Space art inspired by the teachings of disaster

It’s been said that space exploration is tough, really tough. Yet, disastrous as some flights may be, all instances of “rapid unscheduled disassembly” can teach engineers how to improve their rockets, ultimately making spaceflight better and safer.
At ESA’s ESOC control centre in Darmstadt, Germany, some remnants of the first four Cluster satellites – lost together with Ariane flight 501 which failed during launch in 1996 -- are teaching us something different – about art.

German artist Sascha Mikloweit’s work explores the intersection of violence and aesthetics, and when he heard that some debris of the first Cluster craft were available, it was a natural decision to ask how they could be used in a project.

Cluster space art Credit: ESA - CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

He was at ESOC in August, working diligently to create a series of very high-resolution digital scans, which will be developed into a new installation in the near future.

The timing is perfect: In 2015, the Cluster II mission is celebrating 15 years in orbit, and Sascha hopes his work can help promote the unqualified scientific success that is Cluster, as well as the work done by teams at ESA and across Europe who have contributed to its success over two decades.

Q1: What sort of art project do you envision from these scans?

Sascha: One that showcases the intricacy and beauty of the Cluster debris, and through it, the perseverance of rebuilding and launching again -- with a mission that has now been flying much longer than planned. Ultimately, the core of the exhibition is also for the operators and scientists.

Q2: What got you on to this project? How did you get into contact with ESA?

Sascha: Through a colleague, Cluster's Spacecraft Operations Manager, Bruno Teixeira de Sousa, at ESOC, learned about a project I did in the UK a few years ago. Central to it was the debris of a real, ordinary briefcase that was detonated by the London Transport Police on the suspicion of it being a terrorist device -- a 'bag left unattended' -- at a large railway station.

Back then I developed a method of handling such materials with a scanner. When I learned about the debris of the original Cluster I mission – which unfortunately, being on board of the maiden flight of Ariane 5, ended after 37 seconds in an explosion back in 1996 – and that some of its debris are available at ESOC, Bruno and I had a conversation and eventually decided to make it happen.

Q3: What's involved in making the scans?

Sascha: A human to handle the machines, a computer to process the data, a hacked high-resolution graphic scanner to record the pixels, some really good scanning software called SilverFast Ai Studio 8 and -- of course -- access to some pieces of mind-blowing aerospace debris that wrote history.

Q4: How does art help support public engagement with science?

Sascha: Art can shift the spectators' perspective on science. It can expose facets of scientific systems or processes that usually do not receive wider attention or remain hidden -- like these chunks of metal and composite material. More than debris, they're actually entry-points to getting excited about the science that Cluster performs, or the processes that the Flight Control Team use to manage the complex day-to-day operations, to the coding of software for a rocket launch.

Biography

Sascha Mikloweit trained in fine art in Düsseldorf, Münster and at Central Saint Martins, London. Following an interest in violence and aesthetics, his work addresses the realm of public security and ideology. Format and medium are determined in the process of subject-specific engagement and analysis, often involving installation, situational settings, moving image, print and projection. Sascha Mikloweit has exhibited in South Korea, Brazil, Canada, the UK, Austria, Poland and Germany. His work is held in public and private collections in Europe and North America. He lives and works Berlin. More information via http://ift.tt/1YjOfTd.

Sascha Mikloweit upcoming shows

Reality is a disappointment, 14th Istanbul Biennial / Galerist Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey. (Collaboration with Ali Emir Tapan) 09/2015
Schizm #8, ASP book fair at ICA, London, UK 09/2015
Unexpected Visitor, Unexpected Visitor Project / unexpectedvisitor.com, Istanbul, Turkey 10/2015

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It’s been said that space exploration is tough, really tough. Yet, disastrous as some flights may be, all instances of “rapid unscheduled disassembly” can teach engineers how to improve their rockets, ultimately making spaceflight better and safer.
At ESA’s ESOC control centre in Darmstadt, Germany, some remnants of the first four Cluster satellites – lost together with Ariane flight 501 which failed during launch in 1996 -- are teaching us something different – about art.

German artist Sascha Mikloweit’s work explores the intersection of violence and aesthetics, and when he heard that some debris of the first Cluster craft were available, it was a natural decision to ask how they could be used in a project.

Cluster space art Credit: ESA - CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

He was at ESOC in August, working diligently to create a series of very high-resolution digital scans, which will be developed into a new installation in the near future.

The timing is perfect: In 2015, the Cluster II mission is celebrating 15 years in orbit, and Sascha hopes his work can help promote the unqualified scientific success that is Cluster, as well as the work done by teams at ESA and across Europe who have contributed to its success over two decades.

Q1: What sort of art project do you envision from these scans?

Sascha: One that showcases the intricacy and beauty of the Cluster debris, and through it, the perseverance of rebuilding and launching again -- with a mission that has now been flying much longer than planned. Ultimately, the core of the exhibition is also for the operators and scientists.

Q2: What got you on to this project? How did you get into contact with ESA?

Sascha: Through a colleague, Cluster's Spacecraft Operations Manager, Bruno Teixeira de Sousa, at ESOC, learned about a project I did in the UK a few years ago. Central to it was the debris of a real, ordinary briefcase that was detonated by the London Transport Police on the suspicion of it being a terrorist device -- a 'bag left unattended' -- at a large railway station.

Back then I developed a method of handling such materials with a scanner. When I learned about the debris of the original Cluster I mission – which unfortunately, being on board of the maiden flight of Ariane 5, ended after 37 seconds in an explosion back in 1996 – and that some of its debris are available at ESOC, Bruno and I had a conversation and eventually decided to make it happen.

Q3: What's involved in making the scans?

Sascha: A human to handle the machines, a computer to process the data, a hacked high-resolution graphic scanner to record the pixels, some really good scanning software called SilverFast Ai Studio 8 and -- of course -- access to some pieces of mind-blowing aerospace debris that wrote history.

Q4: How does art help support public engagement with science?

Sascha: Art can shift the spectators' perspective on science. It can expose facets of scientific systems or processes that usually do not receive wider attention or remain hidden -- like these chunks of metal and composite material. More than debris, they're actually entry-points to getting excited about the science that Cluster performs, or the processes that the Flight Control Team use to manage the complex day-to-day operations, to the coding of software for a rocket launch.

Biography

Sascha Mikloweit trained in fine art in Düsseldorf, Münster and at Central Saint Martins, London. Following an interest in violence and aesthetics, his work addresses the realm of public security and ideology. Format and medium are determined in the process of subject-specific engagement and analysis, often involving installation, situational settings, moving image, print and projection. Sascha Mikloweit has exhibited in South Korea, Brazil, Canada, the UK, Austria, Poland and Germany. His work is held in public and private collections in Europe and North America. He lives and works Berlin. More information via http://ift.tt/1YjOfTd.

Sascha Mikloweit upcoming shows

Reality is a disappointment, 14th Istanbul Biennial / Galerist Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey. (Collaboration with Ali Emir Tapan) 09/2015
Schizm #8, ASP book fair at ICA, London, UK 09/2015
Unexpected Visitor, Unexpected Visitor Project / unexpectedvisitor.com, Istanbul, Turkey 10/2015

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Galileo satellites performing beautifully

Remember those two Galileo satellites that our friends at Arianespace rocketed into orbit last week? They are doing extremely well, thank you very much.

Galileo satellites 9 and 10 are functioning perfectly, and the initial series of flight operations is continuing as part of LEOP – the critical launch and early orbit phase.

The pair are being stepped through an intense series of check-outs, confirmations, mode changes, configurations and health verifications by the joint ESA/CNES mission team working around the clock at ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany.

The team are now focussing on conducting a series of thruster burns designed to start the drift of the two satellites toward their target orbital positions.

"The overall mission status is fully nominal, and we conducted the first burn, on 14 September at 16:58 UTC [18:58 CEST]," says Jérémie Benoist, co-Flight Director from CNES.

Each satellite will perform a series of three drift-start thruster burns, running anywhere from a few tens of seconds to a few tens of minutes. The second was performed today at 08:52 UTC (10:52 CEST), and went as planned.

"Following the burns performed during the LEOP phase, the satellites will continue naturally drifting, ending up in their final desired operational orbits at about 23 222 km after another set of thruster burns, planned to achieve fine positioning in orbit, around the end of October," says Liviu Stefanov, co-Flight Director from ESA.

With the excellent performance of the spacecraft and the ground teams, the LEOP phase at ESOC is foreseen to wrap up soon.

ESOC support continues

The manoeuvre phase, however, will continue even after the ESA/CNES LEOP team hands over the satellites to the Galileo Control Centre, near Munich, for routine operations.

Flight dynamics at ESA. Credit: ESA/J. Mai

This means that flight dynamics experts at ESOC will continue to calculate and provide the manoeuvre 'products' – the highly detailed plan for how long and when a burn must be executed – to support the drift stop and fine positioning of the recently launched Galileo satellites.

"By then, most of the CNES operations engineers will have returned to Toulouse, and we will begin anew the training period for the next set of Galileo satellites," says Jérémie.

"Our team-mates at ESOC will do the same, and, for the next launch, we'll come together again to conduct the final simulation training at the CNES control facilities in Toulouse."

As part of the overall service provided to Europe’s Galileo project, ESA and CNES teams are conducting the LEOPs alternately from Darmstadt and Toulouse.

"Once again, everything is going very well with the joint team at ESOC," says Liviu.

"Both Jérémie and I are very impressed with their expertise and dedication, which, together with a near-perfect injection, have helped make this one of the smoothest Galileo LEOPs yet."

The next pair of Galileo satellites are expected to be launched in mid-December 2015.

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Remember those two Galileo satellites that our friends at Arianespace rocketed into orbit last week? They are doing extremely well, thank you very much.

Galileo satellites 9 and 10 are functioning perfectly, and the initial series of flight operations is continuing as part of LEOP – the critical launch and early orbit phase.

The pair are being stepped through an intense series of check-outs, confirmations, mode changes, configurations and health verifications by the joint ESA/CNES mission team working around the clock at ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany.

The team are now focussing on conducting a series of thruster burns designed to start the drift of the two satellites toward their target orbital positions.

"The overall mission status is fully nominal, and we conducted the first burn, on 14 September at 16:58 UTC [18:58 CEST]," says Jérémie Benoist, co-Flight Director from CNES.

Each satellite will perform a series of three drift-start thruster burns, running anywhere from a few tens of seconds to a few tens of minutes. The second was performed today at 08:52 UTC (10:52 CEST), and went as planned.

"Following the burns performed during the LEOP phase, the satellites will continue naturally drifting, ending up in their final desired operational orbits at about 23 222 km after another set of thruster burns, planned to achieve fine positioning in orbit, around the end of October," says Liviu Stefanov, co-Flight Director from ESA.

With the excellent performance of the spacecraft and the ground teams, the LEOP phase at ESOC is foreseen to wrap up soon.

ESOC support continues

The manoeuvre phase, however, will continue even after the ESA/CNES LEOP team hands over the satellites to the Galileo Control Centre, near Munich, for routine operations.

Flight dynamics at ESA. Credit: ESA/J. Mai

This means that flight dynamics experts at ESOC will continue to calculate and provide the manoeuvre 'products' – the highly detailed plan for how long and when a burn must be executed – to support the drift stop and fine positioning of the recently launched Galileo satellites.

"By then, most of the CNES operations engineers will have returned to Toulouse, and we will begin anew the training period for the next set of Galileo satellites," says Jérémie.

"Our team-mates at ESOC will do the same, and, for the next launch, we'll come together again to conduct the final simulation training at the CNES control facilities in Toulouse."

As part of the overall service provided to Europe’s Galileo project, ESA and CNES teams are conducting the LEOPs alternately from Darmstadt and Toulouse.

"Once again, everything is going very well with the joint team at ESOC," says Liviu.

"Both Jérémie and I are very impressed with their expertise and dedication, which, together with a near-perfect injection, have helped make this one of the smoothest Galileo LEOPs yet."

The next pair of Galileo satellites are expected to be launched in mid-December 2015.

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Galileo seen in space

This image was captured by Marco Langbroek, Leiden, The Netherlands, on 11 September 2015.

It shows the Fregat upper stage carrying Galileo satellites 9 & 10 over Northern Europe, after separation from Soyuz launcher VS12, just 22 minutes after lift off from ESA's Spaceport in Kourou.

Marco writes:

This is a composite of four images taken between 02:30:12 to 02:30:16 UT (4:30:12-4:30:16 CEST), taken just after shadow exit. The image was made from the Cronesteyn Polder at the edge of Leiden using my Canon EOS 60D and an EF 2.5/50mm Macro lens.

View direction is towards the Northeast. In the lower left corner are stars from the front paw of Ursa major.

Conditions were mediocre: the sky was a bit hazy, which in my urban environment means more trouble with light pollution (the orange glow on the image). The Fregat upper stage was nevertheless easy to see with the naked eye after shadow exit at about 40 degrees elevation, attaining a brightness of magnitude +2 (about as bright as the Big Dipper stars). Descending towards the horizon it quickly got fainter until I lost it in a combination of haze and light pollution about a minute later.

