In the first use of a Thor as a space booster, the world's first polar orbiting satellite, Discoverer I, was launched by a Thor/Agena (Thor 163) booster combination from Vandenberg AFB. The mission was also the first successful flight test of Lockheed's Agena A upper stage vehicle designed for orbiting U.S. satellite systems. First polar orbiting satellite; KH-1 prototype; did not carry camera or film capsule.
An Air Force Thor/Agena A booster vehicle lifted Discoverer II into orbit from Vandenberg AFB. Discoverer II became the world's first satellite to be stabilized in orbit in all three axes, to be maneuvered on command from earth, to separate a reentry vehicle on command, and to send its reentry vehicle back to earth. The capsule ejector system malfunctioned, causing the capsule to impact near Spitsbergen on 14 April rather than near Hawaii as planned. KH-1 prototype; tested capsule recovery techniques; did not carry camera; capsule recovery failed. Because of a timing error, the US believed that the capsule landed somewhere on the island of Spitsbergen, north of Norway, instead of landing in the recovery zone near Hawaii. The capsule was never found; and CIA officials suspect it may have been snatched by the Soviets. The search for this capsule formed the basis of the book and film 'Ice Station Zebra'.
In the winter of 1960/1961, a US Discovery spy satellite capsule was found by loggers near Kalinin, 200 km north of Moscow. The loggers cracked it open with an axe. Sergei Khrushchev believed this to be the Discoverer 2 capsule. What was left was examined by Soviet engineers but didn't reveal much information - it was a polished aluminium sphere, 30 cm in diameter, gilded on the exterior. Some said it was found as early as the winter of 1959.
The Air Force MIDAS I satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral in the first successful launch of the Atlas D/Agena A booster-upper stage combination. MIDAS I, however, failed to achieve orbit because an accident at the Atlas-Agena staging damaged the Agena. The entire vehicle reentered and burned up about 2,500 miles downrange. Missile Defense Alarm System.
Missile Defense Alarm System. Test launch with W-17 sensor. The last Atlas D/Agena A booster to be used by the Air Force placed into orbit the MIDAS II infrared scanning satellite designed to detect and give early warning of missile launchings. Although intended to function for 40 months, the satellite's telemetry system failed on 26 May. MIDAS II was the first early warning satellite system placed in orbit.
ELINT satellite, retransmitting to US ground stations signals from Soviet radar stations. Classified at time; official purpose and secondary payload collected solar radiation data. Officially: Spacecraft engaged in research and exploration of the upper atmosphere or outer space (US Cat B).
A Thor/Agena A launched from Vandenberg AFB placed Discoverer XIII in orbit. On 11 August, the data capsule was ejected during the 17th pass and recovered Pacific Ocean near Hawaii by a Navy helicopter that was part of the 6593d Test Squadron's task force. Although the planned mid-air recovery was not made, the return of Discoverer XIII1s data capsule marked the first successful recovery of a man-made object ejected from an orbiting satellite. KH-1 prototype; designed to test capsule recovery system; did not carry camera; capsule successfully recovered from ocean.
The second Thor/Agena B to be launched from Vandenberg AFB was the first successful flight of the more advanced Lockheed Agena B upper stage. KH-1; film capsule recovered 2.1 days later. Mission failed. Obtained orbit successfully. Film separated before any camera operation leaving only 1.7 ft of film in capsule. On December 2, the Air Force revealed that exceedingly valuable information had been obtained from human tissues carried by Discoverer 17 (the cover story for the mission). The tissues had been exposed to an unexpectedly heavy dose of radiation for more than 50 hours in flight.
An Air Force Atlas D/Agena A was launched from Vandenberg and successfully placed the SAMOS II satellite into orbit. This was the last Air Force use of an Agena A upper stage vehicle. First generation photo surveillance; radio relay of images; micrometeoroid impact data. Poor results.
MIDAS III (Missile Defense Alarm System) satellite was launched into polar orbit from Vandenberg AFB by the first Atlas D/Agena B booster (97D/#1201). This vehicle achieved a record 1,850-mile orbit and was the heaviest U.S. satellite put up to date. Missile Defense Alarm System.
First attempted launch of Zenit photo-reconnaisance satellite. According to Kamanin, there was a problem with the third stage, and the capsule landed between Novosibirsk and Yakutsk, but could not be located. There was no information on the nature of the problem. Korolev stayed at Tyuratam, preparing for the next launch attempt.
First generation photo surveillance; return of camera and film by capsule; SAMOS type satellite. Reached orbit but failed to deorbit and be recovered. In his memoirs Sergei Khrushchev recounts recovery of what he believed to be a recoverable Samos, except the date given is the winter before tests of this configuration actually started. He relates that a second American capsule was recovered in the spring of 1961. It was equipped with a 30 cm lens and 100's of metres of 10 cm wide film. Also recovered were a pear-shaped module made of fibreglass, and an inertial orientation system powered by electric motors. It may have been a SAMOS prototype. The capsule was found by tractor drivers, who disassembled it and used the film to wrap around the frame of their outhouse to provide some privacy in the treeless area. Unfortunately this ruined the film, preventing the Russians from developing it and discovering the technical capabilities of the system.
The first Scout vehicle (#111) was launched from Vandenberg AFB and carried the Navy's Solar Radiation (SOLRAD 4B) payload (which was actually the last classified Grab ELINT satellite). However, a third stage failure resulted in payload impact 225-NM downrange. Solar radiation monitor.
Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite. Program partially completed. Failure of primary spacecraft orientation system. It was to spend four days in space, to be followed by another mission during 5-10 May. This meant that Vostok 3/4 could not be launched before 20-30 May. The cosmonaut prime crew returned from their in-suit parachute training at Fedosiya.
Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite. Third attempted launch of Zenit photo-reconnaissance satellite. It blew up 300 m from the pad, and did enough damage to put the launch complex out of operation for a month. Therefore the Vostok 3/4 launches could not take place until the end of July at the earliest.
The first Agena D (#1151) upper stage vehicle was successfully flown on a Thor booster (#340) launched from Vandenberg AFB. The Lockheed Agena D was a redesign of the basic Agena B and was intended to be the standard stage vehicle for most Defense Department and NASA programs. The program was begun in August 1961, revised and accelerated in November, and had its first flight in June 1962. KH-4; film capsule recovered 4.1 days later. Severe corona static.
First launch of a triplet of Poppy naval signals intelligence satellites, which would lead to the NOSS production series. Official and secondary mission: Solar radiation data. Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A).
An Air Force Thor/Agena B launched from Vandenberg established a number of distinctive records. It was the 200th Thor to be launched since Number 101 was launched at Cape Canaveral on 25 January 1957. It was the first, last and only-Thrust Augmented Thor/Agena B to be used by the Air Force. It was the final Agena B (#2314) to be employed with a Thor booster.
The Air Force launched its first Atlas D/Agena D from Vandenberg. This was the 100th Agena (Number 4702) space vehicle used since 28 February 1959. KH-7 type satellite. Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A).
Space Systems Division, acting.as program manager for the Defense Department, launched two Vela nuclear radiation detection satellites from Cape Canaveral aboard the first Atlas D/Agena D (SLV-3/SS-01A) launch vehicle (197D). The Vela satellites were developed and produced by the TRW Systems and were the first pair in a series of satellites designed to provide information on nuclear detonations in the atmosphere or in outer space to a distance of 100 million miles. The 297-pound satellites were placed in near-circular orbits approximately 70,000 miles above the Earth's surface. Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A).
Atlas 109F was the final Atlas research and development flight test missile to be launched. Since the first attempted launch of a Series A Atlas on 11 June 1957, 95 Atlas missiles had been used in the R&D program - eight As, nine Bs, six Cs, 32 Ds, 24 Es, and 16 Fs. All but 12 of these were launched from Cape Canaveral. Of the 95 launches, 57 were considered successful while 38 were failures. KH-7 type satellite. Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A).
First launch of a triplet of Poppy naval signals intelligence satellites, which would lead to the NOSS production series. Official and secondary mission: Gravity gradient stabilization tests. Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A).
An Atlas D/Agena D launch vehicle (Atlas 216D), carrying the second set of Vela Nuclear Detection Satellites, was launched from Cape Canaveral and placed the satellites in their prescribed orbits. Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A).
An Atlas D/Agena D launch vehicle (Atlas 216D), carrying the second set of Vela Nuclear Detection Satellites, was launched from Cape Canaveral and placed the satellites in their prescribed orbits. Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A).
The first Atlas/Agena D standard launch vehicle (SLV-3, 7100 Series) was successfully launched from Vandenberg AFB. This vehicle, Number 7101, was the first Atlas booster to be designed and produced to fully standardized specifications. KH-7 type satellite. Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A).
High resolution photo reconnaissance satellite; returned film capsule; also carried weather experiments. The Zenit-4 launches a day ahead of schedule. The booster rocket performs perfectly as Korolev and Kamanin watch from the veranda of the IP-1 tracking station. This confirms readiness of the same launch vehicle for the Voskhod launch.
The 100th Thor/Agena, a Thrust Augmented Thor/Agena D (421/1170) was launched from Vandenberg AFB by the 6595th ATWg. KH-4A. Primary mode of recovery failed on second portion of the mission (1011-2). Small out of focus areas present at random on both cameras.
A Thor/Agena D booster was employed to launch eight military satellites into orbit from Vandenberg AFB. This was the largest number of individual payloads yet orbited by the United States with one launch vehicle. First launch of a quadruplet of Poppy naval signals intelligence satellites, which would lead to the NOSS production series. Official and secondary mission: Solar radiation data.
