Jonathan's Space Report No. 793 2021 Jun 4 Somerville, MA ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- International Space Station --------------------------- On May 4 and 5 the Dextre robot arm was used to move an old NiH battery pack (possibly S/N 0072) and its FRAM adapter from External Stowage Platform 3 Site 6 to the external attach area on the Cygnus cargo ship S.S. Katherine Johnson. The battery will be destroyed with the ship when it is eventually deorbited over the Pacific. On Jun 2 astronauts Novitskiy and Dubrov made a spacewalk from the Poisk module in spacesuits Orlan MKS-5 and MKS-4 respectively. During the spacewalk the Pirs module was decommissioned and prepared for future removal from ISS. The Poisk airlock was depressurized at 0525 UTC and the hatch was opened from 0553 to 0555 UTC. The astronauts installed a commemorative kit for the Energiya company on a handrail outside Poisk. They then took a pressurized container from Poisk to Zarya. The container had the new SP RRZh flow regulator inside; the regulator was swapped with the failed one on Zarya, which was sealed inside the container. The container was stowed on Poisk and then later, at 1056 UTC, jettisoned into space. It was cataloged with international designation 1998-067SK; I believe it has a mass of about 50 kg. The GStM-2 crane was moved from Pirs to Poisk. The Kurs AFU cabling was disconnected from Poisk and reconnected to Zarya. A `gap spanner' ladder between Pirs and Zvezda was removed (and taken inside?). Finally, two exposure experiment packages, in the 'Vinoslivost' and 'Test' series, were installed outside the Poisk airlock. The Poisk airlock hatch was closed at 1312 UTC. I'm not sure when the new flow regulator and container were launched, but I'm guessing it was on Progress MS-15. On Jun 3 SpaceX launched cargo ship Dragon CRS-22 from Kennedy Space Center. The B1067 first stage, on its first flight, landed on the droneship OCISLY. The second stage was deorbited south of Australia. CRS-22 carries the 2B/4B IROSA solar array package in its unpressurized trunk section. The array package has a mass of 1380 kg. A second object was cataloged from the CRS-22 launch in a 209 x 545 km orbit; it appears to be a small debris object of unknown origin, maybe something minor that came off stage 2 during the deorbit burn. Sources have confirmed that the Falcon 9 second stage deorbit was successful. Tianwen-1 ---------- The Chinese Tianwen-1 probe has made the country's first successful landing on Mars, on May 14. The Tianwen-1 Orbiter made an orbit adjust at 1717 UTC to lower its orbit around Mars from 277 x 57761 km x 88.7 deg to -37 x 57040 km x 89.2 deg. At about 2000 UTC the Tianwen-1 Lander separated from the Orbiter; and at 2054 UTC the Orbiter then raised periares again to return to a safe 431 x 57591 km x 89.2 deg orbit. The Lander then descended, beginning atmospheric entry at 2254 UTC at an altitude of 125 km, a velocity of 4.8 km/s and an entry angle of -11.2 degrees. At about 2259 UTC the main parachute deployed, and then the heat shield was jettisoned. The backshell and parachute separated about a minute later and rocket-powered descent began, leading to a landing at 109.7E 25.1N on Utopia Planitia at 2301 UTC. The signal from the landing was received on Earth at 2318 UTC after a light travel time of 17m 44s. On May 17 at about 0025 UTC the orbiter lowered its apogee, reaching a 259 x 12572 km x 89.2 deg orbit to begin its new role as a communications relay. The above analysis uses the excellent work of Daniel Estevez and the AMSAT-DL team, as well as data from Scott Tilley. Starlink and OneWeb -------------------- 52 Starlink satellites were launched on May 9 to a higher than usual deployment orbit. Two rideshare satellites were carried: Capella 6, a radar imaging satellite for Capella Space, and Tyvak-0130, a 6U cubesat for Tyvak and Lawrence Livermore Lab to test new astronomical telescope optics. 