Artykuły o Arianespace Vega

[Orionid]

Arianespace Vega launch fails, Emirati satellite lost
by Caleb Henry — July 10, 2019, Updated July 11 at 2:48 p.m. Eastern with additional information from ESA, Arianespace, CNES and Avio.


Vega left its intended launch course at the beginning of its second-stage firing. Arianespace declared mission loss. Credit: Arianespace webcast.

WASHINGTON — The fifteenth launch of a European Vega rocket ended in failure July 10, resulting in the loss of an imaging satellite for the United Arab Emirates.

The Vega rocket, built by Italian manufacturer Avio, lifted off at 9:53 p.m. Eastern from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on the northern coast of South America.

Telemetry data indicated a deviation from the rocket’s intended course around its second minute of flight. The rocket left its intended course during its second-stage burn.


Telemetry data showed Vega off-course minutes before Arianespace confirmed mission failure. Credit: Arianespace webcast.

Arianespace of Evry, France, which markets the Vega rocket, confirmed mission failure nine minutes after liftoff.

“About 2 minutes after liftoff, around the [Zefiro]-23 ignition, a major anomaly occurred, resulting in the loss of the mission,” Luce Fabreguettes, Arianespace’s executive vice president of missions, operations and purchasing, said during the launch webcast. “On behalf of Arianespace, I wish to express my deepest apologies to our customers for the loss of their payload.”

The failure is the first for Vega, a light-lift vehicle designed to launch around 1,500 kilograms to low Earth orbit. The four-stage launcher has been in service in 2012, and is Arianespace’s newest rocket.

Falcon Eye 1 was a 1,200-kilogram, dual-purpose satellite designed to provide imagery for the commercial market as well as the UAE Armed Forces. Built by Airbus Defence and Space with an imaging payload from Thales Alenia Space, the satellite draws on technology from France’s high-resolution Pleiades imaging constellation.

From its targeted 611-kilometer orbit, Falcon Eye 1 was intended to image the Earth in high resolution as it orbited 15 times a day.

A second satellite, Falcon Eye 2, was scheduled to launch on another Vega rocket late this year, though that timeline is now likely to change.

Arianespace had planned four Vega launches this year. The first took place March 21 with the Italian Space Agency’s PRISMA satellite. The next planned after Falcon Eye 1 was the Small Spacecraft Mission Service rideshare, previously slated for September, carrying 42 satellites.

On July 11, the European Space Agency and Arianespace said they formed an independent inquiry commission to investigate the cause of the failure.

Avio CEO Giulio Ranzo, in a video message posted after the launch failure, said his company and the French Space Agency CNES are also part of the inquiry commission.

CNES President Jean-Yves Le Gall said in a statement that the failure “reminds us once more that we are in a tough business and that the line between success and failure is a very fine one indeed.”

“The failure is all the more unexpected, coming as it does after a run of 14 straight successes that had proved the maturity of the Vega launch system,” Le Gall said. “Our teams shall now be getting straight down to work to analyse, understand and fix the causes of the failure so that Europe can return to flight with Vega as quickly as possible.”

Arianespace said preparations for its next mission, a launch of the heavy-lift Ariane 5 rocket carrying the Intelsat-39 and EDRS-C satellites remain underway. Arianespace said previously that the Ariane 5 mission was planned for July 24. The Ariane 5 mission will be Arianespace’s seventh mission of the year, counting the failed Vega mission.



Source: https://spacenews.com/arianespace-vega-launch-fails-emirati-satellite-lost/

[Orionid]

Space insurer Swiss Re leaves market
by Caleb Henry — August 1, 2019 [SN]


Swiss Re said it is reducing its exposure to space and aerospace. Credit: Swiss Re/Leonardo Finotti

WASHINGTON — Swiss Re, the world’s second largest reinsurance company, informed clients and brokers July 31 that it has stopped insuring satellites and launches.

Jan Schmidt, the head of Swiss Re’s space underwriting division, said in an email obtained by SpaceNews that the decision to “cease Space underwriting with immediate effect” was driven by “bad results of recent years and unsustainable premium rates.”

Schmidt emailed clients and brokers the same day Swiss Re board member Andreas Berger told Reuters the company is reducing its space exposure as part of a broader effort to stem losses in its corporate insurance divisions.

Swiss Re’s decision to stop underwriting new space policies follows the destruction of the Emirati imaging satellite Falcon Eye 1 during a July 10 Vega launch failure, costing insurers an estimated 369 million euros ($407 million).

Insurers were already stomaching a $183 million payout to Maxar Technologies for the failure of its WorldView-4 imaging satellite in January.

Another launch or satellite failure could drive even more insurers out of the space market, according to Richard Parker, divisional president of Assure Space.

The space insurance market is already facing perfect storm conditions, he said — an oversupply of insurers, a dearth of geostationary satellite orders, and declining prices for satellites and launches.

The space industry had a third failure when Intelsat-29e stopped functioning in April, but the satellite was not insured. Parker said another loss of an insured asset could cause insurance prices to rise even more than they have from the WorldView-4 and Falcon Eye 1 failures.

In a July 31 financial report, Swiss Re said it had taken actions to “Significantly reduce General Aviation & Space exposure.” The company generated $953 million in revenue for the first half of the year, down $53 million compared to the first six months of 2018.

SpaceNews Editor in Chief Brian Berger contributed to this story from Washington.

