Sirius-FM5 atop Proton-M/Briz-M on June 30/July 1, 2009

[SiberianTiger]

Launch site: Baikonur
Launch date: June 30/July 1, 2009

The launch time is:
01:10:00 Baikonur 01.07.2009
23:10:00 Moscow Local 30.06.2009
19:10:00 UTC June 30, 2009
3:10:00 p.m. EDT June 30, 2009

Payload: Sirius FM-5

Spacecraft: Sirius FM-5

Manufacturer: Space Systems/Loral

Sirius FM5 is a new high-EIRP geostationary satellite to be launched for Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. It will join the company’s three satellites that broadcast 100% commercial-free music, plus sports, news, talk, entertainment, traffic, weather and data over the United States.

Sirius FM5 Specifications

Parameter|Value
Application|Broadcasting
Orbit|GEO-Sync
Orbit Position|96.0° W
Operator|Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.
Coverage|CONUS, Canada, Mexico & Caribbean
Prime Contractor|Space Systems/Loral
Platform|1300 Spacecraft Bus
Propulsion|Dual Bi-Propellant (MMH/N2O4) and Stationary Plasma Thrusters (SPTs)
Design Lifetime|15 years
Launch Mass|Approximately 5,840 kg
Dry Mass|2,734 kg
Dimensions (stowed)|3.2m x 3.0m x 8.2m
Dimensions (in orbit)|32.4m x 17.4m x 8.2m

Payload Subsystem Overview

Similar to Sirius FM1/2/3, the satellite payload of Sirius FM5 consists of a single high-power “bent pipe” repeater. Dedicated antennas are used for the reception of the 7.1-GHz uplink and transmission of the 2.3-GHz downlink.


The satellite receiving antenna is a 1.2-m single-offset, prime-focus reflector antenna, which is deployed via dual-axis positioning mechanisms (DAMPs).


The satellite transmit antenna is a Gregorian configuration and consists of a 9-m-diameter, deployable, mesh parabolic reflector, a 2.4-m solid shaped reflector, and a feed assembly. The main reflector is stowed for launch on the east side of the spacecraft, while the subreflector is stowed for launch on the east side of the spacecraft tower and deployed via DAMPs.


The input section of the repeater provides low-noise signal reception and channel selectivity. Downconversion of the X-band uplink to the S-band downlink occurs in the receivers. Similar to the existing Sirius satellite constellation, three-forone redundant receivers are provided to ensure high reliability of the payload.

The rest of information about Sirius-FM5 payload and the new technology implemented you can find at http://coopi.khrunichev.ru/main.php?id=22

Ground Track and Coverage

The spacecraft is going to operate at so called Tundra Orbit, a variation of a Geo-Synchronous orbit:

Launcher: Proton-M with Briz-M upper stage

Parameter|Value
Rocket Family|Proton
Designation|8K82M
Class|Heavy
Type|Expendable
Designer|Salut Design Bureau
Manufacturer|Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center
Stages|4
Height, mm|42340
Diameter, mm|7400
Launch Mass, kg|700000

Sirius FM5 Ascent Profile

The Proton-M first three stages place the ascent unit (AU), which consists of a Breeze- M upper stage, adapter system and Sirius FM5, into 51.5° inclination suborbital trajectory.

The first stage and the second stage separate 120 and 328 sec after liftoff, respectively.

Proton-M powered flight lasts 581 seconds. The AU powered flight begins at the moment of the third stage separation.


Proton-M Powered Flight Chart

Breeze-M Powered Flight


The upper stage follows a five-burn injection profile.


The first burn occurs 94 sec after the separation from the rocket, forming a support orbit.

The second burn transfers the ascent unit to an intermediate orbit. The third and fourth burns form a transfer orbit with an apogee close to that of the target orbit. The additional propellant unit is jettisoned during the gap between the third and the fourth burns. The target geotransfer orbit is formed by the fifth burn performed by in the transfer orbit apogee.

After the craft separation GTO parameters are measured, and the upper stage is withdrawn to drift in a safe mode (pressure in all the containers is dropped).

The Breeze-M powered flight lasts 33,240 seconds (9 hours 14 minutes).

Weather forecast for Baikonur, Kazakhstan on July 1, 2009

Hi: 31°
Lo: 19°
There is a 0% chance of precipitation. Partly cloudy. Warm. Temperature of 31°C. Winds NW 18km. Humidity will be 15% with a dewpoint of 1° and feels-like temperature of 29°C.