A Thor/Agena D booster was employed to launch eight military satellites into orbit from Vandenberg AFB. This was the largest number of individual payloads yet orbited by the United States with one launch vehicle. Surveillance calibration. Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A).
The fourth Titan IIIA flight test missile (Vehicle #6) was launched from Complex 20 at Cape Canaveral in a maneuverability test for the Transtage. The primary aim was for the Transtage engine to accomplish four separate ignitions, something never before attempted. In the process of successfully completing its four programmed ignitions and burns, the Transtage placed two satellites into orbit - a Lincoln Experimental Satellite (LES-2) and a hollow aluminum radar calibration sphere (LCS-1). By completing its assigned tasks, the Transtage extended the capabilities of the Titan IIIA beyond it's specific requirements. Because of this highly productive mission, the planned fifth Titan IIIA (Vehicle 7/4) launch was cancelled and the booster was converted to a Titan IIIC configuration. Aluminum sphere used for radar calibration. Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A).
The second Titan IIIC (Vehicle #4) was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral. This was the first Titan IIIC to carry an operational payload. Three satellites were placed in orbit - an LCS-2 radar calibration sphere, an OV 2-1 radiation sensor, and a metal-ballasted dummy payload. All systems performed well until the second planned burn of the Transtage engines just prior to the injection of the multiple payload into orbit. At this point in the mission, the Transtage exploded due to a malfunction, abruptly terminating the mission. Dual launch with OV2-1; upper stage broke up.
After the initial launch attempt oil the 28th was held at T minus 12 seconds, the first Titan IIIB/Agena D was successfully launched from Vandenberg AFB. All primary and secondary test objectives were met during the launch and flight which completed the research and development program for the Titan IIIB. This newest member of the Titan III (SLV-5) KH-8 type satellite. Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A).
Two new and heavier Vela Nuclear Detection Satellites and three scientific satellites were placed in orbit by a Titan IIIC (Vehicle #10) launched from Cape Canaveral. The two Vela satellites joined six other Vela spacecraft already on sentry duty 69,000 miles above the earth. Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A).
Two new and heavier Vela Nuclear Detection Satellites and three scientific satellites were placed in orbit by a Titan IIIC (Vehicle #10) launched from Cape Canaveral. The two Vela satellites joined six other Vela spacecraft already on sentry duty 69,000 miles above the earth. Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A).
Second launch of a quadruplet of Poppy naval signals intelligence satellites, which would lead to the NOSS production series. Official and secondary mission: Gravity gradient stabilization tests. Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A).
Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite. Unsuccessful mission. Spacecraft failed to separate from Block I stage. Attempt was made to conduct mission without orientation system. APO self destruct system destroyed spacecraft on 126th revolution over Sea of Okhotsk. First generation, low resolution photo surveillance; recovery probably failed.
The last scheduled Air Force Thrust Augmented Thor/Agena (SLV-2A //498/SS-01B #2733) to be launched from Vandenberg AFB was the 150th Thor/ Agena vehicle fired from there since Discoverer I was launched on 28 February 1959. From now on, the Air Force would use the more advanced Long Tank Thrust Augmented Thor (SLV-2G) - Thorad - and the newer SLV-2H.
The first "stretched" Atlas SLV-3A/ Agena D was launched from the Eastern Test Range. The "stretched" Atlas had an additional 117-inch tank section to provide more fuel, a longer burn time, and increased payload capability. First launch in a communications intelligence program operated by the USAF within the National Reconnaissance Office, on behalf of the National Security Agency. The first generation series, CANYON, was based on the Agena vehicle. The Agena D remained attached to the spacecraft. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit over the Indian Ocean. Last known longitude (30 December 1968) 98.50 deg W drifting at 0.166 deg E per day.
The 13th, and final, Titan IIIC research and development booster (Vehicle #15) lifted two Vela satellites, the fifth pair of such nuclear detection spacecraft, and three experimental satellites into orbit from Cape Canaveral. This launch concluded the highly successful Titan III research and development program initiated in 1962. Out of 13 Titan IIIC and four Titan IITA vehicles launched, 10 Titan IITCs were complete successes, two were partial successes, and only one was a failure, while three of the four Titan IITA launches were rated successful. Radiation, low-energy particle, solar flare data. Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A).
An Air Force Titan IIIC launched the 500th satellite to be placed in orbit successfully by a vehicle launched from Cape Canaveral. First generation geosynchronous ballistic missile launch detection satellite; placed in incorrect subsynchronous orbit. One account claimed that it exhausted its propellant before it could be put into operation, but a 2007service history chart showed that is was considered operational for three years, well beyond its planned life.
KH-4B. The launch vehicle had a very cold boattail due to a hose discovered to be leaking away warming air to the boattail. The boattail was colder than usual, below freezing. Based on earlier tests of the Thor for just that condition, as relayed by Ed Dierdorf, Thor chief engineer at the time, the temp low was of no concern.
The only problem was that those tests were made with a Thor that carried a Rocketdyne engine lubricated with "lube oil". The Thor being launched used a fuel additive, "Orinite" (like STP "super snot"). The technician that pumped the Orinite into its cannister later stated, "It wasn't for lack of orinite. I put it in just like the procedure said, and I could feel when it was full (with the hand pump). To make sure, I gave it another slug."
That "other slug" cracked the output valve that was only supposed to be cracked by turbopump output pressure. When it cracked the output valve a bit of the "honey" squirted down the tube toward engine bearing jets. This line had a low spot in it by design. The Orinite settled there. When it was chilled by the low temp air at lox loading, the Orinite formed a plug.
Unaware of this chain of circumstances, Launch Director Philip Payne made the decision to launch. The rocket (carrying Agena D and payload) flew for 18 seconds, then wiped out its gears, causing the turbine to overspeed and shed its vanes. These punctured various parts in the boattail like machine gun bullets. With loss of power, the rocket fell not far from the launch pad into Bear Creek canyon.
The final cause was therefore found to be loss of engine lubrication at startup.
First generation geosynchronous ballistic missile launch detection satellite. First completely sucessful operational satellite, remained in service for nearly 12 years. Positioned over the Indian Ocean at 75 deg E in 1979-1982. As of 1983 May 11 located at 73.28W drifting at 7.684W degrees per day.
The improved model had an increased frequency range and on-board method of determining the position of fixed transmitters. The Tselina-2 prime contractors were TsNIRTI Minradioprom (M E Zaslovskiy) for the ELINT equipment and KB Yuzhnoye (KB-3, B S Khimrov) for the spacecraft bus. The launch vehicle was by OKB MEI Minvuza (A F Bogomolov) and the encrypted communications system by 0-TsNII KS MO.
First generation geosynchronous ballistic missile launch detection satellite, remained in service for over seven years. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit over the Indian Ocean at 75E in 1973; over the Americas at 105 deg W in 1979-1980. As of 1983 Jan 3 located at 73.21W drifting at 1.648W degrees per day.
Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite; returned film capsule. First test of small film return capsules planned for Yantar spacecraft. SpK capsule FEU-170 No. 1L experienced an electrical short circuit, which led to failure to separate the shell of the capsule after reentry, preventing parachute deployment. The capsule crashed into the ground.
Yantar second generation reconnaissance spacecraft. After failure of the first Yantar-2K launch, a review board recommended modifications to the Soyuz U launch vehicle. This second Yantar still used the Sokol control system from the Zenit and lacked the SpK small film recovery capsules. As planned, after 12 days, the main descent capsule was successfully recovered with its film.
Zenit-2M (area survey photo reconnaissance) satellite used for earth resources studies as part of 'Gektor-Priroda' project. Investigation of the natural resources of the earth in the interests of various branches of the national economy of the USSR and international cooperation.
Third Yantar-2K second generation reconnaissance flight, the first with the new Kondor attitude control system. This system experienced problems and failed on the second day of flight. The spacecraft's destruct package was activated by ground command and the spacecraft was destroyed on 6 September 1975 in its second day of flight.
First launch of a prototype for a new geosynchronous ballistic missile early warning satellite. Exploded in orbit. The next launch did not come until nine years later, so this may have been a version of the Oko elliptical orbit early warning satellite. As of 29 August 2001 located at 113.71 deg E drifting at 0.044 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 54.82E drifting at 0.255W degrees per day.
First orbital test of Chinese recoverable photo surveillance satellite. The spacecraft was brought down early, after three days in orbit, due to problems with the attitude control system cold gas supply. Along the skirt of the return capsule some wires and instruments were burnt during re-entry and capsule impacted far from its planned landing point. However usable film was obtained from the capsule. The Chinese Academy of Space Technology organised a team to determine the cause, and improvements were made in the next spacecraft of the model. Additional Details: here....
Fourth Yantar-2K second generation reconnaissance flight and the first with two SpK small film recovery capsules. First flight of the completely equipped satellite. The main reentry capsule and its film cargo were returned successfully. Both SpK capsules successfully separated from the Yantar in the course of the flight, but neither was recovered. The parachutes of the first did not deploy and the capsule crashed into the ground. The solid motor of the second capsule did not fire as programmed and the capsule did not deorbit at the expected time.
Second generation geosynchronous ballistic missile launch detection satellite, remained in service for over eight years. Positioned over the Atlantic Ocean from 1976 to 1981: at 35 deg W in 1976-1977; at 65 deg W in 1977-1979; and 35 deg W in 1979-1980; and 65 deg W in 1980-1981. Then moved over the Pacific Ocean at 125 deg W, then 140 deg W in 1981-1982; then over the Indian Ocean at 75 deg E in 1982-1984.