Thank you for sharing! See more of Marco's astro-photography work via: http://ift.tt/1O5aYyJ

Image Copyright/Credit: (C) 2015 M. Langbroek

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This image was captured by Marco Langbroek, Leiden, The Netherlands, on 11 September 2015.

It shows the Fregat upper stage carrying Galileo satellites 9 & 10 over Northern Europe, after separation from Soyuz launcher VS12, just 22 minutes after lift off from ESA's Spaceport in Kourou.

Marco writes:

This is a composite of four images taken between 02:30:12 to 02:30:16 UT (4:30:12-4:30:16 CEST), taken just after shadow exit. The image was made from the Cronesteyn Polder at the edge of Leiden using my Canon EOS 60D and an EF 2.5/50mm Macro lens.

View direction is towards the Northeast. In the lower left corner are stars from the front paw of Ursa major.

Conditions were mediocre: the sky was a bit hazy, which in my urban environment means more trouble with light pollution (the orange glow on the image). The Fregat upper stage was nevertheless easy to see with the naked eye after shadow exit at about 40 degrees elevation, attaining a brightness of magnitude +2 (about as bright as the Big Dipper stars). Descending towards the horizon it quickly got fainter until I lost it in a combination of haze and light pollution about a minute later.

Thank you for sharing! See more of Marco's astro-photography work via: http://ift.tt/1O5aYyJ

Image Copyright/Credit: (C) 2015 M. Langbroek

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First results – #Estrack40 audio contest

New Norcia station Credit: D. O'Donnell/ESA - CC BY-SA 3.0

Congratulations!

The first slice of selectees in the Estrack 40th anniversary audio contest via SoundCloud have just been announced (see playlist in this post).

This listing contains 12 tracks, ranked Nos. 42 to 31, and its publication begins our 'countdown to the top' as we publish the remaining 30 top-ranked submissions between now and 18 September.

A general note: We loved the submissions! You guys are amazing and we heard some really marvellous stuff created by people who are passionate, motivated and imaginative in their pursuit of music that reflects the central themes of exploration into our universe, technological excellence and the dreams of humanity's journeys into space.

All the judges thoroughly enjoyed their task and on behalf of all of us, thank you!

Watch for the subsequent selectee and winner announcements, which should go live as follows:

• 8 Sep - Playlist with Nos. 42-31
• 11 Sep - Playlist with Nos. 30-21
• 15 Sep - Playlist with Nos. 20-11
• 18 Sep - Playlist with Nos. 10-1 (top 3 awarded prizes)

Here are Nos. 42-31:

 

Notes on judging

It's appropriate here that we provide some details on the judging, especially in light of the tremendous enthusiasm we've seen in SoundCloud for the contest and the obvious effort and skill that powered all the submissions.

We recruited 10 volunteer judges from our ESA colleagues (not only from the ESA Communication team; volunteers from the Mars Express and Integral mission control teams joined as well!). The judging team included several active amateur musicians plus others who have long experience playing/learning a number of instruments. Our judges also included a pair of hard-core music aficionados, one of whom has worked many years sourcing music and audio tracks for ESA communication productions and one who composes his own electronic music. We think we had a pretty solid line up of judges experienced across a wide range of genres and styles!

By 12:00 CEST on 31 August, the deadline, we had received 117 entries. A number of submissions were posted to the#Estrack40 contest Group in SoundCloud (actually, 9!) after the deadline, and these were not allowed into the competition. Normally, a few minutes late would have been no problem (hey, we all have busy lives), but since so many participants did submit on time, we felt it would be unfair to include any late submissions (you can hear them via #Estrack40 - not judged - they're rather not bad!).

I'll admit right up front: the judging had a bias toward any track that had been newly composed or newly uploaded to SoundCloud, and a bias away from tracks that had already been in SC – some, for a number of years! We felt that anyone who worked to create a piece just for the contest should be looked at a little more in depth and given a little more value than someone who simply tossed in an existing work; as a result, you'll see as the top rankings are posted in the coming days, only two submissions that had been in SC since before the contest was announced on 30 July made it into the Top 42.

The 'originals' were divided up and assigned to the judges in batches of 8-12 tracks; each judge was asked to rank their batch top to bottom, and then the rankings were gathered and mashed up into one mega-XL spreadsheet. Some of the (very keen!) judges also listened to almost all of the originals, while three judges were assigned to listed to the non-original submissions and flag any that might merit inclusion in the top rankings.

From the mashed up XLS, and overall top-to-bottom raking of all tracks was created; the cut-off point for inclusion in the 'selectees' was having an original ranking of at least Top 5 on any judges' individual list. This corresponded to 42, and that's why we're posting these in three slices between now and 18 Sep.

Note that some tracks, although musically not too bad, were disqualified, or ranked very low, because they failed to meet one or more basic conditions of the contest. These included entries with no note/explanation, entries that were copyright-protected, entries from an ineligible country and entries that were very, very long (all conditions were explained in the original invitation).

Note that some entries were ranked very low because they missed the theme challenge, or included too much in the way of back tracks, ambient sound, thematic content or images gathered from space agencies other than ESA (all the NASA & Pluto stuff was very nice, but we are ESA).

Finally, the rankings were further adjusted given that the top entry will be cut to some tracking station footage and selected as the new "Estrack theme music;" a number of entries were far too long or sombre or monotonous for this.

Aside from these details, however, and as mentioned above, we loved the submissions! Thanks again to everyone who took time to submit and we look forward to lots of fun hours listening to your stuff!

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New Norcia station Credit: D. O'Donnell/ESA - CC BY-SA 3.0

Congratulations!

The first slice of selectees in the Estrack 40th anniversary audio contest via SoundCloud have just been announced (see playlist in this post).

This listing contains 12 tracks, ranked Nos. 42 to 31, and its publication begins our 'countdown to the top' as we publish the remaining 30 top-ranked submissions between now and 18 September.

A general note: We loved the submissions! You guys are amazing and we heard some really marvellous stuff created by people who are passionate, motivated and imaginative in their pursuit of music that reflects the central themes of exploration into our universe, technological excellence and the dreams of humanity's journeys into space.

All the judges thoroughly enjoyed their task and on behalf of all of us, thank you!

Watch for the subsequent selectee and winner announcements, which should go live as follows:

• 8 Sep - Playlist with Nos. 42-31
• 11 Sep - Playlist with Nos. 30-21
• 15 Sep - Playlist with Nos. 20-11
• 18 Sep - Playlist with Nos. 10-1 (top 3 awarded prizes)

Here are Nos. 42-31:

 

Notes on judging

It's appropriate here that we provide some details on the judging, especially in light of the tremendous enthusiasm we've seen in SoundCloud for the contest and the obvious effort and skill that powered all the submissions.

We recruited 10 volunteer judges from our ESA colleagues (not only from the ESA Communication team; volunteers from the Mars Express and Integral mission control teams joined as well!). The judging team included several active amateur musicians plus others who have long experience playing/learning a number of instruments. Our judges also included a pair of hard-core music aficionados, one of whom has worked many years sourcing music and audio tracks for ESA communication productions and one who composes his own electronic music. We think we had a pretty solid line up of judges experienced across a wide range of genres and styles!

By 12:00 CEST on 31 August, the deadline, we had received 117 entries. A number of submissions were posted to the#Estrack40 contest Group in SoundCloud (actually, 9!) after the deadline, and these were not allowed into the competition. Normally, a few minutes late would have been no problem (hey, we all have busy lives), but since so many participants did submit on time, we felt it would be unfair to include any late submissions (you can hear them via #Estrack40 - not judged - they're rather not bad!).

I'll admit right up front: the judging had a bias toward any track that had been newly composed or newly uploaded to SoundCloud, and a bias away from tracks that had already been in SC – some, for a number of years! We felt that anyone who worked to create a piece just for the contest should be looked at a little more in depth and given a little more value than someone who simply tossed in an existing work; as a result, you'll see as the top rankings are posted in the coming days, only two submissions that had been in SC since before the contest was announced on 30 July made it into the Top 42.

The 'originals' were divided up and assigned to the judges in batches of 8-12 tracks; each judge was asked to rank their batch top to bottom, and then the rankings were gathered and mashed up into one mega-XL spreadsheet. Some of the (very keen!) judges also listened to almost all of the originals, while three judges were assigned to listed to the non-original submissions and flag any that might merit inclusion in the top rankings.

From the mashed up XLS, and overall top-to-bottom raking of all tracks was created; the cut-off point for inclusion in the 'selectees' was having an original ranking of at least Top 5 on any judges' individual list. This corresponded to 42, and that's why we're posting these in three slices between now and 18 Sep.

Note that some tracks, although musically not too bad, were disqualified, or ranked very low, because they failed to meet one or more basic conditions of the contest. These included entries with no note/explanation, entries that were copyright-protected, entries from an ineligible country and entries that were very, very long (all conditions were explained in the original invitation).

Note that some entries were ranked very low because they missed the theme challenge, or included too much in the way of back tracks, ambient sound, thematic content or images gathered from space agencies other than ESA (all the NASA & Pluto stuff was very nice, but we are ESA).

Finally, the rankings were further adjusted given that the top entry will be cut to some tracking station footage and selected as the new "Estrack theme music;" a number of entries were far too long or sombre or monotonous for this.

Aside from these details, however, and as mentioned above, we loved the submissions! Thanks again to everyone who took time to submit and we look forward to lots of fun hours listening to your stuff!

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CCSDS fall meeting 2015

The Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) was formed in 1982 by the major space agencies of the world to provide a forum for discussion of common problems in the development and operation of space data systems. It is currently composed of eleven member agencies, twenty-eight observer agencies, and over 140 industrial associates.

The fall meeting will take place in Darmstadt, hosted by ESA, 9-12 November 2015.

Darmstadtium event hall and conference centre, Darmstadt, Germany. Credit: G. Schneider CC BY-NC 2.0 via http://ift.tt/1EuSlkA

Since its establishment, CCSDS has been actively developing Recommendations for data- and information-systems standards to promote interoperability and cross support among cooperating space agencies, to enable multi-agency spaceflight collaboration (both planned and contingency) and new capabilities for future missions. Additionally, CCSDS standardization reduces the cost burden of spaceflight missions by allowing cost sharing between agencies and cost-effective commercialization.

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The Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) was formed in 1982 by the major space agencies of the world to provide a forum for discussion of common problems in the development and operation of space data systems. It is currently composed of eleven member agencies, twenty-eight observer agencies, and over 140 industrial associates.

The fall meeting will take place in Darmstadt, hosted by ESA, 9-12 November 2015.

Darmstadtium event hall and conference centre, Darmstadt, Germany. Credit: G. Schneider CC BY-NC 2.0 via http://ift.tt/1EuSlkA

Since its establishment, CCSDS has been actively developing Recommendations for data- and information-systems standards to promote interoperability and cross support among cooperating space agencies, to enable multi-agency spaceflight collaboration (both planned and contingency) and new capabilities for future missions. Additionally, CCSDS standardization reduces the cost burden of spaceflight missions by allowing cost sharing between agencies and cost-effective commercialization.

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Improve the Space Station tour

ESA published a full street-view tour of the International Space Station to explore with video explanations from astronauts and links to websites:

But, perhaps this can be improved?

We want your comments! What explanations are missing? Are there important parts of the Station we missed? Or exciting astronaut explanations you think we should add? Is there an object, system or device that intrigues you and you want more information about it? Let us know via the comments below this blog post and we will do our best to answer them and update the panoramic tour.

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ESA published a full street-view tour of the International Space Station to explore with video explanations from astronauts and links to websites:

But, perhaps this can be improved?

We want your comments! What explanations are missing? Are there important parts of the Station we missed? Or exciting astronaut explanations you think we should add? Is there an object, system or device that intrigues you and you want more information about it? Let us know via the comments below this blog post and we will do our best to answer them and update the panoramic tour.

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Europe’s MSG-4 weather satellite delivered into orbit

The last weather satellite in Europe’s highly successful Meteosat Second Generation series lifted off on an Ariane 5 launcher at 21:42 GMT (23:42 CEST) on 15 July from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

Some 40 minutes after launch, MSG-4 separated from Ariane 5 into the planned transfer orbit. Over the next 10 days, the satellite’s propulsion system will raise it into a geostationary orbit some 36 000 km above the equator, where its speed matches Earth’s rotation.

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The last weather satellite in Europe’s highly successful Meteosat Second Generation series lifted off on an Ariane 5 launcher at 21:42 GMT (23:42 CEST) on 15 July from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

Some 40 minutes after launch, MSG-4 separated from Ariane 5 into the planned transfer orbit. Over the next 10 days, the satellite’s propulsion system will raise it into a geostationary orbit some 36 000 km above the equator, where its speed matches Earth’s rotation.

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MSG-4 launch timeline

Ariane VA 224 on the launchpad. Credit: ESA-CNES-ARIANESPACE / Photo Optique Vidéo CSG

On 15 July, a powerful Ariane launcher will loft Europe’s final Meteosat Second Generation weather satellite into orbit from Kourou, French Guiana. For the mission control team at ESA, liftoff will mark the end of months of careful preparations and the start of the mission’s first critical phase.

In a 37-minute window starting at 21:42 GMT (23:42 CEST), Europe’s fourth and final Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellite will ride into space on a 55 m-tall Ariane 5 rocket together with co-passenger Star One C4, a telecoms satellite for Embratel. The dual launch had previously been set for 8 July, but was delayed by Arianespace due to last-minute precautionary checks on the rocket and spacecraft.

