We continue our series of articles “Everything about everything”. This time we'll talk about satellites.
Not long ago, satellites were exotic and top-secret devices. They were mainly used for military purposes, navigation and espionage. Now they are an integral part of modern life. We can see them in weather forecasts, television and even in ordinary phone calls. Satellites also often play a supporting role in some areas:
- Some newspapers and magazines are fast because they send printing materials to different printers via satellite to speed up local distribution.
- Before transmitting the signal via wire to users cable television, provider companies use satellites to transmit signals.
- IN Lately Geolocation capabilities provided by GPS and GLONASS systems have gained unprecedented popularity. With their help, we can get to the required month faster and more accurately.
- The goods we buy are delivered more efficiently by the supplier's manufacturers, thanks to logistics using geolocation using GPS and GLONASS.
- Radio beacons from downed planes and ships in distress send signals via satellite to rescue teams.
What is Sputnik?
A satellite in general is an object that orbits a planet in a circular or elliptical orbit. For example, the Moon is a natural satellite of the Earth, but there are many more man-made (artificial) satellites, which are usually closer to the Earth.The path followed by a satellite is called an orbit. The point of the orbit farthest from Earth is called apogee, the closest point is called perigee.
Artificial satellites are not mass-produced products. Most satellites have been specifically manufactured to perform their intended functions. The exceptions are GPS/GLONASS satellites (of which there are about 20 copies for each system) and satellites of the Iridium system (of which there are more than 60 copies, they are used to transmit voice communications).
There are also about 23,000 objects that are space debris. These objects are large enough to be detected by radar. They either ended up in orbit by accident or have exhausted their usefulness. The exact number depends on who is counting. Payloads that have fallen into the wrong orbit, satellites whose batteries have run out, and the remains of rocket boosters all constitute space debris. For example, this online catalog of satellites contains about 26,000 objects.
Although any object in orbit around the earth can generally be called a satellite, the term "satellite" is usually used to describe a useful object placed in orbit to perform some important task. We often hear about weather satellites, communications satellites and science satellites.
Whose satellite was the first to orbit the Earth?
In general, the Moon should rightfully be considered the very first satellite of the Earth :)
For our collective joy, the first artificial Earth satellite was Sputnik 1, launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. Hurray, comrades!
However, due to the strictest secrecy that existed at that time, there are no photographs of that famous launch in the public domain. Sputnik 1 was 23 inches (58 centimeters) long, weighed 184 pounds (83 kilograms) and was shaped like a metal ball. However, for that time it was an important achievement. The contents of the satellite seem meager by modern standards:
- Thermometer
- Battery
- Radio transmitter - changed the tone of its sounds according to thermometer readings
- Nitrogen - created pressure inside the satellite
After 92 days, gravity did its job and Sputnik 1 burned up in the Earth's atmosphere. Thirty days after the launch of Sputnik 1, the dog Laika flew on the half-ton airborne satellite. This satellite burned up in the atmosphere in April 1958.
Sputnik-1 is good example of how simple a satellite can be. As we'll see later, modern satellites are much more complex, but the basic idea is simple.
How are satellites launched into orbit?
All modern satellites are launched into orbit using rockets. Some were carried into orbit in the cargo bay of shuttles. Several countries and even commercial companies have the ability to launch satellites into orbit, and it is now not unusual to deliver a satellite weighing several tons into orbit.
For most planned launches, the rocket is typically positioned vertically upward. This allows it to pass through the dense layers of the atmosphere quickly and with minimal costs fuel.
After the rocket is launched vertically upward, the rocket control system uses the inertial guidance system to control the rocket's nozzles and guide it onto its intended trajectory. In most cases, the rocket is pointed east because the Earth itself is spinning east, allowing for "free" acceleration to be added to the rocket. The strength of such “free” acceleration depends on the speed of rotation of the Earth at the launch site. The greatest acceleration is at the equator, where the distance around the Earth is greatest, and therefore the rotation speed is also greatest.
