STP-2

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STP-2

Mission emblem
Type: 24-fold satellite start
Country: United StatesUnited States United States
Organization: US Air Force , NASA ,
SpaceX
Mission dates
Start date: June 25, 2019, 06:30 UTC
Starting place: KSC LC-39A
Launcher: Falcon Heavy
Mission duration: 6 hours
Landing place: CCAFS LC-1 and LC-2 ,
Of Course I Still Love You

STP-2 (short for Space Test Program 2 ) was a space mission of the United States Air Force , NASA and the company SpaceX . It took place on June 25, 2019 and involved the launch of 24  satellites with a Falcon Heavy . The satellites were deployed at three different levels . It was the most complex SpaceX flight to date.

Three of the satellites - LEO / StangSat and Armadillo - are provided by NASA under the mission name Elana XV out (short for Educational Launch of Nano Satellites XV - Start of nano satellites . For teaching purposes No. 15).

Background and preparation

The Space Test Program is an in-house service of the US military for the transport of research and development satellites into space. It was established in the 1960s and is organized by the US Department of Defense . The US Air Force was responsible for executing the launches until 2019, which in turn awarded subcontracts to space companies. The newly formed US Space Force later took on this task.

The two boosters to be reused for STP-2 land on April 10, 2019

SpaceX received the order for the STP-2 launch back in 2012. The first flight of the Falcon Heavy was planned for 2013 or 2014, with the STP-2 to follow in mid-2015. However, due to difficulties in the development of the rocket and two Falcon 9 explosions , both dates were postponed several times over the years. Some of the satellites transported are even older; the TEPCE experiment, for example, was developed around 2010 and should start in 2012.

With the successful STP-2 mission , the Falcon Heavy qualified for launching sensitive military and intelligence payloads. In addition, STP-2 was a first step towards the permission to fly such missions with reused boosters . It was the first ever military space mission to use reused boosters: while the first stage of the rocket (serial number B1057) was being rebuilt, the two side boosters (no. B1052 and B1053) already completed their first flight with the Arabsat 6A .

Mission history

Like the first two Falcon Heavy specimens, the STP-2 rocket also launched in a reusable configuration . Initially, the same procedure resulted , with a double landing of the side booster on Cape Canaveral - landing zones 1 and 2 . Then the first stage was supposed to land again on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You , which was about 1,240 kilometers off the coast of Florida - further than on all previous landings. The first stage reached the highest landing speed up to that point. The pressures and temperatures were so high that the engine section of the stage was damaged and the thrust vector control of the center engine failed. The flight ended with a crash landing in the sea.

After reaching the first target orbit and switching off the second stage engine , the 70 kg Oculus-ASR experiment was initially suspended. The nanosatellites TEPCE 1/2 , Falconsat-7 , Armadillo , PSat 2 and Bricsat 2 , Prometheus 2-6 , E-TBEx A and B as well as LEO / StangSat followed one after the other - spread over a period of half an hour . After a further 22 minutes of unpowered flight, the engine burned a second time and brought the rocket stage with the remaining satellites into a higher orbit. There were successively Prox-1 / Light Sail , NPSat1 , OTB 1 and GPIM and six Formosat / Cosmic - Earth observation satellites ejected. Two further phases of acceleration followed up to an elliptical mean earth orbit . There, about three and a half hours after the start of the mission, the 600 kg DSX system was disconnected.

Finally, after another three-hour non-propulsion phase, the fuel residues should be drained and the second stage switched off. As usual, no further information is available about this part of the mission.

The two halves of the missile's payload fairing were recovered, one from the sea and the other for the first time using the safety net of the ship GO Ms. Tree .