Sixth Yantar second generation reconnaissance test flight and first completely successful flight. Both small SpK film capsules successfully recovered during course of flight, as was the main OSA cabin with its camera, computer, and main film cannisters. First full duration Yantar flight.
Yantar-2K second generation reconnaissance state acceptance test flight. Completely successful and led to acceptance of Yantar-2K into Red Army service in 1978. Area survey photo reconnaissance; returned film in two small SpK capsules during the mission and with the main capsule at completion of the mission.
SAMSO held a successful preliminary design review with Martin Marietta on the radio guidance system equipment for Titan III34Ds launched from Vandenberg AFB. KH-11 type satellite. Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A).
Zenit-2M area survey photo reconnaissance satellite used for earth resources studies as part of 'Gektor-Priroda' project. Nauka subsatellite 32KS jettisoned into independent orbit in the course of the mission. Investigation of the natural resources of the earth in the interests of various branches of the national economy of the USSR and international cooperation.
First Multi-Orbit Satellite / Performance Improvement ballistic missile launch detection satellite, remained in service for nearly six years. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit over the Pacific Ocean at 135 deg W in 1979-1982; 85 deg W in 1982-1984; 135 deg W in 1984; 125 deg W in 1985..
Zenit-2M area survey photo reconnaissance satellite used for earth resources studies as part of 'Gektor-Priroda' project. Investigation of the natural resources of the earth in the interests of various branches of the national economy of the USSR and international cooperation.
Zenit-2M area survey photo reconnaissance satellite used for earth resources studies as part of 'Gektor-Priroda' project. Investigation of the natural resources of the earth in the interests of various branches of the national economy of the USSR and international cooperation.
Zenit-2M area survey photo reconnaissance satellite used for earth resources studies as part of 'Gektor-Priroda' project. Nauka subsatellite 31KS jettisoned into independent orbit in the course of the mission. Investigation of the natural resources of the earth in the interests of various branches of the national economy of the USSR and international cooperation.
This was the worst disaster since the Nedelin Catastrophe on 24 October 1964. A commission of military officers and chief designers reviewed the incident and requested changes to equipment and procedures, especially as regarded liquid oxygen handling. Another source reports that the explosion occurred during the fuelling of the Block E upper stage, and was due to hydrogen peroxide being present in a lox line filter and a confusion between fuel and lox lines. This error had always been possible, but had never happened in the 20 years of use of the booster before the explosion. The launch pad was badly damaged and not put back into service until April 1983.
Successful state acceptance test flight of Yantar-4K1 satellite. Led to Yantar-4K1 acceptance for Red Army service the following year. High resolution photo reconnaissance; returned film in two small SpK capsules during the mission and with the main capsule at completion of the mission.
The first flight trials system was completed in December 1980, but delays in the development of the Zenit launch vehicle meant that the first two trials flights had to be aboard Proton boosters in 1984 and 1985. Zenit-boosted flights began in 1985 and the system was accepted into service in 1987.
Ocean surveillance; aka White Cloud type spacecraft; Navy Ocean Surveillance Satellite; PARCAE. Other sources give the payload designation ABSAD. The failure was caused by a loss of lubricating oil to one of the booster engines, causing the engine to fail approx 200 milliseconds before it was to have shut down on guidance command. The asymmetric thrust pivoted the booster around approximately 180 degrees, where it stabilized in a retrofire attitude with the sustainer engine still firing. It descended back toward earth through its own exhaust flame and exploded a couple of minutes later.
Multi-Orbit Satellite / Performance Improvement ballistic missile launch detection satellite, remained in service for nearly eleven years. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit over the Pacific Ocean at 69 deg W in 1981-1982; 135 deg W in 1982-1984; 75 deg E in 1984-1985. As of 2003 Mar 6 located at 40.27E drifting at 0.598E degrees per day.
Multi-Orbit Satellite / Performance Improvement ballistic missile launch detection satellite, remained in service for over sixteen years. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit over the Pacific Ocean at 68 deg W in 1982; 35 deg W in 1983-1988; 165 deg W in 1988-1989; 35 deg W in 1989-1991.
Photo surveillance; 2 small film capsules recovered in course of flight and main reentry capsule with remaining film, camera, and computer systems at end of flight. Final flight of the Yantar-2K/Yantar-4K1 series. All 12 Yantar-4K1 flights were completely successful.
Geosynchronous ballistic missile early warning satellite. Stationed at 24 deg W in 1984-1985; 80 deg E in 1986 As of 5 September 2001 located at 72.67 deg E drifting at 0.068 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 2 located at 81.39E drifting at 0.003E degrees per day.
Multi-Orbit Satellite / Performance Improvement ballistic missile launch detection satellite, remained in service for nearly eighteen years. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 135 deg W in 1984-1985; 65 deg E in 1985-1988; as of 31 December 1990 at 99.16 deg W drifting at 0.050 deg W per day.
Reserve Phase 2 DSP ballistic missile launch detection satellite fitted with Block 14 sensors, remained in service for nearly eighteen years. Observed Scud launches during Gulf War. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 155 deg W in 1985-1988; 65 deg E in 1988-1991; 145 deg E in 1991-1992; 105 deg E in 1992-1993; 5 deg E in 1993-1994.
Geosynchronous ballistic missile early warning satellite. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 35 deg E in 1985; 24 deg W in 1985-1986 As of 5 September 2001 located at 151.95 deg W drifting at 0.251 deg E per day. As of 2007 Mar 3 located at 24.42W drifting at 0.038E degrees per day.
First flight of Almaz radars imaging satellite taken out of mothballs after death of Ustinov. At the beginning of 1987 it was decided not to man the Almaz-T, instead operate it in a fully automatic mode. Thus the final Almaz cosmonaut training group was disbanded. Cosmos 1870 conducted remote sensing of the earth's surface, oceans and seas in the interests of various branches of science and the economy. Its side-looking radar had a 20-25 m ground resolution and functioned throughout its two year service life.
Geosynchronous ballistic missile early warning satellite. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 24 deg W in 1987-1991 As of 5 September 2001 located at 165.32 deg W drifting at 0.190 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 9 located at 85.03W drifting at 0.375E degrees per day.
Reserve DSP ballistic missile launch detection satellite fitted with Block 14 sensors, remained in service for only five years.. Observed Scud launches during Gulf War. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 35 deg W in 1988-1989; 10 deg E in 1989-1992; 35 deg W in 1992-1993; 105 deg E in 1993; 165 deg W in 1999.
First DSP-1 Block 14 ballistic missile launch detection satellite; first Titan 4 launch. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 165 deg W in 1990-1994; 145 deg W in 1999; 166 deg W in 2000.. Still in service as of March 2007. As of 2007 Feb 5 located at 145.23W drifting at 0.014W degrees per day.
Believed to be a modernised version of the Taifun-1 satellite, built by NPO Yuzhnoe. The satellite carried 36 small Calibration Spherical Object subsatellites to test Russian radars. These were released between December 27, 1989 and November 1, 1991. While Cosmos 2053 re-entered in 1997, by May 1999 the S5M upper stage was still in a 471 km x 485 km x 73.5 deg orbit. An on-board explosion blew it into 25 new objects.
Deployed from STS-36 February 28, 1990. Said to be designated 'Misty', and believed to be the first maneouvering stealth satellite. Barely visible, it was rediscovered by amateur observors in October 1990, with a ground track that repeated every nine days. It maneouvered again in early November 1990, changing its inclination by 1.2 degrees and entering a lower orbit with a three-day repeating ground track. Amateurs again found it in 1996 and 1997 in a 66.2 degree orbit with a 99.4 minute period. The decay date for the active satellite is believed to refer instead to debris; the actually satellite was probably deorbited after 1997, perhaps after USA 144 (Misty 2?) was put into operation.
Geosynchronous ballistic missile early warning satellite. First launch of improved second generation version. Declared purpose: 'Investigation of outer space and of processes occurring in the Earth's atmosphere'. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 80 deg E in 1991; 24 deg W in 1992-1993; 80 deg E in 1993-1995 As of 2 September 2001 located at 80.48 deg E drifting at 0.009 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 74.02E drifting at 0.040E degrees per day.
Second flight of Almaz radar imaging satellite. Surveyed the territory of the Soviet Union and of other countries for purposes of geology, cartography, oceanology, ecology and agriculture, and studied the ice situation at high latitudes. Launched eight months after its target date into an initial operational orbit of approximately 270 km with an inclination of 72.7 degrees, slightly higher than the 71.9 degrees inclination of Cosmos 1870. Unfortunately, the failure of one of the SAR antennas to deploy fully rendered that side inoperable. Returned images of 10 to 15 meter resolution through 17 October 1992. Its radiometer provided images of 10 to 30 km radiometer resolution over a 600 km swath. Its engines completed 760,000 firings during its 18 month service life.
Geosynchronous ballistic missile early warning satellite. Declared purpose: 'Relaying of telegraph and telephone information'. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 24 deg W in 1991-1992 As of 3 September 2001 located at 160.51 deg W drifting at 0.257 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 9 located at 94.69E drifting at 0.424W degrees per day.
DSP-1 Block 14 ballistic missile launch detection satellite, deployed from shuttle STS-44 on 25 November 1991. Only DSP launched from the shuttle before the Challenger disaster moved the payload to the Titan 4. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 130 deg W in 1992; 70 deg E in 1992; 8 deg E in 1999; 40 deg W in 2000. Still in service as of March 2007.
Geosynchronous ballistic missile early warning satellite. Stationed at 24 deg W. Declared purpose:'Investigation of outer space and of processes occurring in the Earth's atmosphere'. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 24 deg W in 1992-1996 As of 5 September 2001 located at 68.52 deg W drifting at 0.336 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 9 located at 171.17W drifting at 0.109E degrees per day.
