German SAR-Lupe 4 is to blast off March, 25 from Plesetsk

[SiberianTiger]

German SAR-Lupe 4 is to blast off March, 26 from Plesetsk

Okay, here is the launch thread for SAR-Lupe 4 Radar survelliance satellite whish is to be launched atop Kosmos-3M rocket from Plesetsk Cosmodrome this Tuesday (March, 25). The launch time is:

20:15:27 Moscow Standard Time (the same for Plesetsk)
18:15:27 MET
17:15:27 GMT
1:15:27 p.m. EDT

The satellite's brochure released by the sat's manufacturer, OHB Systems AG, is available here: http://www.ohb-system.de/gb/pdf/sar-lupe-broschure.pdf

There are some pictures from the Russian Ministry of Defence's site related to the upcoming launch.

The launch vehicle's assembly:

The launch vehicle's erection at the pad, carried out by the Space Force servicemen:

Nice to see a living example of a Russia/NATO cooperation.

 

[simonpro]

That has to be the snazziest launch fairing i have ever seen!

 

[Notebook]

Looks a bit like an F16 front view?

Any links to possible webcasts of the launch?

N.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Looks a bit like an F16 front view?
Any links to possible webcasts of the launch?
N.

Wish I had one. I hope at most that there will be a streaming or downloadable video after the launch. Will keep tracking the resources.

 

[SiberianTiger]

The launch has been postponed for 24 hours due to bad weather conditions. A weather informer tells me there's a kind of a snowstorm with strong wind in Plesetsk for the moment.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Got postponed for another 24 hours because of strong gusting winds at 13 km altitude that are capable of interfering with the rocket's guidance.

 

[SiberianTiger]

The launch has been commenced successfully

Bremen, 03-28-08

The fourth German SAR-Lupe reconnaissance satellite was launched at 18:15 hours from the Russian space center Plesetsk south of Archangelsk. The Cosmos 3M launch vehicle which was carrying the radar satellite released it into its intended orbit around half an hour later. After roughly 90 minutes, a direct contact was established between the control center and the satellite. Preliminary tests have confirmed that the fourth SAR-Lupe satellite is also working properly. Accordingly, work commenced on putting it into operation last night.
Satellite control is currently in the hands of the German Space Agency DLR in Oberpfaffenhofen. The ground station of the German Armed Forces in Gelsdorf is tracking the satellite at the same time and will assume operative responsibility for it in around four weeks, at which point in time the radar payload will go into use. The German Federal Armed Forces have been utilizing the system since December 2007 and are extremely pleased with the image quality.

In orbit since December 2006 and July and November 2007, respectively, the first three SAR-Lupe satellites are supplying outstanding high-resolution images and operating very successfully and reliably. SAR-Lupe 4 is identical in construction to the previous satellites. As they are operating perfectly, not even minor adjustments were necessary.

PS: hopefully more images will appear.

 

[SiberianTiger]

A couple of images from the launch day:

This Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 20:16:18 (MSK) Kosmos-3M launch vehicle carrying German spacecraft SAR-Lupe has been launched from the launch pad #1 of Area 132 of the State Test Cosmodrome Plesetsk through efforts of the Launch Team of the Russian Space Force led by the Commander of the Cosmodrome Major-General Oleg Ostapenko.

According to the information issues by the Public Relations detachment of the Space Force, all the launch parameters had been nominal.

At 20:17:52 (MSK) tracking of the Kosmos-3M LV has been acquired by the equipment of Germann Titov Main Test and Spacecraft Control Centre (GITSIU KS im. Titova).

The spacecraft separation has been confirmed at 20:44:28 (MSK). The separation occurred outside the contact range of the ground control.

This was the 441 launch of the Kosmos-3M LV, which had made its maiden flight in 1967 and is still in service, showing the 98% of the empiric reliability.