Source: https://spacenews.com/space-insurer-swiss-re-leaves-market/

[Orionid]

UAE’s Falcon Eye 2 satellite switched from Vega to Soyuz
by Caleb Henry — January 13, 2020 [SN]


Airbus said switching Falcon Eye 2 from Vega to Soyuz was about expediency, and not a loss of faith in Vega. Credit: ESA-Stephane Corvaja

WASHINGTON — Arianespace will launch the United Arab Emirates’ Falcon Eye 2 reconnaissance satellite on a Soyuz in March instead of waiting for the company’s much smaller Vega rocket to return to flight, Arianespace and Airbus Defence and Space told SpaceNews.

Vega has been grounded since a July failure that destroyed the UAE’s Falcon Eye 1 satellite, resulting in a record $415 million insurance claim. Prior to the failure, Vega was scheduled to launch again in November carrying Falcon Eye 2.

Stéphane Israël, CEO of Arianespace, said Airbus, the satellite’s manufacturer, asked to switch from Vega to Soyuz to avoid further delays getting Falcon Eye 2 into orbit.

“The customer has decided to go to this backup solution, and it’s definitely linked to the capability that was offered by Soyuz to be launched earlier than Vega,” Israël said in a Jan. 7 interview.

Airbus arranged the launch contracts for both satellites as part of a contract it signed with the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces in 2013. Israël said the launch contract included the option to switch from Vega to Soyuz.

Airbus spokesperson Jeremy Close confirmed the switch Jan. 10, saying the transfer to Soyuz was about schedule, not a distrust of Vega.

“Falcon-Eye has been designed with launcher flexibility and is compatible with both Vega and Soyuz rockets,” Close said. “In order to reach orbit as soon as possible and start its mission for the UAE, it has been decided that Falcon Eye-2 would be launched on a Soyuz rocket.”

Falcon Eye 2 is identical to the Falcon Eye 1 satellite, equipped with an optical imaging payload for military and commercial applications. The 1,200-kilogram satellite will launch in March, Close said.

Vega is scheduled to return to flight the same month carrying 42 smallsats for a dedicated rideshare mission called the Small Spacecraft Mission Service, or SSMS. Given Vega’s historical launch rates, sticking with Vega would likely have cost Falcon Eye 2 at least a few months additional wait.

Israël said the Falcon Eye 2 mission will be Arianespace’s first Soyuz launch of the year, and will take place from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana.

Arianespace has 12 Soyuz launches scheduled this year — Falcon Eye 2, the French military’s CSO-2 imaging satellite, and 10 launches for internet megaconstellation startup OneWeb.

The European launch company is targeting a record 22 launches total, comprised of five Ariane 5s, 12 Soyuz, two Vega rockets, two Vega C rockets and the maiden flight of the Ariane 6.

Source: https://spacenews.com/uaes-falcon-eye-2-satellite-switched-from-vega-to-soyuz/

[Orionid]

Human error blamed for Vega launch failure
by Jeff Foust — November 17, 2020


A Vega rocket lifted off Nov. 16, but its payload of two satellites were lost when the rocket's fourth stage malfunctioned. Credit: Arianespace

WASHINGTON — Arianespace executives said Nov. 17 that the failure of a Vega launch the previous day was caused when the rocket’s upper stage tumbled out of control due to incorrectly installed cables in a control system.

In a call with reporters, Roland Lagier, chief technical officer of Arianespace, said the first three stages of the Vega rocket performed normally after liftoff from Kourou, French Guiana, at 8:52 p.m. Eastern Nov. 16. The Avum upper stage then separated and ignited its engine.

However, “straightaway after ignition” of the upper stage, he said, the vehicle started to tumble out of control. “This loss of control was permanent, inducing significant tumbling behavior, and then the trajectory started to deviate rapidly from the nominal one, leading to the loss of the mission.”

Analysis of the telemetry from the mission, along with data from the production of the vehicle, led them to conclude that cables to two thrust vector control actuators were inverted. Commands intended to go to one actuator went instead to the other, triggering the loss of control.

“This was clearly a production and quality issue, a series of human errors, and not a design one,” Lagier said.

Arianespace will convene an investigation commission, chaired by the European Space Agency’s inspector general, to confirm the cause of the failure and recommend corrective actions. That commission will start work as soon as Nov. 18, said Stéphane Israël, chief executive of Arianespace, on the call.

He emphasized that this failure was not linked to the previous Vega failure in July 2019. That launch, carrying an imaging satellite for the United Arab Emirates, failed because a structural problem with the rocket’s second stage that has since been corrected.

Israël added that the failure won’t affect launches of other Arianespace missions. The company has three Soyuz launches, two from Kourou and one from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia, scheduled through the end of the year, and those launches will proceed while the Vega investigation continues. He added that the company will be “100% transparent” about the investigation and outcome.

The failure caused the loss of two spacecraft, the SEOSAT-Ingenio Earth observation satellite for Spain and the TARANIS satellite for France to study electromagnetic phenomena in the upper atmosphere.

“I want to present my deepest apologies to our customers,” Israël said. “This is part, unfortunately, of the launcher life.”

Source: vega https://spacenews.com/human-error-blamed-for-vega-launch-failure/

[Orionid]

Arianespace traces cause of Vega launch failure to ‘human error’
November 17, 2020 Stephen Clark


This frame grab from Arianespace’s live launch webcast shows an animation of the Vega rocket’s AVUM upper stage with the SEOSAT-Ingenio Earth observation satellite. Credit: Arianespace

Inverted cables on the Vega rocket’s upper stage control system apparently caused the launcher to tumble minutes after liftoff Monday night, a failure that resulted in the loss of a Spanish Earth observation satellite and a French research probe, Arianespace officials said Tuesday.