How great is the acceleration during an equatorial launch? For a rough estimate, we can calculate the length of the Earth's equator by multiplying its diameter by pi (3.141592654...). The diameter of the earth is approximately 12,753 kilometers. Multiplying by pi we get a circumference of about 40,065 kilometers. To travel the entire circle in 24 hours, a point on the Earth's surface must move at a speed of 1,669 km/h. Launching from Baikonur in Kazakhstan does not provide as much acceleration from the Earth's rotation. The Earth's rotation speed in the Baikonur area is about 1,134 km/h, and in the Plesetsk area it is generally 760 km/h. Thus, launching from the equator gives greater “free” acceleration. In general, the Earth does not have exactly the shape of a sphere - it is flattened. Therefore, our estimate of the Earth's circumference is somewhat inaccurate.
But wait, you say, if rockets can reach speeds of thousands of kilometers per hour, then what will a small increase give? The answer is that rockets, along with their fuel and payload, are very heavy. For example, the proton launch vehicle, according to Wikipedia, has a launch mass of 705 tons. To accelerate such a mass even to 1,134 km/h requires a huge amount of energy, and therefore a large amount of fuel. Therefore, launching from the equator provides tangible benefits.
When the rocket reaches the very thin air at an altitude of approximately 193 kilometers, the rocket's control system turns on small motors large enough to rotate the rocket into a horizontal position. The satellite is then separated from the rocket. The rocket then turns the engines back on to provide some separation between the rocket and the satellite.
Inertial guidance system
The rocket must be controlled very precisely to place the satellite into the required orbit, and mistakes in this matter are very expensive (remember the failures of Roscosmos with the GLONASS satellites or the Phobos-Grunt probe, which ended up in the wrong orbit where they should have been). Inertial guidance systems inside missiles make such control possible. Such a system determines the exact position of the rocket and its direction by measuring the acceleration of the rocket using gyroscopes and accelerometers. Located in a gimbal, the gyroscope's axes always point in the same direction. In addition, the gyroscope platform contains accelerometers that measure acceleration in three different axes. If the control system knows the initial location of the rocket at the time of launch and acceleration at the time of flight, it will be able to calculate the position of the rocket and its orientation in space.Orbital speed and altitude
The rocket must accelerate to a speed of at least 40,320 km/h (11.2 km/s) to completely escape Earth's gravity and go into space. This speed is called the second escape velocity and it is different for different celestial bodies.
The second escape velocity of the earth is much greater than the speed required to place satellites into orbit. Satellites do not need to escape Earth's gravity, they need to balance relative to it. Orbital speed is the speed required to achieve equilibrium between gravitational attraction and the inertia of the satellite's motion. On average, this speed is 27,359 km/h at an altitude of approximately 242 kilometers. Without gravity, the satellite's inertia will push it into space. Although even if gravity is present, the satellite’s too high speed will take it out of Earth’s orbit into outer space. On the other hand, if the satellite moves slowly, then under the influence of gravity it will fall back to Earth. If the satellite has a certain correct speed, then gravity will be balanced by the inertia of the satellite, the gravity of the Earth will be sufficient for the satellite to move in a circular or elliptical orbit, and not fly into space in a straight line.
The orbital speed of a satellite depends on the altitude at which it is located. The closer to Earth, the greater the required speed. At an altitude of 200 kilometers, the required orbital speed is about 27,400 km/h. To maintain an orbit of 35,786 km, the satellite must orbit at a speed of about 11,300 km/h. This orbital speed will allow the satellite to make one revolution around the Earth in 24 hours. Since the Earth itself rotates at a speed of 24 hours, a satellite at an altitude of 35,786 km will remain exactly above the same point on the Earth's surface. This orbit is called “geostationary”. Geostationary orbits are ideal for weather and communications satellites.
The Moon has a “height” relative to the Earth of 384,400 kilometers, and its orbital speed is 3,700 km/h. It completes a complete revolution in its orbit in 27.322 days. Note that its orbital speed is lower because it is further away from artificial satellites.
In general, the higher the orbit, the longer the satellite can stay in orbit. At low altitudes, the satellite enters layers of the atmosphere, which creates friction. Friction takes away part of the energy of the satellite's motion, and it falls into denser layers and, falling to Earth, burns up in the atmosphere. At high altitudes, where there is almost a vacuum, there is no friction and the satellite can remain in orbit for centuries (take the Moon, for example).
