Lanzamientos abril/2008

Abril 2008

Por Eladio Miranda Batlle

 

Soyuz TM-12

Launch, orbit and landing data

Launch date:      08.04.2008

Launch time:      11:16 UT

Launch site:      Baikonur

Launch pad: 1

Altitude: 350 km

Inclination: 51,6°

 

       

Tripulación

 

No.       Nombre              Job

1           Volkov     Sergei          Commander

2      KononenkoOleg D.   F. Engineer

3           Yi Soyeon             S. Participant

Flight

Launch from Baikonur; ISS Expedition 17.

 

Following a two day solo flight the Soyuz docked to ISS on 10.04.2008. Volkov and Kononenko replaced expedition 16 crew members Whitson and Malenchenko.

Note

Yi landed on 19.04.2008 at 08:29 UT with Soyuz TMA-11-spacecraft.

 

ICO G1

ICO G1 is an American (ICO Global Communications, Inc.) geostationary communications satellite that was launched by an Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral at 20:12 UT on 14 April 2008. The 6.6 tonne (with fuel), 16 kW craft carries an unfurlable, 12 m diameter S-band mesh, and is 30 m long including the solar panels. It will operate in 2.0 GHz band with seven C-band transponders, providing voice video, and internet services directly to mobile platforms in North America, after parking over 92.9° W. Although 99% of its population are adequately served by the cell phone networks, the roadside services are unavailable in 33% of the area; this will be met by the geostationary craft. It utilizes a GBBF (Ground-Based Beam Forming system) which allows 250 transmitting and 250 receiving independent S-band beams.

 

Fecha:14 .04.2008

Hora: 20:12 UTC

Sitio: Cape Canaveral, United States

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C/NOFS

The Communications/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) is a prototype operational system designed to monitor and forecast ionospheric scintillation in real-time and on a global scale. In the space-borne segment, C/NOFS will fly a system of proven sensors on-board a 3-axis stabilized satellite to detect ionospheric scintillation. This will provide data for global, real-time specification, and 4 hour forecast capability.

 

C/NOFS is a joint effort between the DOD Space Test Program and AFRL (Air Force Research Laboratory). The space test program provides the spacecraft, launch vehicle, launch and first year on-orbit operations. AFRL is responsible for the multi-instrument payload, payload integration and test, model development, data center operations, and product generation and distribution.

 

The C/NOFS payload consists of six instruments: the Planar Langmuir Probe (PLP) for measurements of plasma density, the Vector Electric Field Instrument (VEFI) for measurements of vector electric and magnetic fields, the Ion Velocity Meter (IVM) for measurements of plasma drift velocities and ion temperatures, the Neutral Wind Meter (NWM) for measurements of neutral winds, the C/NOFS Occultation Receiver for Ionospheric Sensing and Specification (CORISS) for remote sensing of the electron density vertical profile, the Coherent Electromagnetic Radio Tomography (CERTO) for measurements of ionospheric scintillation parameters. Both the Neutral Wind Meter (NWM) and the Ion Velocity Meter (IVM) are provided by NASA as the CINDI (Coupled Ion-Neutral Dynamics Investigation) payload, which was selected as an Explorer Mission of Opportunity.

The goal of C/NOFS is to forecast scintillation three to six hours before its onset such that system operators will be able to plan in ways that will optimize mission command and control.

The spacecraft will be launched into an orbit with perigee/apogee of 400/700 km, and an inclination of 13 degrees. Launch is currently planned for early 2006.

 

Fecha:16 .04.2008

Hora: 08:00:00 UTC

Sitio: Kwajalein, Republic of the Marshall Islands

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Star One C2 –VINASAT 1

Star One C2 is a Brazilian geostationary communications satellite that was launched by an Ariane 5 ECA rocket from Kourou at 22:17 UT on 18 April 2008. The 4.1 tonne (with fuel) craft carries a total of 45 transponders in C-, Ku-, and X-bands to provide direct-to-home (DTH) TV and telephony for Brazil and Mexico after parking over 65° W longitude.

VINASAT 1 Lockheed Martin has been awarded in May 2006 a contract by Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) of Vietnam to provide a turnkey telecommunications satellite system with operations slated to begin in the second quarter of 2008. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Designated VINASAT-1, the satellite system will be based on Lockheed Martin’s award-winning A2100A spacecraft platform and represents the first satellite system ever procured by the nation of Vietnam. VINASAT-1, a C-/Ku-band hybrid satellite designed for a minimum service life of 15 years, will be located at orbital slot 132 degrees east.

Under the terms of the delivery-in-orbit contract signed May 12, 2006 in Hanoi, Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems (LMCSS) will manage the project in its entirety, from satellite design and manufacturing to launch procurement arrangements, followed by final extensive in-orbit testing before customer acceptance.

The satellite system is expected to improve telecommunications in Vietnam by transmitting radio, television and telephone communications to all corners of the country. VINASAT-1 also will improve the nation’s communication networks infrastructure by removing dependence on ground networks and allowing 100% of Vietnam’s rural communities and hamlets to be equipped with telephones and televisions.

