a reason. All opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Editor or Apstar-9 Tiros Space Information. All material contained in this publication may be reproduced provided due acknowledgment is made. APT Satellite Communications of Hong Kong has ordered the Apstar-9 satellite for launch in late 2015. The satellite will be based on the DFH 4 platform and will carry 32 C band and 14 Ku band Calling card... transponders. A CZ 3B launch vehicle will place the satellite in a geostationary orbit at 142 oE.

I suppose I only got myself to blame.

Readers will remember that in the past I have grumbled about the quality of the mission press L2 and L3 Missions kits issued by NASA – information not being up to date and quickly copied from previous sources. The European Space Agency has selected two scientific missions to study the hot and energetic universe and search for elusive gravitational waves as the next missions in its Cosmic Vision Well, NASA has finally taken action. Science programme.

When I was looking for the Press Kit for the ISS Expeditions 37 and 38 (in order to use the list For now identified as L2, the first mission will be an advanced X-ray observatory to examine of experiments that was contained in the previous ISS press kits to update my data files) I got how and why ordinary matter assembles into the galaxies and galactic clusters as well as how this message: black holes grow and influence their surroundings. Press Kits after Expedition 36 will no longer be available. The latest station mission information including science, spacewalks, spacecraft launches and landings will be The second mission, identified as L3, will study gravity in the universe, searching for ripples in available throughout the Space Station section. the fabric of space-time created by celestial objects with very strong gravity, such as pairs of merging black holes. True, if you go to the website that is – more or less – devoted to the International Space Station, Launch dates for the two missions are at least ten years in the future. there is an irregular mention of the experiments that the crew has worked on, but, in my honest opinion, that is not a viable replacement for the previously published full list. Tupac Katari-1 At this point it is also worthwhile to reflect that the daily update on ISS activities that was issued for so many years, disappeared after the author, a retired NASA employee, passed away. Tupac Katari-1, Bolivia’s first satellite, is scheduled for launch on 20 December 2013 by a CZ 3B/E launch vehicle from Xichang. Surely the media folks at NASA can do better. Built by Great Wall Industry Corp. of China, and based on the DFH 4 platform, the satellite will be fitted with 26 Ku-band, 2 C-band and 2 Ka-band transponders. Its orbital location will be Jos Heyman 87.2 oW. The satellite is named in honour of Tupac Katari, a Bolivian 18th century indigenous leader who fought for national independence.

Tiros Space Information – News Bulletin, January 2014, page 2

Satellite Update 2013 066M Triton-1 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 Netherl. Technology 2013 066N Delfi-n3Xt 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 Netherl. Technology 2013 066P Dove-3 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 USA Technology Launches in November 2013 2013 066Q GOMX-1 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 Denm. Technology

