Ciel-2 Now Scheduled for November?

[Bradtothebone]

Spaceflight Now is currently reporting that Ciel-2 will launch sometime in November, according to a July 17 update:

Spaceflight Now | Tracking Station | Worldwide launch schedule

The launch schedule for ILS is listed as:
8/13: Inmarsat 4-F3
Sept (TBA): Nimiq 4
Oct (TBA): Astra 1M
Nov (TBA): Ciel 2
Seems like a pretty agressive schedule, but it would be great if it actually worked out! Has this been verified anywhere else?

Brad

 

[Poke]

Yeah lets hope all things go well..

 

[Poke]

Do we know who will be useing he AMC-21 which is going to 125 orbit??

SES AMERICOM - AMC-21

AMERICOM-21 (AMC-21) is planned as an all Ku-band satellite to operate from the 125o W.L. orbital position. The spacecraft is being built by Thales Alenia Space, incorporating the Orbital Sciences STAR-2 satellite bus. In addition to providing comprehensive 50-state coverage, AMC-21 will also feature high-power coverage of the Gulf of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.


Spacecraft design Orbital STAR-2; Thales Alenia Space (payload)
Orbital location 125o W.L.
Launch Date 12 August 2008
Design Life 15 years


Ku-band payload 24 x 36 MHz
Amp type TWTA, 110 watts
Amp Redundancy 32 for 24
Receiver redundancy 6 for 4
Coverage 50-State, Caribbean, Southern Canada, Mexico

 

[KAB]

Isn't this ahead of schedule? Last I saw, Q1 '09.

 

[jmjunkin]

Isn't this ahead of schedule? Last I saw, Q1 '09.

It needs to be ahead of schedule. 129 might die at any minute.

 

[mdonnelly]

Spaceflight Now is currently reporting that Ciel-2 will launch sometime in November, according to a July 17 update:

Spaceflight Now | Tracking Station | Worldwide launch schedule

The launch schedule for ILS is listed as:
8/13: Inmarsat 4-F3
Sept (TBA): Nimiq 4
Oct (TBA): Astra 1M
Nov (TBA): Ciel 2
Seems like a pretty agressive schedule, but it would be great if it actually worked out! Has this been verified anywhere else?

Brad

Aggressive given their recent launch history. Couldn't verify it at the ILS site, but looking over their previous launches, it's doable (barring another anomaly like AMC-14).

 

[photoman76]

Do we know who will be useing he AMC-21 which is going to 125 orbit??

PBS will be using a few transponders.

Default

 

[bnewt]

It needs to be ahead of schedule. 129 might die at any minute.

So this is the replacement for 129 & has nothing to do with Eastern Arc?

 

[navychop]

That is correct.

 

[digiblur]

So this is the replacement for 129 & has nothing to do with Eastern Arc?

More than just a replacement. It's a spotbeam bird too, so it should bring more HD local markets online.

 

[Rey]

they need this bird already. this launch will go as well as the last one for sure.if it doesn't you all can come to my home and beat the hell out of me.

 

[FitzAusTex]

According to Spaceflight Now, it looks like 3 Proton/Breeze M launches prior to Ciel 2. (Inmarsat 4-F3 on August 13 [return to flight of Breeze M], Nimiq 4 in Sept, and ASTRA 1M in October.)

Hopefully, they've gotten the correction right.

 

[jansan]

Thanks for the information.

 

[rocatman]

The below website launch schedule has another Proton mission scheduled for September 2008 but Astra 1M being launched on an Ariane 5. Perhaps Nimiq 4 may slip to October 2008. As a side note there is a possibility that the launch of Nimiq 4 to 82 W by TeleSat for BEV might free up E-6 at 72.7 W since TeleSat could move one of the other Nimiq satellites there for use by Dish.

In addition, based on the information that has been released regarding Ciel-2 including its spotbeam capabilities and power limitations, I expect it to be similar to Rainbow-1 (Echostar-12) where the satellite has the capability to use CONUS or spotbeams or a mixture of both. I would expect Dish to initially use only a limited number of TPs for spotbeams with the remaining used as CONUS TPs.

