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Soyuz flight VS22
The Soyuz-ST-B launch vehicle, three O3b satellites, and a toucan, depicted surrounding the Earth in the background
Artwork featured on visitors' brochures
Soyuz-ST-B launch
Launch4 April 2019 (2019-04-04), 17:03:37 UTC
OperatorArianespace
PadKourou ELS
PayloadO3b × 4
OutcomeSuccess
Arianespace Soyuz launches
← VS21
VS23 →

Soyuz flight VS22 (French: Soyuz vol VS22) was a rocket launch conducted by multinational launch service provider Arianespace. It was the sixteenth launch of a Soyuz-ST-B launch vehicle, and the 22nd launch of a Soyuz-2 series launch vehicle from the Ensemble de Lancement Soyouz at the Guiana Space Centre. After two scheduling delays and a 33-minute logistical delay, the rocket lifted off on 4 April 2019, and successfully delivered to medium Earth orbit the final four satellites in the O3b broadband satellite constellation, which services Latin America, Africa, and Oceania. After four previous Soyuz flights delivered the constellation's first sixteen satellites, the launch increased the constellation's throughput by 26 per cent. The flight marked the second occasion in which two Soyuz-2 launch vehicles were launched on the same day, occurring hours after the launch of Progress MS-11 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Rocket

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The launch vehicle used in Soyuz flight VS22 was a Soyuz-ST-B – a variant of the Soyuz-2.1b which utilizes a 4.1 × 11.4 metre "ST" payload fairing.[1][2] The Soyuz-2.1b itself is a variant of the Soyuz-2 family that utilizes a RD-0124 engine for the Blok-I stage, rather than the older RD-0110 engine used on the Soyuz-2.1a.[3][4] The RD-0124 grants 34 more seconds of specific impulse than its predecessor, improving the rocket's performance.[5] Manufactured at the Progress Rocket Space Centre in Samara, Russia, the rocket's components had been adapted for the warmer climate at the Guiana Space Centre (Kourou).[6] Its boosters and Blok-A first stage had also been equipped with pyrotechnic charges to ensure they would sink to the sea floor upon impact with the ocean.[6] In contrast to the horizontal payload integration performed on Soyuz-2 rockets at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the payload is integrated vertically with the Soyuz-ST-B at Kourou, via a mobile service tower at the Ensemble de Lancement Soyouz (ELS) launch pad.[7]

Payload

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Communications satellite services company SES S.A. was the sole customer for Soyuz flight VS22, commissioning a launch of four O3b satellites.[8][9] O3b is a broadband satellite constellation in non-geostationary orbit, which provides "fiber-like, high-performance data connectivity services" to Africa, Latin America, and Oceania.[10][11] Each satellite weighed around 700 kilograms (1,500 lb), totaling a payload mass of 3,198 kilograms (7,050 lb).[12][13][14] Flight VS22 is the fifth launch of an O3b satellite cluster – previous launches include Soyuz flights VS05 in June 2013, VS08 in July 2014, VS10 in December 2014, and VS18 in March 2018.[15][16][17][18] The launch increased the number of satellites in the constellation from 16 to 20,[19][20] improving the constellation's bandwidth and performance, although it did not significantly increase the constellation's coverage area of 50° north and south of the equator.[20][21] Designed to operate in the Ka band, each of the O3b satellites has a maximum throughput of 10–20 gigabits per second, and the four satellites launched aboard flight VS22 increased the total throughput of the constellation by 26 per cent.[12][13] The launch completed the "first generation" of 20 O3b satellites – SES plans to succeed the constellation with the O3b mPOWER constellation, which will have a total throughput of up to 10 terabits per second.[11][22] The satellites carried aboard flight VS22 are the 58–61st SES satellites to be commissioned for launch by Arianespace.[8][23] They were also the 156–159th spacecraft launched by Arianespace to be manufactured by Thales Alenia Space and its predecessors.[12][19][24]

Flight

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External videos
video icon Highlights of Soyuz flight VS22 (2:31) by Arianespace