A team from ESA’s European Space Operations Centre, ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany, will assume control of MSG-4 immediately after separation and oversee its first 12 days in space – the critical launch and early orbit phase (LEOP) – before handing control over to Eumetsat.

During LEOP, two teams will work on shift in the Main Control Room 24 hours/day, using ESA’s global ground station network to conduct the well-rehearsed operations.

The first passenger, Star One C4, will separate from Ariane’s upper stage 28:15 minutes into flight, followed by MSG-4 at 40:22 minutes.

Separation marks the first occasion that the ESOC mission controllers can start sending telecommands to MSG-4 via the Malindi station in Kenya, performing the initial satellite configuration activities like switching on the attitude sensors.

Thruster burns and spinning up

Starting at about four hours into flight, MSG-4, which is released from the launcher spinning at 5 rpm, will be spun up to 55 rpm, and the satellite will perform a number of slews about its rotational axis to orientate itself correctly. These activities will continue into the second day in orbit.

Main Control Room at ESA's European Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt, Germany. Credit: ESA/P. Shlyaev

Starting on 17 July, the satellite will conduct the first of four crucial apogee motor burns, approximately one per day, to circularise its initially highly elliptical orbit. Each burn will last between around 80 seconds and 20 minutes.

Between 22 and 25 July, the protective covers on the camera will be discarded and the satellite will be spun up to its normal rotation of 100 rpm. The camera’s primary mirror will be unlocked and the instrument switched on and decontaminated.

If all goes as planned, by 26 July, the LEOP activities will come to an end with the satellite fully functional and located in its planned geosynchronous orbital slot some 36 000 km above Europe. It will then be handed over to Eumetsat for payload commissioning, preparing MSG-4 to serve as the in-orbit ‘hot backup’ to its three sibling satellites, which were all shepherded into orbit by ESOC.

Watch live

The liftoff will be streamed live via Arianespace TV live from Kourou on 15 July starting at 21:27 GMT (23:27 CEST).

Timeline below is forecast only and all times are subject to change. Timeline assumes liftoff at start of 37-minute window at 23:42 CEST; times will be shifted accordingly if the liftoff occurs later in the window. See abbreviations at bottom of page.

 

MET	GMT	CEST	VA224	MSG4/ESOC	Tracking stations
-09:45:00	11:57:00	13:57:00	Start of launcher activities on launch pad in Kourou
-09:01:00	12:41:00	14:41:00		Satellite switch on to begin (Live telemetry from MSG available after –6:10 MET)
-07:30:00	14:12:00	16:12:00		B-Section of Mission Control Team on console in ESOC MCR; start of pre-launch activities in MCR
-07:15:00	14:27:00	16:27:00			Station engineers now on site at Kourou, Malindi & Perth tracking stations
-07:00:00	14:42:00	16:42:00	Network interface equipment in Kourou turned ON. This will enable a live cable connection between MSG-4 & ESOC until shortly before liftoff.
-06:30:00	15:12:00	17:12:00		Start of ESOC network countdown ** MSG transmitter to be switched ON ** OM at ESOC MCR conducting voice, status & time checks with all tracking stations
-06:21:00	15:21:00	17:21:00			ESA Kourou tracking station rotating to point at MSG-4 on top of Ariane 5 just a few km away
-06:20:00	15:22:00	17:22:00	Data cable interface in Kourou turned ON. This will enable a live cable connection between MSG-4 & ESOC until shortly before liftoff	ESOC now watching for receipt of telemetry – live onboard status information – from MSG-4 sitting on top of Ariane 5. Signals can be received via data cable or via Kourou station
-06:04:00	15:38:00	17:38:00		ESOC now receiving live telemetry from MSG-4
-06:00:00	15:42:00	17:42:00			Perth & Malindi stations start ranging calibrations
-05:35:00	16:07:00	18:07:00		Ground Operations Manager conducts voice & status checks with all ground stations and ESOC Mission Control Team console positions
-05:20:00	16:22:00	18:22:00		Begin data flow tests on both prime and backup connections between Perth, Malindi & Kourou ground stations and at ESOC
-04:50:00	16:52:00	18:52:00	Start filling main cryogenic stage with liquid oxygen & hydrogen
-04:05:00	17:37:00	19:37:00		Flight Director at ESOC reports ground segment and tracking station status to Kourou
-04:00:00	17:42:00	19:42:00		ESA flight dynamics team now on console at ESOC
-03:20:00	18:22:00	20:22:00	Chilldown of Vulcain main stage engine
-02:00:00	19:42:00	21:42:00		A-Section of Mission Control Team on console in ESOC MCR
-01:50:00	19:52:00	21:52:00		OD in Main Control Room at ESOC conducts Go/NoGo roll-call From now on: Mission Control Team continuously checking satellite health & ground systems readiness for launch
-01:30:00	20:12:00	22:12:00			Engineers have left Kourou station, which lies within the liftoff danger area. It will continue operating via remote control
-01:27:00	20:15:00	22:15:00		OD in Main Control Room at ESOC reports 'ready' to Kourou
-00:50:00	20:52:00	22:52:00		SOM in Main Control Room at ESOC briefs ground stations on activities in first pass after MSG-4 separates from Ariane
-00:35:00	21:07:00	23:07:00		OD reports ground systems status to Kourou
-00:20:00	21:22:00	23:22:00	Arianespace issues final weather briefing	OD reports ground systems status to Kourou
-00:11:00	21:31:00	23:31:00		MSG4 now on internal power
-00:07:00	21:35:00	23:35:00	All systems Go for launch; start Ariane automated sequence
-00:06:30	21:35:30	23:35:30		OD in Main Control Room at ESOC reports status to Kourou (final)
-00:04:00	21:38:00	23:38:00	Fuel tanks pressurised for flight
-00:01:00	21:41:00	23:41:00	Ariane on internal power
-00:00:04	21:41:56	23:41:56	Ariane onboard systems take over
-00:00:03	21:41:57	23:41:57	Ariane inertial reference systems switch to flight mode
00:00:00	21:42:00	23:42:00	Ignition of the cryogenic main stage engine
+00:00:07	21:42:07	23:42:07	Ignition of solid boosters and liftoff		ESA Kourou station starts tracking launcher
+00:00:12	21:42:12	23:42:12	End of vertical climb; Ariane begins pitch motion
+00:00:17	21:42:17	23:42:17	Beginning of roll manoeuvre
+00:02:22	21:44:22	23:44:22	Solid rocket boosters jettisoned
+00:03:43	21:45:43	23:45:43	Fairing jettisoned; Ariane and payload now in space
+00:08:49	21:50:49	23:50:49	Main engine cutoff
+00:08:55	21:50:55	23:50:55	First stage separation
+00:08:59	21:50:59	23:50:59	Second stage ignition
+00:10:00	21:52:00	23:52:00			Expected loss of signal Kourou station
+00:24:00	22:06:00	00:06:00			Malindi station: AOS Ariane & AOS MSG-4 (carrier only)
+00:24:48	22:06:48	00:06:48	Second stage engine cutoff; injection into orbit
+00:28:15	22:10:15	00:10:15	Star One C4 separation
+00:30:56	22:12:56	00:12:56	Sylda separation
+00:40:00	22:22:00	00:22:00			AOS Perth
+00:40:19	22:22:19	00:22:19	MSG-4 separation	MSG-4 now in free flight
+00:41:00	22:23:00	00:23:00		Mission control team at ESOC starting to uplink first telecommands to MSG-4 via Malindi station	Malindi station starts transmitting to MSG-4
+00:42:00	22:24:00	00:24:00
+01:08:16	22:50:16	00:50:16	End of Ariane mission	The Ariane upper stage will be safely deorbited
+04:07:00	01:49:00	03:49:00		MSG-4 spun up to 55 rpm
+05:35:00	03:17:00	05:17:00		MSG-4 reaches apogee height on orbit 1 (35 794.6km)

Notes:

CEST offset = 02:00:00
Ariane launcher is also tracked by Natal, Ascension, Libreville ground stations. These are not indicated in this timeline.

Abbreviations:

LCC: Launcher Control Centre, Jupiter Control Room, Kourou, French Guyana
ESOC: European Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt, Germany
OD: ESA Flight Operaqtions Director in Main Control Room
VA224: Ariane launcher flight VA224
MET: Mission Elapsed Time - before/after liftoff times are -/+
MSG4: Meteosat Second Generation-4 spacecraft
AOS: Acquisition of signal
LOS: Loss of signal
MCR: Main Control Room at ESOC
OM: ESA Ground Operations Manager in Main Control Room
SOM: ESA Spacecraft Operations Manager in Main Control Room

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Ariane VA 224 on the launchpad. Credit: ESA-CNES-ARIANESPACE / Photo Optique Vidéo CSG

On 15 July, a powerful Ariane launcher will loft Europe’s final Meteosat Second Generation weather satellite into orbit from Kourou, French Guiana. For the mission control team at ESA, liftoff will mark the end of months of careful preparations and the start of the mission’s first critical phase.

In a 37-minute window starting at 21:42 GMT (23:42 CEST), Europe’s fourth and final Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellite will ride into space on a 55 m-tall Ariane 5 rocket together with co-passenger Star One C4, a telecoms satellite for Embratel. The dual launch had previously been set for 8 July, but was delayed by Arianespace due to last-minute precautionary checks on the rocket and spacecraft.

A team from ESA’s European Space Operations Centre, ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany, will assume control of MSG-4 immediately after separation and oversee its first 12 days in space – the critical launch and early orbit phase (LEOP) – before handing control over to Eumetsat.

During LEOP, two teams will work on shift in the Main Control Room 24 hours/day, using ESA’s global ground station network to conduct the well-rehearsed operations.

The first passenger, Star One C4, will separate from Ariane’s upper stage 28:15 minutes into flight, followed by MSG-4 at 40:22 minutes.

Separation marks the first occasion that the ESOC mission controllers can start sending telecommands to MSG-4 via the Malindi station in Kenya, performing the initial satellite configuration activities like switching on the attitude sensors.

Thruster burns and spinning up

Starting at about four hours into flight, MSG-4, which is released from the launcher spinning at 5 rpm, will be spun up to 55 rpm, and the satellite will perform a number of slews about its rotational axis to orientate itself correctly. These activities will continue into the second day in orbit.

Main Control Room at ESA's European Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt, Germany. Credit: ESA/P. Shlyaev

Starting on 17 July, the satellite will conduct the first of four crucial apogee motor burns, approximately one per day, to circularise its initially highly elliptical orbit. Each burn will last between around 80 seconds and 20 minutes.

Between 22 and 25 July, the protective covers on the camera will be discarded and the satellite will be spun up to its normal rotation of 100 rpm. The camera’s primary mirror will be unlocked and the instrument switched on and decontaminated.

If all goes as planned, by 26 July, the LEOP activities will come to an end with the satellite fully functional and located in its planned geosynchronous orbital slot some 36 000 km above Europe. It will then be handed over to Eumetsat for payload commissioning, preparing MSG-4 to serve as the in-orbit ‘hot backup’ to its three sibling satellites, which were all shepherded into orbit by ESOC.

Watch live

The liftoff will be streamed live via Arianespace TV live from Kourou on 15 July starting at 21:27 GMT (23:27 CEST).

Timeline below is forecast only and all times are subject to change. Timeline assumes liftoff at start of 37-minute window at 23:42 CEST; times will be shifted accordingly if the liftoff occurs later in the window. See abbreviations at bottom of page.

