Vman: 36 for 8 planes was a good call. This set is required to start the show. I see why the October Geneva conference was set for the coming out party - they want all 36 sats to be on-station and checked out.
Globalstar satellites attached to Delta 2 rocket
By Justin Ray
FLORIDA TODAY
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The next four satellites slated to pave the way to
commercial service for Globalstar's emerging cellular telephone system have been
fitted atop the rocket that will carry them into space next week.
Workers on Tuesday transported the satellites from the Astrotech processing facility
near Titusville to join the Boeing Delta 2 rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Station's
launch pad 17B. The satellites were already mounted to their special dispensing
mechanism used to jettison the spacecraft during launch.
Liftoff remains on schedule for next Tuesday during a three-minute window opening
at 12:37:41 a.m. EDT (0437:41 GMT).
Last week, Boeing officials pushed the launch back two days so workers could
replace one of four solid rocket boosters attached to the rocket's first stage. The
change was made after scratches were found on the original booster's outer casing.
The replacement was completed last Wednesday and standard pre-flight
preparations have since resumed.
"We are moving forward toward the target launch date," Boeing spokeswoman Erin
Lutz says.
Other activities under way Tuesday included battery and hydraulic preps. Later this
week, the Delta rocket's 10-foot diameter payload fairing, or nose cone, will be
installed around the satellites. Over the weekend, fueling of the Delta's second stage
with storable propellants will occur. On Monday, the launch team will start the final
portion of the countdown at 9:37:41 p.m. EDT.
The launch will mark Boeing's sixth for the Globalstar satellite constellation. Delta 2
rockets have carried 20 of the 32 Globalstar spacecraft currently circling the Earth.
Three other launches for Globalstar took place this year aboard Russian Soyuz
rockets.
Globalstar is a planned 48-satellite network divided into eight orbital planes with six
spacecraft in each. The constellation will relay telephone, paging and fax
transmissions to subscribers virtually anywhere in the populated world.
If next week's launch goes as planned, Globalstar will celebrate the major milestone
in its deployment campaign of having satellites placed in all eight orbital planes. That
will ensure uninterrupted service for most of the globe, said John Klineberg, the man
in charge of establishing the Globalstar constellation for satellite-builder Space
Systems/Loral. [my bold]
At present, only seven planes have spacecraft, which would result in service
interruptions for an operational system.
A further launch, planned for Sept. 24 aboard a Russian Soyuz, is scheduled to place
four more satellites into space. Those spacecraft would fill coverage gaps over the
equator, Klineberg said.
Following the two upcoming Delta and Soyuz launches, Globalstar expects to have a
functioning satellite fleet in order to debut commercial service around
late-September.
Two additional Russian launches would come later - tentatively on Oct. 18 and Nov.
14 - to fill in the rest of the intended 48-satellite constellation. |