Officials from Arianespace — the French company that manages Vega rocket launches — said Tuesday engineers reviewed telemetry data and documentation overnight, and found the most likely cause of the launch failure was a case of human error.

Engineers concluded that cables leading to thrust vector control actuators on the upper stage were inverted, apparently a mistake from the assembly of the upper stage engine, according to Roland Lagier, Arianespace’s chief technical officer. The thrust vector control system pivots the upper stage engine nozzle to direct thrust, allowing the rocket to control its orientation and steering.

The cabling problem caused the engine to move its nozzle in the wrong direction in response to commands from the rocket’s guidance system. That resulted in the rocket losing control and tumbling just after ignition of the upper stage engine around eight minutes after launch.

Lagier characterized the inverted cables as a “human error,” and not a design problem.

The 98-foot-tall (30-meter) Vega rocket took off from the European-run Guiana Space Center in South America at 8:52 p.m. EST Monday (0152 GMT Tuesday) with the Spanish SEOSAT-Ingenio Earth observation satellite and the French Taranis research satellite designed to study mysterious electrical discharges from thunderstorms.

The lower three solid-fueled stages of the Vega rocket performed normally, accelerating the launcher to a speed of nearly 17,000 mph, or 7.6 kilometers per second, just shy of the velocity needed to enter Earth orbit.

The Vega rocket’s Attitude and Vernier Upper Module, or AVUM, stage was supposed to fire its main engine four times to deploy the SEOSAT-Ingenio and Taranis satellites into two slightly different orbits around 420 miles (676 kilometers) above Earth.

The first AVUM burn was programmed to place the satellites into a preliminary parking orbit. Without the burn, the rocket and its two satellite payloads fell back to Earth and burned up during atmospheric re-entry. Any debris from the vehicle fell into an uninhabited area in the Arctic.

Arianespace and the European Space Agency will set up an independent commission to investigate the launch failure. ESA’s inspector general will lead the inquiry, according to Stéphane Israël, Arianespace’s CEO.


A Vega rocket took off Monday night from French Guiana with two European satellites, but the launcher failed to deploy the payloads into orbit. Credit: Arianespace

The accident on Monday night’s launch was the second launch failure in the last three flights of Europe’s Vega rocket program. Vega launchers accomplished 14 consecutive successful missions since the rocket’s debut in 2012, before a Vega flight failed in July 2019 with the Falcon Eye 1 military spy satellite for the United Arab Emirates.

Investigators traced the cause of the Falcon Eye 1 accident to a “thermo-structural failure” on the forward dome of the Vega rocket’s solid-fueled second stage, which led to the in-flight breakup of the launch vehicle.

The Vega rocket returned to service with a successful launch Sept. 2 that delivered 53 small satellites to orbit for numerous international customers. Besides signaling the Vega rocket’s return to operations, the Sept. 2 rideshare launch demonstrated a new multi-satellite dispenser aimed at helping Arianespace attract more small satellite launch business.

The Vega rocket is capable of placing up to 3,300 pounds — 1.5 metric tons — of payload into a 435-mile-high (700-kilometer) polar orbit.

An upgraded rocket named the Vega C with more powerful first and second stage motors is scheduled to launch for the first time in mid-2021. The Vega C will be able to carry up to 50 percent more payload mass to orbit than the basic version of the Vega rocket.

Israël said the failure on Monday night’s mission has “nothing to do” with the Vega failure last year.

The previous failure was linked to a weakness of the design,” Israël told reporters Tuesday. He added that the design problem blamed for the 2019 failure has been corrected, resulting in the Vega rocket’s successful return to flight mission in September.

Israël said the misplaced cables identified as the most likely cause of Monday night’s failure was a “quality and production issue.”

“We are looking at all processes to better understand why this integration mistake was not corrected,” Israël said.

Arianespace and ESA officials said they will hold a press conference once the investigation is complete.

“We will be 100% transparent,” Israël said.

The AVUM upper stage’s structure is produced by Airbus, and the Ukrainian rocket contractors Yuzhnoye and Yuzhmash supply the AVUM stage’s main engine, which consumes hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide propellants.

Avio, the Vega rocket’s Italian prime contractor, oversees final integration of the AVUM upper stage.


The Vega rocket’s payload fairing containing the SEOSAT-Ingenio and Taranis satellites is placed on top of the AVUM upper stage. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – JM Guillon

Spain’s SEOSAT-Ingenio satellite was riding in the upper position of the Vega rocket’s Vespa dual-payload dispenser, while France’s Taranis research payload launched in the lower berth of the Vega payload shroud

The 1,650-pound (750-kilogram) SEOSAT-Ingenio satellite carried two optical cameras to take high-resolution images for use in environmental monitoring, agricultural and forest management, cartography, urban planning, disaster response, and border security.

Designed primarily for civilian use, SEOSAT-Ingenio was supposed to collect imagery for the European Commission’s Copernicus program, which includes a fleet of dedicated Sentinel environmental monitoring satellites. As a contributing mission in the Copernicus fleet, SEOSAT-Ingenio was expected to supplement data gathered by the Sentinel satellites distributed worldwide and free of charge.

SEOSAT-Ingenio was owned by the Spanish government, but the European Space Agency provided assistance to the project in technical and contractual matters. ESA was also in charge of arranging the satellite’s launch with Arianespace.

A primary goal of the SEOSAT-Ingenio project, which Spain’s government kicked off in 2007, was to foster a growing Spanish space industry. About 80 percent of the spacecraft was manufactured in Spain.

“The SEOSAT-Ingenio program had two objectives,” said Josef Aschbacher, director of Earth observation programs at ESA. “The first objective was to build up an industrial capacity in Spain to implement a complete space system — a satellite, ground system, and data analysis — and the second objective was to establish a strategic national Earth observation system, which was the SEOSAT system.