Watching the launch live

ILS broadcasts will begin approximately 20 minutes before liftoff
at 2:45 PM EDT June 30 / 6:45 PM GMT June 30

• ILS Launch Services, HQ: http://www.ccistream.com/ils063009/300kwm.html
• ILS Launch Services, HQ: http://www.ccistream.com/ils063009/56kwm.html
• Khrunichev COOPI (requires free of charge registration): http://coopi.khrunichev.ru/eng/real_pusk.htm
• Space Center Website Video: mms://www.space-center.ru/video

 

[Star Voyager]

Interesting. The Proton always reminded me of our Delta 2. I'm interested to see how this turns out.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Pre-launch events pictures

The launch was originally planned to June, 29 but was postponed for one day due to a malfuction detected in the Briz-M upper stage (a fill/and drain valve could not be opened). It turned out not critical, so the delay was just one day.

Pre-launch events videos

1. Works on Sirius FM-5

2. Rolling out and erection of the Proton-M rocket at the launch complex

---------- Post added at 06:19 ---------- Previous post was at 06:16 ----------

Interesting. The Proton always reminded me of our Delta 2. I'm interested to see how this turns out.

Well... There is a bit of similarity in how they look from a great distance (maybe), but actually they are totally different rockets in every way.

 

[astrosammy]

Well, I missed it. But according to the e-mails by Khrunichev it looks like a good launch.

 

[Star Voyager]

Congratulations on the launch, Mr. SiberianTiger! I wish I could see a Russian launch up close.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Congratulations on the launch, Mr. SiberianTiger! I wish I could see a Russian launch up close.

Thanks for congratulating, I've done little to help it, however. There are some prospects that the Kazakhs will establish a real tourist business in Baikonur in about 3 years - so you may begin saving money for that.

Regarding the launch which I did not monitor this time (was extremely tired, sorry, folks)...

The launch has occurred on time, everything has gone well. Here are Roscosmos images:

The LAUNCH VIDEO FEATURING staging #1 and staging #2 is AVAILABLE for download (copyrighted by Khruhichev, 24 Mb avi). As far as I can recall, this is a first video of a Russian rocket taken this way. Reminder:

The first stage and the second stage separate 120 and 328 sec after liftoff, respectively.

According to the latest message from Roscosmos,

After five manoeuvres performed by the Briz-M upper stage, Surius-FM5 satellite was separated at the target orbit at 8:23:44 Moscow daylight savings Time (4:23:44 UTC, 12:23:44 AM Eastern Time); control of it has been successfully acquired by the customer.

Two more things:

Interview of a Siruis FM Radio representative before the launch:

---------- Post added at 12:35 ---------- Previous post was at 11:30 ----------

473 views of this topic in less than 2 days. Wow...

 

[SiberianTiger]

Roscosmos' animation of Sirius-FM5 launch. Yes, they can make one Proton launch look different from others.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-kYt32V-2E&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube - "Sirius FM-5" Анимация пуска[/ame]

 

[Sunhillow]

Hi Tiger,

never seen a "naked" Proton like on your images no. 3 and 4 in 3rd post. What is the payload hull covered with? is it some kind of termal protection?

Great pictures!

 

[SiberianTiger]

Hi Tiger,

never seen a "naked" Proton like on your images no. 3 and 4 in 3rd post. What is the payload hull covered with? is it some kind of termal protection?

Do you mean the thermal insulation blankets that visible on the pictures like this?

Yes, they serve to sustain the stable environment for sensitive payloads. You also can see the air conditioner system's ducts attached to the fairing - having the blankets on makes it more effective. All those things are removed shortly before a launch.

Speaking of 'naked' Protons, the Proton-M version is even more naked than the previous ones: they don't paint the hull anymore, it is just bare aluminium. That's done to save on the mass of the paint and allow for heavier payloads. The only things which are not left bare are the front tips of the 1st booster stage fuel tanks (see the white spots on the image above), which remained coated with an ablative heat protection, as this place gets much of air drag.

Great pictures!

You're welcome!

 

[Sunhillow]

Do you mean the thermal insulation blankets that visible on the pictures like this?

Yes. I just wondered about the wide flanges at the bottom of nose cone and payload fairings. Both of them seem to be removed together with the blankets.

Not applying paint is an old and established procedure to save some weight . According to legends Mercedes Benz did so with their Silberpfeile

 

[losmike]

Hi fellas, I've been tracking FM-5 since launch as they have been moving the Satellite into final position using the n2yo site. Pretty interesting. It is currently sitting at -0.07, -96.81 and with a speed of 0 (According to the site). Anyone know if they have it in it's final location and if so have they deployed the reflector to begin testing?

 

[elTiTANio]

please refer to this thread for updated FM-5 operation info:
http://siriusbuzz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2304