ULAs Atlas V to launch final SBIRS GEO missile detection satellite

Date:
Thu, 04 Aug 2022 08:04:24 +0000

Description:
United Launch Alliance will be in action Thursday, using an Atlas V rocket to deploy The post ULAs Atlas V to launch final SBIRS GEO missile detection satellite appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .

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United Launch Alliance will be in action Thursday, using an Atlas V rocket to deploy a missile detection satellite for the US Space Force. Liftoff of the SBIRS GEO 6 mission from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is scheduled for a 40-minute window opening at 6:29 AM EDT (10:29 UTC).



The Space-Based Infrared System , or SBIRS, plays a key role in defending the United States and its allies from missile attacks. Combining dedicated satellites in geosynchronous orbit and sensors hosted on other spacecraft in inclined elliptical orbits, it keeps a constant watch for the signs of rocket and missile launches around the world. SBIRS satellites are equipped with infrared sensors to detect missiles by the heat signatures of their exhaust plumes.

Thursdays launch will deploy the constellations sixth geosynchronous satellite. SBIRS GEO 6 is also expected to be the last SBIRS satellite to launch before a next-generation missile detection system begins deployment in the coming years.



The SBIRS program began in the 1990s as the US Air Force sought a fleet of more advanced early warning satellites to augment and eventually replace the Defense Support Program (DSP) satellites then operating in that role. DSP itself had been in service since the 1970s the first satellite having been launched in November 1970 with the project then named Integrated Missile
Early Warning Satellite (IMEWS) and evolved across 23 satellites of three generations. The final DSP satellite launched aboard a Delta IV Heavy in November 2007, and although this spacecraft failed shortly after reaching orbit, a small number of its sisters are still in operation alongside SBIRS. See Also SBIRS GEO 6 Updates NSF Store L2 ULA Section Click here to Join L2

The original plan for the SBIRS constellation called for a low Earth orbit element, SBIRS Low, as well as the highly elliptical orbit (HEO) and geosynchronous components. This aspect of the program was canceled in 1999, with two prototype satellites then under construction being repurposed by the Missile Defense Agency for their Space Tracking and Surveillance System
(STSS) Demo mission, launched in 2009. STSS demonstrated a similar role to that which had been planned for SBIRS Low, tracking and characterizing missiles in flight to provide more accurate targeting data for anti-ballistic missile (ABM) weapons tasked with intercepting them.

The projects first dedicated satellite, SBIRS GEO 1, lifted off in May 2011 atop an Atlas V rocket. It was followed by SBIRS GEO 2 in March 2013, GEO 3
in January 2017, and GEO 4 a year after that. The GEO 3 and 4 satellites were swapped before launch, with SBIRS GEO 3 using Space Vehicle 4 (SV-4), and GEO 4 using SV-3. This was done as a cost-saving measure since SV-3 had been completed and placed into storage, while SV-4 was just finishing production and could be launched first to save bringing SV-3 out of storage only to put SV-4 back in.

The SBIRS GEO 5 and 6 spacecraft are of an upgraded design, based around Lockheed Martins modernized LM 2100M satellite bus. GEO 5 launched in May
2021 , with Thursdays launch of GEO 6 completing the constellation. Two additional satellites had been planned but were canceled in the Air Forces 2019 budget to free up resources for the successor program, Next-Generation Persistent Overhead Infrared (NG-OPIR). DSP, SBIRS, and NG-OPIR were all transferred from the Air Force to Space Force upon Space Forces formation in 2019, with Space Delta 4 responsible for the projects.

