Arabsat 6A

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Arabsat 6A
Arabsat-6A Mission (40628438523) .jpg
Launch of Arabsat 6A
Start date April 11, 2019, 10:35 p.m. ( UTC )
Launcher Falcon Heavy
Launch site KSC LC-39A
COSPAR-ID : 2019-021A
Takeoff mass 6465 kg
Dimensions approx. 3.5 × 2.5 × 8 m
Span in orbit approx. 40-50 m
Manufacturer Lockheed Martin
Satellite bus LM2100
lifespan about 15 years
operator Arabsat
Playback information
Transponder Ku and Ka band
Others
Electrical power 20 kW
position
First position 30.5 ° East
List of geostationary satellites

Arabsat 6A - actually Arabsat-6A - is a commercial communications satellite of the Saudi Arabian operator Arabsat . It was launched on April 12, 2019 ( CEST ) by the space company SpaceX with a Falcon Heavy and reached its geostationary orbit at 30.5 ° East at the end of April 2019 . After commissioning, it will provide television, Internet and telephony in the Middle East , North Africa and South Africa as well as in Europe.

Preparation and start

In April 2015, Arabsat commissioned the defense, aerospace company Lockheed Martin to build two satellites: Arabsat 6A and HellasSat 4 / SaudiGeoSat-1 . The start of Arabsat 6A should take place in 2018 with a Falcon Heavy. The rocket was still under development at the time the order was placed and, after numerous delays, did not make its first flight until February 2018. The final assembly of the Arabsat 6A was completed in the same month.

The satellite finally started after five date postponements on April 12, 2019 at 12:35 a.m. (CEST). A new “ Block 5 ” version of the Falcon Heavy was used, which is 10% more thrust than the prototype flown in 2018. The power reserves of the Falcon Heavy enabled a landing of all three rocket boosters as well as a particularly high geostationary transfer orbit with an apogee of around 90,000 kilometers. This reduces the time and energy required to swivel the satellite into geostationary orbit and thus conserves its fuel reserves.

The rocket's two side boosters were reused for the STP-2 military test mission in June 2019 . The first stage, on the other hand, overturned on a SpaceX drone ship when it was transported back to Cape Canaveral and was irreparably damaged in the process. The payload fairing of the Arabsat 6A flight was recovered from the sea and, as a first in space travel , reused in a Starlink satellite launch in November 2019.

technology

Like its sister satellite HellasSat 4 / SaudiGeoSat 1, Arabsat 6A is based on the LM2100 satellite bus from Lockheed Martin, a further development of the A2100 . It has two solar modules that provide a total nominal electrical output of 20  kW . In contrast to the A2100, the modules are made of a flexible material and are not folded out after starting, but unfolded. That makes them 30% lighter. Further innovations are adjustable antennas and new avionics .

The satellite's signals are broadcast in the Ku and Ka bands .

Web links

Commons : Falcon-Heavy-Flight 2  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b LM 2100 Payload Accommodation. Lockheed Martin, accessed February 20, 2019 .
  2. ^ Satellite Solutions. Lockheed Martin, accessed February 20, 2019 .
  3. ↑ a b Upcoming Satellites. In: arabsat.com. Retrieved February 20, 2019 .
  4. ↑ a b Lockheed Martin Completes Assembly on Arabsat's Newest Communications Satellite. Lockheed Martin, February 20, 2018, accessed February 20, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Railway data on space-track.org, accessed on May 1, 2019.
  6. ↑ a b c d Stephen Clark: Launch Schedule. Spaceflight Now, April 10, 2019; archived from the original on April 12, 2019 ; accessed on April 12, 2019 .
  7. ^ Arabsat and KACST Award Lockheed Martin Contract to Provide Satellite Systems to Strengthen TV, Internet, Telephone Communication. Arabsat, April 28, 2015, accessed February 20, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Stephen Clark: Arabsat contracts go to Lockheed Martin, Arianespace and SpaceX. In: Spaceflight Now. April 29, 2015, accessed February 20, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Twitter message from Elon Musk, April 5, 2019.
  10. ↑ Stephen Clark: Live coverage: SpaceX plans another Falcon Heavy launch attempt today. April 2019, accessed April 12, 2019 .
  11. ↑ a b Stephen Clark: SpaceX's Falcon Heavy successful in commercial debut. In: Spaceflight Now. April 12, 2019, accessed April 13, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Loren Grush: SpaceX loses the center core of its Falcon Heavy rocket due to choppy seas. In: The Verge. April 15, 2019, accessed April 15, 2019 .
  13. ↑ LM 2100. (PDF) Lockheed Martin, accessed February 20, 2019 .