“The first objective has been fully achieved,” Aschbacher said Tuesday. “Spanish industry has now the full capacity to implement complete space system … The second objective has not been achieved due to the loss of SEOSAT-Ingenio in this very unfortunate launch failure.”

Aschbacher said the SEOSAT-Ingenio satellite was not insured against a launch a failure. It is standard practice for governmental missions not to acquire launch insurance, he said.

Juan Carlos Cortés, director of space and dual programs at the Spanish Center for the Development of Industrial Technology, aid the SEOSAT-Ingenio project cost around 200 million euros, or $236 million.

Aschbacher said ESA “is ready to support” the Spanish government to “explore possible options to establish a national optical Earth observation system to replace the one that failed on this launch.”

The 385-pound (175-kilogram) French Taranis research satellite was designed to trace the origins of mysterious luminous phenomena above thunderstorms. Taranis, led by the French space agency CNES, would have attempted to untangle what triggers these brief flashes above thunderstorms, and how the transient events might affect conditions within the atmosphere or in space.

“We lost a beauty of technology, the fruit of more than 15 years of hard work in French industry and CNES,” said Lionel Suchet, chief operating officer of CNES. “But this kind of event is part of our difficult job, and we have to face it together.”

Suchet said CNES will examine new possibilities to pursue the research objectives of the Taranis mission.

“We lost a satellite, but all is not lost,” Suchet said.

While the near-term schedule of Vega launches is clouded by the failure Monday night, Arianespace will continue with preparations for three missions before the end of the year using Russian Soyuz rockets.

A Soyuz rocket is scheduled for launch Nov. 28 from French Guiana with the UAE’s Falcon Eye 2 military spy satellite, followed by a Soyuz launch from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in mid-December with 36 OneWeb broadband satellites.

Another Soyuz mission is tentatively scheduled for launch in late December from French Guiana with the French military’s CSO 2 optical reconnaissance satellite.

All three Soyuz missions are managed by Arianespace, which markets Ariane 5, Soyuz, and Vega launch services.

Source: https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/11/17/arianespace-traces-cause-of-vega-launch-failure-to-human-error/

[Orionid]

Vega ponownie nieskuteczna. Satelita badawczy z polskim wkładem utracony
17 listopada 2020, 20:02 [S24]


Ilustracja: ESA [esa.int]

Pomimo początkowo modelowego przebiegu, misja VV17 europejskiego systemu nośnego Vega - rozpoczęta 17 listopada przed świtem czasu polskiego - zakończyła się niepowodzeniem i utratą dwóch przewożonych satelitów. Jednym z nich był badawczy TARANIS (Tool for the Analysis of RAdiation from lightNIng and Sprites), który miał dostarczyć nowej wiedzy o zachodzących w czasie burz niezwykłych zjawiskach elektromagnetycznych w górnych partiach ziemskiej atmosfery. Do stworzenia tego instrumentu przyczynili się polscy badacze z Centrum Badań Kosmicznych PAN.

Rakieta Vega misji VV17 wystartowała 17 listopada br. z kosmodromu Kourou w Gujanie Francuskiej o 20:53 czasu lokalnego (00:53 czasu polskiego). Start, zorganizowany przez Europejską Agencję Kosmiczną i spółkę Arianespace, oznaczono sygnaturą VV17.

W początkowej fazie po odpaleniu lot rakiety przebiegał bez zakłóceń, przez pierwsze 8 minut swojego trwania. W tym czasie ładunek wziósł się po właściwej trajektorii na wysokość blisko 210 km nad Ziemią. Gdy wydawało się już, że całe przedsięwzięcie zakończy się wkrótce pełnym powodzeniem, krótko po odpaleniu najwyższego segmentu systemu nośnego (stopień Avum z ładunekiem satelitarnym, jako czwarty człon silnikowy Vegi) doszło do pogłębiającego się odchylenia od przyjętego kursu.

Bezpośrednio po wystąpieniu anomalii, personel obsługujący centrum kontroli lotu w Kourou przystąpił do przeglądu odczytów telemetrycznych, by ustalić skalę problemu. Będący na miejscu szef Arianespace, Stéphane Israël wskazał po kilkunastu minutach od startu, że informacje o losie misji będą dostępne po odebraniu danych z kolejnych stacji naziemnych. Dwie godziny po odpaleniu potwierdzono natomiast, że misja zakończyła się niepowodzeniem i utratą ładunku. „Osiem minut po starcie misji Vegi VV17, po pierwszym uruchomieniu silnika górnego stopnia Avum, zidentyfikowano odchylenie trajektorii, co pociągnęło za sobą utratę misji” - podano w oświadczeniu. „Trwają analizy danych telemetrycznych w celu ustalenia przyczyny tego niepowodzenia” - wybrzmiało dalej.

Dzień później podano natomiast, że wstępnie zidentyfikowaną przyczyną wystąpienia anomalii był problem z systemem aktywacji sterowania dyszą silnika AVUM i związana z tym utrata kontroli nad lotem. Dalsze szczegóły ma ustalić powołana już komisja dochodzeniowa z udziałem przedstawicieli ESA.

Podczas tego startu segment Avum miał wykonać pięć osobnych zapłonów w ciągu 1 godziny i 45 minut, rozmieszczając kolejno cały ładunek. Producentem systemu jest włoska firma Avio, główny wykonawca i integrator Vegi. Udział w tworzeniu konstrukcji ma również koncern Airbus Defence and Space. Dostawcą używanego przez Avum układu napędowego RD-843 na paliwo ciekłe (dimetylohydrazyna utleniana tetratlenkiem diazotu) jest ukraińska firma Jużnoje.

