9 Jul
2024
9 Jul
'24
6:55 p.m.
I have not heard anything about pre-launch TLEs, but I did find this article from ESA:
https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/Tracking_Ariane_6_as_it_soar...
That page gives us pass over Western Australia at T+50 minutes.
The YP sat page gives us a "Telecommunications window" over Europe from T+117 minutes to T+ 136 minutes. Interpolating and extrapolating from that, it looks like ground stations in nortwestern south america could detect Genesis-A at about T+100, and India at T+ 150 or so.
“Compared to a satellite, a launcher is a very dynamic object: it can rotate and thrust as it passes overhead,” says ESA's Gerhard Billig. in one of the linked articles. Quite a challenge for hams to receive a downlink for sure!
de KM1P Joe