01/05/14, 10:48 UTC, GSLV Mk2 with GSAT 14 from SR SLP to GTO
01/06/14, 22:06 UTC, Falcon 9 v1.1 with Thaicom 6 from CC 40 to GTO+
01/09/14, 18:07 UTC, Antares with Cygnus Orb 1 from WI 0A to LEO/ISS
01/24/14, 02:33 UTC, Atlas 5 with TDRS-L from CC 41 to GTO+
02/05/14, 16:23 UTC, Soyuz U with Progress M-22M from TB 1/5 to LEO/ISS
02/06/14, 21:30 UTC, Ariane 5 ECA with ABS-2/Athena Fidus from KO 3 to GTO
02/14/14, 21:09 UTC, Proton M/Briz M with Turksat 4A from TB 81/24 to GTO
02/21/14, 01:59 UTC, Delta 4M+4,2 with GPS 2F-5 from CC 37B to MEO
02/27/14, 18:37 UTC, H-2A 202 with GPM/CO from TA Y1 to LEO

Worldwide Space Launch Box Score
as of 02/27/14
All Orbital Launch Attempts(Failures)
2014:  9(0)
2013:  81(3)
2012:  78(6)
2011:  84(6)
Crewed Launch Attempts(Failures)
2014:  0(0)
2013:  5(0)
2012:  5(0)
2011:  7(0)

Japan's 23rd H-2A launch vehicle, an H-2A-202 with two SRB-A strap on motors, orbited the joint JAXA/NASA Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory satellite from Yoshinobu Launch Complex 1 at the Tanegashima Space Center on February 27, 2014. H-2A F23 lifted off at 18:37 UTC. Its second stage performed a single burn to insert the 3,850 kg GPM Core Observatory into a 407 km x 65 deg orbit about 16 minutes later.

The observatory, built by Goddard Space Center in Maryland, will provide near real-time observations of rain and snow precipitation. It is equipped with a microwave imager built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies and a precipitation detecting radar built by NEC Toshiba Space Systems.

F-23 was the 17th consecutive H-2A success.  The only H-2A failure in occurred in November 2003.

Delta 4 Launches GPS 2F-5

Delta 365, a Delta 4M+4,2 with two solid boosters and a four meter payload fairing, launched GPS 2F-5 into orbit from Cape Canaveral, Florida on February 21, 2014.    Liftoff took place from SLC 37B at 01:59 UTC.

Delta 4's Delta Cryogenic Second Stage (DCSS) performed three burns during a 3.5 hour mission to lift the 1.63 tonne navigation satellite into a 20,459 km x 55 deg circular orbit.  DCSS fired first during the initial ascent to reach a low earth parking orbit.  It performed a second burn after a 9-minute coast to enter an elliptical transfer orbit with a roughly 20,459 km apogee.  Following a three hour coast, DCSS fired a third time to reach the GPS 2F-5 insertion orbit. 

It was the 25th Delta 4 launch.  The flight came after a six-month launch gap party due to an additional investigation into a propellant leak on a second stage RL10B-2 engine during a 2012 Delta 4 mission that barely managed to place GPS 2F-3 into its orbit.  GPS 2F-5 was the first Delta 4 GPS launch since that 2012 mission.

Proton Orbits Satellite for Turkey

2014's first Proton M/Briz M successfully boosted Turksat 4A into geosynchronous transfer orbit from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on February 14.   Liftoff from Area 81 Pad 24 occurred at 21:09 UTC to start a 9 hour 13 minute mission.

Turksat 4A, a Mitsubishi Electric Corporation DS2000 series satellite that weighed 4.85 tonnes, was inserted into orbit using a five burn Briz M profile. 

After the three Proton stages completed their ascent burns to achieve a velocity just short of orbital speed, Briz M fired to reach a circular parking orbit.  The upper stage fired one orbit later to reach an intermediate orbit.   One orbit after that it fired twice, dropping its toroidial external tank between burns, to reach a transfer orbit.  Finally it fired at apogee to raise its perigee and reduce its inclination to complete the mission.  The target orbit was 9,673 x 35,786 km x 12.7 deg.

Turksat 4A will provide communications services for government-owned Turksat.

The mission was performed by Proton serial number 93543, which was the 394th Proton launched. 

