Jonathan's Space Report No. 813 2022 Dec 12 Somerville, MA ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: the constellations stats pages, including the Starlink Statistics page, have been moved. The Starlink Statistics page is now https://planet4589.org/space/con/star/stats.html Artemis I --------- Artemis I entered the lunar gravitational sphere of influence a 1910 UTC Nov 21. It made the powered flyby burn at 1244 UTC Nov 21, and passed through a 130.6 km altitude perilune over the farside crater Ibn Firnas at 1257 UTC. It is now heading outward from the Moon and reached a 92712 km apolune height on Nov 25. A burn at 2152 UTC Nov 25 put Orion in a distant retrograde orbit (DRO). Orion orbited between 69200 and 86300 km from the Moon, making a departure burn at 2153 UTC Dec 1 to set it on a close lunar flyby trajectory of 130 x 108450 km. The second close flyby, at 130 km altitude at 1644 UTC Dec 5, was accompanied by the second powered flyby burn of 293 m/s to put Orion on a lunar escape orbit of 135 x -12100 km x 162.2 deg. It left the lunar sphere of influence at 0731 UTC Dec 6, and after several course corrections reached Earth on Dec 11 in a 52 x 392747 km x 85.7 deg orbit, first heading southward over the Indian Ocean to Antarctica and then descending northward over the Pacific to entry around 120W 27S at 1720 UTC. The ESM-1 service module separated from CM-002 at 1700 UTC at 5150 km altitude. CM made a small 2.5m/s orbit raise burn to target the skip reentry at 1703 UTC. The ESM-1 debris reached the Pacific around 119.0W 6.5N sometime around 1726 UTC. The CM reached an altitude minimum of 60.9 km and then skipped to an apogee of 89.6 km over about 120W 8N at 1727 UTC, descending again to entry south of Baja California at 1729 UTC with parachute deployment at 1736-1737 UTC and splashdown near 118.0W 27.5N at 1740:30 UTC. Artemis I cubesats -------------------- The cubesats deployed from the SLS ICPS OSA have had mixed success. All of them flew past the Moon on Nov 21 at heights of 100 to 3000 km, but only OMOTENASHI and NEAScout have provided trajectory information. LunaHMap failed to fire its thrusters and was not able to enter lunar orbit, although it did make science measurements from its 1351 km flyby at 1552 UTC on Nov 21. It is hoped to fire the propulsion system in about a month from now in a second attempt to achieve lunar orbit. OMOTENASHI failed to establish stable comms with Earth and also made a lunar flyby instead of diverting to the planned lunar landing. Communications were not established with the NEAScout solar sail craft. CuSP communicated with the ground for the first few hours but fell silent on Nov 17. LunIR is communicating but with low signal strength. The Team Miles cubesat was first reported to be in ground contact on Dec 10. Biosentinel, EQUULEUS, ArgoMoon, and Lunar IceCube are thought to be working but few details are available. BioSentinel, Miles, CuSP, OMOTENASHI and NEA Scout are believed to have left the Earth-Moon system and entered 1.00 x 1.01 AU x 0 deg solar orbit on Dec 10 to 13. Lunar IceCube, ArgoMoon, EQUULEUS, LunaHMap and LunIR are believed to be in very deep Earth orbits with future lunar encounters. Please contact me if you can share trajectory data for any of these objects (or better yet, arrange for them to be added to JPL Horizons). International Space Station --------------------------- Expedition 68 continues. Dragon cargo mission CRS-26 was launched on Nov 26 using capsule C211 and docked with IDA-3/PMA-3 at 1239 UTC Nov 27. On Nov 30 the Canadarm-2 transferred the IROSA array payload from the CRS-26 trunk to the MBS POA on the truss. Four cubesats were deployed from the Kibo airlock on Dec 2 using the J-SSOD No. 23 deployer. On Dec 3 astronauts Cassada and Rubio made spacewalk US EVA-82, in suits 3013 and 3004, to move