ULA just reported a launch time of 19:00UTC tomorrow (Friday January 21) for USSF 8 launching GSSAP 5 and 6 to geostationary orbit from CCAFS on an ATLAS V511. https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/1484187249038139396 The mission overview provides the target orbit and confirms that insertion into the transfer orbit occurs on the ascending node, placing the geostationary circularization burn around 90 deg West some 6.5 hours after launch around 01:31UTC on January 22, 2022, almost directly above the Galapagos Islands. https://www.ulalaunch.com/missions/next-launch/atlas-v-ussf-8 At that time, North and South America are still in darkness or nearing morning twilight. Hence, the geostationary circularization burn (MES-3), the separation of both spacecraft and the subsequent collision and contamination avoidance manouvre (CCAM) where remaining fuel is dumped, should be visible for observers in the Americas. Scott Tilley observed these events for a previous GSSAP launch in 2016. Read about his observations in this SeeSat-L thread: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/Aug-2016/0104.html Here is an estimate for the GSSAP-5 orbit around separation: 1 87001U 22022.06652778 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 08 2 87001 0.0000 0.0000 0014818 351.1100 64.0000 0.99155484 06 These are the timings of the major events, assuming an on time launch at 19:00UTC. Any delays in launch time should move these events by the launch delay: Launch: 2022-01-21T19:00:00 MES-2: 2022-01-21T20:09:30 MES-3: 2022-01-22T01:31:12 SEP GSSAP5: 2022-01-22T01:35:48 SEP GSSAP6: 2022-01-22T01:45:20 CCAM: 2022-01-22T02:11:40 Telescopic observations could provide quite some spectacular views and images. Time permitting I will attempt to estimate a TLE for the transfer orbit to allow searching for and tracking the upper stage and payload prior to the geostationary circularization burn. Clear skies! Cees _______________________________________________ Seesat-l mailing list http://mailman.satobs.org/mailman/listinfo/seesat-lReceived on Thu Jan 20 2022 - 10:11:31 UTC
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