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Subject:
All Seeing Amos
SYSOP
5/13/2015 6:45:36 AM
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keffler25
5/13/2015 8:25:56 AM
That is 'odd'.
Putting a 'communications satellite'
into orbit as a self payer using a Russian rocket.
That tells me THREE things.
a. The satellite was too heavy for Israel to launch (3 tonnes as a cap GSO is useful data about a nation's limits).
b. Offering commercial broadcast saddlebag services on a military satellite so publicly is an ingenious way to pay for a space warfare capability especially when offering those services to enemy nations as a commercial re-broadcaster.
c. Using the Russians to launch it, means that Israel is up to something it doesn't want Uncle or France to see. When Israel trusts Russia more than Uncle, then things are very bad.
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Spiky
keffler
5/13/2015 3:54:15 PM
Good points, sir.
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Nate Dog
agreed
5/13/2015 9:28:56 PM
3.5 tons is a bridge too far for Israelie space launch faculties, as I'm sure you're well aware, i assume its in a geo-synch orbit? Sounds like its fairly stationary by the description of where it services, so, no, Israel can't lift that big a payload that high, at least not yet, not with the current Shavit.
Having said that, it may have just been a monetary consideration, Russians use cold war surplus ICBM's for these kind of heavy launches. Its a use them or lose them scenario as these vehicles are past the end of their service life and the russians have neither the need, nor the ability to replace or refurb them, the cost of launch might've been a tiny fraction of what ULA would've charged for that payload. Had Space X been around and ready, they may have been the ones to lift it.
No one trusts the French.
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Sam P
5/21/2015 1:22:27 AM
a. Shavit probably can not send any payload to geosynchronous orbit, perhaps less than 500 kg to low polar orbit (which is what Israel launches its Ofek recon sats into). It is pretty small since it was derived from a medium range ballistic missile (why would Israel need to develop an ICBM?). Additionally, Israel's Palmachim launch site can only launch westwards towards the Mediterranean to prevent debris from a failed launch from falling onto populated areas and avoid lowish altitude overflight over Arab countries, so it loses the free boost from the Earth's rotation that eastward launches get for a prograde orbit (almost a necessity for geosynchronous transfer orbit).
b. AMOS-1 was launched on an Ariane 4. AMOS-2 was launched on a Soyuz. AMOS-3 and AMOS-4 were launched on Zenits. None of these launch vehicles are surplus ICBMs. Soyuz is a direct descendant of the first ICBM, the R-7, but since it uses non-storable liquid propellants, it is a technology line that was obsolete (for missiles) as soon as storable liquid and solid rocket engine based missiles were developed. Zenit isn't based on any ICBMs at all (the Zenit first stage was originally developed as a strap on for the Energia--the booster for the Buran spaceplane).
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keffler25
5/21/2015 12:30:44 PM
1. Israel now has an excuse to build a missile launch barge. (All those natural gas field need drill platforms, just add the missile barge to the queue. Shoot EAST, young man, shoot EAST.
2. Shavit is a bit small, but there are high energy solid propellants
(Italy has them)
that can be formed into solid fuel propellant candles that can be clustered and stacked together to put a three tonne satellite into GSO. This would mean bundling several Vegas together, but what is an Atlas, Delta, or the new Falcon 9 but a stacking and bundling of the liquid fueled equivalents?
3.
Of particular INTEREST was launch Vega launch #4.
There's your ICBM all wrapped up and ready to go.
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