Satellites typically first have an elliptical orbit. Ground control stations use the satellite's small jet engines to adjust the orbit. The goal is to make the orbit as circular as possible. Turning on the jet engine at the orbital apogee (the farthest point), and applying force in the direction of flight, shifts the perigee further from Earth. As a result, the orbit approaches a circular shape.
To be continued…
If a member of the ISS crew who went into outer space took a small box with him and then threw it into space, this does not at all mean that the station is undergoing a general cleaning. Most likely, a very small satellite set off on its orbital path. The launch of nanosatellites has become, if not cheap, then already a relatively affordable pleasure, and students and even lovers of DIY construction kits have joined in space exploration.
Oleg Makarov
A large, serious satellite, for example, one that serves the GPS system, weighs one and a half to two tons, and the cost of its manufacture and launch into orbit exceeds $100 million. The prices are astronomical, and nothing can be done about it - even a kilogram of clay sent into space will almost without exaggeration become golden. But if these kilograms of something are not so much, then launching a spacecraft can become a much more budget-friendly event.
The world's first artificial Earth satellite, although it contained nothing but a radio transmitter, weighed a respectable 83.6 kg. Since then, electronics have stepped forward, miniaturized by orders of magnitude, and now satellites weighing from several kilograms to several grams can, as it turns out, be quite functional. As soon as this became clear, space exploration ceased to be the exclusive prerogative of government departments and huge rocket and space corporations: the time had come for student and amateur satellite construction, with which the second wave of space romance was gradually rising. And this wave also did not bypass Russia.
CubeSat (Cube Satellite) is a nanosatellite developed by California State Polytechnic University and Stanford University specifically for student and amateur experiments in space. Its dimensions are 10 x 10 x 10 cm and its weight is 1.3 kg. These days, a nanosatellite assembly kit can be purchased at a store.
Found each other
Could you imagine 20-40 years ago that the creation of an orbital spacecraft would become the topic of student work? Today, students of the Department of Electronic Computing Equipment Design at South-West state university(Kursk) are creating equipment for sending into orbit. “We are not the only university in Russia where satellites are being developed,” says Associate Professor Valeryan Pikkiev, head of the Center for the Development of Small Spacecraft. — There are devices made at MSTU. Bauman, Moscow State University, Military Space Academy named after. A.F. Mozhaisky, however, this is still serious professional work, in which the entire scientific potential of our leading universities is involved. We have both the equipment and the experiments that will be carried out using this equipment - everything is invented by the students themselves.”
The Department of Design of Electronic Computers at South-West State University was created in 1965 and was engaged in the development of various electronics for domestic enterprises, including military devices. Among them were vacuum gauges - devices for measuring the concentration of particles in rarefied environments. These devices aroused interest from enterprises in the rocket and space industry - NPO im. Lavochkin and RSC Energia.
Flying in an old suit
By this time, Energia already had its own program for creating and launching small satellites. “It all started 15 years ago,” says Sergei Samburov, leading specialist at RSC Energia. — In 1997, cosmonaut Valery Polyakov proposed to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first satellite by launching a smaller copy of it. The proposal was accepted, and schoolchildren from Kabardino-Balkaria and French Reunion took part in the creation of the apparatus (albeit symbolically). The satellite not only looked like its prototype, but also reproduced its “stuffing”, including the “beep-beep-beep” signal transmitter. Of course, for this device separate media were not used - it was delivered by the Progress spacecraft to the Mir orbital station, and there, during a planned spacewalk, it was “thrown” into outer space.”
The launch of a smaller copy of the first satellite caused a real stir among radio amateurs around the world, especially among those who nostalgically recalled their youth and the radio signal of the 1957 satellite. It was decided to continue the topic, and the next year another amateur radio satellite was launched, which broadcast songs and addressed the audience of planet Earth in different languages. The technology for launching satellites from orbital stations was improved, and in 2002, RSC Energia, together with the Space Research Institute, sent a small Hummingbird apparatus into orbit with scientific equipment. They launched it like this: when Progress undocked from the ISS, its hatch remained unlocked. A container was installed inside the ship, which, when the holding cord was burned by a squib, literally fired a satellite.
