It Was Approximately There
ORC-V2 “Reg” completed a standard LEO retrieval for a research institution client. The mission required an additional five days beyond the planned schedule due to a discrepancy between the client-supplied characterisation data and the object’s actual orbital state. The object was located, characterised independently, captured, and deorbited over the South Pacific uninhabited zone. The mission is considered complete and successful. The object is gone.
The client submitted characterisation data describing an object at 612 km, 52.1° inclination, stable nadir-pointing attitude, mass approximately 840 kg. The position was described as “confirmed.” Dr. Chen reviewed the data at the planning stage and noted it was [REDACTED].
The object was not at 612 km. It was at [REDACTED].
The attitude state was [REDACTED]. Reg managed.
Dr. Chen personally filed this mission report because, in his words, [REDACTED].
The additional five mission days were caused entirely by the characterisation discrepancy. The mission was completed successfully because Reg’s systems can adapt to objects that are not where or what the client says they are. We have this capability. We prefer not to use it.
The client, on receiving the mission report and the glossary, sent a response noting that the data they had submitted was [REDACTED]. We have updated our pre-mission forms accordingly.
| Service tier | S-01 Standard Retrieval |
| Vehicle | ORC-V2 “Reg” |
| Stated altitude | 612 km |
| Actual altitude | 588 km (within tolerance) |
| Stated inclination | 52.1° |
| Actual inclination | 53.4° |
| Stated mass | 840 kg |
| Actual mass | ~1,140 kg (35% higher) |
| Stated attitude | Stable nadir-pointing |
| Actual attitude | Slow irregular tumble, 2.1 rpm. Not the same thing. |
| Age of client characterisation data | Five years. We know this now. |
| Mission duration | 31 days (planned: 26) |
| Re-entry confirmed | South Pacific uninhabited zone |
| Glossaries sent to client | 1 (attitude states). Mandatory reading. |
| Form 3-Q fields added post-mission | 1 (characterisation data date). Mandatory field. |
- Form 3-Q now includes a mandatory field for the date of characterisation data. This field was added directly after this mission. Submissions with characterisation data older than 24 months trigger an automatic request for updated data. This has already saved time on two subsequent missions.
- The attitude state glossary has been added to the pre-mission briefing pack as Appendix C. It covers twelve common attitude states with telemetry signatures and annotated diagrams. Dr. Chen wrote it himself over a long weekend. It is thorough. We recommend it to all clients.
- Reg’s ability to adapt to an object that was 35% heavier than stated and in an uncharacterised tumble state is a testament to the vehicle’s systems and the ground team’s mission planning. We note this without specifically attributing it to anyone because the relevant team members find this sort of recognition uncomfortable. They know who they are.
- The additional five mission days were absorbed without impact to the following mission in the manifest. We had built contingency into the schedule. We always build contingency into the schedule. We have never previously been asked why. We will now mention it in the pre-mission briefing.