Ariane 5 Orbits Satellite Pair

Ariane 5 ECA Launcher 572 boosted two communications satellites into geosychronous transfer orbit from Kourou space center on February 6, 2014. The 773.4 tonne rocket lifted off from ELA 3 at 21:30 UTC to begin the Arianespace VA-217 mission. Launcher 572 rose on 1,326 tonnes of thrust produced by its two EAP solid motors and its single Vulcain 2 liquid core engine. Within 32 minutes, 6.33 tonne ABS-2 and 3.08 tonne Athena-Fidus separated into 244 x 35,786 km x 6 deg orbits.

ABS-2 (Asia Broadcast Satellite), which rode atop the Sylda 5B dual payload system, was an FS-1300 series satellite built by Canadian-owned Space Systems/Loral for East Asia commercial service.

Athena-Fidus, a Spacebus 4000B2 model built by Thales Alenia Space for French and Italian military use, rode within the Slyda 5B adapter.

It was the first Ariane 5 launch in more than five months.

Progress ISS Cargo Launch

A 2.5 stage Soyuz-U launched Progress M-22M, an unmanned cargo spacecraft headed for the International Space Station (ISS), into low earth orbit from Baikonur Cosmodrome Area 1 Pad 5 on February 5, 2014.  Liftoff took place at 16:23 UTC from a cold winter landscape. 

Progress M-22M will use the fast-rendezvous technique to reach ISS in about four orbits, or six hours.  The spacecraft carries about 2 tonnes of supplies for ISS.

With the New Year's holiday period concluded, the liftoff begin's Russia's launch year.

Atlas Orbits TDRS-L

The year's first Atlas 5, a two-stage 401 model, successfully orbited NASA's TDRS-L (Tracking and Data Relay Satellite) from Cape Caneveral on January 24, 2014.  Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 41 took place at 02:33 UTC.  TDRS-L, a Boeing Space System 601 model that weighed 3.454 tonnes, was aimed toward a 4,839 x 35,788 km x 25.5 deg high perigee geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO).  Spacecraft separation took place 1 hour 45 minutes 57 seconds after liftoff.

The RD-180 powered first stage burned for 4 minutes 2 seconds.  This was followed by a 13 minute 55 second long Centaur second stage burn that boosted the vehicle into a 185 x 24,919 km x 26.5 deg parking orbit.  After a 1 hour, 21 minute 55 second coast, Centaur reignited for a 63 second burn to accelerate TDRS-L into its final orbit.

The success, the 42nd in 43 Atlas 5 attempts, moves Atlas 5 past Ariane 5 for the first time on the Space Launch Report reliability list.  The incremental difference, which essentially represents a statistical tie, will likely shift back and forth between the two launch vehicles during the coming months.
  

Antares Launches Cygnus Cargo Mission

Orbital Sciences launched its third Antares rocket from Wallops Island, Virgina on Janaury 9, 2014 with the company's first operational Cygnus cargo mission to the International Space Station. The Orb-1 Commercial Resupply Services mission, the first of eight currently planned for NASA, began from Launch Complex 0A - part of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport - with an 18:07 UTC liftoff.

It was the first flight of an Antares 120 variant outfitted with an upgraded ATK Castor 30B second stage solid motor. Castor 30B was the same size and produced about the same thrust as the Castor 30A motor used during the first two launches, but it used a longer, larger nozzle that improved specific impulse to about 300 seconds. One more Antares 120 will fly this year, to be followed by the first Antares 130 with a more powerful, longer, and heavier Castor 30XL second stage motor.

The Yuzhnoye/Yuzhmash first stage burned its Kuznetsov/Aerojet AJ-26 engines for 3 minutes 54 seconds to lift the rocket to an altitude of about 100 km. After shutdown, the stage separated and the upper portion of the vehicle coasted upward to about 179 km altitude until the Castor 30B ignited about 1 minute 52 seconds after first stage shutdown. The payload fairing and interstage adapter separated shortly before the 128 second long second stage burn began.