Geosynchronous ballistic missile early warning satellite. Stationed at 12 deg E. Declared purpose: 'Investigation of outer space and of processes occurring in the Earth's atmosphere. Prognoz series'. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 12 deg E in 1993; 24 deg W in 1994; 12 deg E in 1994-1999 As of 4 September 2001 located at 53.14 deg E drifting at 0.397 deg E per day. As of 2007 Mar 8 located at 142.40E drifting at 0.029E degrees per day.
The only FSW-1 mission conducted during 1993-1994 was launched into an orbit of 209 km by 300 km at an inclination of 57.0 deg. In addition to an Earth observation Payload, FSW-1 5 carried microgravity research equipment and a diamond-studded medallion commemorating the 100th anniversary of Chairman Mao Tse-Tung's birth. The spacecraft operated normally until 16 October when an attempt to recover the satellite failed. An attitude control system failure aligned the spacecraft 90 deg from its desired position, causing the re-entry capsule to be pushed into a higher elliptical orbit (179 km by 3031 km) instead of returning to Earth. Natural decay did not bring the capsule back until March 12, 1996.
This space object is intended for assignments on behalf of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. High resolution photo reconnaissance; returned film in two small SpK capsules during the mission and with the main capsule at completion of the mission.
The second Fanhui Shi Weixing FSW-2 was launched on 3 July 1994 into an orbit of 173 km by 343 km at an inclination of 63.0 deg. The spacecraft remained in orbit for 15 days, making four small manoeuvres before successfully returning to Earth. The payload included Earth observation systems, a biological experiment, and microgravity research instruments. The retrievable capsule was recovered in China on July 18
Geosynchronous ballistic missile early warning satellite. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 24 deg W in 1994-1995 As of 5 September 2001 located at 170.85 deg W drifting at 0.127 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 58.90W drifting at 0.281E degrees per day.
Long duration film return military reconnaissance satellite. After returning multiple film capsules, the spacecraft was deorbited. This satellite provided Russia with the photo reconnaisance capability after a break of 7 1/2 months. This launch came on the 40th anniversary of the first successful launch of the R-7 rocket, from which the Soyuz-U was derived. It was the 250th launch of the Soyuz-U from Baikonur, the 350th launch from Launch Complex 31, and the 666th launch of a Soyuz-U.
Geosynchronous ballistic missile early warning satellite. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 23 deg W in 1997-1999 As of 4 September 2001 located at 142.44 deg E drifting at 0.028 deg E per day. As of 2007 Mar 9 located at 66.03W drifting at 0.329E degrees per day.
The Titan 4B placed the IUS upper stages and DSP-1 Block 14 ballistic missile launch detection satellite. payload into a 188 km x 718 km x 28.6 deg parking orbit. The first stage of the IUS burned at 18:14 GMT and put the second stage and payload into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. The IUS second stage fired at 23:34 GMT in order to place the spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit. However, at least one connector remained attached between the stages, and the second stage motor nozzle did not extend properly. When the stage fired, the vehicle tumbled wildly during the burn. Separation of the DSP was achieved. Although it could not perform its primary mission, it did provide a good test case in that the effects of radiation on its systems could be monitored as they underwent twice-daily passages of the Van Allen Radiation Belts. However after some weeks the hydrazine propellant aboard the satellite vented into space due to a broken fuel line. It was believed this had been induced by the wild ride aboard the IUS-2 stage.
Tracking stations downrange did not pick up the spacecraft. It was later determined that the rocket nose fairing failed to separate four minutes after launch. The extra mass caused the vehicle to reenter over the South Pacific on the first partial orbit. Space Imaging's Ikonos 1 was to have been the first commercial imaging satellite with a high a resolution camera.
This classified National Reconnaissance Office satellite represented the first successful Titan launch in four attempts. The payload had been reported to be a Lacrosse radar imaging reconnaissance satellite. However the short 50 foot Titan fairing was used instead of the 66 foot fairing used by Lacrosse. This only seems to be used previously for an Improved Crystal photo-reconnaissance satellite in November 1992. The payload therefore could be related to the ocean surveillance triplets, or be an Improved CRYSTAL derivative. Veteran amateur satellite-watchers believed it was the second launch of 'Misty', a stealthy optical reconnaisance satellite (the first launch being USA 53 in February 1990).
French optical military reconnaisance satellite based on Spot 4. Taken out of service in mid-October 2004, when the orbit of the satellite was lowered to 637 x 640 km, taking it out of the path of Helios 1A and the Helios 2A that would be launched in December 2004.
Passive naval electronic intelligence satellite. The satellite was placed in an initial 147 km x 442 km orbit at 65 degree inclination. The US-PM's propulsion module fired at apogee to circularize the orbit. Replaced the only previous remaining US-PM satellite which ended operations in November and reentered earlier in December 1999.
Early warning satellite, carrying a large telescope to monitor missile launches. The payload and fourth stage were placed in an initial 229 km x 523 km x 62.8 deg orbit; the fourth stage (Block-2BL) fired over South America on the first orbit and delivered the payload to its 12-hour final orbit.
Military Observation. Advanced imaging reconnaissance satellite. Relays digital imagery to earth via geostationary comsats. The last such satellite, Cosmos 2359, reentered in July 1999 after one year in orbit. The Soyuz-U launcher placed it in a 183 x 277 km x 64.8 deg initial orbit; it raised altitude to 240 x 300 km about 24 hr after launch.
DSP-1 Block 14 ballistic missile launch detection satellite. Delivered by the two-stage IUS-22 solid rocket into geostationary orbit. Fullfilled mission of DSP 19 launched in 1999 into the wrong orbit when its IUS stage failed. Still in service as of March 2007. As of 2005 Apr 2 located at 8.05E drifting at 0.166E degrees per day.
Military Technology satellite. Launch delayed from May 20 and June 6. Fifth STEP (Space Test Experiments Program) satellite. The satellite's main section was the STRV-2 experiment module, sponsored by the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization and the UK Ministry of Defense. This was to take infrared images of UK military aircraft at perigee, and then downlink data via laser. STRV-2 also carried vibration isolation and debris impact sensors. A secondary payload was the S97-1 CEASE (Compact Environmental Anomaly Sensor). This was an AFRL prototype sensor package to provide warning of spacecraft charging and radiation events. Air dropped in Point Arguello WADZ.
Mightysat 2.1, also known as Sindri, used a Spectrum Astro SA-200B satellite bus. The spacecraft carried a hyperspectral imager for earth imaging and spectroscopy, as well as satellite technology experiments such as advanced solar arrays. An Aerospace Corp./DARPA picosatellite experiment, consisting of two small boxes connected by a deployable tether, was deployed later. Similar picosats were deployed on the previous Minotaur launch in January 2000.
The National Reconnaissance Office satellite was reported to be an Onyx (formerly Lacrosse) radar imaging spacecraft built by Lockheed Martin. The Titan second stage reached a 572 x 675 km x 68.0 deg orbit and separated from the payload. Amateur observers reported the payload has made two small maneuvers and by Aug 23 was in a 681 x 695 km x 68.1 deg orbit.
The ZY-2 (Ziyuan-2 ('Resource-2'), while disguised as a civilian earth monitoring system, was actually code-named Jianbing-3 and was China's first high-resolution military imaging satellite. The cover story of the official Xinhua news agency was that the civilian remote sensing system would be used primarily in territorial surveying, city planning, crop yield assessment, disaster monitoring and space science experimentation. However the satellite was placed at a much lower altitude than the ZY-1 satellite and US intelligence sources indicated that it was a photo-reconnaissance satellite for exclusively military purposes, such as targeting missiles at US and Taiwanese forces. The new satellite was believed to employ digital-imaging technology and to have a resolution of 2 m or less. The satellite was designed and built by the Chinese Academy of Space Technology and was developed indigenously. It was said to be more advanced than earlier sensing satellites and was expected to have an orbital life of two years. The camera provided more than three times the resolution of the ZY-1 earth resources satellite. The Zi Yuan 2 satellite may have used the CBERS Sino-Brazilian bus of the earlier ZY-1. However it was also said to be of new design and demonstrated the capability to maneuver in orbit, adjusting its orbit after launch. In October 2000 Chinese scientists denied that the ZY-2 satellite had a military mission. It was said to be a remote-sensing satellite equipped with CCD cameras and an infrared multispectral scanner that could only identify objects on the ground with a resolution of several dozen meters to 1 km.
Twentieth Kometa cartographic satellite, using the Yantar service module with a Vostok-type reentry vehicle. It was announced as a dual civil-military geodetic mission. After a day it raised its orbit to 211 x 285 km x 70.4 deg. Landed near Orenburg, Russia on November 14. Deorbit burn was probably around 2230 GMT; the Vostok-style sphere landed at 2253 GMT.
The Kosmos-3M second stage entered an 81 x 614 km x 65.8 deg orbit but failed to restart at apogee, and reentered at the next perigee over Uruguay. The loss of the QuickBird 1 satellite was a heavy blow to EarthWatch Inc. QuickBird1 was a 1-m resolution commerical imaging satellite using a Ball Aerospace BCP-2000 bus. Their earlier satellite, EarlyBird, failed after a few days in orbit in December 1997. EarthWatch's rival, SpaceImaging, lost one satellite as well but its second Ikonos was operating in orbit.