Soyuz flight VS22 was delayed twice from its intended launch date on 26 March 2019; first to 29 March and later to 4 April.[25] The Soyuz-ST-B launch vehicle was rolled out to Kourou's ELS launch pad on 1 April.[26] After a 33-minute delay to allow for further checks on ground systems, it lifted off at 17:03:37 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on 4 April 2019,[10][27] in an eastward direction over the Atlantic Ocean.[28] The rocket's boosters and first two stages were expended in ten minutes, while the Fregat upper stage's S5.92 engine fired three times to place the Fregat and the O3b satellites aboard into a near-circular medium Earth orbit above the equator, at an altitude of 7,830 kilometres (4,870 mi).[10][28] The lower orbit, roughly twenty times the height of the International Space Station (ISS) and a fourth of the altitude of typical geostationary satellites,[29][30] allows for decreased latency between the satellites and the ground.[30] The satellites were deployed two at a time, with the first set of satellites deployed at 19:03 UTC, and the second set 22 minutes later at 19:25 UTC.[31][32] The flight lasted 2 hours and 22 minutes.[29] After the mission, one final burn placed the Fregat into a controlled decaying orbit.[33] Flight VS22 was the 22nd launch of a Soyuz-2 vehicle from Kourou since launches from the complex began in October 2011, and the fourth Soyuz-2 launch by Arianespace in five months.[25][34] Launch frequency of the Soyuz-2 increased dramatically with the vehicle's usage in the OneWeb satellite programme, which started with Arianespace's previous Soyuz flight.[34] Flight VS22 occurred five-and-a-half hours after the launch of a Soyuz-2.1a rocket from Baikonur that carried the Progress MS spacecraft 441 to the ISS during the Progress MS-11 mission,[27] marking the second time that two Soyuz-2 rockets launched on the same day; the launch of the first four O3b satellites from Kourou, and Resurs-P No.1 from Baikonur, occurred within two hours of each other on 25 June 2013.[35][36][37]

See also

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References

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Sources

  1. Clark, Stephen (2 April 2019a). "Two Soyuz rockets rolled out for launches on different continents". SpaceflightNow. Archived from the original on 9 April 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  2. Euzet-Hoyau, Claudia, ed. (28 March 2019). "Launch Kit VS22 - O3b Satellites" (PDF). Arianespace. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  3. Henry, Caleb (4 April 2019). "Soyuz launch completes first-generation O3b constellation". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 28 May 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  4. Wells, Sarah (7 April 2019). "Four New Satellites Ride Into Space To Join Growing SES Constellation". Space.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.

