Flock (satellite)

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Flock is a constellation of small earth observation satellites produced by Planet Labs in San Francisco . These are cubesats that provide images of the earth with a resolution of three to five meters. The first satellites have been in service since 2014, and the following ones use a combination of higher and lower orbits. The satellites are quite short-lived; most of the first-generation Flock-1 satellites have already burned up in the earth's atmosphere.

technology

The satellites are cubesats in size 3U, i.e. boxes with two rigid, fold-out solar cell surfaces measuring 0.26 × 0.30 m on the long side and an edge length of 10 × 10 × 34 cm. Their mass is about 5 kg.

The satellites each carry a telescope and a CCD camera with a Bayer filter (420 to 700 nm). There are three generations of cameras, Planet Scope 0 (PS0), Planet Scope 1 (PS1) and Planet Scope 2 (PS2). PS0 have two - mirror Maksutov-Cassegrain optics with an 11 MP CCD detector. PS1 has the same optical system as PS0 with an 11 MP CCD detector, but aligned and mounted in an insulated housing made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic and titanium . PS2 has a five-element optical system that provides a wider field of view and better picture quality. This optical system is coupled to a 29 MP CCD detector.

The data is transmitted to earth in the X-band with a data rate between 4 Mbit / s (Dove 1) and 283 Mbit / s (Dove 2 and 3).

Start list

Serial No. Surname Date ( UTC ) rocket Launch site Number of satellites COSPAR ID Start orbit Remarks
P1 Dove-1
(Dove 0601) 		April 21, 2013 Antares 110 MARS 0A 1 2013-016C about 275 km, 51.6 ° 6 kg
P2 Dove-2 April 19, 2013 Soyuz-2.1b Baikonur 31/6 1 2013-015C about 575 km, 64.9 ° 5.8 kg
P3 Dove-3
(Dove 0711) 		November 21st 2013 Dnepr Jasny 370/13 1 2013-066P 597 × 800 km, 97.8 ° 5.2 kg
P4 Dove-4
(Dove 0712) 		(1) - about 700 km, 97.8 ° 5.2 kg, false start (not released from UniSat-5 )
1 Flock 1
(Dove 07xx) 		January 9, 2014 Antares 120 MARS 0A 28 1998-067DJ - 1998-067EQ about 415 km, 51.6 °
2 Flock 1c
(Dove 09xx) 		19th June 2014 Dnepr Jasny 370/17 11 2014-033T - 2014-033AH about 620 km, 98 °
3 Flock 1b
(Dove 08xx) 		July 13, 2014 Antares 120 MARS 0A 22 (28) 1998-067FA - 1998-067FP about 415 km, 51.6 ° Takeoff from the ISS; 6 of the 28 satellites were not launched
4th Flock 1d
(Dove 0Axx) 		October 28, 2014 Antares 120 MARS 0A (26) - Missile launch
5 Flock 1d '
(Dove 0A16, 0C02) 		January 10, 2015 Falcon 9 v1.1 CC SLC-40 2 1998-067FU, 1998-067FV 400 × 400 km, 51.6 ° Launched from ISS on March 3rd
6th Flock 1e
(Dove 0Bxx - 0Cxx) 		April 14, 2015 Falcon 9 v1.1 CC SLC-40 14th 1998-067GE - 1998-067GT 400 × 400 km, 51.6 ° Launched from ISS between July 13-16, 2016
7th Flock 1f
(Dove 0Bxx) 		June 28, 2015 Falcon 9 v1.1 CC SLC-40 (8th) - Missile launch
8th Flock 2b
(Dove 0Cxx) 		19th August 2015 HTV-5 TNSC YLP-2 12 (14) 1998-067HB - 1998-067HN 400 × 400 km, 51.6 ° Launch from the ISS on September 5, 2015; two of the 14 satellites were not deployed
9 Flock 2e
(Dove 0Cxx) 		December 6, 2015 Cygnus CRS-4 CC SLC-41 12 1998-067JD - 1998-067JY 400 × 400 km, 51.6 ° Takeoff from the ISS between May 17, 2016 and June 1, 2016
10 Flock 2e '
(Dove 0Cxx, 0Dxx) 		March 23, 2016 Cygnus CRS-6 CC SLC-41 20th 1998-067HZ - 1998-067KQ 400 × 400 km, 51.6 ° Takeoff from the ISS on May 17, 2016 and September 14, 2016
11 Flock 2p
(Dove 0Exx) 		June 22, 2016 PSLV-XL SHAR SLP 12 2016-040H - 2016-040V
12 Flock 3p
(Dove 0Fxx, 10xx) 		15th February 2017 PSLV-XL SHAR FLP 88 2017-008D - 2017-008DH
13 Flock 2k
(Dove 0Fxx) 		July 14, 2017 Soyuz-2.1a Fregat-M Baikonur 31/6 47 (48) 2017-042AB - 2017-042CA One of the 48 satellites was not identified.
14th Flock 3m
(Dove 0Fxx) 		October 31, 2017 Minotaur-C-3210 VAFB LC-576 4th 2017-068J - 2017-068L
15th Flock 3p '
(Dove 11xx) 		January 12, 2018 PSLV-XL SHAR FLP 4th 2018-004J - 2018-004M
16 Dove Pioneer January 21, 2018 Electron Rocket Lab LC-1 1 2018-010A 300 × 500 km, 83 °
17th Flock 3r
(Dove 10xx, 21xx) 		29th November 2018 PSLV-XL SHAR SLP 16 2018-096E - 2018-096AH
18th Flock 3s
(Dove 105C, 21xx) 		3rd December 2018 Falcon 9 v1.2
(Block 5) 		VAFB SLC-4E 3 2018-099M, 2018-099BR, 2018-099AG
19th Flock 3k
(Dove 1062) 		December 27, 2018 Soyuz-2.1a Vostochny 1S 12 2018-111S - 2018-111AF
20th Flock 4a
(Dove 22xx) 		April 1, 2019 PSLV-QL SHAR SLP 20th 2019-018B - 2019-018AE ~ 500 km
21st Flock 4p
(Dove 22xx) 		November 27, 2019 PSLV-XL SHAR SLP 12 2019-018G - 2019-018Q
22nd Flock 4e 4th July 2020 Electron Electron LC-1 5 - Missile launch
23 Flock 4v September 2, 2020 (planned) Vega CSG ELV 26th

