OrbitalHub

Arianespace dixit:

“Arianespace successfully launched two satellites [on November 10]: Arabsat-6B (BADR-7) for the operator Arabsat, and GSAT-15 for ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation). The company’s tenth launch of the year from the Guiana Space Center (CSG), and sixth with the Ariane 5 heavy launcher, took place on November 10 at 6:34 pm local time in Kourou, French Guiana. Through this mission, the 69th successful launch in a row by Ariane 5, Arianespace is proud to deliver reliable, sustainable solutions to Arabsat and ISRO, two loyal customers for over 30 years.

Arabsat is the leading regional satellite telecommunications operator in the Middle East and Africa. Arabsat-6B (BADR 7) is the ninth satellite orbited by Arianespace for this operator since the launch of Arabsat-1A in 1985. This satellite is the first of the sixth generation of satellites in the Arabsat fleet. It will provide telecommunications and direct- to-home (DTH) TV broadcast services for the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia. In 2012 Arabsat also confirmed its goal of bolstering its position in the Europe-Middle East-Africa (EMEA) zone by acquiring the company Hellasat. Arianespace will be launching another Arabsat satellite, Hellasat-4.

GSAT-15 is the 19th satellite to be launched by Arianespace for ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation). It will provide telecommunications services for the country, along with dedicated navigation-aid and emergency services. Arianespace has launched 91% of ISRO’s geostationary satellites that used non-Indian launch systems, dating back to the launch of the country’s experimental satellite APPLE on Flight L03 in 1981. The favored relationship between Arianespace and ISRO reflects the exemplary collaboration in the space sector between France and India, a partnership that will help ISRO realize its aim of using space to foster the development of the Indian sub-continent through a full range of satellite applications, for Earth observation, telecommunications, science and navigation.”

Video credit: ESA

Wikipedia dixit:

“LISA Pathfinder will place two test masses in a nearly perfect gravitational free-fall, and will control and measure their relative motion with unprecedented accuracy. The test masses and their environment will be the quietest place in the Solar System.

LISA Pathfinder is a proof-of-concept mission to prove that the two masses can fly through space, untouched but shielded by the spacecraft, and maintain their relative positions to the precision needed to realize a full-up gravitational wave observatory later. The primary objective is to measure deviations from geodesic motion. Much of the experimentation in gravitational physics requires measuring the relative acceleration between free-falling, geodesic reference test particles.

In LISA Pathfinder, precise inter-test-mass tracking by optical interferometry will allow scientists to assess the relative acceleration of the two test masses, situated about 38 cm apart in a single spacecraft. The science of LISA Pathfinder consists of measuring and creating an experimentally-anchored physical model for all the spurious effects – including stray forces and optical measurement limits – that limit the ability to create, and measure, the perfect constellation of free-falling test particles that would be ideal for the eLISA follow up mission. In particular, it will verify: drag-free attitude control of a spacecraft with two proof masses, the feasibility of laser interferometry in the desired frequency band (which is not possible on the surface of Earth), and the reliability and longevity of the various components—capacitive sensors, microthrusters, lasers, and optics.

For the follow-up mission, eLISA, the test masses will be 2 kg cubes housed in two separate spacecraft one million kilometers apart.”

Video credit: ESA

Wikipedia dixit:

“Sentinel-2 will serve a wide range of applications related to Earth’s land surface and coastal zones. The mission will mainly provide information for agricultural and forestry practices and for helping manage food security. Satellite images will be used to determine various plant indices such as leaf area chlorophyll and water content indexes. This is particularly important for effective yield prediction and applications related to Earth’s vegetation. As well as monitoring plant growth, Sentinel-2 can be used to map changes in land cover and to monitor the world’s forests. It will also provide information on pollution in lakes and coastal waters. Images of floods, volcanic eruptions and landslides contribute to disaster mapping and help humanitarian relief efforts.

Examples for applications include: monitoring land cover change for environmental monitoring; agricultural applications, such as crop monitoring and management to help food security; detailed vegetation and forest monitoring and parameter generation (e.g. leaf area index, chlorophyll concentration, carbon mass estimations); observation of coastal zones (marine environmental monitoring, coastal zone mapping); inland water monitoring; glacier monitoring, ice extent mapping, snow cover monitoring; flood mapping & management (risk analysis, loss assessment, disaster management during floods).”

