Satellite Testing

[timmac]

Hello,

Well the Bird is in the air. Bravo! From what I understand the final movement went as planned and she is parked where they intend to do some testing. The last time this happened they stated the testing took about 30 days. I think it took a tad bit longer than that last time and then they moved it to its final resting place.

Is there anyway to track all of this? Do we know when they begin tests? How those tests are progressing? Is there a schedule for when it will be moved into its final place? Any info is appreciated.

 

[rad]

I don't think it's in a geostationary orbit yet at it's testing location. IIRC it takes a couple of weeks to get there, it could be done quicker but that wastes fuel which reduces its service life.

 

[timmac]

I don't know what IIRC means, but if you listened to the broadcast last night and I just confirmed by going to the website and listening the 4th burn puts it into geosynchronise orbit and the 5th burn parks it just before it drops the payload. Listen to it and let me know what you think, sounds to me that it made it there at 9 hours or so after blast off and the site said everything was on schedule.

Peace,:up

 

[vurbano]

I don't think it's in a geostationary orbit yet at it's testing location. IIRC it takes a couple of weeks to get there, it could be done quicker but that wastes fuel which reduces its service life.

I think you are correct. The whole fiasco took at least 60 days last time before testing etc was over.

 

[rad]

I don't know what IIRC means, but if you listened to the broadcast last night and I just confirmed by going to the website and listening the 4th burn puts it into geosynchronise orbit and the 5th burn parks it just before it drops the payload. Listen to it and let me know what you think, sounds to me that it made it there at 9 hours or so after blast off and the site said everything was on schedule.

Peace,:up

IIRC = If I Recall Correctly

According to LIVE REAL TIME SATELLITE AND SPACE SHUTTLE TRACKING which does real time tracking, D10 is still 'drifting' to it's testing location.

Edit, Yes D10 is in orbit, which is what ILS was contracted to do, but it's not in a geostationary orbit which I believe Boeing is responsible for and takes time. From the ILS press release, "The Proton Breeze M rocket lifted off at 7:16 a.m. today local time (9:16 p.m. Friday EDT, 01:16 today GMT) from the Cosmodrome's Pad 39. The mission lasted 9 hours and 8 minutes, before the Breeze M upper stage placed the DIRECTV 10 satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. After about two months of in-orbit testing, the satellite will move to its operating position of 102.8 degrees West longitude to enhance DIRECTV's high-definition services across the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii."

As of this post D10 was at 118.27 and still drifting west.

 

[jdspencer]

IIRC = If I Recall Correctly.

I think they have just refined their launch parameters to get the payload to orbit quicker. I think they also said that the bird will be parked at 102.6 for testing before it's moved to its final 102.8 location.

 

[iceturkee]

Hello,

Well the Bird is in the air. Bravo! From what I understand the final movement went as planned and she is parked where they intend to do some testing. The last time this happened they stated the testing took about 30 days. I think it took a tad bit longer than that last time and then they moved it to its final resting place.

Is there anyway to track all of this? Do we know when they begin tests? How those tests are progressing? Is there a schedule for when it will be moved into its final place? Any info is appreciated.

not going to guarantee anything but this morning i fired off a congratulatory email to bob mercer with some specific questions about what happens between now and september when we starting getting the first wave of new hd channels. should i get a response monday (or sooner), i'll pass it along.

 

[moonman]

http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/servlet/ib.page.FetchAttachment?attachment_key=-130667
This is Sked. that D* submitted to the FCC via their lawyers....They will be testing out of it's assigned position, and then drifting it into place.

 

[rad]

You might want to check http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/servlet/ib.page.FetchAttachment?attachment_key=-130667 which says that D10 should be at it's testing location 102.6 about 8/17, do testing there from 8/18 to 9/12 them move D10 to 103 by about 9/15.

 

[timmac]

Very cool stuff, thanks!

 

[raoul5788]

I think you are correct. The whole fiasco took at least 60 days last time before testing etc was over.

You MIGHT want to mention that the "fiasco" that took so long the last time was with one of the Spaceway sats, and IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH DIRECTV!

 

[Brewer4]

Wasnt it some guy at the controls that drifted the sat? It was a major screw up.

 

[boston area dtv]

Wasnt it some guy at the controls that drifted the sat? It was a major screw up.

I dont know why but I find that exteremely funny.

I picture some guy with a joystick saying "woops" then looking over his shoulders to see if anyone noticed the blunder.

I think D* feels that this is time to go big or go home. and they are doing everything they possibly can to get the bird in place, test it, and start sending down more HD content as fast as possible.

 

[Jimbo]

I dont know why but I find that exteremely funny.

I picture some guy with a joystick saying "woops" then looking over his shoulders to see if anyone noticed the blunder.

:haha:haha:haha

 

[rad]

I'm sure D* would love to have D10 at 103 and operational tomorrow. But it take more onboard fuel to get the satellite into geostationary orbit and the more fuel used the shorter the lifespan of the satellite. I'm sure the bean counters have looked at it and said save the fuel and extend the life of a multimillion dollar asset, getting it active a few weeks earlier isn't worth it.

 

[Jimbo]

I'm sure D* would love to have D10 at 103 and operational tomorrow. But it take more onboard fuel to get the satellite into geostationary orbit and the more fuel used the shorter the lifespan of the satellite. I'm sure the bean counters have looked at it and said save the fuel and extend the life of a multimillion dollar asset, getting it active a few weeks earlier isn't worth it.

FYI,
I believe the reports said that the lifespan would be 15 years.

Jimbo

 

[scooby2]

Was there ever an official reason for that 60 days? I remember hearing all kinds of rumors. Bad software, botched firmware upgrade, lost contact, human error, etc were some of the rumors. Supposed it was the first of that kind for Boeing so that wanted to test it more.

 

[realplaya3tn]

i thought they said at least 15 years lifespan

 

[Jimbo]

i thought they said at least 15 years lifespan

I would imagine alot has to do with how efficiently it is when it's up there as far as using up the gas in the tanks, or whatever they use.

Jimbo

 

[atp1313]

Is it just me, or was anyone else somewhat surprised to hear them say that this brand new satellite technology was using tube amps, and not solid state? Aren't we a little past "analog" once we launch something into space? I have a tube amp, and while it makes great music, it is frigging hot and has occasionally blown a tube. Are they going to launch a shuttle mission to unscrew the old tube and insert another one? This all just seems odd to me...