Launch delayed from November 28. The Israeli commercial imaging satellite EROS A1 was owned by ImageSat (an Israeli-led company registered in the Netherlands Antilles) and built by IAI using the Ofeq-3 design. EROS A1 was placed in a sun-synchronous orbit together with the DS 5th stage. The 250 kg (dry mass) triaxially stabilized spacecraft carried a black and white high resolution (1.8 m) CCD camera, to obtain images (with terrain width of 12.6 km) of locations chosen by Israeli military or world-wide commercial clients, and downlink them at one of the 14 ground stations.
Launch postponed from February, then delayed from July 27. USA 159 was a US Air Force Defense Support Program infrared missile early warning satellite was placed by the Titan core into a 328 x 663 km x 28.7 deg parking orbit. The Boeing IUS-16 upper stage then fired its first solid motor to enter geostationary transfer orbit. The second IUS solid motor fired at around 14:00 GMT placing DSP Flight 21 in near-geosynchronous orbit. Still in service as of March 2007.
Launch delayed from August 23. Early-warning geosynchronous satellite. The Proton upper stage entered a geostationary transfer orbit after its first burn at 2152 GMT. A second burn was at 0310 GMT put the payload into its operational orbit. It was to provide early warning of missiles launched from the United States with the help of a heat-sensing array of detectors. According to the Moscow Kommersant newspaper, these early warning geosynchronous satellites belong to the US-KMO group, also known as Prognoz fleet, while the highly elliptical complement belongs to the US-KS group, also known as Oko fleet, both supplemented by about eight ground-based radars. As of 6 September 2001 located at 80.17 deg E drifting at 0.031 deg E per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 23.84W drifting at 0.002W degrees per day.
Launch delayed from July 31. Move of launch of the Intruder naval electronic intelligence satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) from the Titan to the Atlas launch vehicle. The Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS AC-160 put the vehicle in a transfer orbit. The phrasing of the launch commentary implied that the second burn left the payload in 'transfer orbit', but several observers saw the bright Centaur in the typical final deployment orbit of the earlier NOSS satellites. Therefore it seemed the first burn was to a transfer orbit of around 180 x 1100 km x 63 deg. The second burn at 1629 GMT put the Centaur and payload into an 1100 x 1100 km x 63 deg orbit. The design was apparently different from earlier generation NOSS satellites since only one companion satellite was deployed rather than two, in line with the lower payload capability of the Atlas. Prime contractor for the new satellites was again believed to be Lockheed Martin Astronautics at Denver. The NRL probably continued to have a management and technical role in the program under overall NRO auspices.
Launch delayed from June 27, July 18/22, August 12/21 and September1. The Orbital Sciences Taurus 2110 failed to remain in orbit. A problem a few seconds after first stage separation caused the T6 rocket to go off course; the rocket recovered and the remainder of the stages fired, but final cutoff velocity was too low to reach a sustainable orbit. The Castor 120 zero stage was on course but the Orion 50S first stage motor went off course. The satellites separated from the final stage as planned but burned up in the earth's atmosphere northeast of Madagascar before completing the first orbit. The final orbit was about 75-80 km x 425-430 km x 97 deg. The primary payload was the OrbView-4 imaging satellite. OrbView-4, built by Orbital, was a 368 kg box-shaped spacecraft carrying a 1-m resolution panchromatic camera and an 8-m resolution 200-channel hyperspectral imager with a 0.45-meter aperture. It was to be used by the US Air Force.
Launch delayed from September 25, October1. National Reconnaissance Office payload that was placed into a sun-synchronous orbit. It was speculated that the payload was an Improved Crystal imaging satellite. That would imply an operational orbit of 150 x 1050 km x 97.9 deg orbit. The satellite belonged to the National Reconnaissance Office's fleet of Earth Imaging System (EIS) satellites. A BBC website reported a resolution of 10 cm in the images. (A commonly used name for the EIS satellites was Advanced Keyhole.) The first member of the EIS fleet was USA 144 (1999-028A), launched in May 1999.
The QuickBird commercial imaging satellite was owned by DigitalGlobe (formerly EarthWatch) and used a Ball BCP2000 bus with a launch mass of 1028 kg and a dry mass of about 995 kg. The Delta upper stage entered a 185 x 472 km x 98.1 deg orbit at 1902 GMT. At 1948 GMT it reached apogee and fired again to deploy QuickBird into a 461 x 465 km x 97.2 deg orbit. The Delta then made a series of unusual depletion burns, lowering its perigee to 167 km and changing inclination to 108.9 deg.
Quickbird 2 was to be operational after a few months of calibration and "ground-truth" checkouts to market high resolution images. The 1.0 tonne satellite was reported to be capable of images with a resolution as small as 0.6 meter, though the standard products were to be coarser. Unlike the comparable quality images from IKONOS images, some of which are currently marketed exclusively to the US military, all Quickbird 2 images may be available in the open market.
Launch delayed from July 20. The PS4 upper stage deployed the 1108 kg Indian TES (Technology Experiment Satellite) into a sun-synchronous orbit at 05:09:10 GMT. TES was an imaging satellite equipped with cameras and instruments to test military reconnaissance satellite technology. It was probably based on the IRS remote sensing satellite and carried a one-meter resolution panchromatic camera. India decided to develop an independent indigenous reconnaissance satellite capability after the 1999 incursion of Pakistani troops into disputed territory in Kashmir caught it by surprise. TES was developed by ISRO, the Indian Space Research Organization.
Signal Intelligence Satellite. Launch delayed December 19. The booster put the satellite into an initial orbit of 145 x 405 km x 65.0 deg. At apogee the satellite ignited its own propulsion system to increase velocity by about 70-80 m/s and circularize the orbit.
The Blok-I upper stage and Oko satellite were placed in a 231 x 490 km x 62.8 deg parking orbit. Following the stage burn the Lavochkin US-KS (Oko) elliptical orbit early warning satellite built by Lavochkin was not tracked immediately, but later was reported to be in the correct standard orbit.
Military Observation satellite. Return to flight of the Shavit booster following a lauanch failure. Launch delayed from third quarter 2001. The three-stage Shavit rocket took off from Palmachim Air Force Base on the Israeli coast and flew westward to put the satellite in a retrograde orbit. The AUS-51 third stage solid motor entered a 262 x 774 km x 143.5 deg orbit and separated from the Ofeq satellite. Both coasted up to apogee at around 1620 UTC when Ofeq made a burn to increase its velocity by 33 m/s, raising the orbit to 369 x 771 km x 143.5 deg.
This was the second launch of the Arkon-1 electro-optical reconnaissance. The 17S40 Blok DM5 upper stage and satellite were placed by the Proton into a parking orbit. The DM then made two burns to place the satellite in its 1500 x 1836 km x 64.4 deg operational orbit.
JB-3 2 was nominally a Chinese (PRC) remote sensing satellite, although US intelligence sources indicated it had primarily an intelligence imaging mission. JB-3 2 was the name adopted by the USSPACECOM. Most news reports from China and elsewhere use different names: ZY-2B (acronym for ZiYuan-2B, translated as Resource-2B), and Zhong Guo Zi Yuan Er Hao, translated as China Resource 2. No information was available on the instruments onboard the JB-3 2, but officially it was intended 'for territorial survey, environment monitoring and protection, urban planning, crop yield assessment, disaster monitoring, and space scientific experiments'. The initial orbital parameters of this sun-synchronous satellite were period 94.1 min, apogee 483 km, perigee 470 km, and inclination 97.4�.
Delayed from September 12, October 29. ALSAT 1 was an Algerian imaging minisatellite. The 90-kg satellite was the first part of an international Disaster Monitoring System (DMS) for alerting natural/man-made disasters. ALSAT was built by Surrey Satellite for the CNTS (Centre National des Techniques Spatiales) in Algiers. It carriee a 32-m resolution 3-band imager, a 100 mN resistojet thruster for small orbit corrections, and a GPS receiver. The SSTL Microsat-100 class satellite was a 0.60m cube with a 6m gravity gradient boom. As well as gravity gradient stabilization, it used a momentum wheel to improve stability for imaging.
Optical reconnaisance satellite. First Japanese military space mission. Dual payload. Delayed from February 2003. The Tanegashima facility was under strict security, guarded by 400 police officers wearing bullet-proof vests. Waters near the pad were patrolled by the coast guard.
Originally to have launched September 2002; June 2003. A Russian newspaper report (Kommersant, 13 August) stated that Cosmos 2399 was a Neman (Yantar-4KS1M) imaging satellite, which used data relay satellites to return CCD imagery rather than physically recovering film. However some Western observors, when Cosmos 2399 raised its perigee on August 14 to 205 km and lowered the apogee to 330 km, believed this was more like the standard operational orbit for an Orlets-1 Don 17F12 film-return capsule imaging satellite. This seemed confirmed when debris was tracked around the satellite later on, which was then said to be due to a failed film capsule recovery attempt. Destroyed in orbit on December 9 after completing its mission.
American signals intelligence satellite placed into geostationary orbit. It was believed the payload was a successor to the USA-110 and USA-139 satellites launched in May 1995 and May 1998, referred to as 'Advanced ORION' by those not in the know. They were thought to be successors to the RHYOLITE missions of the 1970s. The satellite was originally to have launched April 28, 2002. Launch delayed seven times.
The Shenzhou 5 orbital module was essential an unmanned military reconnaisance satellite. It was never entered by the astronaut during the mission, and was equipped with two high resolution (1.6 m) surveillance cameras. It was expected to operate until at least spring 2004.
DSP-1 Block 14 ballistic missile launch detection satellite. Last flight of the IUS upper stage. Launch delayed from November 4, 2003, and January 17, 2003. Planned IMEX piggyback payload cancelled. Still in service as of March 2007, expected to remain operational until 2017-2022. As of 2004 Feb 15 located at 96.66W drifting at 2.464W degrees per day.
