Meeting the Future Launch Demand of International Earth Observation
- Paper number
IAC-10,D2,2,12,x8761
- Author
Mr. Peter Freeborn, Eurockot Launch Services GmbH, Germany
- Year
2010
- Abstract
With two recent, successful launches for the European Space Agency in 2009, Eurockot Launch Services GmbH of Bremen, Germany, is entering the tenth year of its operations as a provider of launch services for the Earth Observation and Remote Sensing Community worldwide. Given its continued availability beyond 2015, the Rockot launch vehicle used by Eurockot is expected to remain a viable candidate for future launches in the institutional market. The paper Eurockot wishes to present at this year`s IAC will focus on brief descriptions of the recent launches of GOCE, SMOS and PROBA-2 for the European Space Agency, on the results of the June 2010 launch of SERVIS-2 for the Japanese government and specifically on the comparative advantages Eurockot offers to the Earth Observation Community worldwide for their future missions. The paper will describe the launch scanario for these missions and the suitability of Rockot in the face of often assumed impediments associated with the Russian small launch vehicles, ITAR issues, commercial terms and the role of Russia as an international partner, to name a few topics. The venue of this year`s IAC in Prague is fitting in view of the fact that Eurockot provided the launch of the Czech Republic`s MIMOSA satellite in 2003 from its facilities at Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Northern Russia. Eurockot Launch Services GmbH is the joint venture operated by Astrium and Khrunichev Space Center and performs launches of small satellites of up to 1,500 kg into LEO orbits of polar and sun-synchronous inclinations.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)