 

MET	GMT	CEST	VA224	MSG4/ESOC	Tracking stations
-09:45:00	11:57:00	13:57:00	Start of launcher activities on launch pad in Kourou
-09:01:00	12:41:00	14:41:00		Satellite switch on to begin (Live telemetry from MSG available after –6:10 MET)
-07:30:00	14:12:00	16:12:00		B-Section of Mission Control Team on console in ESOC MCR; start of pre-launch activities in MCR
-07:15:00	14:27:00	16:27:00			Station engineers now on site at Kourou, Malindi & Perth tracking stations
-07:00:00	14:42:00	16:42:00	Network interface equipment in Kourou turned ON. This will enable a live cable connection between MSG-4 & ESOC until shortly before liftoff.
-06:30:00	15:12:00	17:12:00		Start of ESOC network countdown ** MSG transmitter to be switched ON ** OM at ESOC MCR conducting voice, status & time checks with all tracking stations
-06:21:00	15:21:00	17:21:00			ESA Kourou tracking station rotating to point at MSG-4 on top of Ariane 5 just a few km away
-06:20:00	15:22:00	17:22:00	Data cable interface in Kourou turned ON. This will enable a live cable connection between MSG-4 & ESOC until shortly before liftoff	ESOC now watching for receipt of telemetry – live onboard status information – from MSG-4 sitting on top of Ariane 5. Signals can be received via data cable or via Kourou station
-06:04:00	15:38:00	17:38:00		ESOC now receiving live telemetry from MSG-4
-06:00:00	15:42:00	17:42:00			Perth & Malindi stations start ranging calibrations
-05:35:00	16:07:00	18:07:00		Ground Operations Manager conducts voice & status checks with all ground stations and ESOC Mission Control Team console positions
-05:20:00	16:22:00	18:22:00		Begin data flow tests on both prime and backup connections between Perth, Malindi & Kourou ground stations and at ESOC
-04:50:00	16:52:00	18:52:00	Start filling main cryogenic stage with liquid oxygen & hydrogen
-04:05:00	17:37:00	19:37:00		Flight Director at ESOC reports ground segment and tracking station status to Kourou
-04:00:00	17:42:00	19:42:00		ESA flight dynamics team now on console at ESOC
-03:20:00	18:22:00	20:22:00	Chilldown of Vulcain main stage engine
-02:00:00	19:42:00	21:42:00		A-Section of Mission Control Team on console in ESOC MCR
-01:50:00	19:52:00	21:52:00		OD in Main Control Room at ESOC conducts Go/NoGo roll-call From now on: Mission Control Team continuously checking satellite health & ground systems readiness for launch
-01:30:00	20:12:00	22:12:00			Engineers have left Kourou station, which lies within the liftoff danger area. It will continue operating via remote control
-01:27:00	20:15:00	22:15:00		OD in Main Control Room at ESOC reports 'ready' to Kourou
-00:50:00	20:52:00	22:52:00		SOM in Main Control Room at ESOC briefs ground stations on activities in first pass after MSG-4 separates from Ariane
-00:35:00	21:07:00	23:07:00		OD reports ground systems status to Kourou
-00:20:00	21:22:00	23:22:00	Arianespace issues final weather briefing	OD reports ground systems status to Kourou
-00:11:00	21:31:00	23:31:00		MSG4 now on internal power
-00:07:00	21:35:00	23:35:00	All systems Go for launch; start Ariane automated sequence
-00:06:30	21:35:30	23:35:30		OD in Main Control Room at ESOC reports status to Kourou (final)
-00:04:00	21:38:00	23:38:00	Fuel tanks pressurised for flight
-00:01:00	21:41:00	23:41:00	Ariane on internal power
-00:00:04	21:41:56	23:41:56	Ariane onboard systems take over
-00:00:03	21:41:57	23:41:57	Ariane inertial reference systems switch to flight mode
00:00:00	21:42:00	23:42:00	Ignition of the cryogenic main stage engine
+00:00:07	21:42:07	23:42:07	Ignition of solid boosters and liftoff		ESA Kourou station starts tracking launcher
+00:00:12	21:42:12	23:42:12	End of vertical climb; Ariane begins pitch motion
+00:00:17	21:42:17	23:42:17	Beginning of roll manoeuvre
+00:02:22	21:44:22	23:44:22	Solid rocket boosters jettisoned
+00:03:43	21:45:43	23:45:43	Fairing jettisoned; Ariane and payload now in space
+00:08:49	21:50:49	23:50:49	Main engine cutoff
+00:08:55	21:50:55	23:50:55	First stage separation
+00:08:59	21:50:59	23:50:59	Second stage ignition
+00:10:00	21:52:00	23:52:00			Expected loss of signal Kourou station
+00:24:00	22:06:00	00:06:00			Malindi station: AOS Ariane & AOS MSG-4 (carrier only)
+00:24:48	22:06:48	00:06:48	Second stage engine cutoff; injection into orbit
+00:28:15	22:10:15	00:10:15	Star One C4 separation
+00:30:56	22:12:56	00:12:56	Sylda separation
+00:40:00	22:22:00	00:22:00			AOS Perth
+00:40:19	22:22:19	00:22:19	MSG-4 separation	MSG-4 now in free flight
+00:41:00	22:23:00	00:23:00		Mission control team at ESOC starting to uplink first telecommands to MSG-4 via Malindi station	Malindi station starts transmitting to MSG-4
+00:42:00	22:24:00	00:24:00
+01:08:16	22:50:16	00:50:16	End of Ariane mission	The Ariane upper stage will be safely deorbited
+04:07:00	01:49:00	03:49:00		MSG-4 spun up to 55 rpm
+05:35:00	03:17:00	05:17:00		MSG-4 reaches apogee height on orbit 1 (35 794.6km)

Notes:

CEST offset = 02:00:00
Ariane launcher is also tracked by Natal, Ascension, Libreville ground stations. These are not indicated in this timeline.

Abbreviations:

LCC: Launcher Control Centre, Jupiter Control Room, Kourou, French Guyana
ESOC: European Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt, Germany
OD: ESA Flight Operaqtions Director in Main Control Room
VA224: Ariane launcher flight VA224
MET: Mission Elapsed Time - before/after liftoff times are -/+
MSG4: Meteosat Second Generation-4 spacecraft
AOS: Acquisition of signal
LOS: Loss of signal
MCR: Main Control Room at ESOC
OM: ESA Ground Operations Manager in Main Control Room
SOM: ESA Spacecraft Operations Manager in Main Control Room

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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How Europe landed on a comet

A fabulous presentation at TEDxLiège by ESA's Sylvain Lodiot, the Spacecraft Operations Manager for Rosetta at ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany.

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A fabulous presentation at TEDxLiège by ESA's Sylvain Lodiot, the Spacecraft Operations Manager for Rosetta at ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany.

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What makes our flight dynamics team unique?

Today's blog post was contributed by Francesco Affaitati, responsible for the flight dynamics team supporting the recent launch of Sentinel-2A at ESOC. Francesco provides a great look behind the scenes at the expertise and teamwork contributed by 'FDyn'.

On the unique value of Sentinel-2

In the 1950s, when the first colour TV programmes were broadcast, it was difficult to imagine how the introduction of the colour television would impact society. But in a smooth and silent evolution which took many years, it changed the way that people viewed the world. By giving a new prospective and new realism, colour TV shaped society so much so that today it would be difficult to image living without it.

Similarly, Sentinel 2 – with its high-resolution imager working in 13 different spectral bands – will vastly expand the way we view our planet, increasing the quality and quantity of the data we have to support daily economic activity in agriculture, climate studies and disaster relief. This will in turn provide new perspectives on the way we see our planet and, like TV six decades ago, will spark a silent revolution that will boost the quality of our life for European citizens. In short, Sentinel-2 data will be a 'game changer'.

How flight dynamics contribute to Sentinel-2

No ESA satellite reaches its destination without the ‘spacecraft navigators’ – the flight dynamics experts who predict and determine trajectories, prepare orbit manoeuvres and determine satellite attitudes and pointing. Flight dynamics experts at ESA’s ESOC operations centre work on every ESA mission, from those in Earth orbits to those exploring the depths of our Solar System. They are involved from the first steps of a mission’s concept to the last command sent.

Sentinal-2 flight dynamics team Credit: ESA - CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

For all missions, one crucial role for the flight dynamics experts is to estimate precisely the position and velocity of the spacecraft, and carefully design the manoeuvres – thruster burns – that will maintain the satellite in the desired trajectory. The pointing of the spacecraft – its orientation in space – is also controlled to ensure proper pointing of its scientific instruments.

In order to do so, we develop sophisticated software to process the signals received from the satellite on ground by our tracking stations; stations ‘track’, or follow, the satellite from the first moment of its life in space.

AOS – catching a signal from space

The first contact with the spacecraft via the ground station – known as ‘AOS’ for acquisition of signal – is critical. When the signal from space is acquired, it tells us that the spacecraft flying, but it doesn’t tell us where is going. And from that moment in time, even when many others are celebrating the ‘end’ of the launch, the flight dynamics team start to work.

Team at work in ESOC's Flight Dynamics Control Room Credit: ESA - CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

It’s also the moment when a glacial, work-intense silence falls in ESOC’s Flight Dynamics Control Room. Our critical role is to determine exactly where the spacecraft is and where it is heading. It could be that the spacecraft is not be heading toward the desired trajectory due to some problem with booster performance or the spacecraft’s separation from the final stage. To determine where the spacecraft is may take a few hours and until then we cannot truly relax.

The unique challenges facing flight dynamics?

In a baseball game, when a ‘curve ball’ is thrown by the pitcher (our ‘launcher’), the batter has to recognize the trajectory of the ball in a very short time, and try to hit it. When we compute our ground-station pointing predictions, we engage us in a similar game: our team is challenged to predict the trajectory of the spacecraft from just the few radio contacts available. In doing so we ensure the spacecraft is on track.

Team at work in ESOC's Flight Dynamics Control Room Credit: ESA - CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

Why Earth observation operations are a challenge and what makes our team special?

Sentinel-2A (Sentinel-2 is a dual-satellite mission) flies at 786 km altitude, a low-orbit (‘low-Earth orbit’ - LEO) environment where the threat of space debris plays a significant role. At these altitudes in fact, the risk of debris collisions is a growing problem. Once we receive a possible collision warning, it is our role to prepare a collision avoidance manoeuvre that will use the spacecraft’s thrusters to change its orbit so as to reduce the risk of an impact.

Francesco Affaitati Credit: ESA - CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

Moreover, LEO orbits also mean that we only get short ground station connection passes (maybe 6-10 minutes), in particular during the early phase of the launch, which leave us little time to react. Contingencies or unexpected problems with the spacecraft or in the ground systems may increase the complexity of operations. So no matter what the situation here on ground, or in space, we have to respond in a limited time to take the right decision to preserve the integrity of the spacecraft.

It’s all about people. This is what makes our team of experts so unique

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Today's blog post was contributed by Francesco Affaitati, responsible for the flight dynamics team supporting the recent launch of Sentinel-2A at ESOC. Francesco provides a great look behind the scenes at the expertise and teamwork contributed by 'FDyn'.

On the unique value of Sentinel-2

In the 1950s, when the first colour TV programmes were broadcast, it was difficult to imagine how the introduction of the colour television would impact society. But in a smooth and silent evolution which took many years, it changed the way that people viewed the world. By giving a new prospective and new realism, colour TV shaped society so much so that today it would be difficult to image living without it.

Similarly, Sentinel 2 – with its high-resolution imager working in 13 different spectral bands – will vastly expand the way we view our planet, increasing the quality and quantity of the data we have to support daily economic activity in agriculture, climate studies and disaster relief. This will in turn provide new perspectives on the way we see our planet and, like TV six decades ago, will spark a silent revolution that will boost the quality of our life for European citizens. In short, Sentinel-2 data will be a 'game changer'.

How flight dynamics contribute to Sentinel-2

No ESA satellite reaches its destination without the ‘spacecraft navigators’ – the flight dynamics experts who predict and determine trajectories, prepare orbit manoeuvres and determine satellite attitudes and pointing. Flight dynamics experts at ESA’s ESOC operations centre work on every ESA mission, from those in Earth orbits to those exploring the depths of our Solar System. They are involved from the first steps of a mission’s concept to the last command sent.

Sentinal-2 flight dynamics team Credit: ESA - CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

For all missions, one crucial role for the flight dynamics experts is to estimate precisely the position and velocity of the spacecraft, and carefully design the manoeuvres – thruster burns – that will maintain the satellite in the desired trajectory. The pointing of the spacecraft – its orientation in space – is also controlled to ensure proper pointing of its scientific instruments.

In order to do so, we develop sophisticated software to process the signals received from the satellite on ground by our tracking stations; stations ‘track’, or follow, the satellite from the first moment of its life in space.

AOS – catching a signal from space

The first contact with the spacecraft via the ground station – known as ‘AOS’ for acquisition of signal – is critical. When the signal from space is acquired, it tells us that the spacecraft flying, but it doesn’t tell us where is going. And from that moment in time, even when many others are celebrating the ‘end’ of the launch, the flight dynamics team start to work.

Team at work in ESOC's Flight Dynamics Control Room Credit: ESA - CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

It’s also the moment when a glacial, work-intense silence falls in ESOC’s Flight Dynamics Control Room. Our critical role is to determine exactly where the spacecraft is and where it is heading. It could be that the spacecraft is not be heading toward the desired trajectory due to some problem with booster performance or the spacecraft’s separation from the final stage. To determine where the spacecraft is may take a few hours and until then we cannot truly relax.

The unique challenges facing flight dynamics?

In a baseball game, when a ‘curve ball’ is thrown by the pitcher (our ‘launcher’), the batter has to recognize the trajectory of the ball in a very short time, and try to hit it. When we compute our ground-station pointing predictions, we engage us in a similar game: our team is challenged to predict the trajectory of the spacecraft from just the few radio contacts available. In doing so we ensure the spacecraft is on track.

Team at work in ESOC's Flight Dynamics Control Room Credit: ESA - CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

Why Earth observation operations are a challenge and what makes our team special?

Sentinel-2A (Sentinel-2 is a dual-satellite mission) flies at 786 km altitude, a low-orbit (‘low-Earth orbit’ - LEO) environment where the threat of space debris plays a significant role. At these altitudes in fact, the risk of debris collisions is a growing problem. Once we receive a possible collision warning, it is our role to prepare a collision avoidance manoeuvre that will use the spacecraft’s thrusters to change its orbit so as to reduce the risk of an impact.

Francesco Affaitati Credit: ESA - CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

Moreover, LEO orbits also mean that we only get short ground station connection passes (maybe 6-10 minutes), in particular during the early phase of the launch, which leave us little time to react. Contingencies or unexpected problems with the spacecraft or in the ground systems may increase the complexity of operations. So no matter what the situation here on ground, or in space, we have to respond in a limited time to take the right decision to preserve the integrity of the spacecraft.

