Andrew Yee[_1_]
April 30th 08, 04:45 PM
ESA News
http://www.esa.int
29 April 2008
GIOVE-B spacecraft in good health
After its successful launch by a Soyuz Rocket from Baiknour on 27 April and
accurate insertion into its target orbit by the Fregat autonomous upper
stage, GIOVE-B is now completing its Launch and Early Operations Phase
(LEOP), which will shortly give way to the platform commissioning phase.
Platform commissioning includes the on-board verification of all primary and
redundant platform subsystems, namely telemetry and telecommand, propulsion,
power, thermal control, and attitude and orbit control. GIOVE-B operations
are being carried out from Telespazio's Fucino Space Centre in Italy.
Once the spacecraft platform has been commissioned, switch-on of the various
payload elements can begin. First signal transmission is anticipated in the
coming days.
Charging the batteries
Since the spacecraft had been running on battery power from just before
liftoff -- throughout the lengthy series of manoeuvres performed by Fregat
to reach the intended orbit -- the first tasks after separation from Fregat
were to deploy the solar arrays and achieve Sun-pointing, so that battery
charging could begin.
The first-choice method to turn the spacecraft for Sun-pointing is to use
the reaction wheels. GIOVE-B is equipped with four gyroscope-like wheels
driven by brushless electric motors. Altering the speed of rotation of these
wheels allows the satellite to be rotated in space.
Use of the reaction wheels for initial pointing is the first choice because,
once they are operational, the supply of electricity from the solar arrays
is essentially unlimited. However, due to the battery discharge that
occurred during pre-orbital flight, the spacecraft operations manual only
allows a restricted time for these manoeuvres to be accomplished.
Attitude and orbit control
GIOVE-B's reaction wheels were slow to respond and stable Sun-pointing was
not achieved within the specified time period. As a consequence, around five
hours after launch it was decided to put the satellite into safe mode, and
Sun-pointing was achieved using small engines known as thrusters.
The initial underperformance of the reaction wheels was found to have
occurred due to a mismatch between the on-board avionics software and the
reaction wheel calibration data. This has now been corrected by the
uploading of a software patch to the spacecraft, leading to nominal
performance.
Use of the thrusters is the second-choice method because one of the factors
determining the operational life of GIOVE-B is the amount of propellant that
the spacecraft carries. The thrusters are used for orbital station-keeping
and conservation of propellant is important to maximise the lifetime of the
spacecraft. Once the propellant is nearly exhausted, the thrusters' final
task is to lift the spacecraft into a 'graveyard' orbit at the end of its
mission -- to free the orbit for the operational Galileo constellation.
Payload switch-on
Once the GIOVE-B spacecraft platform is fully commissioned, the navigation
payload can be switched on. The rubidium and passive hydrogen maser clocks
will be started first, followed by the navigation signal generator.
The final units to be turned on will be the transmit chain consisting of
L-band solid-state power amplifiers that broadcast the Galileo signals to
the Earth. First signal transmission is anticipated in the coming days and
will be received and calibrated by In-Orbit Test (IOT) facilities deployed
at ESA's ground station in Redu (Belgium) and at Chilbolton Observatory in
the UK.
[NOTE: Images and weblinks supporting this release are available at
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMZWWTQMFF_index_1.html ]
http://www.esa.int
29 April 2008
GIOVE-B spacecraft in good health
After its successful launch by a Soyuz Rocket from Baiknour on 27 April and
accurate insertion into its target orbit by the Fregat autonomous upper
stage, GIOVE-B is now completing its Launch and Early Operations Phase
(LEOP), which will shortly give way to the platform commissioning phase.
Platform commissioning includes the on-board verification of all primary and
redundant platform subsystems, namely telemetry and telecommand, propulsion,
power, thermal control, and attitude and orbit control. GIOVE-B operations
are being carried out from Telespazio's Fucino Space Centre in Italy.
Once the spacecraft platform has been commissioned, switch-on of the various
payload elements can begin. First signal transmission is anticipated in the
coming days.
Charging the batteries
Since the spacecraft had been running on battery power from just before
liftoff -- throughout the lengthy series of manoeuvres performed by Fregat
to reach the intended orbit -- the first tasks after separation from Fregat
were to deploy the solar arrays and achieve Sun-pointing, so that battery
charging could begin.
The first-choice method to turn the spacecraft for Sun-pointing is to use
the reaction wheels. GIOVE-B is equipped with four gyroscope-like wheels
driven by brushless electric motors. Altering the speed of rotation of these
wheels allows the satellite to be rotated in space.
Use of the reaction wheels for initial pointing is the first choice because,
once they are operational, the supply of electricity from the solar arrays
is essentially unlimited. However, due to the battery discharge that
occurred during pre-orbital flight, the spacecraft operations manual only
allows a restricted time for these manoeuvres to be accomplished.
Attitude and orbit control
GIOVE-B's reaction wheels were slow to respond and stable Sun-pointing was
not achieved within the specified time period. As a consequence, around five
hours after launch it was decided to put the satellite into safe mode, and
Sun-pointing was achieved using small engines known as thrusters.
The initial underperformance of the reaction wheels was found to have
occurred due to a mismatch between the on-board avionics software and the
reaction wheel calibration data. This has now been corrected by the
uploading of a software patch to the spacecraft, leading to nominal
performance.
Use of the thrusters is the second-choice method because one of the factors
determining the operational life of GIOVE-B is the amount of propellant that
the spacecraft carries. The thrusters are used for orbital station-keeping
and conservation of propellant is important to maximise the lifetime of the
spacecraft. Once the propellant is nearly exhausted, the thrusters' final
task is to lift the spacecraft into a 'graveyard' orbit at the end of its
mission -- to free the orbit for the operational Galileo constellation.
Payload switch-on
Once the GIOVE-B spacecraft platform is fully commissioned, the navigation
payload can be switched on. The rubidium and passive hydrogen maser clocks
will be started first, followed by the navigation signal generator.
The final units to be turned on will be the transmit chain consisting of
L-band solid-state power amplifiers that broadcast the Galileo signals to
the Earth. First signal transmission is anticipated in the coming days and
will be received and calibrated by In-Orbit Test (IOT) facilities deployed
at ESA's ground station in Redu (Belgium) and at Chilbolton Observatory in
the UK.
[NOTE: Images and weblinks supporting this release are available at
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMZWWTQMFF_index_1.html ]