Second stage burnout occurred about 7 minutes 54 seconds after liftoff. Cygnus, named "C. Gordon Fullerton" in honer of the NASA astronaut and test pilot who died in August, 2013, separated two minutes later in a 219 x 280 km x 51.654 deg orbit. Cygnus carried 1.261 tonnes of ISS cargo, including equipment, crew supplies, and 33 CubeSat microsatellites that will be released from ISS later this year. The spacecraft weighed about 4.69 tonnes including cargo.

Orb-1 Cygnus Approaches ISS Berthing on January 12, 2013

After a three day long series of orbit raising manuvers, Cygnus successfully berthed with ISS on January 12, 2013 at 13:05 UTC.

Orbital Sciences officials had delayed the launch one day to study high solar radiation levels after a January 7 solar flare. A winter storm producing very cold temperatures had delayed the launch by one day earlier in the week. The entire mission had been delayed by three weeks when a coolant leak developed on the space station that required a pair of space walks by the ISS crew to repair.

Falcon 9 Launches Thaicom 6

SpaceX Corporation's eighth Falon 9 rocket, and its third upgraded Falcon 9 v1.1 variant, launch Thailand's Thaicom 6 commuication satellite into orbit from Cape Canaveral, Florida on January 6, 2014.  Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 took place at 22:06 UTC.  The Merlin 1D Vacuum powered second stage performed two burns to accelerate the 3.016 tonne Orbital Sciences GEOStar 2 satellite toward a targeted 295 x 90,000 km x 22.5 deg supersynchronous transfer orbit.  

After maneuvering itself to geosynchronous orbit, Thaicom 6, equipped with Ku and C-band transponders, will be co-located with Thaicom 5 at 78.5 degrees East. 

After a 174 second long first stage burn, the second stage burned for about 350 seconds to place itself and its payload into a 173 x 497 x 27.3 deg parking orbit.  Payload fairing separation occurred during the early part of the second stage burn.  After an 18 minute coast, the second stage reignited for just over one minute to loft the payload toward its insertion orbit.  Spacecraft separation occurred about 31 minutes 13 seconds after liftoff.

SpaceX performed its quickest launch pad turnaround for Thaicom 6, which lifted off just more than one month after Falcon 9 No. 7 orbited SES 8.  During the campaign, the Thaicom 6 booster performed a hot fire test at SLC 40 on December 28, 2013.  

GSLV with India's Cryogenic Stage Succeeds

India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) successfully boosted the GSAT 14 communications satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit on January 5, 2013.  It was the first success for the launch vehicle since 2004, and the first success for India's indigenously-developed, liquid hydrogen fueled Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS). 

The 415 tonne, 49 meter tall three-stage GSLV Mk 2 rocket, fitted with a 3.4 meter diameter payload fairing, lifted off at 10:48 UTC from the Second Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota to begin the GSLV-D5 development mission.  It rose on 690.7 tonnes (1.52 million lbf) of liftoff thrust produced by a solid core motor augmented by four L40 liquid non-separating strap-on motors, each powered by a Vikas 2 engine that burned UDMH/N2O4 until cutoff 149 seconds after liftoff, about 60 seconds after the core burned out.  The liquid second stage, powered by a single Vikas 4 UDMH/N2O4 engine, performed a 140.5 second burn to lift the vehicle to a 132 km altitude and a velocity of more than 4,900 m/sec. 

The CUS LOX/LH2 third stage then fired its 7.5 tonne thrust CE-7.5 engine one time for more than 12 minutes to finish the mission.  The 1.982 tonne satellite payload was accelerated toward a targeted 180 x 35,975 km x 19.3 deg orbit.  ISRO's CE-7.5 is a staged combustion engine designed to operate at 454 seconds specific impulse - more efficient than the Aerojet-Rocketdyne RL10A-4-1 engine that powers the Atlas 5 Centaur stage.  The fixed CE-7.5 engine is augmented by a pair of small steering engines.

An August, 2012 attempt to fly GLSV-D5 was thwarted by a second stage propellant leak during the early stages of the countdown.  Damage caused by the leak forced ISRO to roll back and dismantle the rocket.  Its core first stage and second stage were replaced entirely while its first stage liquid units were refurbished.

It was the third GSLV success in eight flights since 2001. 

