South Pacific Space Program
The South Pacific Space Program is a multi-national space program, created in part by the East Haven Aeronautical Center and the Denton Federal Government. The name comes from the main area of operations, Denton's South Pacific Territory, which was chosen for its vast expanse of surrounding water and lack of a large population, which makes hazardous testing less of an issue.
Contents
East Haven Aeronautical Center
The primary research and development and manufacturing facilities for the SPSP, located in East Lock Haven.
Creation
Programs
To remove reliance on the American Global Positioning System, the Denton Federal Government contracted AAC, East Haven Aeronautical, and the South Pacific Space Program to build, launch, and operate a domestic satellite positioning system.
The first phase of the new system, dubbed Rangikaru I (meaning eye of the sky), was launched in 1998. This composed of 4 satellites that were launched for the sole purpose of testing the system and working out any flaws and issues. These satellites only had a service life of 4 years, which was deemed enough time to get the ground based stations and orbital elements fully operational.
The next phase, Rangikaru II, was developed to launch the first constellation of operational satellites. It was to begin launches in 2004 but was plagued by delays. The first 4 satellites were launched before 2007 and a further 8 were launched by 2011.
The second part of phase II is to complete the existing constellation and replace the old satellites. Unfortunately, due to delays and the ever-nearing end of the original phase II satellites, the system is not expected to enter full operation coverage until 2022. The constellation will require 32 satellites to offer full coverage with redundancies, as well as replace the first 12 phase II satellites. The IIB satellites started launching in 2013 and four launches a year are expected to place all units in orbit by 2021.
Because GPS (USA), GLONASS (Russia), Galileo (EU), and BeiDou (China) operate at the orbits of 11.97hr, 11.26hr, 14.08hr, and 12.63hr orbits, respectively, Rangikaru was placed in an orbit of 16hr, a little farther than the other systems. In this orbit, 1.5 revolutions are made each sidereal day.
Rangikaru SNS is compatible with GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and Beidou, and it is hoped that the 5 independent systems working in conjunction with one another can provide accuracy up to 50cm/18in.
Ground Stations
- Cinclaire, Denton (Master Control Station)
- Piako Island, South Pacific Territory, Denton (Monitor Station)
- Stanley, New Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Monitor Station)
- Innishair, Salide (Monitor Station)
- Seminole, Texas (Monitor Station)
- Kaitaia, Zealandia (Monitor Station)
Scientific Research
Facilities
The South Pacific Space Program is headquartered in Lock Haven, but main launch facilities are located on Piako Atoll. As the program has expanded beyond the scope of its post-WWII roots, the SPSP has started to construct new facilities at Paremoremo Atoll, north-east of Denton, south-west of Recherche, to reduce the vast distances required to transport rockets and components. The Paremoremo Facility is slated to be opened in 2021, and split the operations between Piako and Paremoremo 40%-60% by 2031