Web links

Other sources

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Gunter's Space Page: Flock-1, -1b, -1c, -1d, -1d ', -1e, -1f, -2b, -2e , -2e ', -2k, -2p, -3m, -3p, -3p', -3r, -3s, -4a, -4e, -4p, -4v - Gunter's Space Page , accessed November 9, 2019
  2. ↑ Satellite catalog on space-track.org
  3. ↑ eoPortal Directory: Flock 1 Constellation - Satellite Missions - eoPortal Directory , accessed on November 9, 2019
  4. ↑ Gunter's Space Page: Dove 1 - Gunter's Space Page , accessed on November 9, 2019
  5. ↑ Gunter's Space Page: Dove 2 - Gunter's Space Page , accessed on November 9, 2019
  6. ↑ a b Gunter's Space Page: Dove 3, 4 - Gunter's Space Page , accessed on November 9, 2019
  7. ↑ a b c d e f g Spaceflight101: Flock - Spaceflight101 , accessed on November 9, 2019
  8. ↑ Planet Labs: Meet Dove Pioneer , accessed November 10, 2019
  9. ↑ Stephen Clark: Rocket Lab satellite launch fails before reaching orbit. Spaceflight Now, July 4, 2020, accessed July 10, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Stephen Clark: Launch Schedule. Spaceflight Now, August 31, 2020, accessed August 31, 2020 .