Breaking into the 31st week of 2023, from July 31 to Aug. 6, not much is held in store in terms of launches. Up first this week — following an aborted launch attempt last week — Rocket Lab will launch Capella Space’s Acadia satellite to a mid-inclination low-earth orbit. Later, a momentous flight will take place, when the last Antares 230+ will fly to low-Earth orbit (LEO) during the NG-19 resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
Following slightly more than a day later, a Chang Zheng 4C carrying the Fengyun-3F meteorological satellite will take to the skies from Jiuquan, China. Shortly after that, it will be the turn of a Falcon 9 transporting Maxar-built Galaxy 37 inside its fairing. It will be deployed into a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), with the satellite reaching a geostationary orbit (GEO) by itself.
Electron — “We Love The Nightlife”
After signing a deal with Rocket Lab in February of this year, the company will launch its first mission for Capella Space’s Acadia satellite constellation. Following an aborted launch attempt on July 30 due to low igniter pressure in an engine, the Electron is currently scheduled to lift off from Launch Complex 1B, at the Mahiah Peninsula, in New Zealand, on Friday, Aug. 4, at 05:00 UTC.
Low igniter pressure on one engine. It did not pass it’s Go test and an auto abort was called. Its not uncommon to see low pressures now and again, we just have not seen it lead to an abort for a while. My bet is a tricky pressure transducer. The team will sort it quickly. https://t.co/CWyWTMxkug
— Peter Beck (@Peter_J_Beck) July 30, 2023
Electron will place the single satellite into a 640-kilometer circular mid-inclination orbit in what will be the first of four launches by Rocket Lab for the Acadia synthetic aperture radar (SAR) constellation — an Earth-imaging constellation slated to offer increased imaging capability and better communications connectivity for customers. These satellites are designed, manufactured, and operated by Capella Space.
Antares 230+ — CRS2 NG-19, S.S. Laurel Clark
As has been mentioned, the launch vehicle will lift off from Wallops Flight Facility hauling cargo for crew and equipment in orbit, under a second commercial resupply services (CRS) contract NASA granted Northrop Grumman in 2016.
Liftoff is expected to happen at 8:31 AM EDT on Aug. 1 (00:31 UTC on Aug. 2). Once the rocket completes all phases of flight, Cygnus S.S. Laurel Clark will be in a 165 by 309-kilometer orbit, inclined by 51.64 degrees. Two days later, Canadarm2 on the ISS should capture the freighter at 9:55 UTC on Aug. 4.
Ship Laurel Clark travels loaded with north of 3,700 kilograms of an assortment of goods, including items for over 40 experiments, as well as food, consumables, and hardware, like the exploration portable water dispenser. A definitive cargo manifest has not yet been made public, as it is probably being finalized.
On the science side of this mission, some experiments will see their capabilities augmented, like the flow boiling condensate experiment and the cold atom lab. Saffire-VI will set on fire sample materials inside the Cygnus once it unberths and before deorbiting. A multi-needle Langmuir probe will characterize plasma outside the hull of the station.
Regarding the rocket, Northrop Grumman’s Antares will bid farewell to its 200-series. The breakout of the armed conflict in February 2022 signified an end to the supply of Ukrainian first stages and Russian first stage RD-181 engines. A backlog of them allowed them to proceed with the NG-18 and the NG-19 mission. Nevertheless, taking measures was needed when facing the future.
72-hour Weather Forecast
The Wallops Range weather office is predicting an 80% chance of favorable conditions, with cumulus clouds being the main concerns for the Antares launch window Aug. 1 at 8:31 p.m. EDT.
Read more on our blog: https://t.co/327eZJfTPp pic.twitter.com/VLfYDWJu0K
— NASA Wallops (@NASA_Wallops) July 29, 2023
Consequently, the company purchased three Falcon 9 rides for its Cygnus spacecraft. This is not the first time for the cargo ship: ULA’s Atlas V took care of three of these launches after the Antares 130 failure. Simultaneously, Northrop has also announced its partnering with Firefly Aerospace, which will provide new first stages and engines.
Provided no delays arise, Antares 330 should debut in October 2024. For the last time, the expendable, two-stage medium-lift Antares 230+ will rise, riding on close to 3,850 kilonewtons of thrust by two RD-181 engines. These run on rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1) and liquid oxygen (LOX), while the second stage Castor 30XL uses solid QDL-1 propellant.