Citations

  1. ^ Lagier, Roland, ed. (May 2018). "Soyuz User's Manual, Issue 2 Revision 1" (PDF). Arianespace. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 8 April 2019. Payload fairing; Fairing: ST; Diameter: 4.110 m; Length: 11.433 m
  2. ^ European Space Agency staff (4 July 2016). "Launch Vehicle". European Space Agency. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 8 April 2019. The current Soyuz flies the ST-type fairing, with external diameter of 4.1 m and a length of 11.4 m.
  3. ^ Nowakowski, Tomasz (23 September 2017). "Soyuz-2.1b launches GLONASS-M navigation satellite into orbit". SpaceFlight Insider. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 8 April 2019. The Soyuz-2.1b rocket employed for Friday's launch is an upgraded version of the three-stage Soyuz-2 booster.
  4. ^ Graham, William (24 October 2018). "Russia returns Soyuz rocket to flight with Lotos-S1 mission". NASASpaceFlight.com. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 8 April 2019. Soyuz-2-1a uses a Blok-I with an RD-0110 engine like earlier members of the Soyuz family, while Soyuz-2-1b has a more powerful RD-0124 engine.
  5. ^ Chris, Bergin; William, Graham (4 April 2019). "Soyuz ST-B lofts another set of O3b satellites". NASASpaceFlight.com. Archived from the original on 9 April 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2019. With the Soyuz ST-B utilizing the RD-0124 third stage engine, an additional 34 seconds of specific impulse (Isp) significantly increases the vehicle's overall launch performance.
  6. ^ a b Clark 2019a, "Soyuz rockets shipped from their factory in Samara, Russia, to French Guiana also include changes to adapt the rocket to the tropical climate at the Guiana Space Center, and the four first-stage boosters and core stage are equipped with pyrotechnic charges to ensure the components sink after falling into the sea."
  7. ^ Clark 2019a, "Unlike the Soyuz launch pads at Baikonur, the launch facility in French Guiana has a mobile shelter that moved around the rocket after rollout. [...] satellite payloads at the Guiana Space Center are installed atop the rocket vertically — after it is erected on the launch pad — while spacecraft are attached to Soyuz boosters horizontally at the Baikonur Cosmodrome."
  8. ^ a b Arianespace 2019, "Arianespace will be launching four more O3b satellites for SES. [...] The O3b satellites lofted by Arianespace on Flight VS22 are the 58th, 59th, 60th and 61th [sic] satellites to be launched by Arianespace for the global satellite operator SES."
  9. ^ Malik, Tariq (4 April 2019). "There Are 2 Rocket Launches, a Moon Arrival and Asteroid Crash Today! Here's How to Watch". Space.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019. ...launch of an Arianespace Soyuz rocket carrying four O3b communications satellites into orbit for the satellite communications provider SES.
  10. ^ a b c Clark, Stephen (4 April 2019b). "Soyuz launch deploys last of O3b's first-generation broadband satellites". SpaceflightNow. Archived from the original on 9 April 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2019. O3b broadband network will help satisfy growing bandwidth demands in Latin America, Africa and the Pacific islands [...] at 1703:37 GMT (1:03:37 p.m. EDT; 2:03:37 p.m. French Guiana time) Thursday aboard a Soyuz ST-B rocket after a 33-minute delay to allow extra time to conduct final checks on ground systems [...] In less than 10 minutes, the Soyuz booster deployed a Fregat upper stage in space for three engine firings [...] into a target orbit 4,865 miles (7,830 kilometers) over the equator.
  11. ^ a b Inside GNSS staff (4 April 2019). "O3b Satellites Roar into Space, Scaling SES' MEO Constellation". Inside GNSS. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019. ...non-geostationary satellite orbit (NGSO) broadband constellation, the O3b MEO system [...] It is the only satellite-based system currently delivering fiber-like high-performance data connectivity services [...] As this launch completes our first-gen O3b system of 20 satellites, it also marks the transition into our next-generation MEO system, O3b mPOWER...
  12. ^ a b c Henry 2019, "The 700-kilogram satellites [...] Thales Alenia Space built the Ka-band satellites, each of which carries 20 gigabits per second of throughput. [...] SES spokesperson Suzanne Ong said the four new satellites increase the throughput of the O3b constellation by 26 percent."
  13. ^ a b Savvides, Nick (4 April 2019). "SES launches last of its latest MEO satellites". FreightWaves. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 8 April 2019. The new satellites each weigh more than 1,500 pounds (700 kilograms) and provide more than 10 gigabits per second of capacity.
  14. ^ Arianespace 2019, "The Soyuz ST-B launcher will be carrying a total payload of 3,198 kg."
  15. ^ Amos, Jonathan (25 June 2013). "Lift-off for O3b satellite network". BBC News. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019. The O3b company has finally got its first four satellites in orbit. They were launched on a Soyuz rocket from French Guiana...
  16. ^ Bergin, Chris; Graham, William (10 July 2014). "Arianespace Soyuz ST-B successfully launches four O3b satellites". NASASpaceFlight.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019. An Arianespace Soyuz ST-B successfully lofted four O3b satellites from the Kourou Spaceport in French Guiana on Thursday [...] This Soyuz mission was designated Flight VS08 in Arianespace's launcher family numbering system.