Soyuz 2-1v Inaugural Launch Success

Russia's Soyuz 2-1v, a new small satellite launch vehicle, achieved success during its inaugural launch from Plesetsk Cosmodrome on December 28, 2013. The two stage rocket, topped by a multiple-restart capable Volga third stage for orbit trim maneuvers, carried the 50 kg Aist satellite and two lightweight SKRL-765 radar calibration spheres into a roughly 600 x 625 km x 82.42 deg orbit following a 12:30 UTC liftoff from Site 43 Pad 4. The first two stages lifted Volga and its payloads into an initial roughly 260 x 600 km x 82.43 deg transfer orbit. Volga fired at apogee to circularize the orbit. Spacecraft separation occurred at about 14:10 UTC.

Soyuz 2-1v stands 44 meters tall and weighs about 157 tonnes at liftoff. It uses the existing Soyuz 2-1b third stage as a second stage. The first stage is newly developed except for the top portion of the upper LOX tank, which is borrowed from the Soyuz 2-1b core stage. A single chamber NK-33A staged combustion LOX/kerosene engine, augmented by a four-chamber RD-0110R steering engine, powers the first stage. At liftoff, the engines combine to produce more than 179 tonnes of sea level thrust. About 88% of the total thrust is produced by the NK-33A, an engine originally created as part of the Soviet Union's N1 lunar rocket program during the 1970s.


The first stage kerosene tank and the lower part of the LOX tank are 2.66 meters in diameter, fatter than the old Soyuz core's 2.15 meters diameter. The common upper tank section still flares out to 2.95 meters in diameter, allowing both Soyuz launcher types to share launch pad equipment.

The first stage burns for about 250 seconds.  The Blok I second stage, which is also powered by a staged combustion LOX/kerosene engine, burns for about 270 seconds.

Soyuz 2-1v can lift 2.85 tonnes to a 200 km x 51.6 deg orbit from Baikonur, or 1.4 tonnes to an 835 km sun synchronous orbit from Plesetsk.

Soyuz 2-1v plans call for the NK-33A engine to be replaced by a more powerful Energomash RD-193 engine derived from the RD-191 Angara engine, which in turn was derived from the RD-170/180 family that power Zenit and Atlas 5 rockets.  The decision to use RD-193 rather than restarting long-shelved NK-33A production will also likely affect the Orbital Sciences Antares rocket, which is currently using up a dwindling stock of refurbished NK-33 engines.

Proton Launches Ekspress AM5

A Proton M/Briz M launched Russia's Ekspress-AM5 communications satellite into near-geosynchronous orbit  from snow-covered Baikonur, Kazakhstan on December 26, 2013.  The four-stage rocket lifted off from Area 81 Pad 24 at 10:49:56 UTC and quickly disappeared into the frozen haze hovering above the steppe.  The Briz M upper stage performed a more than nine hour long, four-burn mission to lift the 3.2 tonne satellite into its final orbit.  Spacecraft separation occurred at about 20:10 UTC.   

It was the year's 80th announced orbital launch attempt and 77th success.  Iran may have performed an unannounced, failed attempt during the early months of the year.  It was also Proton's tenth launch of 2013, one of which failed on July 2.

Rokot Orbits Russian Milcomsats

A Rokot/Briz KM successfully orbited three Rodnik (Strela 3M) "store/dump" communication satellites for the Russian military on December 25, 2013. The three-stage rocket lifted off from Plestesk Site 133 Pad 3 at 00:31 UTC under the direction of a Russian missile launch crew. After the initial ascent sent Briz KM and its payload into a 100 x 1,500 km x 82.5 deg transfer orbit, Briz KM performed a cirularization burn at around 01:45 UTC.

Satellite separation occurred around 02:16 UTC. The satellites, subsequently tracked in roughly 1,480 x 1,510 km x 82.48 deg orbits, were named Kosmos 2488, 2489 and 2490. Each satellite weighed about 225 kg.

It was the fourth Rokot/Briz KM, and the fifth UR-100N based, orbital launch of 2013, more than in any previous year.



China Orbits Bolivian Comsat

The 26th Chang Zheng 3B rocket orbited Tupac Katari, a Chinese built communications satellite for Bolivia, from XiChang on December 20, 2013. The 3.5 stage CZ-3B/E lifted off from Launch Complex 2 at 17:02 UTC. The liquid hydrogen fueled third stage performed two burns during a roughly half-hour mission to lift the satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit.