And in 2006, RSC Energia, together with representatives of the American amateur radio corporation AMSAT, gave birth to one of the most original projects in the history of space exploration. It was decided to make a new amateur radio satellite based on the worn-out Orlan-M spacesuit, which was used as a platform for mounting equipment delivered to the ISS. There was no scientific equipment on the Radioskaf-1 satellite (aka SuitSat-1) - only antennas (mounted on the helmet), a radio station, a digital talker unit for broadcasting sound programs, two cameras (digital and film) and a battery. It is interesting that the standard battery from the spacesuit did not fit - it is designed for a small number of charge-discharge cycles, and a satellite experiencing temperature changes in orbit from minus 100 to plus 100 degrees Celsius would use up the resource of such a device very quickly. Moreover, Radioskaf-1 did not have solar panels and relied only on battery life. In February, ISS cosmonaut Valery Tokarev, having gone into outer space, pushed away his old spacesuit with new filling, and the satellite set off on a two-week mission.
Skaf and wardrobe
Despite all the exoticism of the project, the spacesuit turned out to be a very interesting platform for small satellites. Firstly, it does not need to be delivered to the ISS, since it has already been delivered there. Secondly, the oblong shape opens up the possibility of passive stabilization due to the uneven distribution of the load (the heavier part will always “gravitate” towards the Earth, and the satellite will not rotate around its axis). Finally, the suit contains a cylinder that can contain oxygen or other gas under a pressure of 100 atm. This can be used to deploy the satellite's inflatable elements.
However, while RSC Energia was maturing the plan for Radioscaphe-2 - again based on a spacesuit - a problem occurred. Another old spacesuit on which they wanted to mount a satellite had to be thrown out of the ISS, without waiting for the equipment for the second satellite to be ready: space was in short supply. “We couldn’t wait another five years for the new spacesuit that replaced the old one to age,” says Sergei Samburov. “That’s why, as we joke, we had to make a “Radio Cabinet” instead of a “Radio Cabinet,” that is, a structure in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped with dimensions of 500 x 500 x 300 mm. The project was timed to coincide with the half-century anniversary of Gagarin’s flight, and the device itself was named “Kedr” in honor of the call sign of the planet’s first cosmonaut.” It also had another name - ARISSat-1, after the name of the international association of radio amateurs working with satellites launched from the ISS. The satellite was made in international cooperation, but also for the first time, the Department of Design of Electronic Computing Systems of South-West State University, which became a full partner of the Radioscaf project in 2010, took an active part in its creation. This is where the scientific equipment designed by Kursk students came in handy - those same vacuum gauges. Of course, the creators of “Cedar” did not forget about radio amateurs, for whom messages were broadcast in different languages of the world. The satellite was sent into orbit from the ISS on August 3, 2011, and it successfully completed its mission, in particular, by measuring the density of particles in airless space at orbits of different altitudes.
Nanosatellite over the Andes
“We continue to work on the Radioscaf program in collaboration with RSC Energia, which partially finances our activities and undertakes the launch of student and amateur radio devices as part of its own experimental programs,” says Valeryan Pikkiev. — We are making the next satellite, Chaski-1, together with students from the Technical University from Peru. This will be a satellite in the world's popular CubeSat nanoformat (a cube with sides of 10 cm, weight 1.3 kg). There will be no scientific equipment on the device, but we intend to test specially designed frames that make it possible to passively stabilize the satellite along the lines of the Earth's magnetic field. In addition, low-resolution cameras will be installed on Chaski-1. They will allow you to take photos of the earth's surface (two cameras in the visible spectrum, two infrared), the images from them will be available to radio amateurs. We will also work out the command line at a frequency of 144, 430 MHz. All this will allow us to launch scientific equipment in the next joint satellite - in particular, a new generation of our vacuum meters, which are now capable of recording not only the concentration of particles, but also determining their nature.”
Where to throw - that is the question
Of course, nanosatellites can be launched in different ways. There is an option to place a cassette with satellites between the second and third stages of a rocket launching, say, a heavy communications satellite into orbit. Concepts are being developed for a two-stage aircraft-rocket launch, similar to Virgin Galactic's LauncherOne project. However, as long as the ISS exists, it will represent perhaps the most reliable platform for such launches, and for this purpose it is used by both Russian cosmonauts and astronauts from the United States and Japan. However, here too the human factor can be minimized.