  17. ^ Graham, William (18 December 2014). "Arianespace Soyuz ST-B successfully launches four O3b satellites". NASASpaceFlight.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019. The Arianespace Soyuz ST-B rocket has launched her mission to loft four O3b communication satellites into orbit on Thursday. [...] Designated Soyuz Flight VS10 in Arianespace's numbering system...
  18. ^ Weitering, Hanneke (9 March 2018). "Soyuz Rocket Launches 4 New O3b Communications Satellites Into Orbit". Space.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019. An Arianespace Soyuz rocket successfully launched a quartet of O3b communications satellites into orbit today (March 9) [...] The four O3b MEO satellites orbited on [flight] VS18...
  19. ^ a b Nyirady, Annamarie (5 April 2019). "Arianespace Successfully Launches O3b Satellites". Via Satellite. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 8 April 2019. ...bringing the number of O3b satellites to 20, and making the transition into its next-generation MEO system. The satellites were built by Thales Alenia Space.
  20. ^ a b Wells 2019, "They will improve connectivity capabilities, increase performance and serve to seamlessly scale the existing O3b constellation [...] By increasing the size of the constellation from 16 to 20 satellites, SES Networks will offer enhanced coverage while providing greater service availability and reliability to cater for the increasing demand for bandwidth..."
  21. ^ Henry 2019, "The O3b constellation's coverage area remains largely the same, she said, fanning out 50 degrees north and south of the equator."
  22. ^ Henry, Caleb (11 September 2017). "SES building a 10-terabit O3b 'mPower' constellation". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 15 July 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2019. Steve Collar, CEO of SES Networks, said the new constellation "will be the first multi-terabit system" in orbit.
  23. ^ Space Daily staff (5 April 2019). "Arianespace completes deployment of O3b constellation". Space Daily. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 8 April 2019. Arianespace has launched a total of 61 satellites overall for SES since 1988, both geostationary and non-geostationary.
  24. ^ Arianespace 2019, "The four O3b satellites will be the 156th to 159th satellites manufactured by Thales Alenia Space and its predecessors to be orbited by Arianespace..."
  25. ^ a b Space Daily staff (1 March 2019). "Arianespace Reveals Launch Date of O3b Satellites Atop Russia's Soyuz Rocket". Space Daily. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 8 April 2019. the launch of the four telecoms satellites of the O3b constellation had been postponed for three days from 26 March to 29 March. [...] Since October 2011, Soyuz-ST rockets were launched 21 times from Kourou.
  26. ^ Clark 2019a, "Both rockets rolled to their launch pads Monday [...] Hours later, Russian technicians in French Guiana transferred a three-stage Soyuz ST-B rocket to its launch pad."
  27. ^ a b Clark 2019a, "The two launches are scheduled five-and-a-half hours apart [...] soon after the Soyuz launch in Kazakhstan, with clocks there ticking down to a liftoff at 1630:37 GMT (12:30:37 p.m. EDT)"
  28. ^ a b Clark 2019a, "The Soyuz ST-B will depart the Guiana Space Center toward the east over the Atlantic Ocean [...] The Fregat's main engine will fire three times to place the four O3b satellites [...] into a circular orbit about 4,865 miles (7,830 kilometers) over the equator."
  29. ^ a b Wells 2019, "By 2 hours and 22 minutes after liftoff, all four O3b satellites had deployed as planned [...] at an orbit of about 8,000 kilometers (nearly 5,000 miles) above Earth, or roughly 20 times the height of the orbit of the International Space Station."
  30. ^ a b Henry 2019, "Luxembourg-based SES operates the O3b satellites 8,000 kilometers above the Earth — about a fourth the distance of geostationary orbit where most telecom satellites reside. The proximity of the O3b satellites means less lag time for communications services."
  31. ^ Clark 2019a, "...they will release from the Fregat upper stage in pairs beginning around two hours after liftoff."
  32. ^ Henry 2019, "...separated from the Russian-built rocket two at a time, the first set two hours and one minute after liftoff and the second set 22 minutes later."
  33. ^ Arianespace 2019, "At the end of the mission, one firing of the Fregat engine will place Fregat into a re-entry orbit."
  34. ^ a b Henry 2019, "For Arianespace, the April 4 launch was its fourth Soyuz mission in less than five months — a cadence that provides practice for its OneWeb launch campaign, which calls for Soyuz launches every 21 days for 20 missions starting later this year."
  35. ^ Clark 2019a, "It won't be the first time two Soyuz rockets will launch on the same day. A pair of Soyuz boosters blasted off less than two hours apart on June 25, 2013, from Kazakhstan and French Guiana."
  36. ^ Graham, William (25 June 2013). "Soyuz 2-1B successfully launches with Resurs-P". NASASpaceFlight.com. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 8 April 2019. In the first of two Soyuz-2 launches scheduled for Tuesday, a Soyuz-2-1b flying out of the Baikonur Cosmodrome successfully orbited the first Resurs-P Earth imaging satellite. Liftoff from the Site 31/6 launch complex was on schedule at 17:28 UTC.
  37. ^ Clark, Stephen (26 June 2013). "Soyuz Rocket Launches 4 Communications Satellites Into Space". Space.com. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 8 April 2019. The flight began at 1927:03 GMT (3:27:03 p.m. EDT) with a fiery liftoff from the Guiana Space Center...
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