Payloads

description

STP-2 payloads with adapter, Formosat / Cosmic satellites in the middle, DSX above

According to SpaceX and the US Air Force, the payload of the STP-2 mission consisted of 24 satellites. 20 of these are listed individually on the SpaceX website:

  • DSX ( Demonstration & Science Experiments ), an experimental platform of the US Air Force with 13 different experiments. It is intended to investigate the environmental conditions at altitudes of 6,000 to 12,000 km, i.e. in the area between the two main zones of the Van Allen radiation belt . The Air Force would like to gain knowledge about the possible operation of military satellites in this radiation-rich region. Since the antenna masts were extended, the satellite has been 80 meters wide and isthe second largest man-made structure in spaceafter the ISS .
  • E-TBEx ( Enhanced Tandem Beacon Experiment - improved tandem beacon experiment ), a NASA experiment that aimsto measurethe changing effects of the ionosphere on radio signals and thuscontribute tothe understanding of space weather . In addition to two dedicated satellites, it includes transmitters on board the six Formosat-7 / Cosmic-2 satellites and receivers on five Pacific islands.
  • GPIM ( Green Propellant Infusion Mission ), a NASA satellite to test a hydroxylammonium nitrate- based propellant developed by the Air Force. This chemical compound is a possible alternative to the highly toxic hydrazine . The satellite carries additional experiments for observing space weather and for testing GPS navigation in low earth orbits.
  • LEO ( Launch Environment Observer - even boot environment observers CP -9 called) and StangSat , two built by students and pupils CubeSats that measure during the rocket launch vibrations and temperatures and data via Wi-Fi should be replaced.
  • Lightsail 2 , a solar sail demonstrator from the Planetary Society . It was on board the Prox-1 satellite during launch and was ejected from it one week after launch. The satellite demonstrated for the first time and successfully a pure solar saildrivein Earth orbit by increasing the apogee of its orbit by several kilometers.
  • NPSat1 ( Naval Postgraduate School Satellite 1 ), a compilation of experiments with three mission objectives: observation of space weather in the ionosphere, testing of the usability of inexpensive standard components under space conditions, and operation of a satellite for teaching purposes.
The Deep Space Atomic Clock aboard OTB-1
  • Oculus-ASR , a satellite built by Michigan Technological University students in collaboration with the US Air Force, equipped with reflectors and used to calibrate a ground-based satellite observation telescope.
  • Prox-1 , an incomplete experiment from the Georgia Institute of Technology . The plan was to eject the Lightsail-2 satellite, navigate around it, and observe it. Due to problems with software development , the second part of the mission was given up; Prox-1 was only used to transport Lightsail.
TEPCE in the transport state

The following satellites also launched with STP-2:

  • Armadillo (short for Attitude Related Maneuvers And Debris Instrument in Low (L) Orbit - positional maneuvers and space debris instrument in low earth orbit), a teaching and research satellite from the University of Texas at Austin and Baylor University . With its two main instruments, it will examine the finest space debris on the one hand and the earth's atmosphere on the other.
  • Bricsat-2 , next to PSat-2, another experimental amateur radio satellite from the United States Naval Academy. He is also supposed to test a fine drive with miniaturized thermal arc engines.

Data

As of April 26, 2020; italic = planned

The originally planned orbits were 300 × 860 km at 28.5 °, 720 × 720 km at 24 ° and 12,000 × 6,000 km at 43 °.

satellite Format / bus Weight
(kg) approx. 1 		Track height (km) 2 Orbital inclination 2 Mission duration status Cospair ID
Armadillo 3U Cubesat 4th 305 × 850 28.5 ° ≥ 6 months in orbit 2019-036P
Bricsat-2
PSat 2 		1.5U Cubesat
1.5U Cubesat 		1
2 		305 × 845
305 × 845 		28.5 °
28.5 ° 		several years
several years 		in orbit
in orbit 		2019-036S
2019-036R
E-TBEx A
E-TBEx B 		3U- Cubesat
3U- Cubesat 		4
4 		300 × 845
300 × 845 		28.5 °
28.5 ° 		≤ 2 years
≤ 2 years 		in orbit
in orbit 		2019-036T
2019-036W
FalconSat-7 3U Cubesat 5 310 x 850 28.5 ° ? in orbit 2019-036J
LEO (CP 9)
StangSat 		2U-Cubesat
1U-Cubesat 		2
1 		300 × 840 300 × 840 3
0 		28.5 °
28.5 ° 		?
<3 hours 		in orbit
in orbit 		2019-036X
 