It’s all about people. This is what makes our team of experts so unique

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Gaia avionics model arrives at ESOC

A full-size working model of Gaia’s internal systems arrived in Germany this week. The Avionics Model is mounted in a circular set-up representing the systems on the actual satellite, now orbiting the Sun–Earth L2 point about 500 000 km from Earth.

With the model at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre, ESOC, in Darmstadt, Germany, the ESA flight control specialists responsible for Gaia now have access to a fully functional test bench of the inner workings of the billion-star surveyor.

The model will remain at ESOC for the rest of the mission, with the team trained to use and maintain it with the support of Airbus Defence and Space, Toulouse, the prime contractor during Gaia’s development.

The model was a whopping 4x4 m at its base, and could only be moved at night owing to its size.

We asked ESA's Dave Milligan, the Gaia spacecraft operations manager at ESOC, for the back-story on why the AVM is being transferred now.

Dave replied:

We're coming up to one year of operations after the commissioning period, which lasted 6 months. The first 18 months have been packed with activities not foreseen before launch for which the avionics test bench has been heavily used for validation purposes at Toulouse (e.g. changing how the spacecraft's safe mode software works, creating new software for the 7 payload computers to deal with some issues on the telescope performance, reproducing then solving various anomalies, etc).

So, we're moving it now for several reasons:

• During the move, it is not available for some two months and Gaia operations are now rather stable, so we can afford to have it unavailable for a period
• The AirbusDS team that built Gaia are dispersing onto new projects, so it makes sense to maintain the expertise/experience in Gaia avionics here at ESOC
• The until-now intense operational workload at ESOC seems to be dropping now, so we can dedicate time to receiving, maintaining and operating the test bench

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A full-size working model of Gaia’s internal systems arrived in Germany this week. The Avionics Model is mounted in a circular set-up representing the systems on the actual satellite, now orbiting the Sun–Earth L2 point about 500 000 km from Earth.

With the model at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre, ESOC, in Darmstadt, Germany, the ESA flight control specialists responsible for Gaia now have access to a fully functional test bench of the inner workings of the billion-star surveyor.

The model will remain at ESOC for the rest of the mission, with the team trained to use and maintain it with the support of Airbus Defence and Space, Toulouse, the prime contractor during Gaia’s development.

The model was a whopping 4x4 m at its base, and could only be moved at night owing to its size.

We asked ESA's Dave Milligan, the Gaia spacecraft operations manager at ESOC, for the back-story on why the AVM is being transferred now.

Dave replied:

We're coming up to one year of operations after the commissioning period, which lasted 6 months. The first 18 months have been packed with activities not foreseen before launch for which the avionics test bench has been heavily used for validation purposes at Toulouse (e.g. changing how the spacecraft's safe mode software works, creating new software for the 7 payload computers to deal with some issues on the telescope performance, reproducing then solving various anomalies, etc).

So, we're moving it now for several reasons:

• During the move, it is not available for some two months and Gaia operations are now rather stable, so we can afford to have it unavailable for a period
• The AirbusDS team that built Gaia are dispersing onto new projects, so it makes sense to maintain the expertise/experience in Gaia avionics here at ESOC
• The until-now intense operational workload at ESOC seems to be dropping now, so we can dedicate time to receiving, maintaining and operating the test bench

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Sentinel-2A completes critical first days in space

Last night marked the end of Sentinel-2A's first three days in space, which saw teams on the ground working around the clock to ensure the spacecraft is ready for its 'colour vision' mission.

Directing flight (Credits: ESA/J. Mai - CC BY-SA IGO 3.0)

Delivery into orbit marked the start of the critical Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP), which has seen ground teams at ESOC, ESA's space operations centre in Darmstadt, Germany, working to activate crucial onboard systems and ensure the spacecraft’s health in the extreme environment of space.

The mission control team dealt with several typical problems seen in any launch, including issues with a sticky valve, a star tracker and a GPS unit. These have been resolved and the satellite is now in excellent health.

"We conducted our first orbital manoeuvre using the Sentinel-2A thrusters yesterday, and this went exactly as planned," said Spacecraft Operations Manager Franco Marchese.

"Overall, this LEOP has gone very smoothly and we are well en route to achieving our reference orbit within next week."

Flight Director Pier Paolo Emanuelli reported yesterday that the Sentinel-2A LEOP phase had formally ended, with the spacecraft and ground systems all operating as expected.

"I wish to thank all the teams involved in Sentinel-2A – including those from industry, the project at ESTEC, ESA's technical centre, and here at ESOC – for a job well done," said Emanuelli.

"The satellite is in great shape and the commissioning phase – when we ensure the spacecraft and its multispectral imager payload are ready for routine operations – has now started."

Celebrating the end of the beginning (Credits: ESA/D. Scuka - CC BY-SA IGO 3.0)

ESA's Omar Sy, responsible for the approximately three-month commissioning campaign, explained that the two main objectives now will be to assess how well the spacecraft performs and to conduct calibration and validation activities for the cutting-edge multispectral imager (MSI) payload.

The spacecraft will also be readied to start the routine acquisition of high-resolution images of Earth’s land surfaces, large islands, inland and coastal waters on a ten-day revisit cycle, which will drop to five days when the identical Sentinel-2B satellite is launched in 2016.

"The next three months will see a lot of hard work by teams at ESOC, ESTEC, ESRIN and CNES supporting image quality activities, as well as at DLR and Tesat, as we also commission the new optical data communication capability," said Omar Sy.

"We're opening a door to a new era in space – we're confident Sentinel-2's high-resolution capability will establish new leadership, particularly for vegetation imaging."

Sentinel-2A liftoff (Credits: ESA–M. Pedoussaut, 2015)

"Following a perfect launch by Vega, the Sentinel-2A LEOP was swiftly completed by our flight control and project support teams working at ESOC," stressed Francois Spoto, ESA's Sentinel-2 Project Manager.

He noted that the spacecraft itself works very well and the 13-channel MSI instrument is getting ready for a first image attempt.

"I believe that we have an excellent spacecraft design to conduct a long-life game-changing Copernicus mission for Europe."

 

Adapted from: http://ift.tt/1GNR5qn

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Last night marked the end of Sentinel-2A's first three days in space, which saw teams on the ground working around the clock to ensure the spacecraft is ready for its 'colour vision' mission.

Directing flight (Credits: ESA/J. Mai - CC BY-SA IGO 3.0)

Delivery into orbit marked the start of the critical Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP), which has seen ground teams at ESOC, ESA's space operations centre in Darmstadt, Germany, working to activate crucial onboard systems and ensure the spacecraft’s health in the extreme environment of space.

The mission control team dealt with several typical problems seen in any launch, including issues with a sticky valve, a star tracker and a GPS unit. These have been resolved and the satellite is now in excellent health.

"We conducted our first orbital manoeuvre using the Sentinel-2A thrusters yesterday, and this went exactly as planned," said Spacecraft Operations Manager Franco Marchese.

"Overall, this LEOP has gone very smoothly and we are well en route to achieving our reference orbit within next week."

Flight Director Pier Paolo Emanuelli reported yesterday that the Sentinel-2A LEOP phase had formally ended, with the spacecraft and ground systems all operating as expected.

"I wish to thank all the teams involved in Sentinel-2A – including those from industry, the project at ESTEC, ESA's technical centre, and here at ESOC – for a job well done," said Emanuelli.

"The satellite is in great shape and the commissioning phase – when we ensure the spacecraft and its multispectral imager payload are ready for routine operations – has now started."

Celebrating the end of the beginning (Credits: ESA/D. Scuka - CC BY-SA IGO 3.0)

ESA's Omar Sy, responsible for the approximately three-month commissioning campaign, explained that the two main objectives now will be to assess how well the spacecraft performs and to conduct calibration and validation activities for the cutting-edge multispectral imager (MSI) payload.

The spacecraft will also be readied to start the routine acquisition of high-resolution images of Earth’s land surfaces, large islands, inland and coastal waters on a ten-day revisit cycle, which will drop to five days when the identical Sentinel-2B satellite is launched in 2016.

"The next three months will see a lot of hard work by teams at ESOC, ESTEC, ESRIN and CNES supporting image quality activities, as well as at DLR and Tesat, as we also commission the new optical data communication capability," said Omar Sy.

"We're opening a door to a new era in space – we're confident Sentinel-2's high-resolution capability will establish new leadership, particularly for vegetation imaging."

Sentinel-2A liftoff (Credits: ESA–M. Pedoussaut, 2015)

"Following a perfect launch by Vega, the Sentinel-2A LEOP was swiftly completed by our flight control and project support teams working at ESOC," stressed Francois Spoto, ESA's Sentinel-2 Project Manager.

He noted that the spacecraft itself works very well and the 13-channel MSI instrument is getting ready for a first image attempt.

"I believe that we have an excellent spacecraft design to conduct a long-life game-changing Copernicus mission for Europe."

 

Adapted from: http://ift.tt/1GNR5qn

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Severe geomagnetic storm – update

A short update on space weather status from Juha-Pekka Luntama, responsible for space weather activities at ESA's Space Situational Awareness programme office at ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany.

As of yesterday, Earth was still within the plasma cloud of the CME from 22 June, which arrived around 13:00 UT (15:00 CEST) on Wednesday. Thus, the Earth is surrounded by a region of high speed solar wind. Because the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) of the Sun turned southwards during the night of Wednesday/Thursday, the high-speed solar wind triggered a moderate geomagnetic storm that started around 06:00 UT (08:00 CEST) yesterday. This storm continued throughout the day yesterday.

Proba SWAP 26 June Credit: ESA/Proba/Swap/SIDC

Another strong M-class solar flare was detected from the Sun's active region 2371 at 08:15 UT (10:15 CEST) yesterday. This flare was associated with an Earth-directed CME. The initial estimate of the speed of the CME was 1600 km/s, which would make it one of the fastest CMEs observed during the current solar cycle. The CME is estimated to arrive to the Earth around 16:00 UT (18:00 CEST) today, 26 June. Because the speed of the CME, up to severe geomagnetic storm conditions can be expected Friday evening.

The >10 MeV solar proton flux continues to decrease and no increase in the flux has been detected after the new flare this morning.

Next 48 hours

The CME from 25 June is predicted to reach Earth around 16:00 UT (18:00 CEST) 26 June. Up to severe geomagnetic storm conditions are predicted after the arrival of the CME. The final level of geoimpact will depend on the direction of the IMF at the time of the arrival. This can be confirmed only when the CME passes L1 point about 15 minutes before it hits Earth.

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A short update on space weather status from Juha-Pekka Luntama, responsible for space weather activities at ESA's Space Situational Awareness programme office at ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany.

As of yesterday, Earth was still within the plasma cloud of the CME from 22 June, which arrived around 13:00 UT (15:00 CEST) on Wednesday. Thus, the Earth is surrounded by a region of high speed solar wind. Because the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) of the Sun turned southwards during the night of Wednesday/Thursday, the high-speed solar wind triggered a moderate geomagnetic storm that started around 06:00 UT (08:00 CEST) yesterday. This storm continued throughout the day yesterday.

Proba SWAP 26 June Credit: ESA/Proba/Swap/SIDC

Another strong M-class solar flare was detected from the Sun's active region 2371 at 08:15 UT (10:15 CEST) yesterday. This flare was associated with an Earth-directed CME. The initial estimate of the speed of the CME was 1600 km/s, which would make it one of the fastest CMEs observed during the current solar cycle. The CME is estimated to arrive to the Earth around 16:00 UT (18:00 CEST) today, 26 June. Because the speed of the CME, up to severe geomagnetic storm conditions can be expected Friday evening.

The >10 MeV solar proton flux continues to decrease and no increase in the flux has been detected after the new flare this morning.

Next 48 hours

The CME from 25 June is predicted to reach Earth around 16:00 UT (18:00 CEST) 26 June. Up to severe geomagnetic storm conditions are predicted after the arrival of the CME. The final level of geoimpact will depend on the direction of the IMF at the time of the arrival. This can be confirmed only when the CME passes L1 point about 15 minutes before it hits Earth.

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Roman students win global Space Apps Award

The winning team: very happy people right after the award ceremony Credit: CROPP Team

The Space Apps Challenge event provided many excellent projects again this year, and a team in the ESA-supported Rome event location is among the big winners. In May 2015, the CROPP land-monitoring  project received the ‘Galactic Impact’ global award.

The International Space Apps Challenge is a mass collaboration event focused on space exploration that takes place over 48 hours in cities around the world. The event embraces collaborative problem solving with a goal of producing open-source solutions to address global needs applicable to both life on Earth and life in space.

The winning Roman group, nine students in total, eight of whom study together at the same university plus one – their hardware designer  –  who is still in high school, were first-time entrants in the Space Apps Challenge hackathon. They study a range of topics from computer science and control engineering, to artificial intelligence and robotics.

The CROPP (Cultures Risks Observation and Prevention Platform) group  solved the 'crop alert - learning from the growers'  challenge; they designed a simple installation in a recycled PET bottle that can be set up in a field where crops are growing. The device monitors weather and can even distinguish between different insect noises to predict crop-threatening conditions. This ‘bottle bot’ uses optical and radar satellite images combined with ground data to provide a real-time crop risk assessment. The data is then relayed back to a smartphone as an alert.

