All,
From Globalstar web site, detailed information for the coming launch:
I. Launch Providers
The Globalstar satellites will be launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida and Baikonur, Kazakhstan. We will be launching a total of 44 satellites over the next year. The following launch providers as picked by Space Systems Loral (SS/L) will launch the satellites:
Boeing will launch eight Globalstar satellites aboard two Delta II rockets. SS/L has options for up to ten Delta launches.
The Rocket: Delta II
Total Mass: 232,219 kg
Liftoff Thrust: 359,337 kgf
Core Diameter: 2.4 m
Total Length: 35.8 m
Globalstar mission payload: 1,776 kg
The Boeing Company- Expendable Launch Systems
Boeing is a global aerospace company that designs, produces and supports commercial airplanes, defense systems and civil and defense space systems. As the world's largest commercial and military aircraft manufacturer and the largest NASA contractor, Boeing has more than 215,000 employees in 27 states and projected 1997 revenues of approximately $48 billion.
Expendable Launch Systems (ELS) is located in Huntington Beach, Calif. The primary business focus areas of ELS include: the Delta family of expendable launch vehicles: Delta II, Delta III and Delta IV/Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV), Inertial Upper Stage and Advanced Systems.
A workhorse with roots dating back more than 30 years, the Delta rocket began in the mid-1950's when the U.S. Air Force developed the Thor missile. The Delta rocket has since evolved into a world class launch vehicle with an unparalleled success record. Since the early days when 100 pounds was the maximum lift capability, the Delta II has become larger and more capable, able to launch 4,120 pounds to geosynchrous transfer orbit. Additional design changes and improvements have included a 12-foot extension to the first-stage tanks for increase propellant capacity, improvement to the main engine, advanced electronics and guidance systems and development of a lightweight fairing that offers customers a range of sizes to suit their needs.
Our commitment to excellence and continuous improvement are evident in the evolution of the Delta rocket, and that heritage will continue as the Delta III and Delta IV/EELV family of launch vehicles carry on the legacy. Advances in technology, affordability and operability are all hallmarks that have given the reliable Delta the outstanding reputation that it has today.
Delta IIs are manufactured in Huntington Beach, Calif., with final assembly in Pueblo, Colo. Current launch sites include Cape Canaveral Air Station, Fla., and Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Customers for the Delta II include the U.S. Air Force, NASA and a host of domestic and international commercial customers.
NPO Yuzhnoye, Dniepropetovsk, Ukraine, will launch a total of 36 Globalstar satellites on three Zenit-2 launch vehicles.
The Rocket: Zenit-2
Total Mass: 461,900 kg
Liftoff Thrust: 769,880 kgf
Core Diameter: 3.9 m
Total Length: 49.9 m
LEO Payload: 13,740 Kg
Starsem, Paris, France, will launch the final 12 Globalstar satellites on three Soyuz-Icare Launch vehicles. SS/L has options for up to eight additional Soyuz Launches.
The Rocket: Soyuz-Icare
Total Mass: 297,400 kg
Liftoff Thrust: 411,116 kgf
Core Diameter: 3.0 m
Total Length: 34.5 m
LEO Payload: 7,050 Kg
II. Launch Facilities:
Baikonur, Kazakhstan
Baikonur Cosmodrome is the launch complex where Sputnik 1, Earth's first artificial satellite, was launched. The rocket that lifted Yuri Gagarin, the first human in orbit, was also launched from geostationary, lunar, planetary, and ocean surveillance missions.
The name Baikonur is misleading. The former Soviet Union used the name and coordinates of a small mining town, Baikonur, to describe the location of its rocket complex. In fact, the launch complex is about 200 miles southwest of the mining town near Tyuratam in Kazakhstan. This misrepresentaiton was done intentionally to hide the actual location of the launch complex. Although the true location is now known, the launch complex is still referred to as Baikonur.
LINKS
Russian Space Agency: liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov
Cape Canaveral, Florida
The Cape is where many of the United States' famous space missions have begun. In the years following World War II, America's military rockets began to outgrow the range available in the western desert, so the Defense Department selected Cape Canaveral as the testing area for long-range guided missiles. Formal approval of the site was given in June 1949, and the Joint Long Range Proving Ground was designed by President Truman as the site for test-launching early U.S. missiles. During its most active period in the early 1960's, there were more than 20 working launch pads on the Cape.
On October 1, 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was established to carry out the peaceful exploration and use of space. The early focus of NASA's launch operations centered on Cape Canaveral, where existing rockets and launch pads were modified and used to launch early satellites and the astronauts of the Mercury and Gemini programs. Communications and science satellites and automated spacecraft to explore our Solar System are still being launched from the Cape.
LINKS
Patrick Air Force Base/Cape Canaveral: pafb.af.mil
Kennedy Space Center: spaceportusa.com
III. Launch Operations:
Globalstar booster with tower back at Complex
Satellite Launch Base Processing
Globalstar Delta II Rocket at Cape Canaveral
Pre-launch Manufacturing, Shipping, Integration, Fueling:
The first and second stages are shipped from the assembly plant directly to the Delta mission checkout facility (hanger M). At the Delta II integration and checkout area the rocket stages are received and inspected. Mission integration and checkout are completed on both stages. A dual composite test is also completed; the first and second stages are then loaded on pad erection trailers and stored until the next step of the process. The first stage is sent to the horizontal processing facility and the destruct assembly is installed. The second stage is sent to Area 55, the destruct assembly is installed, the assembly is prepared for erection and is checked for leaks.