The history of Russian student and amateur radio satellite construction began in 1996, when, on the initiative of cosmonaut Valery Polyakov, a small copy of the world’s first satellite was launched from the Mir station. The flight aroused great interest among radio amateurs around the world.
“Currently, as part of our program, we are making a cannon for launching small satellites,” says Sergei Samburov. “It will be a box the size of a shoe box, and inside there will be a spring that, on command, will push the satellite out at the right moment. And this is not so simple in reality, since the device must be launched in the right direction, giving it rotation. If you simply throw the satellite away from the station, then according to the laws of ballistics it will return to the station. You need to throw along the motion vector or against the vector, but you can’t throw along the vector, because then the satellite will rise to a higher orbit and fly over the station, and if the station corrects its orbit, a collision may occur. The probability is small, but it is there. You have to throw against the vector, and then the device goes under the station, and then overtakes it and will never collide with it again.” The technique of launching a satellite manually is quite complex, and even on Earth, cosmonauts practice it during training in a hydro pool. If it is created automatic device shooting satellites, the crew will need to do exactly two things: pull the device out into space, and then, upon returning to the station, give the launch command.
Useful and safe
Today, RSC Energia has created a special division dedicated to small spacecraft. The main goal of its activities is educational. “Students who took part in the creation of spacecraft during their studies will come to us as specialists with experience in practical design. This is very important for us,” says Sergei Samburov. “In addition, one should not think that small satellites are only suitable for training and hobbies. They can be used to test motion and maneuvering technologies, stabilization systems, and the operation of new devices for quite serious tasks. And with the relatively low cost of these devices, the cost of an error is lower, which otherwise could ruin a large and expensive satellite or probe.”
The only question that remains is whether the global craze for nanosatellites will become another factor in the pollution of near-Earth space—after all, there is already enough space debris in orbit. “There’s nothing to worry about,” explains Valeryan Pikkiev. — Amateur satellites are not long-lived orbital satellites. From the height of the ISS (approximately 400 km), our satellites fly to the dense layers of the atmosphere for only six months. In addition, we make them from materials that easily burn due to friction with air, so that none of our creations will ever fall on anyone’s head.
In January 2018, the first successful illegal launch of a satellite into space, or rather four small experimental orbital drones, took place in the history of mankind.
The American company Swarm Technologies succeeded in illegally launching satellites called SpaceBee-1, 2, 3 and 4 into space, which agreed with Indian specialists that they would additionally load four book-sized drones onto the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle together with three dozen other satellites.
Back in the 2000s, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) set out to put hundreds of satellites into orbit for the needs of the state and business, and achieved significant success in this direction, so it was not difficult for them to “grab” several commercial devices with them .
According to public data, the last successful launch of the PSLV rocket with satellites from India, the USA, Canada, Finland, France and South Korea took place on January 12, 2018.
Only after the Swarm Technologies satellites were in space did US regulators raise the alarm: small objects in orbit are difficult to properly track, but at the same time they pose a mortal danger to any device or ship they might collide with.
The legal conflict with Swarm Technologies is that responsibility for its actions in space lies not with India, but with the United States, where this company is registered. The scientific community is especially indignant about this, which demands to understand how a group of private individuals put their satellites into orbit in secret from the state at a time when even the Pentagon is obliged to strictly report on such things, with rare exceptions.
As another network publication IEEE Spectrum writes, the SpaceBee-1, 2, 3 and 4 satellites are designed for “two-way satellite communications and data transmission from the United States.” It is known about the company Swarm Technologies that it “grew up” from a well-known Silicon Valley startup in California in professional circles.
The company was founded two years ago by Canadian aerospace engineer and former NASA and Google employee Sarah Spangelo and University of Michigan professor and independent developer Benjamin Longmeier, who sold his previous company Aether Industries to Apple.