Oculus ASR individually 70 300 × 845 28.5 ° <12 months in orbit 2019-036T
Prometheus 2-6 1.5U cubesat 2 305 × 845 28.5 ° 3-5 years in orbit 2019-036AB
TEPCE 1
TEPCE 2 		1.5U Cubesat
1.5U Cubesat 		3 310 x 850 28.5 ° ?
? 		in orbit
in orbit 		2019-036H
Formosat -7A
Formosat-7B
Formosat-7C
Formosat-7D
Formosat-7E
Formosat-7F 		SSTL -150
SSTL-150
SSTL-150
SSTL-150
SSTL-150
SSTL-150 		278
278
278
278
278
278 		535 × 555
535 × 555 520–550 4 525 × 545 520–550 4 520–550 4
0

0
0 		24 °
24 °
24 °
24 °
24 °
24 ° 		5 years
5 years
5 years
5 years
5 years
5 years 		in orbit
in orbit
parking orbit
in orbit
parking orbit parking
orbit 		2019-036L
2019-036N
2019-036E
2019-036M
2019-036V
2019-036Q
GPIM BCP-100 180 0525 4 24 ° 2 months Transfer orbit 2019-036D
Lightsail 2
Prox-1 		3U-Cubesat
individually 		5
71 		710 × 725
710 × 725 		24 °
24 ° 		6 weeks
1 week 		in orbit
in orbit 		2019-036AC
2019-036A
NPSat1 individually 86 710 × 725 24 ° 18 months in orbit 2019-036B
OTB-1 SSTL-150 138 710 × 725 24 ° 2 years in orbit 2019-036C
DSX ESPA , SN-200 600 6,005 × 12,035 42.2 ° 12 months in orbit 2019-036F
1Take-off mass including carried fuel ( wet mass )
2 First stable determined path after the start, rounded to 5 km
3 Results from the orbit of the other satellites that are launched in the same launch phase
4th The satellites were deployed at an altitude of around 720 km and are supposed to navigate to their target orbit on their own.

Web links

Commons : STP-2  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

Unless otherwise stated, the individual references are in English.

