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BSA - British Space Agency [Pic Heavy]


Captain_Party

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British Space Agency

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Background

After splitting from the European Union, the United Kingdom decided to form it's own space agency. After building a brand new, state of the art space centre near the white cliffs of Dover, the agency hired some of the best and brightest the commonwealth had to offer. As the space agency has no sort of income other than government funding, the agency agreed to launch some of the smaller commonwealth nations payloads for a price.

Agency Policies

Under agreement from parliament, the agency had to agree to follow specific rules.

-No firing of atomic rocket motors in any planet's atmosphere.

-Launch stages must be de-orbited after use, so as to not contribute to Kessler Syndrome.

-All spent stages must either burn up in the atmosphere, crash onto the surface, or on Earth, splashdown in the bay near the Dover Space Centre.

Edited by Captain_Party
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Infrastructure

Spaceports

- Dover Space Centre (Earth)

Space Stations

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Colonies

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Satellites

- Athena 1 - (Earth, 200x250km Orbit) - inactive

- UKSAT-01 - (Earth, GEO, 0 º N) - active

- UKSAT-02 - (Earth, GEO, 180 º E) - active

- UKSAT-03 - (Earth, GEO, 360 º S) - active

- UKSAT-04 - (Earth, GEO, -180 º W) - active

- Apollo 1 - (Moon, 250km Orbit) - active

Edited by Captain_Party
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Athena 1 - Send research satellite to Earth orbit

Primary Goal

- Launch Athena I into LEO. It will remain in orbit for the foreseeable future, measuring gravitational flux in the Earths magnetic field.

Secondary Goals

- Test the performance of the Diana-IA KeroLOX and MMH/NO4 fueled launch vehicle.

- Test the performance of the communications equipment, supplied by AIES Aerospace.

Payload

- Athena 1 - 700kg, indefinite lifetime with photovoltaic panels.

Mission Results

Success!

The Diana-IA launch vehicle preformed perfectly, placing Athena 1 into a 200 by 250km equatorial orbit. First stage burnout occurred 1m30s into the flight, and stage separation occurred with no problems.

Fairing sep and second stage sep occurred as planned, with no problems. All in all, it was a very successful first flight.

Edited by Captain_Party
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Robin-Logan-2 LV - Test Flight

Primary Goal

- Launch the RL-2 LV into a 300km equatorial orbit.

Secondary Goals

- Test the performance of the new RL-2 Launch Vehicle

- Test the performance of the twin-nozzled RD-180

Payload

- Dummy Payload - 3 tons

Mission Results

Success!

The new launch vehicle worked perfectly. The first stage cut out at around 20km up, 1m35s after launch. Stage separation was nominal. The second stage ignited without fail and proceeded to push the dummy payload into a 300x 299km equatorial orbit. This will be out primary LV for our planned Geo-Sync satellite constellation. It will also serve a purpose as a launcher for unmanned interplanetary voyages to Mars and Venus. All in all, this was a very successful test flight of the new Robin-Logan launch vehicle.

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CSAT-01 - Geo-Synchronous Communications Network

Primary Goals

- Launch CSAT-01 into GTO

- Circularise and set up communications and science equipment

Secondary Goal

- Investigate Earths gravitational field

Payload

- CSAT-01 - Geo-Synchronous communications satellite

Mission Results

Success!

Once again, the RL-2 Launch Vehicle preformed swimmingly, and managed to get the satellite into a 300km circular equatorial orbit. The second stage preformed half of the burn for GTO, then the transfer stage did the rest. All that remains now is to get the second, third and fourth satellite up into orbit, to complete the network. After this the agency hopes to send a small unmanned orbiter to the planet Mars.

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Edited by Captain_Party
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The Irish Aeronautical and Extrakerbestrial Society wishes you the best of luck in your endeavours, and politely requests that all launches from the Dover Spaceport be carried out in a prograde direction (not that we don't have the utmost trust in British engineering, but...)

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Update: I've finished the geostationary comsat network and I've named them UKSAT- instead off CSAT, to distinguish me from SEA. I've added scanSAT to the mod list, and with it I've launched the agency's first probe to the Moon, which I'll put up shortly.

Thanks, CP

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Apollo 1 - Lunar Surface Scanner

Primary Goals

- Launch Apollo 1 and send to the Moon

- Scan the Lunar surface for anomalies and future sites for unmanned and manned lunar landings.

Secondary Goals

- Fifth Launch of RL-2 launch vehicle

- First Mission to the Moon

Payload

- Apollo 1 - 2,267kg Lunar Surface Mapper

Mission Results

Once again, the familiar roar of the RD-180 engine powered into the sky for the fifth and final time. This would be first lunar probe sent into orbit by the BSA, and would map the surface of the Moon, scouting for anomalies and possible future landing sites. As we haven't got a full communications array around the Moon yet, Apollo 1 would only be able to communicate with DSC on the light side if the Moon.

All in all, it was a perfectly nominal launch, the craft was launched into a 600km orbit and sent to the Moon with the second stage of the RL-2, putting the craft on a impact trajectory, the probe decoupled and shifted it's orbit so it came into a 250km LMO. MOI was a mere 750m/s delta-v. The probe set up shop and started to scan.

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(After trying many times, the furthest I can get is halfway to Mars with the RL-2. It just doesn't have the delta-v for interplanetary missions. From here on out, all my launchers will be based on real ones. I'm thinking either Atlas V or Ariane 5. Also, I'm adding MeTheBull's PPTS to the mod list, for crew transfer to future stations.)

Edited by Captain_Party
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You bet, we brits don't hang around :D I'm trying to make a nice looking launchers for manned ships and IP probes, I'll still use the RL-2, but it'll be less and less important. Right now I'm focusing on Lunar exploration and manned spaceflight. Can't wait to see what you put next :)

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