Tupac Katari, also known as TKSat 1, weighed 5.1 tonnes at liftoff. It was manufactured by China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) using a DFH-4 platform. The satellite carries 26 Ku-band, 2 C-band, and 2 Ka-bank transponders. It will be positioned at 87.2 degrees west.

It was the 14th Chang Zheng launch of 2013 and the 15th orbital attempt by China during the year.

Soyuz Orbits European Observatory

A Soyuz 2-1b/Fregat launched Europe's Gaia observatory toward deep space from Kourou, French Guiana on December 19, 2013.  Liftoff of the Arianespace VS06 mission from the Soyuz Launch Complex at Kourou took place at 09:12 UTC.  The Fregat upper stage fired twice during the mission to boost Gaia toward a highly elliptical Earth orbit on a trajectory aimed toward the L2 Lagrange point.  The target orbit was 6,722 km x 952,022 km x 14.98 deg.  Spacecraft separation occurred at 09:54 UTC.  Gaia's own propulsion system will provide course correction maneuvers during the transit toward L2.

The 2.034 tonne satellite is fitted with a super-high resolution camera that will be used to survey the stars of the Milky Way galaxy in fine detail.  The survey will catalog the three-dimensional positions and motions of stars.     

After completing its mission, Fregat performed a depletion burn that propelled it deeper into space.

Chang'e 3 Lands on Moon

A Chang Zheng 4B rocket launched Brazil's CBERS-3 satellite from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center on December 9, 2013.  The three-stage rocket lifted off at 03:26 UTC from the center's Launch Complex 9.  CBERS-3 was aimed toward a 778 km sun synchronous earth orbit, but something went wrong during the ascent and no orbit was achieved.

CBERS, which stands for "China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite", was a 2.1 tonne earth observation satellite jointly developed by China and Brazil. 

According to Oswaldo Duarte Miranda, the deputy director of Brazil's National Institute for Space Research, the CZ-4B third stage cut off 11 seconds before it's planned T+16 minute shut down time, leaving CBERS-3 in a suborbital trajectory. 

After a five minute propulsion phase performed by its first two stages, the CZ-4B third stage coasts upward for more than four minutes to orbital altitude.  The stage then performs a single burn of its two YF-40 engines, burning UDMH/N2O4 hypergolic propellants to produce 10.3 tonnes of thrust for durations that can exceed 6 minutes.  If the 11 second early cutoff report is correct, the stage performed all but the final roughly 3% of its burn, but that is enough to fall well short of orbital velocity.

It was the 13th CZ launch of the year, and China's 14th orbital attempt of 2013.

Atlas Launches Secret Satellite

An Atlas 5-501 launched NROL-39, a classified satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office, into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on December 6, 2013. The two-stage, 337 tonne rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 3 East at 07:14 UTC, then rose into the night sky and, as its 5 meter diameter European built payload fairing separated, entered a news blackout. A little less than two hours later, United Launch Alliance announced that the launch had been a success.

According to Notice to Mariners warnings posted before the launch, the Atlas flew a southwest trajectory consistent with a retrograde orbit. Two prior launches along similar flight paths (NROL 41 in September 2010 and NROL-25 in April 2012) were believed to have placed Topaz radar imagery satellites into 1,100 km x 123 deg orbits. Such missions would likely have called for the Atlas 5 Centaur second stage to perform two burns, with the second occurring about 45 minutes after the first.

Documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden confirmed that Topaz radar imagery satellites are replacing a previous generation named Onyx.

It was the eighth and final Atlas 5 launch of 2013, the highest one year total during the 12 year history of the Lockheed Martin developed vehicle.  It was also the 32nd consecutive Atlas 5 success and the 42nd Atlas 5 launch since the RD-180 powered rocket began flying in 2002.

Falcon 9 Performs First Geosynchronous Transfer Mission

The second SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1, and the seventh Falcon 9 overall, performed the Hawthorne, California company's first commercial geosynchronous transfer orbit launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida on December 3, 2013.  The launch boosted SES 8, a 3,138 kg communications satellite built by Orbital Sciences for SES of Luxembourg, toward a targeted 295 x 80,000 km x 20.75 degree supersynchronous transfer orbit. 

Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 occurred at 22:41 UTC.  The on-time launch took place after two prior scrubbed attempts.  A November 25 attempt was halted 3 min. 40 sec before launch by pressure fluctuations in the first stage LOX tank.  A last-second abort during engine start ended the launch attempt on Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 2013.  SpaceX replaced a gas generator on one Merlin 1D engine after that attempt.

Falcon 9's nine Merlin 1D first stage engines produced about 600 tonnes of liftoff thrust to boost the 69 meter tall, more than 500 tonne rocket slowly off its pad.  The first stage burn ended about two minutes 54 seconds after liftoff, with two engines cutting off shortly before the remining seven.  The second stage Merlin 1D Vacuum engine peformed two burns, with the first lasting about five minutes 20 seconds and the second about 71 seconds.  The stage coasted in a parking orbit for about 18 minutes toward the first equator crossing over the Atlantic Ocean before the restart. 

SES separated about 31 minutes 15 seconds after liftoff.

The second stage restart was a critical event.  A restart had failed to occur during the inaugural September 29, 2013 Falcon 9 v1.1 flight in a test of the stage after payloads had successfully separated into their planned low earth orbits.  SpaceX determined that hypergolic igniter fluid had been frozen by gaseous oxygen impingement during the flight.  The company added insulation to prevent a recurrence.

SES 8 became the first satellite boosted to geosynchronous transfer orbit by a two-stage hydrocarbon fueled rocket. 

It was the third Falcon 9 launch of 2013, the most in one year to date.  The launch was also the 10th of the year by all launch vehicles from Cape Canaveral.

China Launches Lunar Lander/Rover

China launched its first attempt at a robotic lunar landing mission on December 1, 2013 from XiChang space center in southwest China's Sichuan province. If successful, it would be the first lunar landing since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 landed during August 1976.

A Chang Zheng (Long March) 3B rocket, performing the 25th flight of China's most powerful launch vehicle, lifted off at 17:30 UTC from Launch Complex 2 with the 1.2 tonne Chang'e 3 lander, which carried the 140 kg "Yutu" ("jade rabbit") six-wheeled rover. The CZ-3B liquid hydrogen fueled third stage performed two burns during a 19 minute long mission to boost Chang'e 3 into a 210 x 389,109 km x 28.5 deg. elliptical earth orbit. After a four day transit to the vicinity of the Moon, the spacecraft is expected to insert itself into lunar orbit.  It is expected to attempt a landing upon the Sinus Iridum plain just northwest of Mare Imbrium on December 14.

Chang'e 3, China's third lunar mission, following two lunar orbiters, is planned to be the first of a series of landings.

Both the lander and the Yutu rover are equipped with plutonium heaters to keep the spacecraft warm during the two-week long lunar nights.

It was the year's 12th CZ launch and China's 13th orbital flight, but only the second launch from XiChang in 2013.


Progress M-21M

Russia's Soyuz-U launched Progress M-21M, an unmanned cargo hauler bound for the International Space Station (ISS), into orbit from Baikonur Cosmodrome Area 31 Pad 6 on November 25, 2013.  Liftoff took place at 20:53 UTC. 

Progress M-21M was equipped with a new rendezvous system that will be tested during a four-day period prior to docking with ISS.  The spacecraft carries nearly 3 tonnes of supplies for the Expedition 38 crew on the station.

It was the year's 14th R-7 launch and the 4th Progress.   Eight of the R-7 launches were in support of ISS.

CZ-2D Launches Remote Sensing Satellite

China's 20th CZ-2D lofted Shiyan Weixing 5, a high resolution remote sensing satellite, into a 739 x 755 km x 98 deg sun synchronous orbit on November 25, 2013.  Liftoff from Jiuquan LC 43 Pad 603 took place at 02:12 UTC.  

It was the second CZ-2D launch of the year and the 11th Chang Zheng family launch.

Rokot Orbits ESA Swarm Satellites

A Rockot/Briz KM successfully lofted a trio of European Space Agency Swarm satellites into low earth orbit from Plesetsk Cosmodrome on November 22, 2013.  The Swarm satellites, each weighing 473 kg, will map dynamics of the Earth's magnetic field from slightly differing orbits.