 

Fecha:18 .04.2008

Hora: 22:17 UT

Sitio: Kourou, French Guiana

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Tianlian 1

Tianlian 1 is the first data-relay satellite of China (PRC) that was launched by a Long March 3C rocket from Xichang satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province at 15:35 UT on 25 April 2008. Its operation will be activated with the launch of the manned Shenzhou 7 mission later in 2008. It will then cover about 50% of Shenzhou 7 orbit, rather than the coverage of 12% without the relay. (USSTRATCOM names the satellite as CTDRS.)

Fecha:25 .04.2008

Hora: 15:35 UTC

Sitio: Xichang, China

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GIOVE-B

GIOVE-B (Galileo In-Orbit Validation Element-B) is the second of the test versions of the 30 craft European Union navigational fleet that is planned to be launched beginning 2010. It was launched by a Soyuz-Fregat rocket from Baikonur at 22:16 UT on 26 April 2008. (A similar version, GIOVE-A, was launched in December 2005.)

 

The 500 kg craft carries two (redundant) Rubidium atomic clocks, and an even more precise Passive Hydrogen Maser with an accuracy of one nanosecond/day. It also carries a radiation-monitoring payload, and a laser retro-reflector for high-accuracy laser ranging. When completed, this Galileo fleet will become the third available fleet, after the long-functional GPS and the to-be-completed GLONASS fleets.

 

Fecha:26 .04.2008

Hora: 22:16 UTC

Sitio: Tyuratam (Baikonur Cosmodrome), Kazakhstan

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AAUSAT 2

AAUSAT-2 is a 3.0 kg Danish nanosatellite that was built by students at Aalborg University. It carries a gamma ray detector and will flight-test sensors for triaxial stabilization.

 

Fecha: 28.04.2008

Hora: GMT

Sitio: Sriharikota/ India

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 Amos 3

Amos 3 is an Israeli geostationary communications satellite that was launched by a Zenit 3SLB rocket from Baikonur at 05:00 UT on 28 April 2008. The 1.3 tonne (with fuel) craft carries 24 Ku-band with steerable beams and three fixed-beam Ka-band transponders to provide voice, video and internet services to Europe, US, and the Middle East after parking over 4.0° W.

 

 

Fecha: 28.04.2008

Hora: GMT

Sitio: Tyuratam (Baikonur Cosmodrome), Kazakhstan

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IMS 1- CanX 2- CanX 6 –Delfi C3 –Rubin 8- SEEDS

IMS 1 (Indian Mini-Satellite) is an Indian remote sensing craft that was launched by a PSLV-C9 rocket from Sriharikota in southeastern coast of India at 03:54 UT on 28 April 2008, along with CartoSat 2A and eight nanosatellites. The 83 kg, 220 W craft carries a multispectral imager in visible light with a resolution of 37 m and a swath of 151 km, and a hyper-spectral camera in near-infrared light with a resolution of 506 m, and swath of 130 km.

 

CanX 2 is a 7.0 kg, Canadian nanosatellite that was built by students of the University of Toronto, carrying an innovative attitude sensor.

 

CanX 6 is a 16 kg Canadian nanosatellite built by students at the University of Toronto. It will test a new VHF receiver to survey the maritime VHF band at 162 nHz.

 

Delfi-C3

Delfi-C3 is a 6.5 kg Netherlands nanosatellite that was built by students at the Technical University, Delfi. It will flight-test thin film solar cells and an advanced transceiver.

 

Rubin 8 is a German nanosatellite that was launched from Sriharikota at 03:54 UT on 28 April 2008 by a PSLV-C9 rocket. The 8.0 kg craft carries a new receiver that will capture uploaded data for the Automatic Marine Identification System (AIS). It is one of the eight nanosatellites among the 10 craft that were launched by the PSLV-C9. It, however, remained attached to the final stage, as has been the case of previous Rubin spacecraft.

 

SEEDS (Space Engineering EDucation Satellite) is a 3.0 kg Japanese nanosatellite built by the students at Nihon University. It will demonstrate the feasibility of downlinking spacecraft parameter data in CW transmission.

Fecha: 28.04.2008

Hora: 03:54:00 UTC

Sitio: Sriharikota, India

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CartoSat 2A

CartoSat 2A is the primary Indian remote sensing craft among the fleet of 10 satellites that were launched by a PSLV 9 rocket from Sriharikota in southeastern coast of India at 03:54 UT on 28 April 2008. The 690 kg, 900 W, triaxially stabilized craft carries a panchromatic camera to provide 0.5-0.85 micron images at one meter resolution in a swath of 9.6 km. It can be steered along track as well as across track to enable repeated images of a chosen site, frequently. The images will be used in rural and urban planning.

 

Fecha: 28.04.2008

Hora: 03:54:00 UTC

Sitio: Sriharikota, India

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COMPASS 1 – CUTE-1.7

COMPASS-1 is a 3.0 kg German nanosatellite built by the students at the University of Applied Science, Aachen. It will flight-test a miniaturized bus.

 

CUTE-1.7 is a 5.0 kg Japanese nanosatellite that was built by students at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, carrying a PDA-based bus system and Avalanche photodiodes.

 

Fecha: 28.04.2008

Hora: 03:54:00 UTC

Sitio: Sriharikota, India

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(1) http://Sondasespaciales.com

(2) http://notesp.blogspot.com/

(3) http://space.skyrocket.de/home.htm  

(4) http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Portada

(5) http://www.nasa.gov/