To już druga nieudana misja Vegi spośród trzech zrealizowanych w bieżącym cyklu, po wcześniejszym bezbłędnym paśmie 14 udanych misji. Rakieta Vega zadebiutowała w 2012 roku i przez blisko 7 kolejnych lat wszystkie jej starty były udane. Aż do lipca 2019 roku, gdy podczas lotu VV-15 pojawił się problem w pracy drugiego segmentu rakiety na stały materiał pędny, prowadzący do niekontrolowanej zmiany kursu i utraty przewożonego satelity obserwacji Ziemi Falcon Eye-1 (zbudowanego dla Zjednoczonych Emiratów Arabskich). Po przeprowadzonym dochodzeniu ustalono, że powodem była niewystarczająca izolacja termiczna, której zbyt mała objętość umożliwiła uszkodzenie strukturalne i rozpad korpusu rakiety.



Vega powróciła do użytku dopiero 2 września 2020 roku, realizując udane wyniesienie w misji VV16 - na orbicie umieszczono wówczas 53 lekkie satelity w ramach specjalnej łączonej dostawy. Planowany powrót rakiety został opóźniony o kilka miesięcy przez zamknięcie centrum kosmicznego Kourou na czas lockdownu związanego z pandemią koronawirusa, a następnie z powodu niesprzyjającej pogody.

Polscy specjaliści współtworzyli jednego z satelitów, który był na pokładzie rakiety. TARANIS, bo taka była jego nazwa, miał za zadanie zbadać tajemnicze, wysokoenergetyczne rozbłyski TLE występujące w górnych partiach atmosfery podczas burz. Zostały one odkryte przypadkowo dopiero w roku 1989, choć szkocki fizyk C.T.R. Wilson sugerował ich istnienie już w latach 20. XX wieku. 175-kilogramowy TARANIS został zbudowany z inicjatywy francuskiej agencji kosmicznej CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales - Narodowego Centrum Badań Kosmicznych).

Z przykrością informujemy o nieudanym starcie rakiety Vega Europejskiej Agencji Kosmicznej. Na pokładzie rakiety znajdowały się dwa satelity, w tym jeden współtworzony przez Centrum Badań Kosmicznych Polskiej Akademii Nauk. Taranis, bo taką nazwę nosił mikrosatelita badawczy współtworzony przez CBK PAN, został utracony.

                   Ewelina Zambrzycka-Kościelnicka, media CBK PAN

Polscy specjaliści z CBK PAN pracowali przy misji Taranis od początku jej realizacji, czyli od ponad dekady. W tworzeniu instrumentów badawczych, jakie zostały umieszczone na satelicie, pracowali także naukowcy z Czech i z Danii, specjaliści z Europejskiej Agencji Kosmicznej.

W CBK PAN powstał zasilacz będący częścią układu MEXIC (Multi Experiment Interface Controller), mózgu całego skomplikowanego kompleksu instrumentów naukowych. MEXIC zarządza pracą poszczególnych narzędzi badawczych, w tym m.in. kamer i fotometrów zdolnych wykonywać 30 zobrazowań na sekundę przy rozdzielczości dochodzącej do kilkuset metrów.

Obok utraconego Taranisa, w skład ładunku Vegi wchodził także hiszpański satelita SEOSAT-Ingenio (Spanish Earth Observation Satellite-Ingenio), zapowiadany jako pierwszy optoelektroniczny instrument obserwacji Ziemi zbudowany na potrzeby Hiszpanii przez Airbus Defence and Space z udziałem narodowego konsorcjum przemysłowego. Obiekt, dysponujący masą 750 kg, miał zapewnić możliwości obrazowania do zastosowań cywilnych.

Przed tą awarią następny start Vegi (VV18) był już zaplanowany na początek 2021 roku - teraz jednak harmonogram ten będzie musiał prawdopodobnie ulec przesunięciu. Ładunek tej kolejnej misji ma objąć satelitę obserwacyjnego Pléiades-Neo 1 oraz szereg dodatkowych lekkich obiektów.

Źródło: https://www.space24.pl/zamiast-na-orbite-w-niebyt-satelita-badawczy-z-polskim-wkladem-utracony

[Orionid]

"Gromowładny" spojrzy z orbity. Nadchodzi misja Taranis
10 listopada 2020, 13:05 [S24]


Ilustracja: Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES)

Wraz z nadejściem połowy listopada wyruszy na orbitę wokółziemską specyficzna misja naukowo-badawcza – Taranis. Jej celem jest dokładniejsze zbadanie tajemniczych, wysokoenergetycznych rozbłysków tworzących się w wysokich partiach atmosfery. Swój znaczący udział w projekcie mają polscy naukowcy z Centrum Badań Kosmicznych PAN.

Wyładowania burzowe to nie tylko błyskawice powstające u podstawy silnie zjonizowanych chmur. Ich przejawem są również krótkie, trwające zaledwie ułamek sekundy, lecz gwałtowne i spektakularne rozbłyski, jakie tworzą się ponad chmurami burzowymi, 50 kilometrów nad powierzchnią Ziemi. Elfy, trolle i krasnale - tak nazwali je piloci, którzy zaobserwowali je jako pierwsi. Te wysoce energetyczne zjawiska w obrębie ziemskiej atmosfery nadal pozostają bardzo tajemnicze.

