ABS 2 (ST 3, Koreasat 8)

Spacecraft nº:

Chinese spacecraft nº: 220

Launch data: Designation  39508 / 14006A Launch date  06 Febr 2014 - 21:30 UT Launch site  Ko, ELA-3 Launch vehicle  Ariane-5ECA (VA-217) Mission  Communication Geostationary orbit: Perigee / Apogee  20963 x 35759 km Eccentricity   Inclination   0.9° Period  1073.6 min

Spacecraft data: Prime manufacturer  Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) Platform  LS-1300 Operator  Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) Mass at launch  +6000 kg Dry Mass   kg Basic shape   Dimension (m)   Equipment  89 active C-band, Ku-band and Ka-band transponders across 10 different beams Solar array  2 deployable solar arrays Stabilization   Propulsion   DC power   Design lifetime  15 yrs

The ABS 2 satellite is enclosed inside the Ariane 5 payload fairing. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace

Description:

• The ABS-2 is a communications satellite ordered in October 2010 by Asia Broadcast Satellite from Space Systems/Loral (SS/L). It will have more than four times the existing capacity of ABS-1.
• ABS-2 will be located at the 75 degrees East Longitude, ABS' prime orbital location where ABS-1, ABS-1A, and ABS-1B are currently located ABS-2 will offer a wide range of services for Asia, Russia, Africa, and the Middle East, including DTH, cable TV distribution, multimedia applications, as well as data networks and telecommunications services. The ABS-2 satellite will be a significant addition to the existing 44 transponders on the ABS-1 satellite, which still has more than 14 years of fuel life remaining. ABS-2 will provide expansion capacity to existing ABS-1 customers and will also act as in-orbit spare and provide backup for the ABS-1 transponders.
• The satellite has been outfitted with 89 active C-band, Ku-band and Ka-band transponders across 10 different beams. These include six dedicated Ku-Band beams for direct-to-home television services in the Eastern Hemisphere and C-Band beams for Africa and Southeast Asia connectivity requirements.

Mission details:

• Revised plans called for VA-217 to fly on 23 January, followed by VA-216 on 19 February. This schedule was also upset when the nozzle of the second stage cryogenic engine of the VA-217 vehicle suffered accidental damage and required replacement. The stack was transferred to the Final Assembly Building (BAF) for the replacement work and Arianespace announced early last month that the launch had slipped by two weeks until no earlier than 6 February. Assembly of the Ariane 5?s 100-foot-tall (30-meter) “cryotechnic main stage” got underway at the Guiana Space Centre last fall and by November it had been installed onto its operational launch table in the Launcher Integration Building (BIL). The next step was the attachment of its twin solid-fueled boosters, followed by the cryogenic second stage and Vehicle Equipment Bay (VEB), which contains the rocket’s computerized “brain”.In the meantime, processing of the Athena-Fidus and ABS-2 payloads was proceeding with exceptional smoothness. Both satellites arrived separately at Félix Éboué Airport, near French Guiana’s capital, Cayenne, in early December, aboard chartered An-124 transport aircraft. They were then transferred by truck to the Guiana Space Centre. Following unpacking and intial checks, they were transferred to the S5 payload preparation center and loaded with propellants and high-pressure gases. Last week, inside the BAF, they were lowered into their respective positions within the two-tiered SYLDA (Système de Lancement Double Ariane) satellite dispenser atop the Ariane 5. The ABS-2 satellite occupied the upper deck of the SYLDA, with Athena-Fidus located beneath it in the lower deck.
• The expansive launch window (06 febr) ran for 125 minutes, from 5:30 p.m. GFT (3:30 p.m. EST) until 7:35 p.m. GFT (5:35 p.m. EST), offering plenty of scope for the Arianespace launch team to monitor the weather and still be in a position to resume the countdown at a later stage. With the exception of the weather, all final preparations for the VA-217 launch had run smoothly. The loading of 260,000 pounds (118,000 kg) of liquid oxygen and 50,000 pounds (22,700 kg) of liquid hydrogen for the French-built Vulcain-2 engine on the rocket’s first stage got underway at T-4 hours and 50 minutes. Approximately 90 minutes later, the process of chilling down the Vulcain’s fuel lines began and at T-1 hour and 10 minutes connections between Ariane 5 and the telemetry, tracking and command systems were checked and verified. Under normal circumstances, at T-7 minutes the launch team would have been polled for their recommendation and would have issued an “All Systems Go” report, thereby kicking off the Synchronized Sequence of events which controlled the final minutes of the countdown. With the weather presenting the only bad card, the clock was halted at that point.
• By 5:50 p.m. GFT (3:50 p.m. EST), conditions still looked gloomy and the launch commentator announced a new T-0 time of 6:30 p.m. GFT (4:30 p.m. EST), with a weather briefing about ten minutes before liftoff. Shortly afterwards, at 6:23 p.m. GFT (4:23 p.m. EST), the clock resumed counting down from T-7 minutes.
• Ariane 5?s propellant tanks were pressurized for flight at T-4 minutes and the 171-foot-tall (52-meter) vehicle was transferred to internal power. In the final seconds, systems aboard the rocket assumed primary command of all critical functions and the guidance system was unlocked to Flight Mode. The Vulcain-2 engine roared to life at T-0, producing 300,000 pounds (136,000 kg) of thrust, although liftoff would not occur for another 7.5 seconds, as a series of computer-controlled health checks were conducted.
• When all was verified to be well, the twin side-mounted solid-fueled boosters—each with a propulsive yield of 1.4 million pounds (635,000 kg) and together generating 92 percent of the total thrust to get the Ariane 5 off the pad—ignited and VA-217 was committed to flight.
• The stack rose vertically for about five seconds, after which the two computers inside the VEB initiated a combined pitch and roll program maneuver, actively rotating the vehicle onto the correct flight azimuth to insert Athena-Fidus and ABS-2 into orbit. One minute into the ascent, the vehicle went supersonic and passed through “Max Q,” the period of maximum aerodynamic stress on the airframe. The twin solid-fueled boosters were exhausted and jettisoned at T+142 seconds, parachuting into the Atlantic Ocean about 300 miles (480 km) east of the launch site. Meanwhile, Ariane 5 had now reached a velocity of over 1,200 mph (1,900 km/h) and continued to climb under the impulse of the Vulcain-2 engine. Three and a half minutes into the flight, the bullet-like payload shroud was detached, exposing the twin satellite cargoes to the space environment for the first time.
• Shutdown of the Vulcain-2 occurred at T+8 minutes and 53 seconds and the cryotechnic main stage descended to a splashdown off the coast of Africa, in the Gulf of Guinea, far to the south of Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire. Meanwhile, the second stage—powered by a restartable, 6,100-pound-thrust (2,770 kg) engine—ignited to pick up the baton for the final push into orbit. By now, the rocket was over 105 miles (170 km) high and traveling at more than 4,300 mph (6,900 km/h). Sixteen minutes later, having reached a velocity of 5,700 mph (9,170 km/h), Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) was attained. The target orbit was 153 x 22,330 miles (246 x 35,937 km), inclined six degrees to the equator.
• With ABS-2 sitting in the uppermost payload deck of the SYLDA, it was the first satellite to be deployed, at about 27 minutes and 19 seconds after liftoff. During a 15-year operational lifespan, it is expected that the 13,960-pound (6,330 kg) satellite will provide direct-to-home and cable television, data networks and telecommunications for 60 percent of the world’s population, covering Russia, North Africa, Asia and the Middle East. With a payload power output of more than 12 kW and up to 89 active C-band, Ku-band and Ka-band transponders across ten different beams, it is one of the most powerful commercial communications satellites ever positioned over the Eastern Hemisphere. ABS-2 was built by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) and will be stationed at 75 degrees East longitude, the prime geostationary orbital location for Asia Broadcast Satellite.
• Five minutes after the ABS-2 deployment, at T+32 minutes and 28 seconds, Athena-Fidus—the lower passenger in the SYLDA—was released, effectively completing the VA-217 mission. “Athena-Fidus” is an acronym for the “Access on THeatres for European Nations Allied Force-French/Italian Dual-Use Satellite” and has been built by Thales Alenia Space on behalf of France’s Centre National d’études Spatiales (CNES, the French National Centre for Space Studies), the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the French and Italian defense ministries. The 6,600-pound (3,000 kg) satellite will utilize the latest telecommunications standards, DVB-RCS and DVB-S2, to ensure optimum transmission capacity and service availability. Equipped with Extremely High Frequency (EHF) and Ka-band transponders, it will support the defense requirements for France, Italy and Belgium, whilst also providing assistance in civil and national security, law enforcement and firefighting. Designed for an operational life span of 15 years, Athena-Fidus will be positioned at 25 degrees East longitude.

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