The company has only five employees, and the entire team is working on a system that will allow a business to use the power of satellite Internet to create a single network of ships, trucks, cars, agricultural equipment and basically anything that can be assigned an IP address. The Internet should be distributed to all these devices anywhere in the world and should be distributed to SpaceBee-1, 2, 3 and 4, as well as their future analogues.
Presumably, Swarm Technologies needed its own satellites in order to show potential investors how cheap it could be Satellite Internet with the right approach to business within the framework of the Internet of Things concept.
Everything would be fine, but in December 2017, the US Federal Communications Commission officially rejected the company’s application to launch experimental satellites for safety reasons, after which the startups simply ignored this decision, thereby creating a dangerous precedent that in the future could result in a disaster or the death of astronauts. It is still unknown whether the enterprising engineers will be punished or whether they will be able to complete work on their project.
sources
Tomorrow the whole world celebrates Cosmonautics Day. On April 12, 1961, the Soviet Union launched a manned spacecraft for the first time in history, with Yuri Gagarin on board. Today we will show how the second Kazakhstan telecommunications satellite, KazSat-2 (KazSat-2), was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome at the end of 2011 using the Proton-M launch vehicle. How was the device launched into orbit, what condition is it in, how and from where is it controlled? We will learn about this in this photo report.
1. July 12, 2011. The heaviest Russian space rocket, Proton-M, with the Kazakh communications satellite No. 2 and the American SES-3 (OS-2) is being transported to the launch position. Proton-M is launched only from the Baikonur cosmodrome. It is here that the necessary infrastructure exists to service this complex rocket and space system. The Russian side, namely the manufacturer of the device, the Khrunichev Space Center, guarantees that KazSat-2 will serve for at least 12 years.
Since the signing of the agreement to create the satellite, the project has been reworked several times, and the launch itself has been postponed at least three times. As a result, KazSat-2 received a fundamentally new element base and a new control algorithm. But most importantly, the latest and very reliable navigation instruments produced by the French concern ASTRIUM were installed on the satellite.
This is a gyroscopic angular velocity vector meter and astro sensors. With the help of astro sensors, the satellite orients itself in space according to the stars. It was the failure of navigation equipment that led to the fact that the first KazSat was actually lost in 2008, which almost caused an international scandal.
2. The path of the rocket with the power supply and temperature control systems of the head section connected to it, where the Briz-M upper stage and satellites are located, takes about 3 hours. The speed of the special train is 5-7 kilometers per hour, and the train is served by a team of specially trained drivers.
Another group of cosmodrome security officers inspects the railway tracks. The slightest non-design load can damage the rocket. Unlike its predecessor, KazSat has become more energy-intensive.
The number of transmitters has increased to 16. There were 12 of them on KazSat-1. And the total power of transponders was increased to 4 and a half kilowatts. This will allow you to pump an order of magnitude more data of all kinds. All these changes affected the cost of the device. It amounted to 115 million dollars. The first device cost Kazakhstan 65 million.
3. The inhabitants of the local steppe calmly watch everything that happens. Desert ships)
4. The size and capabilities of this rocket are truly amazing. Its length is 58.2 meters, its weight when filled is 705 tons. At launch, the thrust of the 6 engines of the first stage of the launch vehicle is about 1 thousand tons. This makes it possible to launch objects weighing up to 25 tons into the reference near-Earth orbit, and up to 5 tons into high geostationary orbit (30 thousand km from the Earth’s surface). Therefore, Proton-M is indispensable when it comes to launching telecommunications satellites.
There are simply no two identical spacecraft, because each spacecraft is completely new technology. In a short period of time, it happens that completely new elements have to be replaced. KazSat-2 used those new advanced technologies that already existed at that time. Part of the European-made equipment was supplied, in part where we had failures at KazSat-1. I think that the equipment that we currently have working at KazSat-2 should show good results. It has a fairly good flight history
5. The cosmodrome currently has 4 launch positions for the Proton launch vehicle. However, only 3 of them, at sites No. 81 and No. 200, are in working order. Previously, only the military was involved in launching this rocket due to the fact that working with toxic fuel required strict command leadership. Today the complex is demilitarized, although the combat crews include a lot of former military personnel who have removed their shoulder straps.
The orbital position of the second KazSat has become much more convenient for work. It is 86 and a half degrees east longitude. The coverage area includes the entire territory of Kazakhstan, part of Central Asia and Russia.