the 3A IROSA solar array from the IROSA package on the POA to the 3A solar array mast on the S4 truss. The hatch was open from 1213 to 1917 UTC, and the airlock was depressurized from 1208 to 1921 UTC. Chinese Space Station ---------------------- Shenzhou-15 was launched at 1508 UTC Nov 29 and docked with the Tianhe forward docking port at 2142 UTC the same day. Crew of Shenzhou-15 are Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu, forming expedition 4 (Tiangong Zairen 4, TGZR4) and beginning planned permanent occupation of the station. At the time of docking the TGZR3 crew were still aboard, temporarily increasing the station complement to 6 people. Shenzhou-14 undocked from Tianhe nadir at 0301 UTC Dec 4 with the TGZR3 crew of Chen Dong, Liu Uang and Cai Xuzhe. The spaceship jettisoned its orbital module at about 1120 UTC, made a deorbit burn at 1122 UTC, jettisoned the propulsion module at about 1145 UTC, and landed at 100 03 11E 41 39 13N in the Dongfeng Landing Area at 1209 UTC after a 182 day 9 hr 24min flight. The orbital module is known to be still in orbit, but has not yet been cataloged by the US Space Force. X-37B ----- X-37B mission OTV-6 was concluded on Nov 12. At about 0930 UTC the OTV ejected an annular service module (the first time this had been carried); this was cataloged as 54246 in a 234 x 239 km x 45.0 deg orbit. Then, the OTV performed a deorbit burn over the South Pacific and glided to a runway landing at the Kennedy Space Center's SLF (Shuttle Landing Facility), touching down at 1022 UTC. OTV-6 was launched on 2020 May 17. The service module is thought to have reentered later in November, but Space-Track has not issued a decay notice. Eutelsat 10B ----------- SpaceX launched Eutelsat's Eutelsat 10B C/Ku-band communications satellite to supersync geotransfer orbit on Nov 23. The satellite is a Thales Alenia Spacebus-NEO with an electric propulsion system. PSLV-C54 -------- India's NSIL launched a PSLV-XL from Sriharikota on Nov 26 with the Oceansat-3 research satellite. Oceansat-3 (also called EOS-06) carries an ocean color monitor, a sea surface temperature monitor, a Ku-band scatterometer, and an ARGOS meteorological data relay payload. The PSLV-XL PS4 fourth stage placed Oceansat-3 in a 740 km SSO and then made two additional burns to a 510 km orbit where a set of small satellites were deployed: Four Astrocast (Switzerland) 3U IoT satellites, the Anand imaging satellite for India's Pixxel, two 0.5U Thybolt communications satellites for Indian startup Dhruva Space, and the INS-2B India-Bhutan imaging satellite developed by ISRO in collaboration with Bhutan. Glonass-M --------- Russia launched a Glonass-M navigation satellite, codenamed Kosmos-2564, to a circular 12-hour orbit on Nov 28. Kosmos-2565 ----------- A Russian Defense Ministry satellite launched on Nov 30 from Plesetsk is probably a Lotos-S electronic intelligence satellite. On Dec 2 at 0722 UTC it circularized its orbit at 900 km as expected. However, on Dec 2 around 2300 UTC it unexpectedly released another object. Since the launch announcement talked about 'satellites', plural, it is assumed this object is a secondary payload of some kind. KZ-11 ----- The second CASIC/EXPACE Kuaizhou-11 launch - on Dec 7 - was successful. The payload is CASIC's Xingyun Jiaotong VDES Shiyan Weixing satellite with maritime-tracking VDES and AIS payloads. OneWeb ------- SpaceX launched 40 OneWeb satellites on Dec 8 to a 600 km deployment orbit. The Falcon 9 first stage landed back at Cape Canaveral's LZ-1. This is the first OneWeb launch on a Falcon 9. Jielong-3 --------- The China Long March Rocket Co. (Zhongguo Changzheng Houjian YG), a government-owned commercial launch provider associated with CALT, carried out the first launch of its Jielong-3 vehicle on Dec 9. Jielong-3 is a four-stage launch