60 Starlink satellites were launched on May 26 to the usual 300 km, 53 degree orbit. 36 OneWeb satellites were launched on May 28 on a Soyuz from Vostochniy. Electron flight 20 ------------------ Two BlackSky Global imaging satellites were lost in the failure of RocketLab's Electron mission 20. Shortly after second stage ignition the stage shut down, tumbled out of control and the vehicle did not reach orbit. Apogee was 136 km. SBIRS ----- The SBIRS GEO-5 satellite was launched on May 18. SBIRS GEO-5 uses an infrared telescope to detect missile launches. Two 12U cubesats for the Air Force Academy were also carried and released to a 180 x 4520 km x 26.2 deg orbit. The Centaur then restarted to put SBIRS in an 897 x 35744 km x 21.2 deg geotransfer orbit. By Jun 1 SBIRS GEO-5 had raised its orbit to 25960 x 35734 km x 9.1 deg. HY-2D ----- On May 19 China's SAST launched a Chang Zheng 4B with the HY-2D (Hai Yang 2D) oceanographic satellite. Tianzhou-2 ----------- China's CALT launched a CZ-7 from Wenchang on May 29 carrying the Tianzhou-2 cargo ship. Tianzhou-2 made a rapid rendezvous with Tianhe and docked with it at 2101 UTC, 8 hr 6 min after launch. The CZ-7 second stage, with a mass around 6 tonnes, was left in a 196 x 321 km x 41.5 deg orbit. FY4-02 ------ The Fengyun 4 satellite 02 (also called FY4B) meteorological satellite was launched to geotransfer orbit on Jun 2. ION-SVC -------- The D-Orbit ION-SVC PULSE spacecraft released its final passengers, twelve 0.25U SpaceBEEs for Swarm Technologies, on May 11. Table of Recent Orbital Launches ---------------------------------- Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL. Catalog Perigee Apogee Incl Notes May 4 1901 Starlink 1904 Falcon 9 Kennedy LC39A Comms 38A Starlink 2499 Starlink 2505 Starlink 2526 Starlink 2560-2561 Starlink 2563 Starlink 2568 Starlink 2570-2576 Starlink 2578 Starlink 2581 Starlink 2585-2596 Starlink 2598-2614 Starlink 2521-2624 Starlink 2626 Starlink 2628 Starlink 2630-2631 Starlink 2635-2637 Starlink 2641 Starlink 2643 Starlink 2674 May 6 1811 Yaogan 30 hao 08 zu 01 xing ) Chang Zheng 2C Xichang Sigint? 39A S48423 592 x 602 x 35.0 Yaogan 30 hao 08 zu 02 xing ) Sigint? 39B S48424 592 x 602 x 35.0 Yaogan 30 hao 08 zu 03 xing ) Sigint? 39C S48425 592 x 602 x 35.0 Tianqi 12 ) Comms 39D S48426 589 x 598 x 35.0 May 9 0642 Starlink 2247 Falcon 9 Canaveral SLC40 Com 40A-BM 257 x 282 x 53.0 Starlink 2269 Starlink 2461 Starlink 2494 Starlink 2496-2497 Starlink 2500 Starlink 2508 Starlink 2525 Starlink 2529 Starlink 2531 Starlink 2579 Starlink 2582-2583 Starlink 2619-2620 Starlink 2632-2634 Starlink 2638-2640 Starlink 2642 Starlink 2644-2645 Starlink 2652 Starlink 2654-2655 Starlink 2658-2661 Starlink 2663 Starlink 2675 Starlink 2680-2687 Starlink 2689-2690 Starlink 2692-2693 Starlink 2696-2700 Starlink 2702-2703 Starlink 2706 Starlink 2722-2723 Starlink 2728-2729 Starlink 2749 Starlink 2755 May 11 SpaceBEE-64 to 75 ION-SVC 2, LEO Comms 06ES-FD 511 x 534 x 97.3 May 15 1111 BlackSky 8 ) Electron Mahia LC1 Imaging F02 F01582 -6060 x 117? x 50.0 BlackSky 9 ) Imaging F02 F01583 -6060 x 117? x 50.0 May 15 2256 Starlink 2063 Falcon 9 Kennedy LC39A Comms 41A Starlink 2139 Starlink 2145 Starlink 2151 Starlink 2155 Starlink 2166-2167 