The three stage rocket, its first two stages from a retired RS-18/SS-19 ICBM, lifted off at 12:02 UTC from Area 133/Pad 3.  After the first two stages burned and fell away, the Briz KM third stage performed an initial burn to place itself and its payloads into a 153 x 476 km parking orbit.  The vehicle coasted for about an hour to apogee before the stage performed a 16 second long second burn to enter a 490 km x 87.55 circular orbit.  Satellite deployment occurred at 13:33 UTC.  The Swarm satellites will use their own cold gas Freon thrusters to manuever to operational orbits.

It was the third Rokot launch of 2013 and the 18th success in 20 attempts since 1994.  The first launch used a Briz K stage.   Subsequent flights used the current, upgraded Briz KM, beginning in 2000.

Dnepr Orbits Satellite Cluster

A Ukrainian built Dnepr launch vehicle orbited 32 small satellites on November 21, 2013 after rising from an underground missile silo at Dombarovsky missile base near Yasny, Russia.  Liftoff from LC 370/13 took place at 07:10 UTC.   The three-stage storable propellant rocket, a retired R-36MU/SS-18 ICBM, reached a sun sunchronous low earth orbit several minutes later.

Most of the satellites were CubeSats weighing less than 5 kg.   Two thirds of them were deployed from the rocket's modified multiple reentry vehicle warhead "bus"third stage.  Kosmotras, a Russian-Ukrainian company, oversaw the payload portion of the launch while Russian military forces performed the launch.  Among the larger satellites deployed conventionally were DubaiSat2, a South Korean/Emirates earth observation satellite and SkySat 1, a commercial imager for California's Skybox Imaging. 

It was the year's second Dnepr launch of 2013 and the 19th Dnepr launch attempt since the type entered service in 1999. 

China Launches Yaogan 19

China's state media stated that the satellite, which entered a roughly 1,200 km x 100.48 deg orbit, was an earth observation spacecraft designed to "conduct scientific experiments, carry out land surveys, monitor crop yields and aid in preventing and reducing natural disasters".  Western analysts belive that the satellite and others like it are also used for military reconnaissance.   Some believe that Yaogan 19 in particular carries a high resolution camera.

Minotaur 1 ORS-3 Launch

The 11th Orbital Sciences Minotaur 1 launch vehicle carried 29 satellites into orbit from Wallops Island, Virginia on November 20, 2013.  Payloads included the primary STPSat 3 satellite and 28 CubeSats provided by NASA and by university and high school students.  Total payload mass was 400.68 kg.

The four stage all solid motor rocket lifted off from Pad 0B at 01:15 UTC with the third Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) mission for the U.S. military.  Called "The Enabler Mission", ORS-3 demonstrated automated launch vehicle trajectory targeting and range safety processes.  These methods are intended to decrease launch costs.

Initial boost was provided by two repurposed Minuteman II missile stage motors (an M55A1 first stage and an SR19 second stage) fired sequentially.  An Orion 50XL motor performed the third stage burn, then remained attached to the fourth stage during a more than 5.5 minute coast.  About 10 minutes 14 seconds after liftoff, the rocket's Orion 38 fourth stage completed its burn to insert the Integrated Payload Stack into a 500 km x 40.5 deg orbit. 

STPSat 3 separated about 12.2 minutes after liftoff.   CubeSat deployment was expected to take place in stages during the subsequent 10 minutes.

It was the the final Minotaur launch under the initial Orbital/Suborbital Program-1 and -2 contracts.  No Minotaur 1 launches are currently planned, but future launches are theoretically possible under the OSP-3 contract.   Minotaur 1 uses upper stages and flight control systems from Pegasus XL, another rocket that currently has no future launches backlogged.  More powerful, Peacekeeper-based Minotaur 4 and 5 rockets have flown more often than Minotaur 1 and Pegasus in recent years.

Atlas Sends MAVEN Toward Mars

Atlas 5 tail number AV-038 launched NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft into a trans-Mars solar orbit from Cape Canaveral, Florida on November 18, 2013.  The two-stage, Russian-engined rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 41 at 18:28 UTC and quickly disappeared into a low cloud cover.  After the first stage completed its 4 minute 2 second long portion of the ascent, the Centaur second stage took over to perform two burns of its Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10A-4-2 LOX/LH2 engine.