vehicle; the first three stages are solid-propellant and are almost identical to those in the Lijian-1 (ZK-1) rocket, while I believe the fourth stage uses liquid propellant. The rocket was launched from the Tai Rui barge in the Huang Hai (Yellow Sea) at about 123.7E 37.3N. Jielong-3 Y1 placed 14 satellites in orbit: - Seven Jilin-1 imaging satellites developed by Changguang Sat Tech Co., of which 3 were sponsored by Meishan Huantian Smart Tech CO. - Jilin-1 Pingtai 01A01, a Jilin-1 sat with combined imaging, comm and nav-augmentation payloads. - Fengtai Shaonian 2 (CAS-5A), a student amateur radio satellite - Jiaotong-5 (HEAD-2H), an IOT data relay satellite for HEAD Aerospace - Tianqi Xingzuo 07, for Guodian Gaokeji YG - Jin Zijing 1 No. 05 and No. 06, in the Golden Bauhinia series from Ling Zhong Kongjian and Hong Kong Aerospace Tech - Huoju-1, a cubesat with a microbe growth experiment for Huojian Pi SAST launches ------------- A SAST Chang Zheng 2D was launched on Dec 8 with the GF5-01A hyperspectral imaging satellite. iSpace ------ The private Japanese company iSpace launched its Hakuto-R Mission 1 lunar lander aboard a Falcon 9 at 0738 UTC on Dec 11. The Falcon 9 first stage landed at Landing Zone 2, Cape Canaveral. The second stage reached a 167 x 297 km x 29.0 deg parking orbit at 0746 UTC, and then restarted at 0818 UTC to reach a near-escape orbit with an apogee of 1.1 million km, near the Sun-Earth Hill Sphere boundary - but not in the direction of either the L1 or L2 Lagrange points. The second stage will likely be perturbed into solar orbit. At 0824 UTC iSpace's Hakuto-R M1 separated from stage 2; at 0831 UTC JPL's Lunar Flashlight cubesat separated from stage 2. Both spacecraft will make small trajectory adjustments near the Hill Sphere which will cause them to fall back to the lunar vicinity in around Mar 2023. Lunar Flashlight will use a solar sail, and will reflect light into shadowed craters to help its spectrometer detect any ice there. Hakuto-R will land on the lunar surface and deploy the UAE's 10 kg Rashid rover and JAXA's 0.25 kg SORA-Q wheeled robot. Erratum: -------- Spacewalk VKD-55 was on Nov 17, not Nov 18. Table of Recent Orbital Launches ---------------------------------- Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL. Catalog Perigee Apogee Incl Notes Nov 1 1341 LDPE 2 Falcon Heavy Kennedy LC39A Tech 144A 36000 x 36000 x 2? USA 339 Unknown 144B 36000 x 36000 x 2? Nov 2 0647 Kosmos-2563 Soyuz-2-1B/Fregat Plesetsk EarlyWarn 145A 1622 x 38538 x 63.8 Nov 3 0522 Hot Bird 13G Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Comms 146A 410 x 57503 x 27.7 Nov 4 1727 MATS Electron Mahia 1B Sci 147A 581 x 597 x 97.7 Nov 5 1150 Zhongxing-19 Chang Zheng 3B Xichang LC2 Comms 148A 220 x 35787 x 28.4 Nov 7 1032 S.S. Sally Ride Antares 230+ Wallops LA0A Cargo 149A 227 x 332 x 51.7 Nov 10 0949 JPSS-2 (NOAA-21) Atlas V 401 Vandenberg SLC3E Weather 150A 801 x 819 x 98.7 LOFTID Tech 150 17 x 658 x 97.6 Nov 11 2252 Yunhai-3 Chang Zheng 6A Taiyuan Weather? 151A 840 x 856 x 98.8 Nov 12 0203 Tianzhou-5 Chang Zheng 7 Wenchang LC201 Cargo 152A 200 x 421 x 41.8 Nov 12 1606 Galaxy 31 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Comms 153A 283 x 58433 x 24.2 Galaxy 32 Comms 153B 306 x 58459 x 22.3 Nov 13 2202 Zhixing-3A Tianzhou-4, LEO Tech? 50E 375 x 396 x 41.48 Nov 15 0138 Yaogan 34-03 Chang Zheng 4C Jiuquan Imaging? 