ExoMars TGO

Launch data: Designation  41388 / 16017A Launch date  14 Mar 2016 - 09:31 UT Launch site  Baikonur, LC-200/39 Launch vehicle  Proton-M Briz-M Mission  Mars Orbiter Interplanetary orbit: Perigee / Apogee  750 x -71368 km Eccentricity   Inclination  51.5 ° Period   min

Spacecraft data:

Description:

• EXOMARS is a European-built space probe on a mission to test future landing technologies and search for methane, a potential signature of microbial life. Named ExoMars, the program is a partnership between Europe and Russia, which agreed to provide rocket rides in 2016 and 2018 for back-to-back launches to Mars.
• The first ESA ExoMars mission was launched on Mar 14 aboard a Proton from Baykonur. The main spacecraft on this mission is the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), which is intended to enter Mars orbit and study its atmosphere.
• Attached to it is the Schiaparelli EDM, a piggyback lander, heading for an experimental descent into the Martian atmosphere in October. The EDM is the EDL Demonstrator Module, where EDL is "Entry, Descent and Landing". EDM consists of an aeroshell containing the EDM Surface Platform (ESP, a triply-nested three-letter-acronym proving that ESA can compete with NASA in the TLA race). EDM will attempt to land on the surface as a technology demonstration, and carries a small meteorology payload.
• The TGO carries a color and stereo camera, IR and UV spectrometers, a neutron detector, and a communications relay package to support future surface missions. The combined spacecraft has a mass of 4332 kg. TGO was built by Thales/Cannes (formerly GTC/Sud Aviation) and EDM by Thales/Torino (formerly Fiat).
• A high-gain antenna, with a steerable 2.2m-diameter dish, is used for communication with Earth.
• Weight details:

    Schiaparelli
      EDM Surface Platform        280 kg
      SP hydrazine                 46 kg
      Front Shield                200 kg?
      Back Cover                   54 kg?
      Parachute system             20 kg?
    -------------------------------------
    EDM total                     600 kg
    TGO spacecraft               1365 kg  (including 41 kg separation assembly)
    TGO propellant               2367 kg
    -------------------------------------
    ExoMars-2016 launch total    4332 kg
  

ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and Schiaparelli, are seen here during vibration testing at Thales Alenia Space, in Cannes, France, on 23 April 2015.

Mission details:

• At 0931 UTC Mar 14, 2016 Proton-M No. 93560 was launched from area 200 at Baykonur into a suborbital trajectory. The Briz-M upper stage, S/N 99560, separated at 0941 UTC and fired for 6 minutes to enter a 185 x 185 km x 51.5 deg parking orbit at 0947 UTC. After completing one orbit, a second burn at 1110 UTC raised the orbit to 250 x 5800 km. At the next perigee, at 1324 UTC, the orbit was raised to 696 x 21086 km and the Briz-M additional propellant tank was jettisoned. On completing this orbit, the fourth burn began at 1948 UTC to propel the vehicle to escape velocity. ExoMars TGO/EDM separated from the Briz-M at 2013 UTC in a hyperbolic Earth escape orbit (C3 = 13.78 km**2/s**2). It is scheduled to reach Mars on Oct 19, 2016.
• April 2016: Optical observations of the ExoMars launch have revealed several debris objects in the vicinity of the Briz-M final stage shortly after payload separation. Roskosmos confirms that telemetry shows the separation burns were performed on schedule, and the stage′s trajectory as measured by astronomers puts it on course to safely miss Mars by almost one million km. Meanwhile, ESA reports that the ExoMars TGO spacecraft itself is in good health and on course to Mars.
• The Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) of ESA′s ExoMars 2016 has successfully performed the long 139-minute burn required to be captured by Mars and entered an elliptical orbit around the Red Planet, while contact has not yet been confirmed with the mission′s test lander from the surface.
• TGO’s Mars orbit insertion burn lasted from 13:05 to 15:24 GMT on 19 October, reducing the spacecraft′s speed and direction by more than 1.5 km/s. The TGO is now on its planned orbit around Mars. European Space Agency teams at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, continue to monitor the good health of their second orbiter around Mars, which joins the 13-year old Mars Express.

External links:

• Wikipedia Satellite description
• Satellite tracking: Real time satellite tracking