Posted on 08/23/2014 1:31:44 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
The European Space Agency (Esa) says the latest two satellites for Europe's version of the American GPS satellite navigation system have not gone into the correct orbit.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Very good question.
...”It is the latest setback for the controversial, $13.3 billion Galileo project, which has suffered from political squabbles, budget overruns, manufacturing delays and a component failure aboard a developmental satellite earlier this year...”
... But an apparent problem with the guidance system of the upper stage caused both satellites to end up in what Arianespace described a “noncompliant orbit...
...difficulties cropped up two days after Arianespace and the European Space Agency, acting on behalf of the European Commission, signed contracts for three Ariane 5 launches to lift 12 additional Galileo ...
http://online.wsj.com/articles/galileo-satellites-launched-into-wrong-orbits-1408827462
Very disappointed the WSJ did note possible losses?
Many thanks! Happy to liven up your weekend!
-PJ
In what must be felt as a bitter irony in Europe, it was the U.S. Defense Department’s Space Surveillance Network — which publishes initial orbital parameters, known as two-line elements, of recently launched satellites – that first disclosed the problem Aug. 22.
Among the first to pick up the U.S. military data was Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, to announced the badly off-target injection data.
The Soyuz-Fregat was supposed to deliver the two satellites into a circular orbit 23,222 kilometers in altitude, inclined 56 degrees to the equator. As McDowell noted, the rough two-line elements produced by the U.S. surveillance network showed the satellites in an elliptical, not circular, orbit with an apogee of 25,922 kilometers and a perigee of 13,700 kilometers.
The worse news: The inclination was 47 degrees instead of 56.
Climbing into correct position from a too-low perigee requires the use of fuel that would otherwise be used over the satellite’s life for regular maneuvers, but does not by itself signal the loss of the mission.
The inclination error, however, appears too serious to allow much, if any, use of the satellites, according to officials. Correcting the error likely would require more propellant than the satellites carry and, if they did arrive in correct position, would leave them with propellant levels so low that the effort would be deemed useless.
MORE AT LINK.
....Russian ground crews manage hands-on Soyuz launch preparations and the final countdown from a control center near the launch pad on the northwestern frontier of the Guiana Space Center, which is also home to Europe’s Ariane 5 and Vega rockets.
But Arianespace has final authority for Soyuz missions taking off from French Guiana. Friday’s liftoff was the ninth time a Soyuz rocket has launched from the tropical spaceport since beginning operations there in 2011....
http://spaceflightnow.com/soyuz/vs09/140822anomaly/#.U_kkOtRdVwA
Russian ground crews manage hands-on Soyuz launch preparations...
Good news!
Only ~$200 million loss + ~$200 million replacement cost. +++
The BAD NEWS.
This was NOT in the five year plan.
There will be a modest tax increase.
...The satellites on Friday’s Soyuz launch were purchased in 2010 as part of a 566 million euro contract. Each spacecraft is worth about 40 million euros, or $53 million, under the deal.
At the same time as its selection of OHB to build the first set of operational Galileo satellites, the European Commission finalized a contract with Arianespace for five Soyuz launches to send up two spacecraft at a time.
http://spaceflightnow.com/soyuz/vs09/140822anomaly/#.U_kkOtRdVwA
The launch contract was worth 397 million euros — about $525 million, or $105 million per flight...
Dirty mouth? /MildlyObscure
Possibly an orbital jack needed to jack it up a couple of kilometers?
Wasn’t that SpaceX thing a test of their recoverable stage?
Heard something about steering vanes glitch. Guess they can glide it back to where they want, except when it goes boom.
This was a new version of their first stage for testing. The test was done in Texas. I haven’t seen a report stating the cause, but from watching the video I’d say it was an engine problem.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.