At the time of the SBIRS GEO 1 launch, two SBIRS payloads were already in orbit. SBIRS HEO 1 and HEO 2 were not built as dedicated spacecraft, but instead are sensors hosted aboard National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) satellites in elliptical Molniya orbits. These were launched in June 2006 and March 2008, with another pair following in December 2014 and September 2017. SBIRS GEO 5 and GEO 6 under construction (Credit: Lockheed Martin)

Like SBIRS, NG-OPIR will use satellites in both geosynchronous and Molniya orbits. The first NG-OPIR GEO satellite is currently slated for launch in 2025, while the first launch of the NG-OPIR Polar series the Molniya orbit spacecraft is expected no earlier than 2027. A pathfinder satellite, Wide Field of View (WFOV) Testbed, was launched as part of the US Space Force 12 (USSF-12) mission on the previous Atlas V launch at the start of July .

Like the five previous SBIRS GEO satellites, SBIRS GEO 6 will be launched by United Launch Alliance (ULA) , using an Atlas V rocket . This will be the ninety-fifth flight of the Atlas V, which first flew in August 2002 after being developed as part of the Air Forces Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program now known as National Security Space Launch (NSSL).

The Atlas V that will carry out Thursdays mission has the unique tail number AV-097. The vehicle is in the 421 configuration, which incorporates a four-meter-diameter payload fairing, a pair of solid rocket boosters to augment the thrust of the first stage, and a single-engine Centaur upper stage. AV-097 will lift off from Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Atlas V is a two-stage rocket. Its Common Core Booster (CCB) first stage powers the early stages of flight as the rocket climbs through Earths atmosphere. Centaur, a highly-efficient cryogenic fuel upper stage, then
takes over to deliver the rockets payload into its prescribed orbit.
Thursdays launch is targeting a geosynchronous transfer orbit with a raised perigee the point of the orbit closest to the Earths surface of 5,218 kilometers (3,243 miles, 2,818 nautical miles), an apogee of 35,335 km
(21,956 mi, 19,079 nmi), and an inclination of 17.63 degrees. Good morning from LC-41 where ULA is preparing for tomorrow's SBIRS GEO6 mission. The launch window opens at 6:29 am EDT.

Me for @NASASpaceflight pic.twitter.com/Kz7F4FPuKQ

Julia Bergeron (@julia_bergeron) August 3, 2022



AV-097 arrived at Cape Canaveral aboard ULAs transport ship, R/S RocketShip, in June. Once SLC-41 had been vacated by the launch of AV-094 on the
preceding USSF-12 mission, integration of the rocket began with Launch
Vehicle On Stand (LVOS) on July 12th. This marked the CCBs arrival at the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) and its erection atop the Mobile Launch Platform (MLP). Over the next three days, two GEM-63 solid rocket motors were attached to the CCB, and the Centaur upper stage was stacked on top of the CCB.

SBIRS GEO 6 arrived at the VIF on July 26th, encapsulated in the payload fairing that will protect it as Atlas climbs through the atmosphere. This mission will use an Extra-Extended Payload Fairing (XEPF), the longest of three four-meter fairings used on the Atlas V and one of six different fairings with which the rocket can fly three lengths of the five-meter fairing are also available. In addition, the rocket can fly without a fairing when launching Boeings Starliner spacecraft.

This vehicle will be the second-to-last mission flying with the four-meter fairing, with the final such vehicle lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base later this year. The four-meter fairing can trace its roots back to the Atlas I rocket in the 1990s.

After a Launch Readiness Review on Monday gave the green light to proceed, Atlas rolled out to the launch pad on Tuesday atop the MLP. Departing the VIF at 10:00 a.m. local time (14:00 UTC), the launch platform was hard down at
the pad one hour and 22 minutes later. Fuelling of the first stage propellant tanks with RP-1 rocket-grade kerosene was completed on Tuesday evening. Loading of the second stages liquid hydrogen (LH2) fuel and the liquid oxygen (LOX) oxidizer for both stages will take place on launch day as these propellants boil off at ambient temperatures.

The first stage is powered by a single RD-180 engine, which has two
combustion chambers. At the T-2.7 second mark in Thursdays countdown, the RD-180 will ignite, with the twin GEM-63 motors also lighting shortly afterward. At T+1.1 seconds the thrust produced by the rocket will exceed its weight, so it will lift off and begin its climb toward space. Six seconds
into the flight, Atlas will initiate its first pitch and yaw maneuver to put it on the right track for its destination orbit.