ESA’s scientists and engineers provided several challenges for the event this year. The goal of each participating group is to solve a challenge using existing space science infrastructure, simple and easily reproducible hardware and an app interface that will allow users to take advantage of the technology. All resulting hardware and software remain open source and available to everyone. This year there were 13706 participants from 133 locations around the world providing 949 projects.

This year's excellent result is the best, so far, from when ESA has supported the Rome event in the last three years. The Roman group wanted to create something that would have an impact on the world. They were particularly concerned with the future of agriculture and protecting global food production. The team picked a task that complimented the group’s skill set and that they found interesting, only selecting their challenge a few days before the event.

The first “field test” on the Sapenzia Università di Roma grounds Credit: CROPP

“We wanted to solve a real problem and do something that could be actually useful in the real world,” said Valentina Celani, web developer for the CROPP team.

Despite being a competition, the event is very friendly. Groups collaborate with each other and learn from each other’s projects. “There are so many fantastic projects, I almost feel bad for having won,” said Giorgio Severi, android developer for CROPP.

NASA and ESA engineers were on hand to help when needed, for example, assisting the team to know which satellites data they could use.

The group also meet with ESA engineers and scientists at ESRIN, Frascati, to discuss the feasibility of the project and possible developments in the long term.

“This is our third SpaceApps event in Rome, and our greatest success since our involvement. This will probably make our participants even more enthusiastic” said Maryline Lengert, ESA coordinator for the event. “We are extremely proud to have given the opportunity to a team in Rome to become a global
winner,” said Filippo Angelucci, Head of ESA's IT Department, which supported the event.

About Space Apps
The International SpaceApps Challenge Hackathon began in 2012. The world-wide challenge is coordinated and judged by NASA, with local events held simultaneously at universities and research institutions. For the last three years, ESA’s IT Department has worked with Sapenzia Università di Roma and the US Embassy in Rome to organise and host the Roman event.

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The winning team: very happy people right after the award ceremony Credit: CROPP Team

The Space Apps Challenge event provided many excellent projects again this year, and a team in the ESA-supported Rome event location is among the big winners. In May 2015, the CROPP land-monitoring  project received the ‘Galactic Impact’ global award.

The International Space Apps Challenge is a mass collaboration event focused on space exploration that takes place over 48 hours in cities around the world. The event embraces collaborative problem solving with a goal of producing open-source solutions to address global needs applicable to both life on Earth and life in space.

The winning Roman group, nine students in total, eight of whom study together at the same university plus one – their hardware designer  –  who is still in high school, were first-time entrants in the Space Apps Challenge hackathon. They study a range of topics from computer science and control engineering, to artificial intelligence and robotics.

The CROPP (Cultures Risks Observation and Prevention Platform) group  solved the 'crop alert - learning from the growers'  challenge; they designed a simple installation in a recycled PET bottle that can be set up in a field where crops are growing. The device monitors weather and can even distinguish between different insect noises to predict crop-threatening conditions. This ‘bottle bot’ uses optical and radar satellite images combined with ground data to provide a real-time crop risk assessment. The data is then relayed back to a smartphone as an alert.

ESA’s scientists and engineers provided several challenges for the event this year. The goal of each participating group is to solve a challenge using existing space science infrastructure, simple and easily reproducible hardware and an app interface that will allow users to take advantage of the technology. All resulting hardware and software remain open source and available to everyone. This year there were 13706 participants from 133 locations around the world providing 949 projects.

This year's excellent result is the best, so far, from when ESA has supported the Rome event in the last three years. The Roman group wanted to create something that would have an impact on the world. They were particularly concerned with the future of agriculture and protecting global food production. The team picked a task that complimented the group’s skill set and that they found interesting, only selecting their challenge a few days before the event.

The first “field test” on the Sapenzia Università di Roma grounds Credit: CROPP

“We wanted to solve a real problem and do something that could be actually useful in the real world,” said Valentina Celani, web developer for the CROPP team.

Despite being a competition, the event is very friendly. Groups collaborate with each other and learn from each other’s projects. “There are so many fantastic projects, I almost feel bad for having won,” said Giorgio Severi, android developer for CROPP.

NASA and ESA engineers were on hand to help when needed, for example, assisting the team to know which satellites data they could use.

The group also meet with ESA engineers and scientists at ESRIN, Frascati, to discuss the feasibility of the project and possible developments in the long term.

“This is our third SpaceApps event in Rome, and our greatest success since our involvement. This will probably make our participants even more enthusiastic” said Maryline Lengert, ESA coordinator for the event. “We are extremely proud to have given the opportunity to a team in Rome to become a global
winner,” said Filippo Angelucci, Head of ESA's IT Department, which supported the event.

About Space Apps
The International SpaceApps Challenge Hackathon began in 2012. The world-wide challenge is coordinated and judged by NASA, with local events held simultaneously at universities and research institutions. For the last three years, ESA’s IT Department has worked with Sapenzia Università di Roma and the US Embassy in Rome to organise and host the Roman event.

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Severe geomagnetic storm – update

A short update on today's space weather status from Juha-Pekka Luntama, responsible for space weather activities at ESA's Space Situational Awareness programme office at ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany.

Current space weather status

The Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) of 22 June appears to have arrived at Earth around 13:00 UT (15;00 CEST) today, when the solar wind speed measured by NASA's ACE spacecraft jumped to 750 km/s. The arrival of the CME has generated only minor geomagnetic activity at high latitudes because the z-component (Bz) of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) was varying around 0 nT at the time of the CME arrival, which is to say that the solar wind particles were effectively repelled by the magnetic field of the Earth. If Bz turns southwards (opposite to the direction of the magnetic field of the Earth) over the coming hours, the geomagnetic storm levels could increase during the night.

Proba Swap latest

The >10 MeV solar proton flux has decreased steadily over the day and is now below the 1000 Proton flux unit (Pfu) event threshold.

Next 24 – 48 hours

Only small C-class solar flares and no new CMEs have been detected during the last 24 hours. However, the Sun's active region 2371 (responsible for the last two stronger flares and CMEs) is still magnetically connected with Earth. Thus, increased solar proton flux levels are still possible in the event of more flaring of this active region.

Best regards,

– Jussi

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A short update on today's space weather status from Juha-Pekka Luntama, responsible for space weather activities at ESA's Space Situational Awareness programme office at ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany.

Current space weather status

The Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) of 22 June appears to have arrived at Earth around 13:00 UT (15;00 CEST) today, when the solar wind speed measured by NASA's ACE spacecraft jumped to 750 km/s. The arrival of the CME has generated only minor geomagnetic activity at high latitudes because the z-component (Bz) of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) was varying around 0 nT at the time of the CME arrival, which is to say that the solar wind particles were effectively repelled by the magnetic field of the Earth. If Bz turns southwards (opposite to the direction of the magnetic field of the Earth) over the coming hours, the geomagnetic storm levels could increase during the night.

Proba Swap latest

The >10 MeV solar proton flux has decreased steadily over the day and is now below the 1000 Proton flux unit (Pfu) event threshold.

Next 24 – 48 hours

Only small C-class solar flares and no new CMEs have been detected during the last 24 hours. However, the Sun's active region 2371 (responsible for the last two stronger flares and CMEs) is still magnetically connected with Earth. Thus, increased solar proton flux levels are still possible in the event of more flaring of this active region.

Best regards,

– Jussi

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New services in ESA’s Space Weather website

ESA's space weather services website (http://swe.ssa.esa.int) has deployed three new servicesproviding information and data to the space weather user community. These are:

• 24-hour forecasts of major solar flares
• Tailored services designed to support resource exploitation in the Arctic region
• A new version of the AVIDOS application for aviation users, now taking into account solar events

This is very good news because in one update, the Space Situational Awareness programme team have increased the range of products available via all four ESA SSA SWE Expert Service Centres.

Read below for detailed descriptions of the new services.

Questions? Contact the SSA space weather team

A-EFFort

• 24-hour forecasts of major solar flares, developed by the Academy of Athens

Athens Effective Solar Flare Forecasting (A-EFFort) is an on-line solar-flare prediction service that monitors, evaluates and provides advance warning of intense solar flare activity. It comprises a web-based interface and an automated flare forecasting tool relying on the effective connected magnetic field strength of eligible active regions identified in full-disk SDO/HMI line-of-sight magnetogram data.

The service provides probabilities for major flares on full disk and on individual active regions. Probabilities are effective immediately, valid for a 24-hour forecast window and refreshed every three hours.

Users can access the service via the SWE portal and also register for email alerts. A-EFFort was developed by the Research Centre for Astronomy and Applied Mathematics, Academy of Athens

RESOSS

• Tailored services designed to support resource exploitation, developed by TGO and NMA
  http://ift.tt/1FB4k9R
  http://ift.tt/1BAGsIq

The service for Resource Exploitation System Operators (RESOSS) builds on existing commercial and non-commercial components that are presently associated with two different SSA Expert Service Centres: the Geomagnetism ESC and the Ionosphere ESC. This separation is due to the fact that information on geomagnetic disturbances and precise positioning are delivered by different providers. The services target users working in the fields of directional wellbore drilling and aeromagnetic surveying.

The oil industry today makes extensive use of geomagnetic data in support of directional drilling, and magnetic survey instruments are commonly used for navigation. To support drill operation, the field direction should be known to high accuracy. In the North Sea, the direction of Earth's magnetic field may change by 0.2 degrees during a normal day and by much more during a geomagnetic storm. Reference monitoring of the magnetic field therefore provides crucial information to support these activities.

Geomagnetic surveying – from the air as well as the sea – in most cases requires very accurate time-dependent reference magnetic field data. Companies or organisations carrying out magnetic surveys benefit from the use of space weather information. Forecasts as well as real-time and archived reference data may provide valuable information in support of both campaign planning and post-survey data analysis.

In RESOSS, near real-time information about geomagnetic and ionospheric disturbances is unified into one service.

The service is accessed through a main web page, where the user has three options: accessing a dedicated service for geomagnetic surveying or for directional drilling, or accessing a registration page for receiving geomagnetic alerts meant for both domains.

RESOSS was developed by Tromsø Geophysical Observatory and the Norwegian Mapping Authority.

 

AVIDOS v2.0

• AVIDOS is informational and educational online software for the assessment of galactic cosmic radiation exposure at flight altitudes.

The radiation environment at aircraft altitude is slightly increased with respect to that at ground level due to reduced atmospheric shielding from incident galactic cosmic rays, the flux of which varies with the solar cycle. In addition, during severe particle storms resulting from sporadic solar activity, aircraft in the polar regions or flying at high altitude may additionally experience increased radiation doses. Although well below dangerous levels in all cases, European legislation is in place identifying aircrew as radiation workers and their annual expected exposure is recorded. Individual airlines may also take action to modify their flight routes in case of a severe radiation storm or perceived impact of space weather on safety critical systems such as communications.

AVIDOS calculates the effective dose between 8 km and 15 km of altitude, for any geographic location and for an entire 11-year cycle of solar activity. The application employs a multi-parameter model built using Monte Carlo simulations of cosmic radiation exposure. The models used have been validated by numerous measurements on board aircraft.

With this update to the application, AVIDOS now provides an estimate of the radiation dose at aircraft altitude due to solar storms. It assumes different scenarios resulting in a range of route dose estimates for a flight taking place during a solar storm.

AVIDOS v2.0 was developed by Seibersdorf.

 

 

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ESA's space weather services website (http://swe.ssa.esa.int) has deployed three new servicesproviding information and data to the space weather user community. These are:

• 24-hour forecasts of major solar flares
• Tailored services designed to support resource exploitation in the Arctic region
• A new version of the AVIDOS application for aviation users, now taking into account solar events

This is very good news because in one update, the Space Situational Awareness programme team have increased the range of products available via all four ESA SSA SWE Expert Service Centres.

Read below for detailed descriptions of the new services.

Questions? Contact the SSA space weather team

A-EFFort

• 24-hour forecasts of major solar flares, developed by the Academy of Athens

Athens Effective Solar Flare Forecasting (A-EFFort) is an on-line solar-flare prediction service that monitors, evaluates and provides advance warning of intense solar flare activity. It comprises a web-based interface and an automated flare forecasting tool relying on the effective connected magnetic field strength of eligible active regions identified in full-disk SDO/HMI line-of-sight magnetogram data.

The service provides probabilities for major flares on full disk and on individual active regions. Probabilities are effective immediately, valid for a 24-hour forecast window and refreshed every three hours.

Users can access the service via the SWE portal and also register for email alerts. A-EFFort was developed by the Research Centre for Astronomy and Applied Mathematics, Academy of Athens

RESOSS

• Tailored services designed to support resource exploitation, developed by TGO and NMA
  http://ift.tt/1FB4k9R
  http://ift.tt/1BAGsIq

The service for Resource Exploitation System Operators (RESOSS) builds on existing commercial and non-commercial components that are presently associated with two different SSA Expert Service Centres: the Geomagnetism ESC and the Ionosphere ESC. This separation is due to the fact that information on geomagnetic disturbances and precise positioning are delivered by different providers. The services target users working in the fields of directional wellbore drilling and aeromagnetic surveying.