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  13. ↑ a b c STP-2 Misson . SpaceX, May 25, 2019 (Youtube video).
  14. ^ A b Jonathan McDowell: Jonathan's Space Report No. 766. July 7, 2019, accessed on October 8, 2019 (The Prometheus satellite was referred to here as “probably Prometheus 2.5”, but was later identified as Prometheus 2-6.).
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  17. ↑ a b DSX (Demonstration and Science Experiments) in MEO. In: eoPortal. ESA, accessed April 20, 2019 .
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  22. ↑ a b FormoSat-7 / COSMIC-2 (Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate). In: eoPortal. ESA, accessed April 21, 2019 .
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  25. ↑ Stacie Flamos: Space Object Self-Tracker On-Board Orbit Determination Analysis. (PDF) Air Force Institute Of Technology, March 24, 2016, accessed April 21, 2019 (page 1).
  26. ↑ Jason Davis: First Contact! LightSail 2 Phones Home to Mission Control. The Planetary Society, July 2, 2019, accessed July 24, 2019 .
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  28. ↑ a b c Naval Postgraduate School NPSAT1 Spacecraft. Naval Postgraduate School, accessed April 23, 2019 .
  29. ^ Oculus-ASR (Oculus-Attitude and Shape Recognition). In: eoPortal. ESA, accessed April 23, 2019 .
  30. ↑ OTB-1 (Orbital Test Bed-1) minisatellite mission of SST-US with DSAC hosted payload. In: eoPortal. ESA, accessed April 23, 2019 .
  31. ↑ Jason Davis: LightSail 2 updates: Prox-1 mission changes, new launch date. The Planetary Society, July 21, 2017, accessed April 23, 2019 .
  32. ↑ a b c d PSAT2 - Amateur Radio Communications Transponders USNA Student Satellite Project 2014-2019! In: aprs.org. Retrieved on April 23, 2019 (1.2 kg ballast mass as shown in the illustration): "" almost HALF the satellite's mass is in a huge lead ballast "" .
  33. ↑ Donna McKinney: NRL's TEPCE Spacecraft Undergoes Successful Deployment Test. May 18, 2010, accessed April 23, 2019 .
  34. ↑ a b c Orbital Debris Assessment for The CubeSats on the STP-2 / ELaNa-XV Mission per NASA-STD 8719.14A Rev. 3. (PDF) In: fcc.gov. NASA, December 12, 2017, accessed April 23, 2019 (FCC Application No. 0285-EX-CN-2016).
  35. ↑ ARMADILLO (Attitude Related Maneuvers And Debris instrument in Low (L) Orbit). In: eoPortal. ESA, accessed April 23, 2019 .
  36. ↑ a b BRICSat-2 - The first APRS Satelilte with Thrusters. In: aprs.org. Retrieved April 23, 2019 .
  37. ↑ Jonathan Kolbeck, Michael Keidar: Micro-propulsion Based on Vacuum Arcs: A Review of Physics and Technology. (PDF) 2016, accessed April 24, 2019 .
  38. ↑ Falcon Heavy STP-2. In: supercluster.com. Retrieved June 25, 2019 .
  39. ↑ Twitter message from SpaceX, June 25, 2019.
  40. ↑ a b FalconSat-7. In: eoPortal. ESA, accessed April 23, 2019 .
  41. ↑ James Newman: FalconSat-7 Support: MC3 Ground Station Infrastructure Research. Naval Postgraduate School, April 19, 2018, accessed April 23, 2019 .
  42. ^ Gunter Dirk Krebs: Prometheus-2. In: skyrocket.de. Retrieved June 25, 2019 (here as Prometheus 2.6 ; more common spelling is Prometheus 2-6 .).
  43. ↑ a b Prox-1 Orbital Debris Assessment Report (ODAR) Revision C. (PDF) In: fcc.gov. Georgia Institute of Technology, August 30, 2016, accessed April 24, 2019 (FCC Application No. 0038-EX-PL-2016).
  44. ↑ Anthony Sirotti: Oculus-ASR Spacecraft Summary. (PDF) In: fcc.gov. Michigan Technological University, April 12, 2016, accessed April 24, 2019 (FCC Application # 0528-EX-ST-2016).
  45. ^ Lyon B. King, Philip Hohnstadt: Pre-launch Optical Characteristics of the Oculus-ASR Nanosatellite for Attitude and Shape Recognition Experiments. (PDF) Michigan Technological University , February 12, 2011, accessed April 23, 2019 .
  46. ↑ TEPCE 1, 2 in the Encyclopedia Astronautica , accessed on April 24, 2019 (English).
  47. ↑ Light Sail - 2 Orbital Debris Assessment Report (ODAR). (PDF) In: fcc.gov. The Planetary Society, March 13, 2019, accessed April 23, 2019 (FCC Application No. 0055-EX-ST-2019).
  48. ^ Allison Willingham, David Spencer: Structural Design, Analysis, and Test of the Prox-1 Spacecraft. (PDF) Georgia Institute of Technology, 2012, accessed April 23, 2019 .
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  51. ↑ Orbital Debris Assessment Report (ODAR) for the Orbital Test Bed (OTB) Satellite. (PDF) In: fcc.gov. December 2017 called on April 24, 2019 (FCC Application no. 0087-EX-CN-2018).
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