The launch vehicle is 42.5 meters tall, 3.9 meters in diameter, and masses 285 tonnes for liftoff. Summing up its different configurations’ capabilities, it can launch up to 8,000 kilograms of payload to a LEO, 3,000 kilograms to a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), and 1,600 kilograms to an Earth-escape trajectory.
At 3:55 UTC on Aug. 3, a Chang Zheng 4C (CZ-4C) provided by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation will attempt to orbit the Fengyun-3F (FY-3F) weather satellite. It is worth noting that there is no complete certainty about this payload, but stage drop zones were found to match previous FY-3 launches.
Once in the targeted SSO, the present Fengyun will replace FY-3C residing in the morning orbit. Developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST), this spacecraft masses 2,250 kilograms and is expected to last three to four years. The FY-3F procures electrical power using a single solar panel and batteries and should be lofted onto a circular 800-kilometer orbit, inclined by 98.8 degrees. Its suite of instruments comprises a total of 10, two of which are new developments, while another three are upgraded versions.
FY-3 satellites embody the second generation of polar-orbiting meteo-sats, with the 3F expected to be dedicated to atmospheric probing, weather forecasting, and climate change monitoring. If the CZ-4C successfully fulfills its task, China will have launched 20 FY satellites of two generations, out of which eight will still be operational, orbiting Earth.
Chang Zheng 4C climbs toward orbit with Ziyuan-1 02E
The CZ-4C is the latest addition to the CZ-4 family, with its first flight in 2006. Its development and manufacture fell under the sphere of SAST, and its services are mainly oriented toward launching into SSO. It is an expendable three-stage, medium-lift rocket powered by: a YF-21C engine on stage one, a YF-24E on stage two, and two YF-40Cs on stage three. All of these engines run on hypergolic propellants, a distinctive sign of the old CZ launchers.
Standing 47.98 meters tall, with a maximum diameter of 3.35 meters, the Chang Zheng 4C liftoff mass is approximately 250 tonnes. It is capable of placing 4,200 kilograms of payload mass into a LEO, and about 2,900 kilograms into a SSO.
Falcon 9 v1.2 Block 5 — Galaxy 37
An expected liftoff for 00:15 AM EDT on Aug. 3 (4:15 UTC) will have a SpaceX Falcon 9 delivering the Galaxy 37 satellite, built by Maxar, to a GTO. The mission will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) with the rocket heading due East, later touching down on Just Read the Instructions. The booster supporting this mission is unknown at this point.
Intelsat will operate this communications satellite from GEO at the 127 degrees West slot, providing services in the United States and North America. Transmitting only in C-band, this spacecraft joins another six needed to comply with newly imposed US Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) band regulations. Another payload on this satellite, Horizons 4, will operate in the Ku-band.
Puddle was a paid actor
Falcon 9 and the next batch of Starlink satellites ride into the sunset after launching from SLC-40 earlier this evening – happy Sunday!
- https://t.co/cXxerFBO0F pic.twitter.com/75Ottk6vhU
— Max Evans (@_mgde_) July 24, 2023
The manufacturer based the Galaxy 37 on the SSL-1300 satellite platform, featuring a pair of solar arrays. These generate a supply of up to 12 kilowatts of electrical power, with batteries to power the spacecraft through the solar night. Supporting up to 5,500 kilograms of satellite mass at launch, this bus allows for GEO satellites to fit in four-meter class fairings. Future iterations of this bus are planned, with the expanded 1300 versions seeing up to a 40% increase in performance.
Notably, Galaxy 37’s ride to space was originally an Ariane 64, which needed change because of FCC-derived deadlines. Having switched launch vehicles, it will now cruise atop SpaceX’s partially reusable, two-stage Falcon 9. Nine Merlin 1D engines power its booster through 845 kilonewtons of thrust each, while a single MVacD generates 942 kilonewtons of force for the second stage.
Propellants, RP-1 and LOX, are stored in tanks inside both stages. The rocket features a liftoff mass of 550 tonnes, standing 70 meters tall, as a whole, with a diameter of 3.7 meters. The reusable fairing has a diameter is 5.2 meters, with a length of 13.1 meters. It is unclear if the fairing is flight proven for this mission.
(Lead image: Falcon 9 sitting on SLC-40 ahead of the Arabsat BADR-8 mission. Credit: SpaceX)
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