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=1133.720

 

[hrxtreme]

Ciel 2 is needed. Those of us who rely on 129 and will never see Eastern Arc can't wait for Ciel-2. Hopefully ILS has better luck...

 

[nelson61]

The below website launch schedule has another Proton mission scheduled for September 2008 but Astra 1M being launched on an Ariane 5. Perhaps Nimiq 4 may slip to October 2008. As a side note there is a possibility that the launch of Nimiq 4 to 82 W by TeleSat for BEV might free up E-6 at 72.7 W since TeleSat could move one of the other Nimiq satellites there for use by Dish.

In addition, based on the information that has been released regarding Ciel-2 including its spotbeam capabilities and power limitations, I expect it to be similar to Rainbow-1 (Echostar-12) where the satellite has the capability to use CONUS or spotbeams or a mixture of both. I would expect Dish to initially use only a limited number of TPs for spotbeams with the remaining used as CONUS TPs.

Plan of Russian space launches

A little more info on the power limitation (it has lots of spot capability but can they use them all at the same time?).

From the tech specs: "Payload power up to 11,6 kW, typically 80 to 100 active channels with medium RF power (105/110W in Ku band)"

 

[Bradtothebone]

The below website launch schedule has another Proton mission scheduled for September 2008 but Astra 1M being launched on an Ariane 5. Perhaps Nimiq 4 may slip to October 2008. As a side note there is a possibility that the launch of Nimiq 4 to 82 W by TeleSat for BEV might free up E-6 at 72.7 W since TeleSat could move one of the other Nimiq satellites there for use by Dish.

In addition, based on the information that has been released regarding Ciel-2 including its spotbeam capabilities and power limitations, I expect it to be similar to Rainbow-1 (Echostar-12) where the satellite has the capability to use CONUS or spotbeams or a mixture of both. I would expect Dish to initially use only a limited number of TPs for spotbeams with the remaining used as CONUS TPs.

Plan of Russian space launches

From the link above:

"middle of September – Nimiq 4 – Proton-M/Briz-M – Baikonur
September 25 (TBD) – Ekspress-AM44, Ekspress-MD1 – Proton-M/Briz-M – Baikonur"

Is ILS the only launch service that uses this combination of boosters? If so, you are probably right about Nimiq 4 moving to October to replace Astra 1M.

BTW, that's a pretty hard core group of guys over there in that forum!

Brad

 

[Sponge14]

If I am wrong on my facts here someone correct me, but why are they using ILS again? Wasn't ILS the one that lost E-14? After their recent successful launch using SeaLaunch, wouldn't they want to continue using SeaLaunch and their proven track record?

 

[Bradtothebone]

If I am wrong on my facts here someone correct me, but why are they using ILS again? Wasn't ILS the one that lost E-14? After their recent successful launch using SeaLaunch, wouldn't they want to continue using SeaLaunch and their proven track record?

They could change launch services, but then they would have to wait in someone else's queue, probably for a looooooong time. Technically, E* isn't even the customer here, it's a Canadian satellite (and, in the case of AMC 14, it was SES Americom). E* is just leasing space on the sat.

Brad

 

[Voyager6]

If I am wrong on my facts here someone correct me, but why are they using ILS again? Wasn't ILS the one that lost E-14? After their recent successful launch using SeaLaunch, wouldn't they want to continue using SeaLaunch and their proven track record?

They could change launch services, but then they would have to wait in someone else's queue, probably for a looooooong time. Technically, E* isn't even the customer here, it's a Canadian satellite (and, in the case of AMC 14, it was SES Americom). E* is just leasing space on the sat.

Brad

Brad is correct. E* is just the end user of the sats. AMC-14 was owned by SES Americom and Ciel-2 is owned by http://www.cielsatellite.ca/satellites.htmlCiel Satellite Group. http://www.cielsatellite.ca/satellites.html
The owners pick who will launch their birds.