Sytuacja może jednak się niebawem zmienić, gdyż zjawiska te zbada francuski mikrosatelita Taranis, na pokładzie którego znajduje się aparatura budowana w Centrum Badań Kosmicznych PAN. Start misji spodziewany jest 14 listopada br.

Nazwa Taranis pochodzi od imienia celtyckiego boga piorunów, budzącego skojarzenia z nordyckim Thorem czy słowiańskim Perunem. Wiadomo zatem, dlaczego francuskie Narodowe Centrum Badań Kosmicznych (Centre National d’Études Spatiales, CNES), sprawujące główną pieczę nad projektem, właśnie taką nazwę nadało tej misji.

Choć nasza intuicja podpowiada, że wyładowania atmosferyczne kierują się z chmur burzowych ku ziemi, albo od chmury do chmury, to w tym przypadku zjawiska rodzą się w wysokich partiach atmosfery i mają zwrot skierowany w przestrzeń kosmiczną, na dystans nawet 100 kilometrów od powierzchni planety. Wysyłają jednocześnie bardzo silne promieniowanie elektromagnetyczne, w tym  promieniowanie rentgenowskie oraz promieniowanie gamma. Krótkotrwałe  zjawisk świetlne, w skrócie TLE od angielskiego Transient Luminous Event, zostały odkryte przypadkowo dopiero  w roku 1989, mimo, że szkocki fizyk C.T.R.Wilson sugerował ich istnienie już latach 20. ubiegłego wieku.

W jego schyłku, dzięki obserwacjom wykonanym przez satelitę Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) – zarejestrowano silne strumienie promieniowania gamma pochodzące z atmosfery ziemskiej (TGF  - Terrestial Gamma Flashes). Wcześniej naukowcy  byli przekonani, że tak energetyczne promieniowanie gamma może pochodzić głównie z odległego kosmosu, z wybuchu supernowych lub promieniowania pulsarów. 

Energia generowana podczas tych krótkich wyładowań jest olbrzymia i konieczne jest zbadanie jej wpływu na dynamiczne i chemiczne zmiany zachodzące w atmosferze ziemskiej. Tym bardziej, że mówimy nie o pojedynczych przypadkach rozbłysków, lecz o dziesiątkach tysięcy takich zjawisk rocznie. Wiemy już na przykład, że powoduje tworzenie się tlenków azotu, silnych gazów cieplarnianych pochłaniających promieniowanie słoneczne.

                      Prof. Jan Błęcki, szef zespołu pracującego nad misją Taranis w CBK PAN

Polscy specjaliści z CBKPAN pracują przy misji od początku jej realizacji, czyli od ponad dekady. W tworzeniu instrumentów badawczych, jakie zostały umieszczone na satelicie, pracowali naukowcy z Czech i z Danii, specjaliści z Europejskiej Agencji Kosmicznej oraz przede wszystkim z francuskiego Narodowego Centrum Badań Kosmicznych CNES.

W CBK PAN powstał zasilacz będący częścią kompleksu MEXIC (Multi Experiment Interface Controller), mózgu całego skomplikowanego układu instrumentów naukowych. MEXIC zarządza pracą poszczególnych instrumentów badawczych, w tym m.in. kamer i fotometrów zdolnych wykonywać 30 zdjęć na sekundę przy rozdzielczości dochodzącej do kilkuset metrów. Koordynuje harmonogram pracy, zbiera i archiwizuje dane oraz dostarcza zasilanie do wszystkich instrumentów naukowych.

„Można powiedzieć, że stworzyliśmy wydajny krwiobieg z mocno bijącym sercem” - wskazuje profesor Błęcki i dodaje, że inżynierowie Roman Wawrzaszek oraz Witold Nowosielski, którzy opracowywali wielostopniowy zasilacz rozdzielający różne napięcia dla poszczególnych instrumentów, są pod względem tworzenia tego typu układów jednymi z najbardziej cenionych specjalistów w Europejskiej Agencji Kosmicznej.

Kluczowe dla misji jest wykrywanie i charakteryzowanie promieniowania wysokoenergetycznego, czym zajmą się układy detektorów rentgenowskich i gamma, oraz układ dwóch spektrometrów energii elektronów. Dodatkowe czujniki i analizatory będą monitorowały zaburzenia pola elektrycznego i magnetycznego w zakresie niskich i wysokich częstości. Taranis jest najbardziej kompleksowym zestawem urządzeń badawczych poświęconych zrozumieniu rozbłysków TGF i TLE oraz ich skutków.


Ilustracja: Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES)

Warto podkreślić, że fizyka jonosfery, czyli najwyższej warstwy atmosfery, jest jednym z głównych przedmiotów badań geofizyków z CBK PAN, polem, na którym odnieśli już wiele sukcesów.  To właśnie CBK PAN wraz ze swoimi podwykonawcami, odpowiadał za opracowanie kompletnego systemu zasilania dla eksperymentu naukowego ASIM, którego celem jest badanie tajemniczych zjawisk i wyładowań, do których dochodzi w wysokich warstwach ziemskiej atmosfery. Instrument został wyniesiony w 2018 roku na Międzynarodową Stację Kosmiczną i zainstalowany na zewnętrznej platformie europejskiego modułu Columbus. Od tamtego czasu zbiera dane dotyczące właśnie tajemniczych wyładowań w wysokich warstwach atmosfery.

TARANIS jest bardziej kompleksową misją badawczą zjawisk TGF i TLE, której wyniki, w połączeniu z tymi zbieranymi przez eksperyment ASIM pomogą lepiej zrozumieć także  pogodę kosmiczną i jej wpływ na funkcjonowanie m.in. infrastruktury  elektronicznej, w tym na satelity.