The announced mass of the two satellites launched was far less than the payload capability of the CZ-2C. It was believed that an unannounced military satellite may have been orbited. Object 2004-12D was in a much lower perigee orbit of 350 x 606 km x 97 deg and may have separated prior to second stage vernier cutoff.
Recoverable satellite officially stated to be conducting space scientific research, land surveying, mapping and other scientific experiments. Said to have improved experimental technology, with higher orientation precision and more complex on-board computers and software. Controlled from the Xian Satellite Monitoring and Control Centre. Successfully re-entered and recovered after 27 days in space at 23:55 GMT on 24 September.
Film-return reconnaisance satellite. Maneuvered on October 1 to a 213 x 330 km orbit. Believed to be an improved Yantar-4K1 with a longer lifetime - and given the code name 'Kobalt' previously applied to the defunct Yantar-4K2 system. When re-entry was commanded after only 107 days in orbit, there was speculation that problems had arisen with the satellite. Sources claimed the satellite had some kind of control problem, which was brought under control, and the two smaller film return capsules were successfully returned. But when the control problem reoccurred, it was decided to bring the main re-entry capsule down early. At retrofire, two objects were tracked as having separated from the spacecraft. Russian search teams were unable to locate the capsule after re-entry. Further launches of the satellite were put on hold until a State Commission could determine the causes of the failure.
Parasol carried a wide-field imaging radiometer/polarimeter called POLDER (Polarization and Directionality of the Earth's Reflectances), designed in partnership with the LOA atmospheric optics laboratory in Lille (CNRS-USTL). POLDER was designed to improve the knowledge of the radiative and microphysical properties of clouds and aerosols by measuring the directionality and polarization of light reflected by the Earth-atmosphere system.
The Essaim demonstrator was a system of several micro-satellites (Essaim means 'swarm' in French) for 'analysis of the electro-magnetic environment of the Earth's surface' (electronic intelligence). DGA, the French Ministry of Defence's procurement agency, developed the project. The system also comprised a ground control segment and a ground station for data processing. It was called a 'demonstrator' since the mission's objective was to assess the operational capability of such a system, paving the way for the next generation. The Essaim satellites were based on EADS Astrium's Myriade multipurpose micro-satellite. In early 2000, the DGA awarded the contract for the development, manufacturing of this turnkey system of micro-satellites and associated ground segment. Under the contract, EADS Astrium was also responsible for personnel training and system operations during the three-year life duration of the programme.
Last launch of an Atlas model using the original, innovative, balloon propellant tanks conceived in 1947. Third launch of new generation paired satellites used for tracking, characterisation, and intelligence on naval vessels and civilian shipping worldwide.
Delayed from 2003; February 2004; and June 30, July 10, September 9, 2005. Last launch of the Titan series put a classified National Reconnaisance Office satellite into polar orbit. Its orbital parameters, as determined by amateur observors, suggested it was an Improved Crystal electronic imaging reconnaissace satellite, replacing USA 129, which was launched in 1996.
Beijing-1 carried a 31-cm focal-length cartographic telescope with a resolution of 4 meters. It was to be part of the international Disaster Monitoring Constellation. Operated by Tsinghua University for Beijing Landview Mapping Information Technology Ltd.
First Iranian satellite, with an experimental surveillance camera payload. It may have used the Russian Polyot enterprise's Sterkh satellite bus. The same bus was to be used in future Nadezhda satellites. The Strekh bus was said to accomodate 80-100 kg satellites, and be 1.0 m high and 0.4 m in diameter, with a design life of 5 years. Sinah was 160 kg, and 0.8 x 1.3 x 1.6 m in dimensions. Or it may have been a version of the previously-announced satellite dubbed Mesbah-2.
Secret payload for the National Reconnaissance Office. The intended orbit was thought to be a "Molniya" elliptical 12-hour orbit with an inclination of 63 degrees. American data relay and signals intelligence satellites have used this orbit in the past, notably the Jumpseat series of 1971-1983. A secondary payload was later confirmed to be the first SBIRS-HEO (Space-based Infrared System) sensor. SBIRS was the successor to the DSP (Defence Support Program), which provided early warning of missile launches. Also carried the NASA/Los Alamos TWINS-A magnetospheric research payload
Tacsat-2 was a prototype rapid development/rapid deployment tactical military satellite that provided American Joint Task Force commanders direct control of a satellite providing both SIGINT and imagery with a resolution of better than 1-m. The known communications payload used an 8 GHz (X-band) downlink. This was the first orbital launch from Wallops Island since 1985. TacSat-2 was to have been launched by a Falcon-1 from Vandenberg into a sun-synchronous orbit. However, the failure of Falcon-1 on its long-delayed maiden in March 2006 caused AFRL to award a new launch contract for TacSat-2 and TacSat-3 to OSC in May 2006. The launch was achieved using OSC's Minotaur launch vehicle only seven months after contract award.
The satellite was the twelfth in the Indian Remote Sensing satellite series and was capable of providing scene-specific spot imagery. The panchromatic camera provided imagery with a spatial resolution of better than one metre and a swath of 9.6 km. Data from the satellite was to be used for detailed mapping.
Optical-3 Verification Satellite, an experimental satellite on a six-month mission to test payloads planned for the Optical-3 second-generation Japanese military optical surveillance satellite. The production-type Optical-3 satellite was expected to launch in 2009.
Recoverable capsule military optical reconnaisance satellite. Orbit was raised on 11 June to 182 km x 354 km; decayed until 19 June, when it was lowered to 175 km x 325 km. On 28 June the orbit was raised to 183 km x 348 km; on 5 July to 169 km x 375 km. Landed at 21:00 GMT on 22 August after a 76-day mission.
Classified National Reconnaissance Office mission. There appeared to be problem in the second burn of the Centaur upper stage. Amateur observors believed that two satellites were to be have been deployed in 1150 km altitude, 63 deg inclination, but that only a 776 km x 1246 km was achieved. However it was believed that the payloads could reach the final intended orbits using on-board propulsion
Third China-Brazil joint earth resources satellite. Much higher resolution optics and multispectral sensors expected to be useful for some military applications as well. The satellite raised its orbit to its operational altitude of 773 km two days after launch.
Asteroid belt unmanned probe designed to first orbit and survey the asteroid Vesta, and then fly on to the largest asteroid, Ceres. The Delta upper stage boosted the spacecraft and PAM-D solid third stage to 9.01 km/sec and a 185 km x 6835 km orbit. The PAM-D fired at 12:29 GMT and released Dawn after accelerating it to 11.50 km/sec and sending it into a 1.00 AU x 1.62 AU x 0.5 deg solar orbit. The ion engines were ignited on 6 October. Using its ion engines and a Mars flyby in February 2009, Dawn was scheduled to reach Vesta in 2011 and Ceres in 2015.
Final DSP launch. The series was to be replaced by SBIRS, which was in the middle of a troubled development program. The Delta 4H performed well after problems on its first launch. The RL10-powered upper stage made three burns before releasing the early-warning satellite in its final geosynchronous orbit. Total cost of the flight was $700 million, with the DSP worth $400 million. The DSP carried a special 25 kg supplementary payload designed to detect extremely small nuclear tests in space. The payload was required by a secret White House/National Security Council directive to detect any attempted covert nuclear tests by Iran or North Korea.
Follow-on to Canadian Radarsat-1 launched in 1995. Designed to provide C-band synthetic aperture radar mapping with resolution of 3 m to Canadian government users. Compared to the earlier model had greater resolution, vastly increased on-board data storage capacity, and capability to scan left or right of ground track. Planned lifetime of seven years.
Classified National Reconnaisance Office satellite placed in a Molniya orbit; orbital parameters are estimated. Believed to be the second in a new series carrying combined signals intelligence and early warning payloads. Probable sensors included the SBIRS HEO-2 infrared missile early warning package and the NASA/Los Alamos TWINS-B magnetospheric research payload.
First in the Persona series of Russian military imaging reconnaisance satellites. The initial orbit was 195 x 726 km x 98.3 deg. The spacecraft maneuvered itself into its operational sun-synchronous orbit on 31 July. Reportedly the satellite married the Yantar electro-optical bus with subsystems developed for the abandoned Arkon-1 reconnsaisance satellite. Said to have shut down in February 2009 due to an electronics failure.
RapidEye AG of Brandenberg paid for launch of a constellation of five environmental monitoring satellites in a single launch, each with a mass of 152 kg including 12 kg of propellant. The satellites had an optical resolution of 6 meters, and were designed to provide on-demand images for agricultural storm damage assessment and support of emergency services.
One of the two different series of military surveillance satellites launched under the YW designation, although YW 5 was in a lower orbit similar to the ZY-2 satellites, lower than previous YW satellites. The launch vehicle was announced as a CZ-4B, but appeared to be a CZ-4B with the CZ-4C's restartable YF-40A upper stage under the larger CZ-4C nose fairing.
First Lotos-S electronic intelligence satellite, built by TsSKB-Progress, Samara and KB Arsenal, Saint Petersburg, using the same bus as the Resurs-DK optical remote sensing satellites. Maneuvered from an initial orbit of 199 km x 904 km x 67.2 deg to operational orbit of 903 km x 906 km on 23 November.
Surveillance satellite. Carried the LISS-4 camera, a 6-meter-resolution imager, which was to be used for both military reconnaissance and civilian remote sensing. It also carried the lower resolution LISS-3 (23 m resolution) and AWIFS (56 m resolution), and an AIS Automatic Identification System payload for Comdev of Canada for tracking ships at sea.
