Spacecraft Event
July 4, 2020, 4 a.m.
OSIRIS-Rex Sample Collection
101955 Bennu
The OSIRIS-REx is a NASA asteroid study and sample-return mission. The mission's main goal is to obtain a sample of at least 60 grams from 101955 Bennu, a carbonaceous near-Earth asteroid, and return the sample to Earth for a detailed analysis.
Rehearsals will be performed before the sampling event, during which the solar arrays will be raised into a Y-shaped configuration to minimize the chance of dust accumulation during contact and provide more ground clearance in case the spacecraft tips over (up to 45°) during contact. The descent will be very slow to minimize thruster firings prior to contact in order to reduce the likelihood of asteroid surface contamination by unreacted hydrazine propellant. Contact with the surface of Bennu will be detected using accelerometers, and the impact force will be dissipated by a spring in the TAGSAM arm.
Upon surface contact by the TAGSAM instrument, a burst of nitrogen gas will be released, which will blow regolith particles smaller than 2 cm (0.8 in) into the sampler head at the end of the robotic arm. A five-second timer will limit collection time to mitigate the chance of a collision. After the timer expires, the back-away maneuver will initiate a safe departure from the asteroid.
Long March 4
Gaofen-12
Launch Complex 9 - Taiyuan, People's Republic of ChinaGaofen is a series of civilian Earth observation satellites developed and launched for the China High-definition Earth Observation System (CHEOS), ...
PSLV-XL
Cartosat-3 & others
Satish Dhawan Space Centre Second Launch Pad - Sriharikota, Republic of IndiaCartosat-3 is an advanced remote sensing satellite with high resolution imaging capability developed by ISRO. It's designed as a follow-on to the C...
Ariane 5 ECA
TIBA-1 & Inmarsat-5 F5 (Global Xpress-5)
Ariane Launch Area 3 - Kourou, French GuianaTIBA-1 is a geostationary communications satellite for the Government of Egypt developed jointly by Thales Alenia Space (TAS) and Airbus. TAS, the ...
Soyuz 2-1v
Kosmos 2542
43/4 (43R) - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian FederationThis is a military inspector satellite, capable of monitoring other satellites in orbit. Its payload also allows for Earth observation activities.
Long March 3B / YZ-1
Beidou-3 M21 & M22
Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) - Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of ChinaThese two satellites will be used to provide global navigation coverage as part of the Chinese Beidou (Compass) satellite navigation system.
Kuaizhou
Kuaizhou
Jiuquan, People's Republic of ChinaLong March 6
Ningxia 1 (x5)
Unknown Pad - Taiyuan, People's Republic of ChinaNingxia 1 is a constellation of remote sensing satellites developed by Dongfanghong Satellite Co., Ltd.
Kuaizhou
Jilin-1-02A
Unknown Pad - Jiuquan, People's Republic of ChinaJilin-1 is a series of Chinese commercial remote sensing satellites.
Falcon 9 Block 5
Starlink 1
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral, FL, USAA batch of 60 satellites for Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. Since the demo launch of...
Long March 3
Beidou-3 IGSO-3
Launch Complex 3 ( LC-3 ) ( LA-1 ) - Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of ChinaBeidou is a Chinese satellite navigation system. Beidou-3 IGSO-3 is another addition to the part of the constellation consisting of satellites in a...