Atlas will fly east from Cape Canaveral, out over the Atlantic Ocean. It will take 48.9 seconds for the rocket to reach Mach 1, the speed of sound. Three and a half seconds later Atlas will pass through Max-Q, the area of maximum dynamic pressure.

The GEM-63 solids will burn for about 98 seconds before depleting their propellant. After burnout, the spent casings remain attached to Atlas until conditions are right to ensure a clean separation with no risk of recontact between the spent motor casings and the Atlas vehicle. The SRMs will be jettisoned at two minutes, 13.3 seconds mission elapsed time.

With the GEM-63s gone, the RD-180 engine will continue to fire alone. It will burn for the first four minutes and 12.4 seconds of the mission, with its shutdown being a mission milestone designated Booster Engine Cutoff (BECO). Six seconds after BECO the Centaur upper stage will separate from the booster and begin its prestart sequence. Ignition of Centaurs RL10C-1-1 engine will take place ten seconds after stage separation. Eight seconds after Centaur ignites, the rockets payload fairing will separate, exposing SBIRS GEO 6 to space.

The SBIRS GEO 6 mission marks the second flight of the RL10C-1-1 engine, in place of the RL10C-1 that has been used on most of Atlas Vs recent missions. This new version of the veteran RL10 engine was first flown on the SBIRS GEO
5 launch last year and incorporates an extended nozzle for increased thrust, and improved manufacturing techniques including 3D printing.

Despite performing nominally during its first flight and successfully delivering the payload into orbit, the engine bell was observed to be vibrating far more than had been expected, so engineers have taken their time to review data from that mission before allowing the new engine to fly again. For Thursdays launch, the engine will fly without its full nozzle extension, leaving it about the same length as the RL10C-1. Although the RL10C-1-1 is being introduced on Atlas V, it is expected to go on to power a new version
of Centaur that is under development for ULAs next-generation rocket, Vulcan. The RL10C-1-1 with its extended nozzle, seen during the SBIRS GEO 5 launch. (Credit: ULA)

Thursdays mission calls for Centaur to make three burns of its RL10C engine. The first burn will be the longest, lasting eight minutes and 27 seconds to place Centaur and SBIRS GEO 6 into an initial parking orbit. After a ten-minute coast phase, Centaur will make another four-minute, 44-second burn to raise itself into an elliptical transfer orbit. This burn will be followed by an extended coast as the upper stage and its payload gain altitude.

During this coast phase two small satellites, named EZIO-5 and 6, are
expected to be deployed from Centaurs Aft Bulkhead Carrier. These are likely similar to the EZ-3 and EZ-4 satellites deployed during the first coast of
the SBIRS GEO 5 mission, which were 12U CubeSats flown as part of Space Systems Commands Technology Demonstration Orbiter (TDO) program.

Two and a half hours after the second burn concludes Centaur will fire again for 58 seconds to further raise the orbit. SBIRS GEO 6 will separate two minutes and 49 seconds after the end of the third burn. Centaur will then perform a blowdown and passivation before the official end of the launch mission at T+3 hours, 59 minutes, and 27 seconds mission elapsed time.

The SBIRS GEO 6 mission is ULAs fifth launch of 2022, with all of the
companys missions so far this year using the Atlas V rocket. Attention now moves to the west coast and the Delta IV Heavy rocket, which ULA is readying for a September launch with the NROL-91 mission. This mission for the
National Reconnaissance Office will likely see the deployment of a heavy optical imaging satellite. The next Atlas V launch also slated for September
will fly out of Cape Canaveral carrying a pair of commercial communications satellites for SES.

(Lead image: The Atlas V fairing art at the launch pad ahead of Thursdays launch. Credit: Stephen Marr for NSF)

The post ULAs Atlas V to launch final SBIRS GEO missile detection satellite appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .



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Link to news story: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2022/08/atlas-final-sbirs-geo/


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