First geosynchronous element of the Space-Based Infrared System, an expensive new multispectral early warning and tracking system that forms part of the American missile defense system. The system also include payloads installed on Molniya-orbit signals intelligence satellite (USA 184 and USA 200). The spacecraft carry an infrared telescope with a large focal plane infrared array to monitor large areas of the Earth at once. An internal moving mirror scans the visible disk of the Earth to detect and track possible missile launches. It also has capabilites to track high-altitude aircraft and thermal events on the surface. The new SBIRS network will succeed 23 DSP satellites launched from 1970 to 2007. GEO-1 was inserted into geostationary transfer orbit by the booster and used its own on Leros-1 apogee motor to maneuver into geosynchronous orbit.
Optical surveillance satellite. First launch into this inclination since 1994. Probably jettisoned two recoverable film capsules during the mission. Six reboosts during the mission maintained a 210 km x 250 km observation orbit. The main spacecraft landed at 20:48 GMT on 24 October.
Prototype optical surveillance satellite developed under the USAF Operationally Responsive Space program. Derived from Tacsat 3. Objective is to deploy small satellites to support military operations on short notice, either to provide a surge capability or to replace malfunctioning or disabled primary assets.
Quartet of electronic intelligence satellites, which succeed Essaim as France's next space-based SIGINT demonstrator. Like Essaim, Elisa consists of four Myriade microsatellites equipped with electronic intelligence instruments to intercept radar transmissions from space. Elisa was to offer a pre-operational capability until a fully operational space-based intelligence capability would be deployed in 2016.
First Chinese civil high-resolution stereoscopic Earth mapping satellite. The mission objective was to produce 1:50,000 scale maps and data for resource mapping, environmental surveying, disaster monitoring, city planning and national security needs. Project go-ahead was March 2008. For this mission the satellite had better positioning and attitude accuracy, multispectral capabilitym and high-data-rate data transmission to the ground - 2 x 450 Mbit/s. The satellite had a swath width of 51 km with a resolution of 2.1 m. The orbit provided a revisit period of 59 days.
Second geosynchronous orbit in the Space-Based Infrared System for detecting missile launches and tracking missiles, air vehicles, and certain surface events. The Centaur upper stage placed the satellite in a 182 km x 35804 km x 22.2 deg transfer orbit. SBIR-2 used its own engines to reach its operational geosynchronous orbit.
Triplet of naval surveillance satellites, believed to operate like the old US PARCAE/NOSS system, in which a group of loosely formation-flying spacecraft locate radio emitters using the difference in time of arrival of the radio signals at the different satellites.
First launch of China's Kuaizhou small quick-response launch vehicle. "Kuaizhou" means "Swift Boat". The solid propellant vehicle is thought to be built by CASIC in collaboration with the Harbin Institute of Technology and may be a derivative of the DF-21 family, like the failed KT-1 launch vehicle of 2002-2003. Development of the rocket began in 2010. The satellite's initial orbit was 275 x 293 km x 96.7 deg, raised on 27 September to 299 x 306 km. The satellite payload is operated by the State Remote Sensing Center. The satellite maneuvered following launch: its initial 275 x 293 km orbit, was raised on September 27 to 299 x 306 km. The orbit decayed to 279 x 288 km and then was raised on October 17 to 288 x 321 km; after a further decay another reboost on November 1 restored the orbit to 290 x 317 km. The third reboost on November 19 raised the orbit from 267 x 294 km to 287 x 322 km.
Flock-1 satellites, 3U Dove-class Earth imaging cubesats, for the San Francisco based company PlanetLabs, were deployed by the ISS JEM RMS at about 08:31 GMT on February 11. By February 15 all 16 satellites from the first Nanoracks bag had been ejected; by 19 February all of the Flock-1 satellites had been ejected.
First satellite in the European Commission's Sentinel/Copernicus Earth observing program. Sentinel-1A's C-band SAR was 13.3 x 0.8m in size. The satellite was only a quarter the mass of its predecessor Envisat which carried a wider array of instruments; in the Sentinel program there will be a series of smaller, more specialized satellites. At 05:14 GMT on April 5, Sentinel made a maneuver to avoid a very close pass by NASA's defunct ACRIMSAT satellite, which failed on December 14 2013 after suffering battery issues.
Classified satellite in an unusual high-perigee geostationary transfer orbit, possibly around 11,800 x 36,000 km, after an initial 174 km x 28,860 km x 28 deg orbit. CLIO's owner was an unidentified US government agency - possibly the National Reconnaissance Office. It may have a communications or signals intelligence payload.
High resolution imaging satellite developed by NEC and managed by Japan Space Systems (formerly USEF, part of the Ministry of Trade and Industry) rather than by the main Japanese space agency JAXA. The ASNARO had 0.5m resolution on a 10 km nadir swath width. Sun synchronous orbit; 1100 GMT local time of the descending node.
Also known as also known as ChubuSat-1, a project of Nagoya and Daido universities. (The name Kinschachi refers to the golden sea-monster statues on Nagoya castle). It carries d 10m resolution, 14 km swath imager, a 130 m resolution, 7-13 micron infrared camera reported to be for atmosphere temperature profiles and space debris monitoring, and an amateur radio relay payload. Sun synchronous orbit; 1055 GMT local time of the descending node.
'Horsetail'; also called QSAT-EOS, Kyushu Satellite for Earth Observation System Demonstration. The satellite carried a CMOS camera with 4 m resolution and 7 km swath, a magnetometer and an in-situ space debris detector, as well as a deployable 3-meter kapton sail used as a drag augmentation device. Sun synchronous orbit; 1055 GMT local time of the descending node.
Second launch of the Chinese 2nd Artillery's operationally responsive Kuaizhou (Swift Boat) launch vehicle with a military payload. Kuaizhou 1 was launched to a similar sun synchronous orbit with 11:00 local time of the descending node in September 2013; after regular maintenance burns for a year, during October 2014 Kuaizhou 1's orbit was raised to 365 x 390 km. Kuaizhou-2 was in a sun synchronous orbit; 1300 GMT local time of the descending node.
Probably a signals intelligence satellite with an attached SBIRS-HEO early warning sensor as a secondary payload. This mission used the new RL-10C-1 upper stage engine for the first time (refurbished from Delta IV RL-10B-2 engines; replacing the RL10A-4 used previously)
Russian military satellite that initially entered a 240 km x 899 km x 67.1 deg orbit. Russian press reports and official announcements did not give any name for the satellite, not even a Cosmos cover name, the first time this had happened since 1963. Believed to be the second Lotos-S signals intelligence satellite. The Lotos-S satellites had a payload similar to the Tselina-2, but used a Russian Yantar-type spacecraft bus from TsSKB-Progress instead of the Tselina-2's Okean class bus from the Ukranian Yuzhnoye organization. The spacecraft circularized its orbit to 899 km x 909 km on December 26, joining Lotos-S No. 801 which was in a 903 km x 907 km x 67 deg orbit.
Resurs-P 47KS No. 2 civil imaging spacecraft. The main payload was the Geoton-L1 imager with 0.5m aperture and 38 km swath, 1.0 m panchromatic and 3 to 4m color resolution. Geoton-L1 had 7 passbands and a 216-channel hyperspectral imager. The KShMSA wide field multispectral camera was also part of the Resurs-P primary payload; an AIS ship tracking receiver from OAO RKS and Lomonosov Federal State Univ.'s Nuklon cosmic ray detector were secondary payloads. Nuklon detected cosmic ray nuclei with atomic number 1 to 30 in the 1 to 1000 TeV energy range. Resurs-P went into a 190 km x 428 km initial orbit that was raised to its operational height of 330 km x 471 km on December 29. Sun synchronous orbit; 1150 GMT local time of the descending node.
Fourth Iranian satellite, and Iran's first successful orbital launch since February 2012. Fajr (Aurora) had a technology payload with a cold-gas thruster developed by Iran Electronics Industries. There is suggestive evidence (mostly based on satellite imagery of launch pad damage revealed by the magazine Jane's Intelligence Review) that Iran had two launch failures in 2012, as well as more speculative evidence of further launch failures since then. The satellite did not seem to make any orbital maneuvers. The orbit decayed from an initial 223 km x 470 km to 196 km x 293 km by February 22, and then after falling to 134 km x 155 km early on February 26 it reentered. The Safir rocket stage orbit decayed a bit more slowly, and was at 203 km x 325 km on Feb 26.
Kobal't-M spy satellite s/n 565, maneuvered on 8 and 13 June from an initial orbit of 177 km x 285 km x 81.4 deg to 203 km x 264 km. Current version of the Yantar satellite which returns its main section, with film and camera, to Earth at the end of its flight. It also carried two small ejectable film canisters which can return some data to Earth during the mission.
Visible/infrared band earth observing satellite. The visible camera had a 10 metre resolution and a 290 km swath. Sun synchronous orbit; 1030 GMT local time of the descending node. Built under a EUR 195 million ESA contract as part of the European Global Monitoring for Environment and Security system.
Third Persona-1 spy satellite, built by TsSKB-Progress in Samara and equipped with electro-optical imaging cameras. Said to be the first to return its data via an optical communications link to an unidentified geosynchronous satellite. On June 28 the satellite manuevered from an elliptical transfer orbit to a circular sun synchronous orbit with 0840 GMT local time of the descending node.
High resolution imaging satellite. The previous two Gaofen satellites, 1 and 2, were civilian operated and extensively described before launch. GF-8 was said to be civilian as well, but was not discussed prior to the launch, indicating it was used for military imaging. Sun synchronous orbit; 1330 GMT local time of the descending node.