154A 1092 x 1097 x 63.4 Nov 16 0620 Jilin-1 GF03D-08 Gushenxing-1 Jiuquan Imaging 155A Jilin-1 GF03D-51 Imaging 155 Jilin-1 GF03D-52 Imaging 155 Jilin-1 GF03D-53 Imaging 155 Jilin-1 GF03D-54 Imaging 155 Nov 16 0647 Artemis I SLS Block 1 Kennedy LC39B Spaceship 156A 517 x 376794 x 30.5 Nov 16 1027? Lunar IceCube OSA/ICPS-1, deep orbit Science 156 532 x 377388 x 30.3 OMOTENASHI Science 156 532 x 377388 x 30.3 EQUULEUS Science 156 532 x 377388 x 30.3 BioSentinel 1 Science 156 532 x 377388 x 30.3 ArgoMoon Science 156 532 x 377388 x 30.3 Nov 16 1157? NEA Scout OSA/ICPS-1, deep orbit Science 156 532 x 377388 x 30.3 Nov 16 1220? Luna HMap OSA/ICPS-1, deep orbit Science 156 532 x 377388 x 30.3 Nov 16 1250? LunIR OSA/ICPS-1, deep orbit Science 156 532 x 377388 x 30.3 Nov 16 1350? Miles OSA/ICPS-1, deep orbit Science 156 532 x 377388 x 30.3 Nov 16 1450? CuSP OSA/ICPS-1, deep orbit Science 156 532 x 377388 x 30.3 Nov 18 0114 Hwasong-17 RV Hwasong-17? Sunan ICBM test U03 -6260 x 6100 x 41.6 Nov 23 0257 EUTELSAT 10B Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Comms 157A 261 x 59831 x 22.8 Nov 26 0626 Oceansat-3 PSLV-XL Satish Dhawan Rem.sens 158A 729 x 748 x 98.3 India Bhutan Sat Imaging 158 501 x 530 x 97.5 Anand Imaging 158 Astrocast-0301 Comms 158 Astrocast-0302 Comms 158 Astrocast-0303 Comms 158 Astrocast-0304 Comms 158 Thybolt 1 Comms 158 Thybolt 2 Comms 158 Nov 26 1920 Dragon CRS-26 Falcon 9 Kennedy LC39A Cargo 159A 208 x 240 x 51.7 Nov 27 1223 Yaogan 36 hao 03 zu 01 xing Chang Zheng 2D Xichang Sigint? 160A 487 x 502 x 35.0 Yaogan 36 hao 03 zu 02 xing Sigint? 160 Yaogan 36 hao 03 zu 03 xing Sigint? 160 Nov 28 1517 Kosmos-2564 Soyuz-2-1B/Fregat Plesetsk Nav 161A 19149 x 19508 x 64.8 Nov 29 1508 Shenzhou 15 Chang Zheng 2F Jiuquan Spaceship 162A 385 x 393 x 41.5 Nov 30 2110? Kosmos-2565 Soyuz-2-1B Plesetsk Sigint 163A 898 x 912 x 67.1 Kosmos-2566? Unk 163C 896 x 910 x 67.1 Dec 2 0750? SpaceTuna-1 ISS, LEO Sci 98067UL? 409 x 420 x 51.6 PearlAfricaSat-1 Tech 98067UM? 409 x 420 x 51.6 ZimSat-1 Tech 98067UN? 409 x 420 x 51.6 Taka Tech 98067UP? 409 x 420 x 51.6 Dec 7 0115 Xingyun Jiaotong VDES SW Kuaizhou-11 Jiuquan Comms 164A 737 x 749 x 98.4 Dec 8 1831 Gao Fen 5-01 Chang Zheng 2D Taiyuan Imaging 165A 668 x 683 x 98.1 Dec 8 2227 OneWeb L15 (40 sats) Falcon 9 Kennedy LC39A Comms 166 587 x 599 x 86.5 Dec 9 0635 Jilin-1 GF03D-44 Jielong-3 TaiRui, Yellow Sea Imaging 167 530 x 547 x 97.5 Jilin-1 GF03D-45 Imaging 167 Jilin-1 GF03D-46 Imaging 167 Jilin-1 GF03D-47 Imaging 167 Jilin-1 GF03D-48 Imaging 167 Jilin-1 GF03D-49 Imaging 167 Jilin-1 GF03D-50 Imaging 167 Jilin-1 Pingtai 01A01 Img/com? 167 Fengtai Shaonian 2 Comms 167 Jinzijing 1-05 Imaging 167 Jinzijing 1-06 Imaging 167 Jiaotong-5 Comms 167 Huoju-1 Bio 167 Tianqi Xingzuo 07 Comms 167 Dec 11 0738 Hakuto-R M1 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Lunar 168A 293 x 1134167 x 29.1 Lunar Flashlight Lunar 168B 293 x 1134167 x 29.1 Table of Recent Suborbital Launches ----------------------------------- Date UT Payload/Flt Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission Apogee/km Target Nov 2 AAD AD-1 AAD AD-1 Kalam I. Test 150? Bay of Bengal Nov 2 2340 RV Hwasong-12? Sunan Test 1920 Sea of Japan Nov 3 RV x 4? Bulava G. Suvorov, White Sea Test 1000? Kura Nov 3 1235 RV Hwasong-6? Koksan Test 150 Sea of Japan Nov 3 1239 RV Hwasong-6? Koksan Test 150 Sea of Japan Nov 3 1242 RV Hwasong-6? Koksan Test 150 Sea of Japan Nov 5 Dummy payload Qaem-100 Shahroud Test 200? Arabian Sea? Nov 16 JFTM-07 Target Terr.Terr. Oriole Kauai Target 300? Pacific Nov 16 SM KV SM-3-IIA DDG-179, Pacific Interceptor 300? Intercept target Nov 18 0600 Prarambh Vikram-S Satish Dhawan Test 89 Bay of Bengal Nov 19 JFTM-07 Target Unknown Kauai Target 150? Pacific Nov 19 SM KV SM-3-IB DDG-180, Pacific Interceptor 150? Intercept target Nov 20 1720 ACES II High Black Brant IX Andoya Auroral 406 Norwegian Sea Nov 20 1721 ACES II Low Black Brant IX Andoya Auroral 188 Norwegian Sea Nov 23 0342 Agni RV Agni 3 Kalam I. Test 300? Bay of Bengal Nov 23 0723 MASER 15/S1X-3 VSB-30 Kiruna Microgravity 260 ESRANGE .-------------------------------------------------------------------------. | 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 | '-------------------------------------------------------------------------'