The Boeing Company- Globalstar Mission Integration
The four Globalstar satellites are fueled and then mated to the dispenser at the Astrotech facility in Titusville, Fla. Each satellite has a separation adapter disc attached to each of the four corners of the anti Earth face of the satellite. The separation adapter disc contains a threaded stud which engages a separation nut that is mounted on the dispenser side of the interface. At separation, the ordnance activated separation nut is broken and the spring loaded actuators mounted on the dispenser push the satellite away from the dispenser.
After the satellites are mated to the dispenser, the payload handling can is built up around the dispenser and satellites in preparation for moving the dispenser with the mated satellites from Astrotech to Pad 17 A at the Delta launch complex on Cape Canaveral Air Station. Prior to leaving Astrotech for the trip to the launch pad, the handling can which encapsulates the dispenser and satellites is placed on a trailer that is slowly towed to the launch pad about two weeks before launch.
At the launch pad, the enclosed handling can containing the dispenser and satellites is hoisted up to the top of the Mobile Service Tower which has been placed around the Delta launch vehicle. The bottom of the dispenser is then attached to the top of the Delta launch vehicle second stage and the handling can is disassembled providing access to the dispenser and the mated satellites. About one week prior to launch, the dispenser and the mated satellites are encapsulated when the payload fairing is attached to the second stage of the Delta launch vehicle. The solid motors are installed, all sub-systems are pre-flight checked and put through a simulated flight test. Lastly the entire systems is processed through a preflight finalization.
IV. Launch Profile:
Description of each stage of flight.
A. LIFTOFF:
The main engine and four solid rocket motors (SRM's) ignite at liftoff. Weight at liftoff is 362,309 lbs. (164,340 kg). Thrust is 486,115lbs. (220,498kg)
B. SRM BURNOUT (4):
At T plus 63.1 seconds the four solid rocket motors (SRMs) will burnout. The SRM's are used for thrust augmentation during the early phases of flight. At this point the delta II rocket is 18.8 kilometers (10 nautical miles and traveling at a velocity of 1,042 meters per second.
C. MECO:
MECO or main engine Cutoff of the RS-27A liquid rocket engine used on the first 109.3 Kilometers (59 nautical miles) altitude and traveling at a velocity of 5,282 meters per second.
D. FIRST STAGE SEPARATION:
The first stage is separated from the second stage at t plus 4 minutes, 30 seconds.
E. SECOND STAGE IGNITION:
The ignition of the second stage liquid rocket engine takes place at T plus 4 minutes, 37.5 seconds. The engine will burn for 6 minutes, 44.7 seconds. The vehicle altitude at ignition is 119.4 kilometers (64.5 nautical miles) and speed is 5,278 meters per second.
F. FAIRING JETTISON:
Jettison of the BI-sector (two part) fairing occurs 4 minutes and 47 seconds into the mission. The failings are the shrouds that protect the spacecraft during the early phases of flight through the atmosphere. Vehicle altitude is 125.9 kilometers (68 nautical miles) and the velocity is 5,305 meters per second.
G. SECO 1:
SECO 1 or Second Stage Cutoff 1 is the first cutoff of the second stage liquid rocket engine. Following SECO 1, which occurs at T plus 11 minutes, 22.2 seconds, the launch vehicle enters a coast period that lasts for 49 minutes and 51.5 seconds. The vehicle is in a 185 x 1241 kilometer orbit with a 52 degree inclination.
H. SECOND STAGE RESTART:
The restart of the second stage liquid rocket engine was the second stage and spacecraft to be placed in the proper orbit for spacecraft separation. This is a short burn of 24.7 seconds. Restart takes place a T plus 1 hour, 1 minute, 13.7 seconds. The vehicle altitude is 1,257.8 kilometers (679 nautical miles) and is traveling at a velocity of 6,953 meters per second.
I. SECO 2:
Second Stage Cutoff 2 is the second cutoff of the second stage liquid rocket engine. This takes place at T plus 1 hour, 1 minute, 38.4 seconds. The vehicle altitude is 1,258.1 kilometers (679 nautical miles) and is traveling at a velocity of 7,230 meters per second. The vehicle is now in the spacecraft deployment orbit, which is a 1247 kilometers altitude circular orbit.
J. SPACECRAFT SEPARATION:
Separation of the upper two Globalstar spacecraft occurs at 1 hour, 8 minutes, 20 seconds. The lower two Globalstar spacecraft are separated 4 minutes and 10 seconds later at 1 hour, 12 minutes, 30 seconds after liftoff.
K. DEPLETION BURN:
Following successful spacecraft separation of the four Globalstar spacecraft, a depletion to alleviate any remaining fuel in the second stage will be performed. The burn also moves the second stage will be performed. The burn also moves the second stage out of the vicinity of the Globalstar spacecraft. The depletion burn is a common procedure for all Delta launches.
L. SATELLITE DEPLOYMENT
The Delta II rocket will carry four Globalstar spacecraft to an initial orbital altitude of 1,250 kilometers, close to their final operational altitude of 1,400 kilometers. Over a four minute period the spacecraft will be ejected from the dispenser into space.
All on-board computers will then automatically order each satellite to begin the first stages of their on-orbit deployment. It will extend the magnetometer boom, locate the Sun and Earth, stabilize itself, and deploy its solar arrays, Although much of the orbital deployment is automated, a human control must give the commands that initiate the orbit raising process.
Once a satellite has reached its final orbit, controllers run an extensive test and checkout of all of the spacecrafts' systems. This process will test all of the spacecraft's antenna beams and validate that the entire communications package is working properly. After completing these tests, a spacecraft will begin providing phone service to customers around the world as a part of the Globalstar satellite constellation.
Brian H. |