2013 066R BRITE-PL-1 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 Poland Technology Int.Des. Name Launch Launch vehicle Country Notes 2013 066AJ BPA-3 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 Ukraine Technology date 2013 066* CubeBug-2 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 Argent. Technology 2013 060A MOM 5-Nov-2013 PSLV-XL India Mars orbiter 2013 066* UWE-2 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 Germ. Technology 2013 061A Soyuz TMA-11M 7-Nov-2013 Soyuz FG Russia Crewed 2013 066* Wren 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 Germ. Technology 2013 062A Raduga 1M-3 11-Nov-2013 Proton M/Briz M Russia Communications 2013 066* ZACube-1 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 S.Africa Technology 2013 063A MAVEN 18-Nov-2013 Atlas V-401 USA Lunar orbiter 2013 066* Velox P-2 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 Singp. Technology 1998 067DA PicoDragon 19-Nov-2013 --- Vietnam Technology 2013 066* CINEMA-2 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 S.Korea Technology 1998 067DB Ardusat-1 19-Nov-2013 --- USA Technology 2013 066* CINEMA-3 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 S.Korea Technology 1998 067DC Ardusat-X 19-Nov-2013 --- USA Technology 2013 066* NEE 02 Krysaor 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 Ecuador Technology 1998 067DD TechEdSat-3 20-Nov-2013 --- USA Technology 2013 066* HumSat-D 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 Spain Technology 2013 064A STPSat-3 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology 2013 066* ICube 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 Pakist. Technology 2013 064J SENSE-1 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology 2013 066* PUCPSat-1 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 Peru Technology 2013 064N SENSE-2 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology 2013 066* HINCube 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 Norway Technology 2013 064* ORSES 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology 2013 066* First-MOVE 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 Germ. Technology 2013 064* ORS Tech-1 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology 2013 066* OPTOS 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 Spain Technology 2013 064* ORS Tech-2 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology 2013 066* FUNCube-1 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 UK Technology 2013 064* Firefly 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology 2013 066* $50Sat 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 USA Technology 2013 064* STARE-B 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology 2013 066* Beakersat-1 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 USA Technology 2013 064* Black Knight-1 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology 2013 066* Dove-4 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 USA Technology 2013 064* NPS-SCAT 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology 2013 066* Pocket PUCP 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 USA Technology 2013 064* COPPER 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology 2013 066* QBScout-1 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 USA Technology 2013 064* SPA-1 Trailblazer 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology 2013 067A -A 22-Nov-2013 Rokot/Briz KM ESA Ionospheric 2013 064* Vermont Lunar 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology 2013 067B Swarm-B 22-Nov-2013 Rokot/Briz KM ESA Ionospheric Cubesat 2013 067C Swarm-C 22-Nov-2013 Rokot/Briz KM ESA Ionospheric 2013 064* Prometheus-1 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology 2013 068A Shiyan-5 25-Nov-2013 CZ 2D China Technology 2013 064* Prometheus-2 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology 2013 069A M-21M 25-Nov-2013 Soyuz U Russia Crewed support 2013 064* Prometheus-3 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology *The Int. Des. has not yet been assigned or confirmed. 2013 064* Prometheus-4 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology 2013 064* Prometheus-5 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology 2013 064* Prometheus-6 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology Other updates 2013 064* Prometheus-7 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology 2013 064* Prometheus-8 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology Int. Des. Name No tes 2013 064* Swampsat 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology 2009 013A GOCE Re-entered 11 November 2013 2013 064* CAPE-2 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology 2013 025A Soyuz TMA- Undocked on 10 November 2013 and re-entered on 11 November 2013 064* Dragonsat-1 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology 09M 2013. 2013 064* KYSat-2 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology 2013 027A ATV-4 Undocked on 28 October 2013 and re-entered on 2 November 2013 2013 064* T3JSat 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology 2013 064* ChargerSat-1 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology 2013 064* Ho'oponopono-2 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology Robonaut 2 2013 064* ORS-3 20-Nov-2013 Minotaur-1 USA Technology 2013 065A YW-19 20-Nov-2013 CZ 4C China Remote sensing NASA has announced that Robonaut 2, the robot sent to the International Space Station in 2013 066A AprizeSat-7 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 USA Navigational February 2011, will receive legs that will allow him to climb whilst performing maintenance tasks 2013 066C SkySat-1 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 USA Earth observation 2013 066D DubaiSat-2 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 UAE Earth observatton outside the space station. These legs have seven joints each and a so called ‘end effector’ as 2013 066F Unisat-5 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 Italy Technology feet. The end effectors will be fitted with a vision system. 2013 066G STSAT-3 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 S Korea Technology The legs will be sent to ISS early in 2014. 2013 066H WNISAT 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 Japan Technology 2013 066K AprizeSat-8 21-Nov-2013 Dnepr 1 USA Navigational Tiros Space Information – News Bulletin, January 2014, page 3