The oil industry today makes extensive use of geomagnetic data in support of directional drilling, and magnetic survey instruments are commonly used for navigation. To support drill operation, the field direction should be known to high accuracy. In the North Sea, the direction of Earth's magnetic field may change by 0.2 degrees during a normal day and by much more during a geomagnetic storm. Reference monitoring of the magnetic field therefore provides crucial information to support these activities.

Geomagnetic surveying – from the air as well as the sea – in most cases requires very accurate time-dependent reference magnetic field data. Companies or organisations carrying out magnetic surveys benefit from the use of space weather information. Forecasts as well as real-time and archived reference data may provide valuable information in support of both campaign planning and post-survey data analysis.

In RESOSS, near real-time information about geomagnetic and ionospheric disturbances is unified into one service.

The service is accessed through a main web page, where the user has three options: accessing a dedicated service for geomagnetic surveying or for directional drilling, or accessing a registration page for receiving geomagnetic alerts meant for both domains.

RESOSS was developed by Tromsø Geophysical Observatory and the Norwegian Mapping Authority.

 

AVIDOS v2.0

• AVIDOS is informational and educational online software for the assessment of galactic cosmic radiation exposure at flight altitudes.

The radiation environment at aircraft altitude is slightly increased with respect to that at ground level due to reduced atmospheric shielding from incident galactic cosmic rays, the flux of which varies with the solar cycle. In addition, during severe particle storms resulting from sporadic solar activity, aircraft in the polar regions or flying at high altitude may additionally experience increased radiation doses. Although well below dangerous levels in all cases, European legislation is in place identifying aircrew as radiation workers and their annual expected exposure is recorded. Individual airlines may also take action to modify their flight routes in case of a severe radiation storm or perceived impact of space weather on safety critical systems such as communications.

AVIDOS calculates the effective dose between 8 km and 15 km of altitude, for any geographic location and for an entire 11-year cycle of solar activity. The application employs a multi-parameter model built using Monte Carlo simulations of cosmic radiation exposure. The models used have been validated by numerous measurements on board aircraft.

With this update to the application, AVIDOS now provides an estimate of the radiation dose at aircraft altitude due to solar storms. It assumes different scenarios resulting in a range of route dose estimates for a flight taking place during a solar storm.

AVIDOS v2.0 was developed by Seibersdorf.

 

 

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Severe geomagnetic storm

Update provided yesterday afternoon by Juha-Pekka Luntama, responsible for space weather activities at ESA's Space Situational Awareness programme office at ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany.

We are currently in the middle of a period of high solar activity, and I would like to provide up-to-date information about what is happening and what can be expected over the coming 24-48 hours.

Proba SWAP 2015 06 24 Credit: ESA/Proba/Swap/SIDC

Current space weather status

The Earth is currently under severe geomagnetic storm conditions. This storm was triggered by the arrival of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) associated with an M-class solar flare at 02:35 UT (04:35 CEST) on 21 June. The CME reached the Earth-Sun L1 point (located about 1.5 million km from Earth - see: What are Lagrange points?) at about 18:00 on 22 June and the arrival of the shock was detected by NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft.

The geomagnetic storm at Earth initiated by the arrival of the shock reached 'severe' storm conditions during the night. The flux of energetic solar protons from the Sun has been elevated since the flare on 21 June. Fortunately for the launch of ESA's Sentinel-2A satellite on board Vega yesterday, the increase in the solar proton flux was limited and only some protons (those with energies above 10 MeV) exceeded the 1000 Proton flux unit (Pfu) energetic particle event threshold. No increase has been detected at higher energies for the time being.

At the moment both the geomagnetic storm and the solar energetic proton flux levels seem to be declining. Disturbed geomagnetic conditions are still expected for the much of the day today.

Next 24 – 48 hours

A new M-class solar flare was detected at 18:23 UT (20:23 CEST) on 22 June. This flare was also associated with a rather fast, Earth-oriented CME, travelling with a speed of about 1000 km/s. This CME is predicted to arrive to Earth around midday 24 June. The geoimpact of this CME will be determined by the direction of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) at the time of the CME arrival. However, as a minimum, minor geomagnetic storm levels are expected after the CME arrival. If the IMF is pointing southwards, the resulting storm will be stronger. We will know the direction of the IMF only at the time when the CME reaches the L1 point.

No significant increase in the solar proton flux has been detected associated with the flare on 22 June.

As can be seen in the enhanced Proba-2/SWAP image of the solar disk above, the active region 2371 responsible for the last two flares and CMEs is still close to the centre of the disk and is magnetically connected with Earth. Thus, it is possible that we will see more flares and Earth-directed CMEs before the end of the week. If that happens, we will provide you updated information.

Best regards,

– Jussi

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Update provided yesterday afternoon by Juha-Pekka Luntama, responsible for space weather activities at ESA's Space Situational Awareness programme office at ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany.

We are currently in the middle of a period of high solar activity, and I would like to provide up-to-date information about what is happening and what can be expected over the coming 24-48 hours.

Proba SWAP 2015 06 24 Credit: ESA/Proba/Swap/SIDC

Current space weather status

The Earth is currently under severe geomagnetic storm conditions. This storm was triggered by the arrival of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) associated with an M-class solar flare at 02:35 UT (04:35 CEST) on 21 June. The CME reached the Earth-Sun L1 point (located about 1.5 million km from Earth - see: What are Lagrange points?) at about 18:00 on 22 June and the arrival of the shock was detected by NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft.

The geomagnetic storm at Earth initiated by the arrival of the shock reached 'severe' storm conditions during the night. The flux of energetic solar protons from the Sun has been elevated since the flare on 21 June. Fortunately for the launch of ESA's Sentinel-2A satellite on board Vega yesterday, the increase in the solar proton flux was limited and only some protons (those with energies above 10 MeV) exceeded the 1000 Proton flux unit (Pfu) energetic particle event threshold. No increase has been detected at higher energies for the time being.

At the moment both the geomagnetic storm and the solar energetic proton flux levels seem to be declining. Disturbed geomagnetic conditions are still expected for the much of the day today.

Next 24 – 48 hours

A new M-class solar flare was detected at 18:23 UT (20:23 CEST) on 22 June. This flare was also associated with a rather fast, Earth-oriented CME, travelling with a speed of about 1000 km/s. This CME is predicted to arrive to Earth around midday 24 June. The geoimpact of this CME will be determined by the direction of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) at the time of the CME arrival. However, as a minimum, minor geomagnetic storm levels are expected after the CME arrival. If the IMF is pointing southwards, the resulting storm will be stronger. We will know the direction of the IMF only at the time when the CME reaches the L1 point.

No significant increase in the solar proton flux has been detected associated with the flare on 22 June.

As can be seen in the enhanced Proba-2/SWAP image of the solar disk above, the active region 2371 responsible for the last two flares and CMEs is still close to the centre of the disk and is magnetically connected with Earth. Thus, it is possible that we will see more flares and Earth-directed CMEs before the end of the week. If that happens, we will provide you updated information.

Best regards,

– Jussi

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Double duty for ESA’s Perth station

If you've read the detailed timeline for Sentinel-2A launch on 23 June, you will have noticed an interesting set of entries for Perth towards the end, namely:

• MET 50:29 - Earliest AOS Vega - PER AOS VEGA
• MET 55:20 - Earliest AOS S2 - PER Acquisition of signals from S2A

Yes: ESA's 15-m diameter Perth tracking station will acquire signals (AOS) from both the Vega launcher's AVUM upper stage just a few minutes prior to separation and from Sentinel-2 just moments after separation.

We asked Estrack network engineer Gerhard Billig, normally based at ESOC but now in Australia to support the launch, to explain a bit about this.

Perth station Credit: ESA CC BY-SA IGO 3.0 http://ift.tt/1DZs4ER

The Perth ground station will track the final burn of the Vega upper stage, which is the orbit injection burn, as well as the spacecraft separation shortly after. These important events will be received/monitored via telemetry from the launcher.

While continuing to track the launcher, other systems of the PER ground station will be configured to receive signals from the spacecraft, which starts transmitting after separation, and will provide a telecommand uplink for the mission controllers at ESOC as well as radiometric measurements (i.e. ranging data).

Tracking the launcher in parallel to the spacecraft also helps increase robustness for the first acquisition of the satellite, which is a critical moment in the satellite's LEOP.

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If you've read the detailed timeline for Sentinel-2A launch on 23 June, you will have noticed an interesting set of entries for Perth towards the end, namely:

• MET 50:29 - Earliest AOS Vega - PER AOS VEGA
• MET 55:20 - Earliest AOS S2 - PER Acquisition of signals from S2A

Yes: ESA's 15-m diameter Perth tracking station will acquire signals (AOS) from both the Vega launcher's AVUM upper stage just a few minutes prior to separation and from Sentinel-2 just moments after separation.

We asked Estrack network engineer Gerhard Billig, normally based at ESOC but now in Australia to support the launch, to explain a bit about this.

Perth station Credit: ESA CC BY-SA IGO 3.0 http://ift.tt/1DZs4ER

The Perth ground station will track the final burn of the Vega upper stage, which is the orbit injection burn, as well as the spacecraft separation shortly after. These important events will be received/monitored via telemetry from the launcher.

While continuing to track the launcher, other systems of the PER ground station will be configured to receive signals from the spacecraft, which starts transmitting after separation, and will provide a telecommand uplink for the mission controllers at ESOC as well as radiometric measurements (i.e. ranging data).

Tracking the launcher in parallel to the spacecraft also helps increase robustness for the first acquisition of the satellite, which is a critical moment in the satellite's LEOP.

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Sentinel-2 launch timeline

On 23 June, a Vega launcher will loft the first of ESA's dual Sentinel-2 satellites into orbit from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou. For the mission control team, liftoff will mark the end of many months of careful preparations and the start of the mission's first critical phase.

For the mission control team, liftoff will mark the end of many months of careful preparations and the start of the mission's first critical phase.

The VV05 Vega fairing holding the Sentinel-2A satellite in the launch gantry at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Credit: ESA–M. Pédoussaut

At 1:51:58 GMT (3:51:58 CEST) next Tuesday morning, ESA's Sentinel-2A satellite is set to launch from Kourou on a 30-m tall Vega rocket for a raucous ride into space on a mission dedicated to Europe’s Copernicus environmental monitoring programme.

About 55 minutes after lift-off, the Sentinel-2A satellite will separate from Vega's AVUM upper stage and soar free into orbit, marking the start of the approximately three-day long LEOP – the critical Launch and Early Orbit Phase.

Upon separation, Sentinel-2A will automatically activate its solar array and transmitter, orient itself into an Earth-pointing mode, and start transmitting 'telemetry' – onboard status signals – to the ground.

Flight dynamics at ESA. Credit: ESA/J. Mai

In Darmstadt, Germany, the mission control team at ESA's space operations centre will have followed the liftoff intently, waiting for ESA's ground station in Perth, Australia, to receive the first radio signals from space. The critical acquisition of first signals (AOS) is expected about 55 minutes after launch.

Once contact has been established, the team will assume control of the new spacecraft, working around the clock to activate crucial onboard systems and ensure the spacecraft’s health in the extreme environment of space.

The first orbital manoeuvre – a burn using the spacecraft's thrusters – is planned around 51 hours into the mission.

Watch live

The lift off will be streamed live via two separate programmes on Tuesday.

1. Sentinel-2 launch event live from the ESOC operations centre, 01:00 GMT (03:00 CEST) start
2. Launch webcast live from Kourou, 01:30 GMT (03:30 CEST) start

19 June at Kourou: Launch rehearsal review (RAL) - decision for VV05 flight
19 June at ESOC: Final 'dress rehearsal' for Mission Control Team

Timeline below is forecast only and all times are subject to change. See abbreviations at bottom of page.