6. Sunsets at the Baikonur Cosmodrome are exclusively technological! The massive structure just to the right of the center of the photo is the Proton-M with a service truss connected to it. From the moment the rocket is transported to the launch position of pad No. 200, 4 days pass until the moment of launch. All this time, preparation and testing of Proton-M systems is being carried out. Approximately 12 hours before the launch, a meeting of the state commission is held, which gives permission to refuel the rocket. Refueling begins 6 hours before the start. From this moment on, all operations become irreversible.
7. What benefits does our country receive from having its own communications satellite? First of all, this is a solution to the problem of information support for Kazakhstan. Your satellite will help expand the spectrum information services for the entire population of the country. This is an e-government, Internet, mobile communications. The most important thing is that the Kazakh satellite will allow us to partially refuse the services of foreign telecommunications companies that provide relay services to our operator. We are talking about tens of millions of dollars that will now go not abroad, but into the country’s budget.
Victor Lefter, President of the Republican Center for Space Communications:
Kazakhstan has a fairly large territory compared to other countries. And we must understand that we will not be able to provide communication services that are limited by cable and other systems to every locality, every rural school. The spacecraft solves this problem. Almost the entire territory is closed. Moreover, not only the territory of Kazakhstan, but also part of the territory of neighboring states. And satellite is a stable opportunity to provide communications
8. Various modifications of the Proton launch vehicle have been in operation since 1967. Its chief designer was academician Vladimir Chelomey and his design bureau (currently the Salyut Design Bureau, a branch of the M.V. Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center). We can safely say that all the impressive Soviet projects for the exploration of near-Earth space and the study of solar system objects would not have been feasible without this rocket. In addition, the Proton is distinguished by very high reliability for equipment of this level: over the entire period of its operation, 370 launches were carried out, of which 44 were unsuccessful.
9. The only and main drawback of the Proton is the extremely toxic components of the fuel: unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH), or as it is also called “heptyl” and nitrogen tetroxide (“amyl”). In places where the first stage falls (these are areas in the area of the city of Dzhezkazgan), environmental pollution occurs, which requires expensive clean-up operations.
The situation seriously worsened in the early 2000s, when three launch vehicle accidents occurred in a row. This caused extreme dissatisfaction with the Kazakh authorities, who demanded large compensation from the Russian side. Since 2001, the old modifications of the launch vehicle have been replaced by the modernized Proton-M. It has a digital control system, as well as a system for bleeding unburned fuel residues in the upper layers of the ionosphere.
Thus, it was possible to significantly reduce damage to the environment. In addition, a project for an environmentally friendly Angara launch vehicle has been developed, but is still on paper, which uses kerosene and oxygen as fuel components, and which should gradually replace the Proton-M. By the way, the Angara launch vehicle complex at Baikonur will be called “Baiterek” (translated from Kazakh as “Topol”.)
10. It was the reliability of the rocket that at one time attracted the Americans. In the 90s, the ILS joint venture was created, which positioned the rocket in the American telecommunications systems market. Today, most American civilian communications satellites are launched by Proton-M from a cosmodrome in the Kazakh steppe. The American SES-3 (owned by SES WORLD SKIES), which is located at the head of the rocket along with the Kazakh KazSat-2, is one of many launched from Baikonur.
11. In addition to the Russian and American flags, the rocket also carries the Kazakh flag and the emblem of the Republican Space Communications Center, the organization that today owns and operates the satellite.
12. July 16, 2011 5 hours 16 minutes and 10 seconds in the morning. The climax. Fortunately, everything goes well.
13. 3 months after launch. Young specialists are the leading engineer of the satellite control department Bekbolot Azaev, as well as his colleagues engineers Rimma Kozhevnikova and Asylbek Abdrakhmanov. These guys run KazSat-2.
14. Akmola region. The small, and until 2006, unremarkable regional center Akkol became widely known 5 years ago, when the country's first MCC, a flight control center for orbital satellites, was built here. October is cold, windy and rainy here, but now is the busiest time for those people who must give the KazSat-2 satellite the status of a full-fledged and important segment of Kazakhstan’s telecommunications infrastructure.
