Satellite News

After a successful launch of the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope on 25 December, and completion of two mid-course correction manoeuvres, the Webb team has analysed its initial trajectory and determined the observatory should have enough propellant to allow support of science operations in orbit for significantly more than a 10-year lifetime (the minimum baseline for the mission is five years).

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Rocket: Angara A5/Persei; Payload: mass simulator; Date: 27 December 2021, 1900 UTC; Launch site: Plesetsk, Russia. While the rocket flew successfully, the newly developed Persei upper stage reportedly failed to place the dummy satellite into near-geostationary orbit.

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Rocket: Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat; Payload: 36 OneWeb satellites; Date: 27 December 2021, 1310 UTC; Launch site: Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The mission lasted three hours and 45 minutes. The 36 satellites were deployed during nine separation sequences, at an altitude of 450 km.

The first launch of OneWeb communications satellites in 2022 is scheduled for February from the Guiana Space Center, according to Dmitry Loskutov, CEO of Glavkosmos.

Rocket: Chang Zheng 4C; Payload: ZY-1 02E [Ziyuan-1 02E]; Date: 26 December 2021, 0311 UTC; Launch site: Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, China. The satellite, developed by the China Academy of Space Technology, will operate in a Sun-synchronous orbit.

The Soyuz-2.1b rocket, scheduled to carry UK’s OneWeb communications satellites into orbit on 27 December at 1310 UTC, has been moved to the launchpad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the Russian space agency said.

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On 23 December, the James Webb Space Telescope, safely stowed inside the fairing of ESA’s Ariane 5 launch vehicle, left the final assembly building for roll-out to the launch pad at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

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Rocket: Chang Zheng 7A; Payload: Shiyan-12 01 and Shiyan-12 02; Date: 23 December 2021, 1012 UTC; Launch site: Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, China. The satellites were deployed into approx. 210 km x 35,765 km x 19.46° geostationary transfer orbits.

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