22/23 June 2015

MET	UTC	CEST	VV05	S2A/ESOC	Tracking stations
08:00:00	17:51:58	19:51:58	Start of launcher activities on launch pad in Kourou	B-Section of Mission Control Team on console in ESOC MCR; start of pre-launch activities in MCR
07:45:00	18:06:58	20:06:58	Start of Vega countdown
07:40:00	18:11:58	20:11:58		Establish data link from spacecraft to ESOC via umbilical cable
07:00:00	18:51:58	20:51:58		Start of spacecraft switch on; check telemetry flow between spacecraft and ESOC
06:51:00	19:00:58	21:00:58	Synchronization of on-board clock with Universal Time (UTC)
06:30:00	19:21:58	21:21:58	Activation of on-board computer and loading of flight program; Activation of telemetry transmitters
06:00:00	19:51:58	21:51:58		Start of ESOC network countdown - team now conducts periodic spacecraft health checks	All ground stations - start of dedicated S2A support
05:45:00	20:06:58	22:06:58	Mobile gantry door opening
05:40:00	20:11:58	22:11:58	Activation of Multi Function Unit - MFU controls the launcher's critical systems (incl power distribution & pyrotechnics)
05:30:00	20:21:58	22:21:58	Activation of Inertial Reference System - IRS provides inertial navigation data to all subsystems
03:00:00	22:51:58	00:51:58		Mission Control Team starts to configure spacecraft for launch
03:10:00	22:41:58	00:41:58	Mobile gantry withdrawal (ca 45 min)
02:20:00	23:31:58	01:31:58		ESOC FD confirms to Kourou LCC ground segment ready for launch
02:16:00	23:35:58	01:35:58		Mission Control System at ESOC switched to launch configuration
02:00:00	23:51:58	01:51:58		A-Section of Mission Control Team on console in ESOC MCR
01:55:00	23:56:58	01:56:58	Activation of IRS (after withdrawal of gantry)
01:30:00	00:21:58	02:21:58		Initial GO/NOGO roll call at ESOC
01:20:00	00:31:58	02:31:58	Activation of telemetry transmitters (after withdrawal of gantry)
01:20:00	00:31:58	02:31:58	Activation of transponders
01:05:00	00:46:58	02:46:58		ESOC FD confirms GO status with all ground stations	Kiruna, Svalbard, Troll, Alaska, Perth
00:52:00	00:59:58	02:59:58		Final GO/NOGO roll call at ESOC
00:45:00	01:06:58	03:06:58		ESOC FD confirms GREEN for launch to Kourou LCC
00:34:00	01:17:58	03:17:58	Launcher system ready
00:10:00	01:41:58	03:41:58	Last weather report prior to launch	Sentinel-2 on internal power
00:04:00	01:47:58	03:47:58	Start of Vega synchronized sequence
00:00:30	01:51:28	03:51:28	Activation of automatic sequence
00:00:08	01:51:50	03:51:50		Last possible launch abort
00:00:00	01:51:58	03:51:58	P80 IGNITION
00:00:01	01:51:59	03:51:59	LIFT OFF
00:01:52	01:53:50	03:53:50	Separation of first stage (P80)
00:03:37	01:55:35	03:55:35	Separation of second stage (Zefiro-23)
00:03:54	01:55:52	03:55:52	Jettisoning of fairing
00:06:31	01:58:29	03:58:29	Separation of third stage (Zefiro-9)
00:07:42	01:59:40	03:59:40	AVUM first burn
00:16:08	02:08:06	04:08:06	AVUM shutdown
00:30:32	02:22:30	04:22:30			Perth station ready for AOS
00:38:44	02:30:42	04:30:42			Troll station ready for AOS
00:51:46	02:43:44	04:43:44	AVUM second burn
00:53:52	02:45:50	04:45:50	AVUM second shutdown
00:50:29	02:42:27	04:42:27	Earliest AOS Vega		PER AOS VEGA
00:54:43	02:46:41	04:46:41	SEPARATION	S2 separates from AVUM upper stage
00:55:20	02:47:18	04:47:18		AOS (Earliest) - Acquisition of signals from S2 Start on-board status & health checks	PER AOS S2A
01:04:55	02:56:53	04:56:53		Earliest possible solar array deployment (ca. 3 min)	LOS Perth
01:10:31	03:02:29	05:02:29			AOS Troll
01:23:09	03:15:07	05:15:07		Latest expected solar array deployment complete	LOS Troll
01:43:35	03:35:33	05:35:33	AVUM third burn
01:44:04	03:36:02	05:36:02	AVUM shutdown
01:56:27	03:48:25	05:48:25			AOS Alaska
01:59:59	03:51:57	05:51:57			AOS Svalbard

LCC - Launcher Control Centre (Jupiter Control Room, Kourou, French Guyana)
ESOC- European Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt, Germany
MCR - Main Control Room at ESOC
PER - Perth tracking station, Australia
FD - ESA Flight Director in Main Control Room
VV05 - Vega launcher flight VV05
MET - Mission Elapsed Time (before/after liftoff times are -/+)
S2 - Sentinel-2A spacecraft
AOS - Acquisition of signal
LOS - Loss of signal

 

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On 23 June, a Vega launcher will loft the first of ESA's dual Sentinel-2 satellites into orbit from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou. For the mission control team, liftoff will mark the end of many months of careful preparations and the start of the mission's first critical phase.

For the mission control team, liftoff will mark the end of many months of careful preparations and the start of the mission's first critical phase.

The VV05 Vega fairing holding the Sentinel-2A satellite in the launch gantry at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Credit: ESA–M. Pédoussaut

At 1:51:58 GMT (3:51:58 CEST) next Tuesday morning, ESA's Sentinel-2A satellite is set to launch from Kourou on a 30-m tall Vega rocket for a raucous ride into space on a mission dedicated to Europe’s Copernicus environmental monitoring programme.

About 55 minutes after lift-off, the Sentinel-2A satellite will separate from Vega's AVUM upper stage and soar free into orbit, marking the start of the approximately three-day long LEOP – the critical Launch and Early Orbit Phase.

Upon separation, Sentinel-2A will automatically activate its solar array and transmitter, orient itself into an Earth-pointing mode, and start transmitting 'telemetry' – onboard status signals – to the ground.

Flight dynamics at ESA. Credit: ESA/J. Mai

In Darmstadt, Germany, the mission control team at ESA's space operations centre will have followed the liftoff intently, waiting for ESA's ground station in Perth, Australia, to receive the first radio signals from space. The critical acquisition of first signals (AOS) is expected about 55 minutes after launch.

Once contact has been established, the team will assume control of the new spacecraft, working around the clock to activate crucial onboard systems and ensure the spacecraft’s health in the extreme environment of space.

The first orbital manoeuvre – a burn using the spacecraft's thrusters – is planned around 51 hours into the mission.

Watch live

The lift off will be streamed live via two separate programmes on Tuesday.

1. Sentinel-2 launch event live from the ESOC operations centre, 01:00 GMT (03:00 CEST) start
2. Launch webcast live from Kourou, 01:30 GMT (03:30 CEST) start

19 June at Kourou: Launch rehearsal review (RAL) - decision for VV05 flight
19 June at ESOC: Final 'dress rehearsal' for Mission Control Team

Timeline below is forecast only and all times are subject to change. See abbreviations at bottom of page.

22/23 June 2015

MET	UTC	CEST	VV05	S2A/ESOC	Tracking stations
08:00:00	17:51:58	19:51:58	Start of launcher activities on launch pad in Kourou	B-Section of Mission Control Team on console in ESOC MCR; start of pre-launch activities in MCR
07:45:00	18:06:58	20:06:58	Start of Vega countdown
07:40:00	18:11:58	20:11:58		Establish data link from spacecraft to ESOC via umbilical cable
07:00:00	18:51:58	20:51:58		Start of spacecraft switch on; check telemetry flow between spacecraft and ESOC
06:51:00	19:00:58	21:00:58	Synchronization of on-board clock with Universal Time (UTC)
06:30:00	19:21:58	21:21:58	Activation of on-board computer and loading of flight program; Activation of telemetry transmitters
06:00:00	19:51:58	21:51:58		Start of ESOC network countdown - team now conducts periodic spacecraft health checks	All ground stations - start of dedicated S2A support
05:45:00	20:06:58	22:06:58	Mobile gantry door opening
05:40:00	20:11:58	22:11:58	Activation of Multi Function Unit - MFU controls the launcher's critical systems (incl power distribution & pyrotechnics)
05:30:00	20:21:58	22:21:58	Activation of Inertial Reference System - IRS provides inertial navigation data to all subsystems
03:00:00	22:51:58	00:51:58		Mission Control Team starts to configure spacecraft for launch
03:10:00	22:41:58	00:41:58	Mobile gantry withdrawal (ca 45 min)
02:20:00	23:31:58	01:31:58		ESOC FD confirms to Kourou LCC ground segment ready for launch
02:16:00	23:35:58	01:35:58		Mission Control System at ESOC switched to launch configuration
02:00:00	23:51:58	01:51:58		A-Section of Mission Control Team on console in ESOC MCR
01:55:00	23:56:58	01:56:58	Activation of IRS (after withdrawal of gantry)
01:30:00	00:21:58	02:21:58		Initial GO/NOGO roll call at ESOC
01:20:00	00:31:58	02:31:58	Activation of telemetry transmitters (after withdrawal of gantry)
01:20:00	00:31:58	02:31:58	Activation of transponders
01:05:00	00:46:58	02:46:58		ESOC FD confirms GO status with all ground stations	Kiruna, Svalbard, Troll, Alaska, Perth
00:52:00	00:59:58	02:59:58		Final GO/NOGO roll call at ESOC
00:45:00	01:06:58	03:06:58		ESOC FD confirms GREEN for launch to Kourou LCC
00:34:00	01:17:58	03:17:58	Launcher system ready
00:10:00	01:41:58	03:41:58	Last weather report prior to launch	Sentinel-2 on internal power
00:04:00	01:47:58	03:47:58	Start of Vega synchronized sequence
00:00:30	01:51:28	03:51:28	Activation of automatic sequence
00:00:08	01:51:50	03:51:50		Last possible launch abort
00:00:00	01:51:58	03:51:58	P80 IGNITION
00:00:01	01:51:59	03:51:59	LIFT OFF
00:01:52	01:53:50	03:53:50	Separation of first stage (P80)
00:03:37	01:55:35	03:55:35	Separation of second stage (Zefiro-23)
00:03:54	01:55:52	03:55:52	Jettisoning of fairing
00:06:31	01:58:29	03:58:29	Separation of third stage (Zefiro-9)
00:07:42	01:59:40	03:59:40	AVUM first burn
00:16:08	02:08:06	04:08:06	AVUM shutdown
00:30:32	02:22:30	04:22:30			Perth station ready for AOS
00:38:44	02:30:42	04:30:42			Troll station ready for AOS
00:51:46	02:43:44	04:43:44	AVUM second burn
00:53:52	02:45:50	04:45:50	AVUM second shutdown
00:50:29	02:42:27	04:42:27	Earliest AOS Vega		PER AOS VEGA
00:54:43	02:46:41	04:46:41	SEPARATION	S2 separates from AVUM upper stage
00:55:20	02:47:18	04:47:18		AOS (Earliest) - Acquisition of signals from S2 Start on-board status & health checks	PER AOS S2A
01:04:55	02:56:53	04:56:53		Earliest possible solar array deployment (ca. 3 min)	LOS Perth
01:10:31	03:02:29	05:02:29			AOS Troll
01:23:09	03:15:07	05:15:07		Latest expected solar array deployment complete	LOS Troll
01:43:35	03:35:33	05:35:33	AVUM third burn
01:44:04	03:36:02	05:36:02	AVUM shutdown
01:56:27	03:48:25	05:48:25			AOS Alaska
01:59:59	03:51:57	05:51:57			AOS Svalbard

LCC - Launcher Control Centre (Jupiter Control Room, Kourou, French Guyana)
ESOC- European Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt, Germany
MCR - Main Control Room at ESOC
PER - Perth tracking station, Australia
FD - ESA Flight Director in Main Control Room
VV05 - Vega launcher flight VV05
MET - Mission Elapsed Time (before/after liftoff times are -/+)
S2 - Sentinel-2A spacecraft
AOS - Acquisition of signal
LOS - Loss of signal

 

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Update on Progress M-27M reentry

Editor's note: Please read our first post on Progress reentry.

Progress 54 in 2014 Credit: NASA

As an ISS partner agency, ESA is in close contact with the Russian and US authorities regarding the Progress M-27M / 59P mission situation. The comments below are provided by Dr Holger Krag, Head of ESA's Space Debris Office at ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany. The Space Debris Office coordinates ESA's research activities on space debris, coordinates such activities with national research efforts, and provides operational services.

The team at ESA's Space Debris Office are providing regular reentry estimates to ESA Member States based on analysis of radar tracking data provided by our US partners, enhanced with data from Germany's TIRA tracking radar (operated by Fraunhofer FHR).

As of Thursday morning, 7 May, we are forecasting an uncontrolled reentry by Progress M-27M any time between later in the evening today through to mid-day tomorrow, 8 May.

The current large uncertainty is due to the unpredictability of the drag forces working on the vessel, and is a standard feature of such predictions. Any reports claiming precise re-entry times and locations at this stage are speculative.

Note that the data do appear to indicate that the Progress vessel is experiencing a very fast rotation rate of around one revolution every 1.8 seconds.

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Editor's note: Please read our first post on Progress reentry.

Progress 54 in 2014 Credit: NASA

As an ISS partner agency, ESA is in close contact with the Russian and US authorities regarding the Progress M-27M / 59P mission situation. The comments below are provided by Dr Holger Krag, Head of ESA's Space Debris Office at ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany. The Space Debris Office coordinates ESA's research activities on space debris, coordinates such activities with national research efforts, and provides operational services.

The team at ESA's Space Debris Office are providing regular reentry estimates to ESA Member States based on analysis of radar tracking data provided by our US partners, enhanced with data from Germany's TIRA tracking radar (operated by Fraunhofer FHR).

As of Thursday morning, 7 May, we are forecasting an uncontrolled reentry by Progress M-27M any time between later in the evening today through to mid-day tomorrow, 8 May.

The current large uncertainty is due to the unpredictability of the drag forces working on the vessel, and is a standard feature of such predictions. Any reports claiming precise re-entry times and locations at this stage are speculative.

Note that the data do appear to indicate that the Progress vessel is experiencing a very fast rotation rate of around one revolution every 1.8 seconds.

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