Nasz świat jest coraz bardziej zależny od nieustannie dostarczanych danych satelitarnych. Dzięki satelitom mamy łatwy kontakt ze światem, stale obserwujemy zachodzące na Ziemi zmiany. Ale aby to wszystko mogło działać sprawnie, musimy zrozumieć potężne zjawiska elektromagnetyczne zachodzące w wysokich warstwach atmosfery. Bo tak, jak jedna burza na Ziemi może pozbawić prądu całe miasta, tak jedna burza w kosmosie może pozbawić nas łączności satelitarnej. A tej nie da się naprawić tak szybko, jak ziemskich trakcji elektrycznych.

                   Prof. Jan Błęcki, szef zespołu pracującego nad misją Taranis w CBK PAN

Satelita misji TARANIS zostanie wyniesiony na niską orbitę okołoziemską w terminie 14 listopada 2020 roku. Rakieta Vega – która niedawno powróciła do użycia po dłuższej przerwie spowodowanej zawieszeniem lotów i dochodzeniem po nieudanym wystrzeleniu w lipcu 2019 roku – wystartuje z kosmodromu w Gujanie Francuskiej o godz. 01:52 czasu środkowoeuropejskiego. Centrum Badań Kosmicznych zachęca do śledzenia wydarzenia na stronie CBK PAN oraz za pośrednictwem mediów społecznościowych: koncie twitterowym i facebookowym fanpage'u Centrum.

Źródło: CBK PAN

Źródło: https://www.space24.pl/gromowladny-spojrzy-z-orbity-nadchodzi-misja-taranis

[Orionid]

Investigation confirms improperly connected cables caused Vega launch failure
by Jeff Foust — December 18, 2020


An independent investigation jointly led by ESA and Arianespace concluded that cables in the thrust vector control system of the Vega's upper stage were inverted, causing the stage to tumble during its Nov. 16 launch. Credit: ESA-CNES-Arianespace / Optique Vidéo du CSG — S Martin

WASHINGTON — An independent investigation of a Vega launch failure in November confirmed that misconnected cables in the rocket’s upper stage doomed the mission and made recommendations to allow a return to flight in early 2021.

The European Space Agency announced Dec. 18 it had completed an investigation, jointly conducted with Arianespace, into the Nov. 16 failure of a Vega launch on a mission designated VV17. An initial investigation by Arianespace, reported less than a day after the launch, concluded two cables used in a thrust vector control system in the rocket’s Avum upper stage were inverted, causing the stage to tumble.

The independent investigation confirmed that technical cause for the failure. At a Dec. 18 news conference, Pierre-Yves Tissier, deputy chief technical officer of Arianespace, said the first three stages of the rocket performed nominally, and that the Avum upper stage separated and ignited its engine as planned 483 seconds after liftoff.

The problem was detected in the “first instant” after ignition, he said, and the stage’s thrust vector control system reached its maximum setting within 10 seconds. The stage started tumbling and, while the engine continued to fire, the stage went onto a ballistic trajectory, reentering over the Arctic.

“The independent inquiry commission concludes that the VV17 cause of failure is not attributable to a flaw in the qualification of the design, but to the wrong routing and connection of the control lanes of electromechanical actuators of the Avum upper stage, resulting in an inversion of steering commands and causing trajectory degradation, leading finally to the loss of the vehicle,” he said.

Investigators blamed the failure on both “misleading” integration procedures that caused the workers to invert the cables, and a failure to detect the problem during inspections between integration and final acceptance of the launch vehicle.

Giulio Ranzo, chief executive of Avio, the prime contractor for Vega, suggested that the problem hadn’t taken place in the past because workers had experience in the procedures and were able to fill in gaps in the documentation. “Perhaps in the past we had people who, with their knowledge of the product and past experience, have covered for some lack of precision in such procedures,” he said. “What we are learning today is that we need to make these procedures even more reliable, independent of who is the operator executing it.”

The pandemic, and its resulting disruptions, may have also played a factor. “The last year in which we worked has been a very peculiar year,” he said. “That said, we cannot justify the failure purely because of that.”

Giovanni Colangelo, ESA inspector general, said the investigation’s conclusions fell into two classes. One is to perform additional inspections and testing of the next two Vega rockets, which are either entirely or mostly completed, to look for any similar flaws. A second set of recommendations involves improving procedures for launch vehicle integration and testing, as well as improved training of workers and inspectors.

Ranzo said Avio accepted the recommendations. The company is setting up three groups to study issues with equipment, stage integration and overall launch vehicle integration to implement them.

None of the parties involved in the investigation discussed the financial impacts of the failure or the cost to implement the recommendations. “The priority number one is now to work on this action plan to restore the full robustness” of the Vega, said Daniel Neuenschwander, ESA’s director of space transportation. “The financial consequences will be assessed in due time.”

Arianespace said it didn’t believe the failure and resulting corrective actions would have a major impact on the Vega program. Prior to the failure, the vehicle’s next launch, VV18, was scheduled for February. Stéphane Israël, chief executive of Arianespace, said the company now expects that launch to take place by the end of March.

The VV18 mission will carry the first Pléiades Neo imaging satellite built by Airbus. “We will scrutinize with Airbus that everything has been done properly in order to go for a reliable return to flight,” he said, with Airbus getting insight into the implementation of the recommendations. “This is the willingness of this very demanding customer.”

Israël declined to identify the customer for the following Vega mission, VV19. “We disclose the missions one after the other,” he said. “We will have an opportunity to disclose the Vega manifest a little later on.”