15. After the loss of the first satellite in 2008, a major modernization was carried out at the Akkol Space Communications Center. It already allows you to control two devices at once.
Baurzhan Kudabaev, vice-president of the Republican Center for Space Communications:
A special software, new equipment was supplied. In front of you is the rack of the command and measurement system. This is a supply from the American company Vertex, as was the case with KazSat-1, but with a new modification, an improved version. The developments of the company “Russian space systems" Those. These are all developments of today. New programs, hardware components. All this improves the work with our spacecraft
16. Darkhan Maral, head of the flight control center at the workplace. In 2011, young specialists, graduates of Russian and Kazakh universities, came to the Center. They have already been taught how to work, and according to the leadership of the RCKS, there are no problems with personnel replenishment. In 2008 the situation was much sadder. After the loss of the first satellite, a significant part of highly educated people left the center.
17. October 2011 was another culminating moment in the work on the Kazakh satellite. Its flight design tests were completed, and the so-called test tests began. Those. it was like an exam for the manufacturer on the functionality of the satellite. It all happened as follows. The television signal was raised on KazSat-2.
Then several groups of specialists went to different regions of Kazakhstan and measured the parameters of this signal, i.e. How correctly the signal is relayed by the satellite. There were no comments, and in the end the special commission adopted an act on the transfer of the satellite to the Kazakh side. From this moment on, Kazakh specialists have been operating the device.
18. Until the end of November 2011, a large group of Russian specialists worked at the Akkol space center. They represented subcontractors for the KazSat-2 project. These are the leading companies in the Russian space industry: Center named after. Khrunichev, who developed and built the satellite, the Mars design bureau (it specializes in the field of navigation of orbital satellites), as well as the Russian Space Systems corporation, which develops software.
The whole system is divided into two components. This is, in fact, the satellite itself and the ground control infrastructure. According to the technology, first the contractor must demonstrate the operability of the system - this is the installation of equipment, its debugging, and demonstration of functionality. After all procedures - training of Kazakhstani specialists.
19. The space communications center in Akkola is one of the few places in our country where a favorable electromagnetic environment has developed. There are no radiation sources for many tens of kilometers around here. They can cause interference and interfere with control of the satellite. 10 large parabolic antennas are directed into the sky at one single point. There, at a great distance from the surface of the Earth - more than 36 thousand kilometers - hangs a small man-made object - the Kazakh communications satellite KazSat-2.
Most modern communications satellites are geostationary. Those. their orbit is constructed in such a way that it seems to hover over one geographical point, and the rotation of the Earth has practically no effect on this stable position. This allows you to pump large volumes of information using an onboard repeater and confidently receive this information in the coverage area on Earth.
20. Another interesting detail. According to international rules, the permissible deviation of a satellite from its position can be a maximum of half a degree. For the MCC specialists, keeping the device within the specified parameters is a piece of jewelry work that requires the highest qualifications of ballistics specialists. The center will employ 69 people, of which 36 are technical specialists.
21. This is the main control panel. There is a large monitor on the wall, where all the telemetry is collected, and on a semicircular table there are several computers and telephones. Everything seems to be very simple...
23. Victor Lefter, President of the Republican Space Communications Center:
- We will expand the Kazakh flotilla to 3, 4, and perhaps even up to 5 satellites. Those. so that there is a constant replacement of devices, there is a reserve, and so that our operators do not feel such an urgent need to use products from other countries. So that we are provided with our reserves.”
24. Currently, satellite control reservation is carried out from Moscow, where the space center named after. Khrunicheva. However, the Republican Center for Space Communications intends to reserve a flight from Kazakhstani territory. For this purpose, a second control center is currently being built. It will be located 30 kilometers north of Almaty.
25. The National Space Agency of Kazakhstan plans to launch the third satellite, KazSat-3, in 2013. The contract for its development and production was signed in 2011 in France, at the aerospace show in Le Bourget. The satellite for Kazakhstan is being built by the Academician Reshetnev NPO, which is located in the Russian city of Krasnoyarsk.
26. Control department operator interface. This is what he looks like now.
In the video you can see how this satellite was launched.
Original taken from here
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