Cancelled Projects: X-33 On 2 July 1996 the Lockheed Martin design was selected for the X-33 project. It was to demonstrate a range of technologies that NASA had identified, including metallic thermal by Jos Heyman protection systems, composite cryogenic fuel tanks for liquid hydrogen, the aerospike engine, autonomous (unmanned) flight control, rapid flight turn-around times through streamlined In January 1993 and after some years of discussions, NASA’s then administrator, Daniel Goldin, operations, and its lifting body aerodynamics. announced the establishment of a detailed study to develop a comprehensive launch system These demonstrations were that would serve the needs of NASA, the Department of Defense as well as commercial users expected to take place over a period from 1995 through to 2030. The emphasis was to make access to space not only cheaper but of three years and would have cost also more reliable and safer. $ 900 million. An initial programme The study resulted in three options. The first of these would rely on the continued use of the of 15 flights was proposed with and the current fleet of launch vehicles, be it with upgrades. altitude of up to 75 km. It was The second option concentrated on four expendable launchers whereas the third option expected that through these flights considered the development of a next generation launch system using advanced technologies. the X-33 would demonstrate a 99.7% This option, which was eventually selected, included the consideration of scramjets as an reliability, ie 3 mishaps in 1000 alternative means of compulsion, single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) and reusability. launches, which would make it more reliable than the Space Shuttle. As part of the third option, it was decided to embark on the X-33 programme which would involve a 50% sub-scale model of the selected design to develop and validate the new technologies The vehicle had a width of 23.47 m, a required for the future launch vehicle. NASA hoped that as a result of the X-33 programme there length of 21.03 m and was to be would be sufficient incentive for the aerospace companies to commence the development of the powered by 2 Rocketdyne XRS-2200 full scale vehicle as a private undertaking with operations expected to commence by 2012. linear aerospike engines fuelled by Lox/LH2 developing a thrust of 1.823 Five aerospace companies indicated their interest and of these, three were selected to provide kN. A maximum speed of Mach 12 proposals for half-scale sub-orbital prototypes of the launch vehicles. was envisaged.

McDonnell Douglas, teaming up with Boeing, proposed a vertical take-off and horizontal landing The first test flight of the X-33 was vehicle based on their earlier DC-X development. expected by March 1999 with the 15 Rockwell proposed a vertical take-off and horizontal landing vehicle with five engines. In the test flights to be completed by the end development it teamed up with, amongst others, Northrop Grumman and Orbital Sciences. of 1999.

Sub-scale models were flown in 1998. They were taking into the air by a radio controlled model aircraft that acted as a miniature mothership. After release the model glided back to a landing.

Meanwhile, a vertical launch facility for the X-33 had been constructed at Edwards AFB, the place where the X- 33 would have landed as well, using one of the long runways.

Additional landing grounds were to be at the Dugway Proving Grounds, near Salt Lake City, Utah McDonnell Douglas and Rockwell X-33 proposals and at Malmstrom AFB at Great Falls, Montana.

Finally, Lockheed Martin advanced a vertical take-off and horizontal landing vehicle that used Four of the engines had also been built, two of which were intended for flight and the other two for lifting body technology and an aerospike engine. It was to be known as the Venture Star. tests.

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NASA had invested $922 million in the project before cancellation and Lockheed Martin a further $357 million.

By then the space launch business had also changed with a significant drop in the number of anticipated commercial satellite launches per year and Lockheed Martin deemed that continuing development of the X-33 privately without government support would not be profitable long term.

Sub-scale model tests at Edwards AFB

However delays in the programme as well as escalating costs led to its cancellation in March 2001 when the vehicle was 85% complete.

Also contributing to the decision to cancel were the problems Lockheed Martin had encountered with the fuel tanks during A view that never took place: Venture Star docked at ISS pressure testing in November 1999.

