L2 Resources: 300mb of exclusive Sea Launch failure aftermath images. Zenit Launch Vehicle Manual and Payload Planner\u2019s Guide, plus more.<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n **Sea Launch FAILURE Pages with images**<\/em> \u2013 Over 240,000 reads.<\/font><\/p>\n **NASASpaceFlight.com exclusive videos of the explosion**<\/em> <\/font><\/em><\/p>\n **LIVE EVENT PAGES FOR Sea Launch Zenit-3SL\/Thuraya 3**<\/em><\/p>\n **FREE Sea Launch Zenit-3SL\/Thuraya 3 Launch Video**<\/em><\/font> \u2013 available now \u2013 <\/em>Free to all forum members (registration is free \u2013 we do not use your e-mail for spam, only to send you your forum password \u2013 which is automated. Space Technology (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n <\/font><\/p>\n It\u2019s been a tough 12 months for Sea Launch, following the failed launch which occurred with the NSS-8 communications satellite for SES New Skies, with the vehicle exploding on the launch pad, destroying both the vehicle and satellite. <\/font><\/p>\n A number of launch contracts were lost to their main rivals, most notably Intelsat\u2019s Horizon 2 and Intelsat 11 launch deals, which moved to Arianespace. <\/font><\/p>\n The failure was caused by a loose bolt, or metal shard in the LOX tank, which was ingested into the vehicle\u2019s RD-171 engine\u2019s turbopump, causing the vehicle to lose thrust as the vehicle was lifting off the Odyssey Launch Platform \u2013 which itself required extensive repairs. <\/font><\/p>\n The main repair effort focused on building and reinstalling the 280 ton replacement flame deflector, which was destroyed when the Zenit-3SL \u2018fell through\u2019 the launch platform. <\/font><\/p>\n Other completed work includes repair and installation of the platform\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hangar doors and communication antennas, and replacement of heat-affected wiring and cables. <\/font><\/p>\n **Click here for full background on the failure and the subsequent repair efforts** <\/p>\n The launch was delayed from its orginal launch date late last year, before being postponed due to the weather at the pacific ocean launch site, although no issues had been worked with the vehicle. <\/font><\/p>\n Boeing designed and built the GEO-Mobile (GEM) spacecraft in El Segundo, California, for Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company, based in the United Arab Emirates. Boeing also built, and Sea Launch successfully deployed into orbit, Thuraya-1 (October 20, 2000) and Thuraya-2 (June 10, 2003). The satellites are designed to provide a range of mobile voice and data services over large geographic regions. <\/font><\/p>\n With a designed lifetime of 12 years, the satellite will be positioned in Geosynchronous Orbit, 35,786 km (22,236 miles) above the Earth, at 98.5E orbital location. Once launched, Thuraya-3 will double Thuraya\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s current coverage by moving further towards Asia-Pacific to include major markets such as China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia and Australia<\/font><\/p>\n Lifting off from the Odyssey Launch Platform at 154 degrees West Longitude, a Zenit-3SL rocket will place the 5,180 kg (11,420 lb) Thuraya 3 satellite into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit, with the spacecraft separating from the upper stage at 1,388 miles above the Pacific Ocean. The flight plan calls for deployment into a 6.2 degree inclined orbit, an optimal orbital location for the Thuraya system. <\/font><\/p>\n Two-and-a-half minutes after lift-off, the first stage and then the payload fairing will separate. Six minutes later, the second stage will separate from the Block DM upper stage. After the first burn of the Block DM, the spacecraft will coast in a parking orbit for one hour, performing thermal maneuvers, such as a slow roll, to maintain a benign satellite environment. <\/font><\/p>\n Following this coast, the Block DM will burn a second time for about six minutes and then coast again until spacecraft separation, over the Pacific Ocean, north of New Zealand. Boeing is expecting to acquire a signal from the spacecraft at a ground station in Uralla, Australia.<\/font><\/p>\n Established in 1995, the Sea Launch consortium is owned by Boeing, Kvaerner ASA of Oslo, Norway, Yuzhmash of Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, and RSC-Energia of Moscow.<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>Full mission background is available on the live event page \u2013 linked above.<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sea Launch have finally returned to flight, with the lift-off of their Zenit-3SL launch vehicle, carrying the Thuraya 3 telecommunications satellite for the United Arab Emirates. Launch was at 11:49am GMT, with the satellite successsfully placed into its desired orbit. NASASpaceflight.com covered the launch as a live event, with extensive background, live updates, images and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41504"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41504\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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Mission background:<\/u><\/em><\/font><\/p>\nThe failure also caused fallout with United Launch Alliance\u2019s Atlas V, which had to be cleared prior to the launch of STP-1, due to engine commonality. The Atlas V uses a RD-180 core stage engine, while the Zenit 3SL utilizes the RD-171, which share commonality via their manufacturer in Russia, NPO Energomash.<\/p>\n