Cosmic Penguin
Geek Penguin in GTO
In celebration of New Horizons flying past Pluto, two of my favorite rockets in the business are flying today!
Not surprisingly, one of the two is the very same rocket that accelerated New Horizons to its record breaking speed. 40 years to the very day of the launches of the ASTP mission, this Atlas V rocket is flying yet another replenishing satellite for the Global Positioning system (GPS). This one is the 10th of 12 Block IIF satellites to be flown that are now forming the new back bone of the world’s satellite navigation services, and the 4th to be launched over the past year. Quite a quick replacement pace compared with a few years ago or (due to funding and development problems of the new Block III satellites) what will be a few years later, so it seems!
The new GPS satellite, numbered SVN72 (SVN = Space Vehicle Number), will head for plane C, slot 3 to replace GPS IIR-11 (SVN59, launched March 2004), which in turn will move to another slot in the C plane. GPS IIA-17 (SVN40), launched way back in 1996, will be removed from service after almost 20 years in space, leaving just 2 block IIA satellites in active service after IIF-10 enters service.
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Launch coverage: (starts 11:16 am EDT / 15:16 UTC)
Payload:
Launch Vehicle:
The Atlas 5 was developed by Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services as part of the US Air Force Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. Each Atlas 5 rocket uses a Russian-built RD-180 engine burning kerosene and liquid oxygen to power its first stage and an American-built RL10 engine burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to power its Centaur upper stage.
The Atlas 5 launcher will fly in the so-called 401 configuration, denoting a 4-meter payload fairing, no strap-on solid rocket boosters and a single-engine Centaur upper stage.
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The vehicle's reliability statistics according to http://www.spacelaunchreport.com/log2015.html#rate:
Launch Timeline & Ground Track:
Weather forecast for Titusville, Florida on July 15, 2015 (11 a.m.)
Partly to mostly cloudy with scattered showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. High around 35C. Winds WSW at 15 to 30 km/h. Chance of rain 60%.
Time|Temps|Dew Point|Relative Humidity|Precip|Snow|Cloud cover|Pressure|Wind|Weather
11 AM|32°C|23°C|59%|1%|0%|72%|1015 hPa|21 km/h WSW|
Mostly Cloudy
Links:
Not surprisingly, one of the two is the very same rocket that accelerated New Horizons to its record breaking speed. 40 years to the very day of the launches of the ASTP mission, this Atlas V rocket is flying yet another replenishing satellite for the Global Positioning system (GPS). This one is the 10th of 12 Block IIF satellites to be flown that are now forming the new back bone of the world’s satellite navigation services, and the 4th to be launched over the past year. Quite a quick replacement pace compared with a few years ago or (due to funding and development problems of the new Block III satellites) what will be a few years later, so it seems!
The new GPS satellite, numbered SVN72 (SVN = Space Vehicle Number), will head for plane C, slot 3 to replace GPS IIR-11 (SVN59, launched March 2004), which in turn will move to another slot in the C plane. GPS IIA-17 (SVN40), launched way back in 1996, will be removed from service after almost 20 years in space, leaving just 2 block IIA satellites in active service after IIF-10 enters service.
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Launch date:
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July 15, 2015
Window open:
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15:36 UTC / 11:36 a.m. EDT
Window close:
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15:54 UTC / 11:54 a.m. EDT
Launch site:
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SLC-41, CCAFS, Florida
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[highlight]L[eventtimer]2015-07-15 15:36:00;%c%%ddd%/%hh%:%mm%:%ss%[/eventtimer][/highlight]
Mission Insignia
Launch coverage: (starts 11:16 am EDT / 15:16 UTC)
- ULA webcast: http://www.ulalaunch.com/webcast.aspx
- ULA webcast 2: http://cmc-i.akamaihd.net/hls/live/201845/launch/index-launch.m3u8
- Spaceflight Now: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av048/status.html
Payload:
GPS-2F (Global Positioning System) or Navstar-2F (Navigation System using Timing And Ranging) satellites are the fourth evolution stage of the second generation of the GPS satellites. Improvements included an extended design life of 12 years, faster processors with more memory, and a new civil signal on a third frequency.
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Operator:|
Contractors:|
Equipment:|
Configuration:|
Dimensions:|
Propulsion:|
Power:|
Launch Weight:|
On-orbit Weight:|
Orbit:|
Specifications
Type / Application:
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- Navigation
Operator:|
- USAF
Contractors:|
- Boeing
Equipment:|
- 2 Rubidium clocks
- 1 Cesium clock
Configuration:|
- ?
Dimensions:|
- 8.17 ft x 6.67 ft x 7.33 ft (stowed)
Propulsion:|
- ?
Power:|
- 2 deployable solar arrays
- batteries
- 1900 watts (end of life)
Launch Weight:|
- 1630 kg (3590 lb) - max wet weight at launch
On-orbit Weight:|
- 1466 kg (3230 lb) - initial on-orbit estimated wet weight
Orbit:|
- 20200 * 20200 km, 55° inc.)
Launch Vehicle:
The Atlas 5 was developed by Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services as part of the US Air Force Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. Each Atlas 5 rocket uses a Russian-built RD-180 engine burning kerosene and liquid oxygen to power its first stage and an American-built RL10 engine burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to power its Centaur upper stage.
The Atlas 5 launcher will fly in the so-called 401 configuration, denoting a 4-meter payload fairing, no strap-on solid rocket boosters and a single-engine Centaur upper stage.
Specifications
Gross mass:
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- 338640 kg (746570 lb)
Payload:
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- 7095 kg (15641 lb) SSO
- 4950 kg (10910 lb) GTO
Height:
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- 58.30 m (191.20 ft)
Diameter:
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- 3.81 m (12.49 ft)
Span:
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- 3.81 m (12.49 ft)
Thrust:
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- 3827.00 kN (860343 lbf)
The vehicle's reliability statistics according to http://www.spacelaunchreport.com/log2015.html#rate:
Code:
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Vehicle Successes/Tries Realzd Pred Consc. Last Dates
Rate Rate* Succes Fail
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Atlas 5 53 54 .98 .96 44 6/15/07 2002-Launch Timeline & Ground Track:
Weather forecast for Titusville, Florida on July 15, 2015 (11 a.m.)
Partly to mostly cloudy with scattered showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. High around 35C. Winds WSW at 15 to 30 km/h. Chance of rain 60%.
11 AM|32°C|23°C|59%|1%|0%|72%|1015 hPa|21 km/h WSW|
Links:
- GPS block IIF
- GPS IIF (Global Positioning System)
- Preview: New GPS navigation satellite heads into space this week