Source: https://spacenews.com/investigation-confirms-improperly-connected-cables-caused-vega-launch-failure/

[Orionid]

Vega return to flight creates competition for 30-centimeter satellite imagery
by Jason Rainbow — April 29, 2021 [SN]


Vega's return to flight April 28 was Arianespace's third mission of 2021, following two successful Soyuz launches. Credit: Arianespace

TAMPA, Fla. — Europe’s small launch vehicle Vega returned to flight April 28, carrying a next-generation imaging satellite for Airbus Defence and Space that has been held back by multiple delays.

Arianespace successfully launched the rocket 9:50 p.m. Eastern from the Guiana Space Center.

Source: https://spacenews.com/vega-return-to-flight-creates-competition-for-30-centimeter-satellite-imagery/

Arianespace Launch Europe’s Final Mission of 2023 Aboard Vega
By Andrew Parsonson -October 9, 2023


Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace

Arianespace launched a Vega rocket in the early hours of 9 October, carrying two primary payloads and ten small secondary payloads. The VV23 flight was Europe’s third and final mission of 2023.

The Avio-built Vega rocket was launched from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana at 01:36 UTC, carrying a total payload of approximately 1,241.7 kilograms. (...)
https://europeanspaceflight.com/arianespace-launch-europes-final-mission-of-2023-aboard-vega/

Vega launches a dozen smallsats
Jeff Foust October 9, 2023


A Vega rocket lifts off Oct. 8 on the first launch for that family of vehicles since a December 2022 failure of a larger Vega C rocket. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace

WASHINGTON — A Vega rocket successfully launched a dozen small satellites Oct. 8 while its more powerful version remains grounded for another year.

The Vega rocket lifted off from the European spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana, at 9:36 p.m. Eastern. The launch was originally scheduled for Oct. 6 but scrubbed in the final minute of the countdown. Arianespace said the delay was due to “a measurement slightly above its maximum threshold” but did not elaborate. The company rescheduled the launch to Oct. 7 but pushed it back an additional day to complete checks on the vehicle. (...)
https://spacenews.com/vega-launches-a-dozen-smallsats/

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2023/10/vega-vv23/
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2023/10/Vega_VV23_liftoff
https://spaceflightnow.com/2023/10/06/rideshare-mission-on-deck-for-penultimate-vega-rocket-as-vega-c-successor-remains-sidelined/

ESA scrubs swan song launch of its Vega rocket due to “electrical issues”
September 3, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith
Update 6:41 p.m. EDT: Arianespace announced that the mission is scrubbed for a Tuesday night launch attempt and is working towards an opportunity on Wednesday, Sept. 4.


Sentinel-2 in the Vega launch tower. Image: ESA-CNES-ARIANESPACE/Optique vidéo du CSG–T. Leduc

Quarter century of Copernicus

The spacecraft onboard the Vega rocket set to launch Tuesday night is part of a program that is marking 26 years this year. There are seven, first-generation satellites that are in operation and there are 13 more satellites planned.

Currently, Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2B operate in the same orbit, but 180 degrees apart. At an altitude of 786 km (488.4 mi.), they will image all of the Earth’s coastal and land waterways ever five days using 13 spectral bands.

The first two Sentinel-2 satellites are orbiting at an inclination of 98.62 degrees.

Once it’s commissioned, Sentinel-2C, the third in the Sentinel-2 series, will replace Sentinel-2A, which launched on June 23, 2015. Similarly, once Sentinel-2D launches, it will replace Sentinel-2B, which launched on March 7, 2017.

“There are already two satellites flying, but actually they are aging. It’s very important to launch a new satellite before the others are aging too much,” said Mauro Facchini, the European Commission’s Head of Unit for Earth Observation. (...)
https://spaceflightnow.com/2024/09/03/esa-prepares-to-launch-swan-song-mission-for-its-vega-rocket/

Watch Sentinel-2C launch live on the final Vega rocket
02/09/2024

About Copernicus Sentinel-2

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission provides high-resolution optical imagery for a wide range of applications including land, water and atmospheric monitoring. The mission is based on a constellation of two identical satellites flying in the same orbit but 180° apart: Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2B. Together, they cover all of Earth’s land and coastal waters every five days.

The satellites each carry a high-resolution multispectral imager that generates optical images in the visible, near-infrared and shortwave-infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum. From their altitude of 786 km, they provide continuous imagery in 13 spectral bands with resolutions of 10 m, 20 m and 60 m, with a large swath width of 290 km.

Sentinel-2C is the third in the Sentinel-2 series. Once commissioned in orbit, it will replace its predecessor, Sentinel-2A. Later, Sentinel-2D will replace Sentinel-2B. This all ensures the continuity of imagery for Copernicus Services and beyond. (...)
https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-2/Watch_Sentinel-2C_launch_live_on_the_final_Vega_rocket

[Orionid]

Final original Vega launches Sentinel-2C
Jeff Foust September 4, 2024


A Vega rocket lifts off Sept. 4 on the final flight of the original version of the vehicle. Credit: Arianespace

WASHINGTON — The final flight of the original version of Europe’s Vega rocket successfully placed an Earth observation satellites into orbit Sept. 4.

The Vega rocket lifted off from the European spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana, at 9:50 p.m. Eastern. The launch was delayed a day because of an electrical issue with ground systems that halted the countdown a few hours before the scheduled liftoff time.

Vega deployed its payload, the Sentinel-2C satellite, into a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of about 775 kilometers nearly an hour after liftoff. (...)
https://spacenews.com/final-original-vega-launches-sentinel-2c/

Farewell to Vega
https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Transportation/Vega/Farewell_to_Vega