This tank had been constructed of TDRS-L honeycomb composite walls and internal

structures to reduce its weight as to allow NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS)-L space communications satellite is scheduled the ultimate launch vehicle to fly to low- Earth orbit without the need of an external for launch on 23 January 2014 with an Atlas V-401 launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral. booster and fuel tanks as was the case for Built by Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems, TDRS-L will be the 12th satellite launched for the Space Shuttle. In particular the odd NASA’s tracking and data relay network since 1983. It will provide communications facilities shape of the hydrogen tank resulted in the with ISS, the Hubble Space Telescope and a range of other satellites. use of complex joint that increased the

mass of the composite tank to above that of

an aluminum tank.

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NROL-39 programme to test the Integrated Miniaturized Electrostatic Analyzer (iMESA) and the Carbon Nano-Tube (CNT) experiments; The NROL-39 satellite (also known as USA-247) was successfully placed in orbit by an Atlas • SMDC Nanosatellite Program (SNaP), a 3U probably built by the US Army Space V-501 on 6 December 2013. and Missile Defense Command (SMDC). Details of the mission’s purpose are not known; It is believed the satellite is a Topaz Future Imagery Architecture (FIA) radar satellite similar to • M-Cubed-2, a 1U cubesat developed by the Michigan eXploration Laboratory to evaluate NROL-41, launched in 2010, and NROL-25, launched in 2012. It is believed another two in the NASA JPL’s image processing FPGA called COVE. It is a reflight of the M-Cubed mission series are to be launched. that was launched on 28 October 2011 and that failed to operate after that the magnets used for passive attitude control, caused the satellite to attach itself to Explorer-1-Prime-2, another cubesat launched on the same flight; • CUNYSAT-1, a 1U cubesat developed by the City University of New York, to investigate ionospheric disturbances using GPS signals; • Intelligent Payload Experiment (IPEX), a 1U cubesat developed at Cal Poly and also known as CP-8, to demonstrate the operation of autonomous instrument processing, downlink operations, and ground station operations; • SMDC-ONE-2.3 and -2.4, also known as Charlie and David, another two 3U developed by the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command to demonstrate the ability to rapidly design and develop militarily relevant low cost spacecraft, receive packetized data from multiple Unattended Ground Sensors (UGS) and provide real time voice and text message data relay to and from field deployed tactical radio systems; and • TacSat-6, 3U cubesat developed by the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command. No details are known of its purpose. (Editorial note: This adds another 12 cubesats to the total of 75 mentioned in last month’s News Bulletin)

Panasonic

Panasonic is establishing a global network to provide satellite-based broadband services to aircraft. The company is now evaluating offers from six satellite operators that are prepared to provide a high throughput service for the Asia-Pacific region using Ku band equipment. The service is expected to commence in 2017. GEMSat structure with P-POD cubesat dispensers Panasonic has no intention to launch its own satellites relying instead on leasing the facilities provided by other operators. Currently it uses 22 beams on 17 satellites to provide a seamless In addition to this payload the launch vehicle carried 12 cubesats provided through NASA's coverage to users as they fly through the air. In this way it has 99% of the air routes of the top Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) program and the NRO's Mission Integration 50 airliners covered Directorate (MID). These were collectively known as Government Experimental Multisatellite The company is also a lead costumer for the Intelsat-29e Epic high throughput satellite to be (GEMsat) and were: launched in 2015. • Focused Investigations of Relativistic Burst Intensity, Range and Dynamics (FIREBIRD)-1 and -2, two 1.5U cubesats developed by the Montana State University, the University of New Hampshire and the Los Alamos National Laboratory to resolve the spatial scale size KSC Launch Pad 39A and energy dependence of electron microbursts in the Van Allen radiation belts. The two

satellites will work in tandem; NASA and SpaceX have begun discussion on the use of KSC Launch Pad 39A, from where the • AeroCube-5A and -5B, two 1.5U cubesats developed by the Aerospace Corp. as part of an Apollo Moon missions and the Space Shuttle were launched, for the Falcon 9 rocket and the earlier started series of satellites. The two satellites are an upgrade from the earlier Falcon Heavy launcher, the latter a cluster of three Falcon 9s. AeroCube 4 series of satellites and will test their pointing and tracking capabilities while on orbit; • AFIT LEO iMESA CNT Experiment (ALICE), a 3U cubesat developed by the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) as part of the National Reconnaissance office’s Colony

