OrbitalHub

Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system performed a giant leap nearer completion on Tuesday 12 December, as four more Galileo satellites were launched into orbit by Ariane 5.

Liftoff from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana took place at 18:36 UTC (19:36 CET, 15:36 local time), carrying Galileo satellites 19–22. Separation of the upper stage occurred about nine minutes after liftoff, followed by the first firing of the upper stage. The upper stage – carrying four 715-kg Galileo satellites – flew in ballistic configuration for three hours and eight minutes, after which a second upper stage firing placed it into circular separation orbit. Once stabilised at 3h 35 min after liftoff, the Galileo dispenser released the first two satellites, followed by the second pair 20 minutes later.

At orbital injection the launcher attained an altitude of 22 925 km, approximately 300 km below the Galileo satellites’ operational altitude. The four satellites manoeuvred themselves up to this height, leaving the passivated upper stage safely in a ‘graveyard orbit’.

Video credit: ESA

Planetary Resources dixit:

“The Arkyd-6 spacecraft not only tests our core technologies, but also tests how we work together as a team. In this video, our Director of Systems Engineering Brian Douglas describes the design and engineering philosophies that worked really well for us when building Arkyd-6.

Using components that were not originally designed for space, innovating where it makes sense, and having a single owner from a hardware’s inception to its operation are some philosophies that we will continue to build upon as we design the Arkyd-301 spacecraft. ​”

Video credit: Planetary Resources

NASA dixit:

“Peer over the shoulders of our engineers as they build hardware for NASA’s Mars 2020 mission. This 360 video transports you to the historic Spacecraft Assembly Facility at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Engineer Emily Howard narrates as you walk around the cruise stage, which will fly the 2020 rover to the Red Planet, and the descent stage, which will lower the rover to the Martian surface.”

Video credit: NASA

NASA dixit:

“In just a couple of years, NASA’s newest rover will be flying to Mars. The Mars 2020 mission will use the next generation of science and landing technology to collect rock samples for possible return by a future mission.”

Video credit: NASA

NASA dixit:

“NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is in the midst of intense environmental testing at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in preparation for its journey to the Sun. These tests simulate the noise and shaking the spacecraft will experience during its launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, scheduled for 2018.

Parker Solar Probe’s integration and testing team must check over the spacecraft and systems to make sure everything is still in optimal working condition after experiencing these rigorous conditions – including a check of the solar arrays, which will provide electrical power to the spacecraft.

Parker Solar Probe will explore the Sun’s outer atmosphere and make critical observations that will answer decades-old questions about the physics of stars. The resulting data will also help improve how we forecast major eruptions on the Sun and subsequent space weather events that can impact life on Earth, as well as satellites and astronauts in space. The mission is named for Eugene N. Parker, whose profound insights into solar physics and processes have helped shape the field of heliophysics.”

Joy Ng (USRA): Producer

Sarah Frazier (ADNET SYSTEMS): Writer

Lee Hobson (APL): Videographer

Music credit: ‘Push Away’ by Andrew Michael Britton [PRS], David Stephen Goldsmith [PRS], Mikey Rowe [PRS] from Killer Tracks.

Video credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

NASA dixit:

“The mission of the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) on the International Space Station has been, well, expanded. After more than a year and a half on orbit providing performance data on expandable habitat technologies, NASA and Bigelow Aerospace have reached agreement to extend the life of the privately-owned module. For a minimum of three more years, BEAM will be a more operational element of the station used in crew activities and on board storage, allowing time to gather more data on the technology’s structural integrity, thermal stability, and resistance to space debris, radiation and microbial growth.”

Video credit: NASA