Video credit: ESA

ESA dixit:

“Still images taken by ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti on the International Space Station were joined together to create this timelapse. The astronauts on the Space Station spend as much time as possible on science. During her 40-hour working week Samantha runs many experiments from Italy’s ASI space agency and ESA, and takes part in even more from scientists all over the world.”

Wikipedia dixit:

“An aurora is a natural light display in the sky, predominantly seen in the high latitude (Arctic and Antarctic) regions. Auroras are produced when the magnetosphere is sufficiently disturbed by the solar wind that the trajectories of charged particles in both solar wind and magnetospheric plasma, mainly in the form of electrons and protons, precipitate them into the upper atmosphere (thermosphere/exosphere), where their energy is lost. The resulting ionization and excitation of atmospheric constituents emits light of varying colour and complexity. The form of the aurora, occurring within bands around both polar regions, is also dependent on the amount of acceleration imparted to the precipitating particles. Precipitating protons generally produce optical emissions as incident hydrogen atoms after gaining electrons from the atmosphere. Proton auroras are usually observed at lower latitudes.”

Video credit: ESA

Arianespace dixit:

“Two telecommunications satellites that will provide expanded relay capacity for Australia and Argentina were orbited today on Arianespace’s ninth mission in 2015 – putting the company on track to perform a record 12 flights this year using its three-member launch vehicle family, which consists of the heavy-lift Ariane 5, medium-lift Soyuz and lightweight Vega. Lifting off exactly on time during a daylight departure from the Spaceport in French Guiana, the heavy-lift Ariane 5 utilized for today’s mission deployed its Sky Muster and ARSAT-2 satellite passengers during a 32-minute flight sequence. It marked the 82nd mission overall using Arianespace’s workhorse launcher, as well as the 68th consecutive Ariane 5 success. In post-launch comments, Chairman and CEO Stéphane Israël confirmed that Arianespace was on pace for a record-setting operational performance this year (12 flights from the Spaceport in 12 months), and also highlighted the company’s continued commitment to quality. The Ariane 5 ascends from the Spaceport in French Guiana with a dual-satellite payload of Sky Muster and ARSAT-2.

Further extending Ariane 5’s track record of highly accurate payload delivery, the estimated orbital parameters at injection of its cryogenic upper stage for Flight VA226 were:

– Perigee: 249.2 km. for a target of 249.5 km.

– Apogee: 35,911 km. for a target of 35,927 km.

– Inclination: 5.99 deg. for a target of 6.00 deg.

The first-released passenger on today’s mission was Sky Muster, which is the initial satellite to be operated by nbnâ„¢ – a service provider owned by the Commonwealth of Australia. This company’s objective is to ensure all Australians have access to fast broadband as soon as possible, at affordable prices and at the least cost to taxpayers. Built by Palo Alto-based SSL (Space Systems Loral), Sky Muster is scheduled to operate from geostationary orbit. It is designed to deliver broadband services to more than 200,000 rural and remote Australians, providing coverage to the entire country – including the Norfolk, Christmas, Macquarie and Cocos islands. Launch of nbn’s second spacecraft also has been entrusted to Arianespace. […]

Completing today’s mission was the deployment of ARSAT-2, which is the second of three geostationary satellites that will increase Argentina’s telecommunications capacity and guarantee the same level of connectivity quality across the country’s regions. Arianespace successfully orbited the first of these relay platforms – ARSAT-1 – on an Ariane 5 flight in October 2014. Built under the responsibility Argentina’s INVAP, ARSAT-2 will be operated by the state-owned Argentinian operator ARSAT (Empresa Argentina de Soluciones Satelitales Sociedad Anónima) to provide direct-to-home (DTH) television, Internet access services for reception on VSAT antennas, along with data transmission and IP telephony.”

Video credit: ESA / Arianespace

ESA dixit:

“Time-lapse movie showing the departure of ATV Georges Lemaître from the ISS on Saturday, 14 February 2015.”

Credit: NASA/ESA