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Soyuz 2-1v/Volga SOAR The first launch of the Soyuz 2-1v light launch vehicle is expected to take place from Plesetsk on 23 December 2013. Previously known as Soyuz 1, the launch vehicle dispenses with the strap-on boosters whilst the first stage will be powered by NK 33A engines, left over from the N 1 lunar programme launch vehicle. The second stage remains unchanged. The first flight will carry an additional Volga upper stage (officially known as ‘Block Vyvedeniya’ = insertion stage and 141KS) to launch an AIST-1 student satellite and two SKRL 756 calibration satellites. This flight is essentially a test flight, which was delayed from early 2012 due to problems with the first stage engines, and, once fully operational, the Soyuz 2-1v/Volga combination is expected to be able to place 1400 kg payloads into a 1500 km orbit. Swiss Space Systems (S3) are proposing the development of the SOAR satellite launch

system. It will consist of a sub-orbital spaceplane that will be delivered to an altitude on 10 km

on top of an Airbus A300, from where it will fly to an altitude of 80 km. It will then release an ICESat-2 upper stage that will take a payload of 250 kg to an altitude of up to 700 km where the satellite(s) will be placed in orbit. In the meantime the sub-orbital spaceplane returns to Earth for re-use. NASA has reported that its ICESat-2 satellite will be exceeding its budget, thereby facing the S3 hopes to start tests in 2017 with the first operational flight in 2018. They hope to have 12 risk that the mission, now to be launched in June 2017, will have to be cancelled. flights in 2019 and 24 in 2020. The Ice, Cloud & Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat)-2 spacecraft is a follow-on of the ICESat-1 which was launched in 2003 and will measure the polar ice-sheets. Construction is being undertaken by Orbital using the LEOStar-3 platform. AsiaSat-9 The budget overrun is being caused by technical difficulties with the Advanced Topographic

Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS), which will fire visible, green laser pulses 10,000 times per AsiaSat of Hong Kong has ordered the AsiaSat-9 satellite from SS/L. The satellite will be fitted second as the satellite flies in a 500 km-high polar orbit. This instrument is different than that with C, Ku and Ka band transponders with the possibility that a weather sensor will be added. flown on ICESat-1. The 300 kg STORM-1 weather sensor would be provided GeoMetWatch (GMW) of Las Vegas.

AsiaSat-9 will be launched by a Proton M/Briz M in 2016 and will be located at 122 oE.

Mars One ISS The non-profit Mars One Foundation hopes to launch an unmanned mission to Mars in 2018.

The mission will comprise an orbiting communications relay station to be placed in a On 11 December 2013 one of two ammonia coolant loops on the space station's external geostationary orbit around Mars, a lander equipped with robot arms, water generating thermal control system failed due to a faulty flow control valve inside a pump module mounted equipment and a range of other experiments, including student experiments. on the right side of the space station’s truss. The mission is considered a technology demonstration mission for the foundation’s long range To fix this problem NASA plans for astronauts Mastracchio and Hopkins to make several EVAs goal of sending humans one-way to Mars in 2025, as described in the September 2012 issue on 21, 23 and 25 December 2013, during which they will inspect the faulty pump module and, of the News Bulletin. if necessary, replace it by a spare that has been stored on the external stowage platform. The foundation has had discussions with Lockheed Martin and Surrey Satellites Technology to further develop the mission concept. As a consequence the launch of the supply spacecraft that was scheduled for 19 Funding of the mission will be primarily from private and corporate donations and the foundation December 2013, has now been delayed until early January 2014. has announced it has received more than 200,000 applications from people who would want to make the one-way flight and spend the rest of their lives on Mars.

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