Starlink 2173 Starlink 2186-2191 Starlink 2214-2215 Starlink 2217 Starlink 2219-2222 Starlink 2224-2225 Starlink 2227-2228 Starlink 2231-2238 Starlink 2240-2242 Starlink 2244-2246 Starlink 2248-2253 Starlink 2255-2256 Starlink 2274-2276 Starlink 2713-2714 Starlink 2757 Capella 6 Radar 41BF? S48606? Tyvak-0130 Astron 41BE? S48605? May 18 1737 SBIRS GEO 5) Atlas V Canaveral SLC41 EarlyWarn 42A S48618 898 x 35744 x 21.1 TDO-3 ) Tech 42B S48619 179 x 4518 x 26.1 TDO-4 ) Tech 42C S48620 180 x 4516 x 26.1 May 19 0403 HaiYang 2D Chang Zheng 4B Jiuquan Rem.Sen. 43A S48621 932 x 950 x 66.0 May 26 1859 Starlink 2521 Falcon 9 Canaveral SLC40 Com 44A-BM 257 x 282 x 53.0 Starlink 2615-2618 Starlink 2627 Starlink 2629 Starlink 2646-2649 Starlink 2651 Starlink 2653 Starlink 2657 Starlink 2666-2667 Starlink 2672-2673 Starlink 2688 Starlink 2691 Starlink 2695 Starlink 2701 Starlink 2704-2705 Starlink 2707-2709 Starlink 2711-2712 Starlink 2715 Starlink 2717 Starlink 2719-2720 Starlink 2725-2727 Starlink 2731-2743 Starlink 2745-2746 Starlink 2748 Starlink 2750-2754 Starlink 2756 Starlink 2758 Starlink 2763 May 28 1737 OneWeb SL0190 Soyuz-2-1b/Fregat Vostochniy PU1 Comms 45A-AM 442 x 452 x 87.4 OneWeb SL0210-0216 OneWeb SL0221-0248 May 29 1255 Tianzhou-2 Chang Zheng 7 Wenchang LC102 Cargo 46A S48803 369 x 377 x 41.5 Jun 2 1617 Fengyun 4 02 xing Chang Zheng 3B Xichang LC2 Weather 47A S48808 186 x 35808 x 28.5 Jun 3 1729 Dragon CRS-22 Falcon 9 Kennedy LC39A Cargo 48A S48831 193 x 212 x 51.6 Table of Recent Suborbital Launches ----------------------------------- The Missile Defense Agency's FTM-31 Event 1 test on May 29 or May 30 appears to have involved launch of an MRBM-T3c2 target rocket with a Trident C-4 first stage and M57 second stage, from Meck Island at Kwajalein towards the central Pacific near Hawaii. The planned intercept by two SM-6 missiles launched from an Aegis ship near Hawaii did not take place, but it's not clear if the SM-6 missiles were launched but missed, or weren't launched at all. Further missile defense tests were carried on in late May from South Uist in the Hebrides, with Aegis intercepts by ships off the west coast of Scotland. Date UT Payload/Flt Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission Apogee/km Target Apr 14 1651 NS-15 New Shepard West Texas Test 106 West Texas Apr 19 0830 SHIELDS Black Brant IX White Sands UV Astron 285 White Sands Apr 28 0800? M51 payload MSBS M51 Landes Test? 1000? Atlantic May 17 0441 KiNET-X Black Brant XIIA Wallops I LA1? Plasma 486 Atlantic May 18 1830 EUNIS 4 Black Brant IX White Sands Solar EUV 335 White Sands May 22 1526 VG-021 Spaceship Two Elephant Butte Test 89 Spaceport America May 24 0535 MAPHEUS 11 IM/IM Kiruna Micrograv 216? ESRANGE May 27 0115 VIPER Terr. Imp. Mal. Wallops Ionosphere 151? Atlantic May 26 T4-B Target Terrier Oriole South Uist Target 300? Atlantic May 26 AEGIS KV SM-3 DDG-117, D-701 Atlantic Interceptor 150? Intercept T4-B May 29? FTM-31E1 Target MRBM-T3c2 Kwajalein Meck I. Target 500? Pacific May 30 T4-B Target Terrier Oriole South Uist Target 300? Atlantic May 30 AEGIS KV SM-3 DDG-117, D-701 Atlantic Interceptor 150? Intercept T4-B .-------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Jonathan McDowell | | | Somerville MA 02143 | inter : planet4589 at gmail | | USA | twitter: @planet4589 | | | | JSR: https://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html | | Back issues: https://www.planet4589.org/space/jsr/back | | Subscribe/unsub: https://www.planet4589.org/mailman/listinfo/jsr | '-------------------------------------------------------------------------'