Third generation Disaster Monitoring Constellation. The three satellites were deployed on a single launch. DMC Imaging International was a Surrey Satellite spinoff which operated the DMC imaging satellites in collaboration with several developing countries. The satellites have the capability to return prompt imaging of areas in those countries affected by natural disasters. The SSTL-300S1 platform provided 45 degree fast slew off-pointing and was capable of acquiring multiple targets in one pass using multiple viewing modes. The high resolution imager on board the satellites was designed and manufactured by SSTL and provided 1 meter resolution in panchromatic mode, and 4 meter resolution in multispectral mode, with a swath width of 23.4km. The three satellites were phased 120 degrees apart around the same sun synchronous orbit with a 22:10 local time longitude of descending node sun synchronous orbit. This was acommplished using their on board propulsion systems in the three months after the launch. With off-pointing capability, the DMC3/TripleSat Satellite Constellation was able to target anywhere on Earth once per day.
Satellite cluster deployed in a single launch, described as China's first commercial imaging satellite system, built by the Chang Guang Satellite Technology Company, a spinoff of the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP) in Jilin province. The 420-kg main satellite had an 0.7 m resolution imager. Two 92-kg 'smart video imaging satellites' and a single 50-kg 'smart imaging verification satellite' completed the cluster.
The Atlas deployed two NRO satellites and a cluster of cubesats in orbit. Items listed as USA 264 and USA 264 'debris', thought to be a clandestine active payload, were deployed in a 1014 km x 1201 km x 63.4 deg orbit. The satellites were believed to be NRO/Navy signals intelligence satellites, the latest successors to the GRAB/POPPY series, and probably codenamed INTRUDER. Following deployment of the main payloads, the Centaur upper stage made two further burns to a 496 km x 800 km x 64.8 deg orbit and deployed the cubesats from GRACE, the fourth NPS Cubesat Launcher flown on an Atlas Aft Bulkhead Carrier.
Launched from the Kauai Test Facility's Kokole Point pad; went out of control during first stage burn and was destroyed. The University of Hawaii's Hiakasat and 12 cubesats were aboard. The vehicle had three solid stages (LEO-46, LEO-7 and LEO-1) developed by Aerojet.
A new Yaogan satellite. The orbit was very similar to that of the Yaogan 1, 3 and 10 satellites though to be radar imaging vehicles developed by the Shanghai Academy of Space Technology (SAST). Placed in sun synchronous orbit with 04:30 Equator crossing time.
Russia carried out the second launch of the Soyuz-2-1V rocket, carrying the 440 kg Kanopus-ST military satellite as its primary payload. Kanopus-ST carried optical, infrared and microwave imagers to test technology to locate submerged submarines. The two-stage core of Soyuz-2-1V reached a 208 x 681 km x 98.2 deg transfer orbit. The Volga upper stage coasted to apogee and at about 1503 UTC made a circularization burn to reach a 684 x 693 km sun-synchronous orbit. The KYuA-1 satellite was successfully ejected at about 1540 UTC, but one of several latches on the Kanopus-ST failed to open, and the payload failed to separate.The two payloads were given the public cover names Kosmos-2511 (Kanopus-ST/Volga) and Kosmos-2512 (KYuA-1). Following the failure, at about 0200 UTC Dec 6 the Volga reignited in an attempt to deorbit the Kanopus/Volga stack and prevent it becoming long-lived space debris. This burn reached an orbit of 106 x 655 km. Natural orbital decay from atmospheric drag quickly set in. On Dec 7, with the orbit at 90 x 348 km, the spacecraft split into two pieces, possibly but not certainly the Kanopus satelite and the Volga stage. The two pieces reached an orbit of 88 x 297 km on Dec 8 before reentry.
For the National University of Singapore, the 78 kg Kent Ridge 1 satellite developed using the TUBSAT LEOS-50 bus by Berlin Space Technologies, a spinoff of the old TUBSAT group at Technische Universitat Berlin. KR-1 carried two low-resoluton hyperspectral Earth imagers and a 6-meter-resolution imager.
North Korea's National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA, Kukga uju gaebalkuk) carried out its second successful satellite launch . The satellite, Kwangmyongsong-4, entered a 500 km polar orbit like the KMS-3-2 satellite launched in 2012. It appears both satellite and launch vehicle are very similar to the 2012 mission. The launch vehicle this time carried the name 'Kwangmyongsong' but appeared to be essentially identical to the Unha-3 launched in 2012. As of Feb 17, hobbyist observers had not picked up any radio signals from it. 0840LT SSO.
Eurockot/Krunichev Rokot's Briz-KM upper stage entered a 153 x 785 km transfer orbit followed by an 802 x 806 km target orbit, deploying the Sentinel-3A satellite. It then lowered perigee to 411 x 744 km to reduce orbital lifetime. ESA's Sentinel-3A was part of the European Union's Copernicus remote sensing program, and carried an ocean color imaging payload and an ocean-topography radar altimeter payload.
Arianespace flight VS14. The Fregat stage first burn reached an initial orbit of 695 x 700 km and deployed the Sentinel-1B radar imaging satellite for ESA. It then made a burn to 442 x 690 km and deployed three 1U cubesats. The ASAP-S adapter was ejected into the same orbit. Next, the Fregat stage made two more burns to reach 711 x 714 km and released the Microscope satellite. Finally, at 0118 UTC, Fregat made a deorbit burn and reentered over the S Atlantic. 1800LT SSO.
Small 37 kg imaging satellites for Satellogic of Argentina; �USAT-1 and -2 (not to be confused with the 1985 Nusat satellite from Weber State Univ.); also called Fresco and Batata (cheese and sweet potato, a popular Argentine dessert pairing). 1024LT SSO.
The NROL-37 mission was a large signals intelligence (SIGINT) satellite, placed in geosynchronous orbit at 103 deg E over the Indian Ocean. Possibly the second Orion/Sharp model. There were two main lineages of GEO SIGINT satellites operated by the US National Reconnaissance Office: MERCURY (originally CANYON); and RHYOLITE (later AQUACADE), which was replaced in the 1980s by ORION (whose other rumoured codenames include MAGNUM and MENTOR). Launches of the MERCURY series ended in 1998, at which time it was rumoured that its capabilites would be merged into the ORION series. A number of observers suggested that the 2014 GEO SIGINT launch of USA 250 on an Atlas V was a one-off mission not part of the ORION series, and that with an increase in mass ORION had moved to using the RS-68A-powered Delta 4 Heavy rockets. It was further been suggested that the 2014 launch might be the NEMESIS 2 satellite mentioned in leaked FY2013 budget documents; however a close reading of those documents showed that funding for the latter project was cut off after FY2011, which implies that it was either launched by then or cancelled (more likely given the sudden drop from half-billion-dollar-level funding to zero). The documents also mention SHARP, the SIGINT High Altitude Replenishment Program, funded at a high level in FY2011-2013 and reportedly also since. It's possible the 2012 and 2016 launches may represent a new ORION/SHARP series, or that they are beefed up ORION and the 2014 launch was a SHARP prototype. The shorter fairing used for the 2014 launch suggests that it was not in fact an ORION.
On Sep 14 the Nanoracks NRCSD-9 deployer was pulled from the Kibo airlock by the Japanese RMS arm, and at 1525 UTC two Flock 2E Prime satellites were ejected into space, with six more to come from the same deployer. These satellites have been aboard ISS since their delivery aboard Cygnus OA-6 in March.
Arianespace's Vega rocket made its 7th flight from Kourou. The AVUM upper stage made two burns to deploy TerraBella's SkySat 4 to 7 in a 500 km orbit at 0224 UTC, and then two further burns to put PeruSAT-1 in a 677 km orbit at 0326 UTC. The AVUM made a final burn to deorbit itself in the Indian Ocean west of Sumatra.
United Launch Alliance Atlas V, serial AV-062, placed the DigitalGlobe WorldView-4 commercial imaging satellite in orbit. WV-4 was originaly GeoEye-2 before the GeoEye/DG merger, and has a resolution of only 0.25 metres. AV-062 reached a 600 km orbit at 1846 UTC and deployed WV-4 at 1849 UTC. AV-062 also carried four cubesat deployers on its Aft Bulkhead Carrier. At 2120 UTC AV-062 made its second burn, accelerating to escape velocity to avoid it contributing to LEO space junk. The stage departed the Earth's gravitational sphere of influence on Nov 15 to enter a solar orbit of 0.93 x 1.57 AU x 3.4 deg.
The first time the CZ-2D booster was flown from their southern launch site. However, the rocket appeared to have run into problems and achieved orbit with an underspeed of 100 m/s, making a 212 x 520 km orbit instead of a circular 500 km one. The main payloads were Gaojing 1 and 2, two commercial high resolution (0.5m) imaging satellites also called SuperView 1 and 2. The satellites were owned by Beijing Aerospace World View Information Technology Co., Ltd (also called Beijing Space View Tech Co.Ltd.); the US company DigitalGlobe was a major investor. 1030LT SSO
See TJS 2 (Huoyan-1 ?). Tongxin Jishu Shiyan Weixing 2 (Communications Technology Experiment Satellite 2) was developed by the Shanghai team. The lack of public information about the TJSW satellites has led to the suspicion that they may really be for defense purposes, possibly for non-communications purposes such as signals intelligence or missile early warning. TJSW 2 made the burn to circularize its orbit on Jan 6 at 0730 UTC over 114E.
See Jilin-1 Video-03 (Jilin Linye 1). Kuaizhou-1A quick-response rocket test. The earlier KZ-1 rocket was used for two low orbit imaging satellites which remained integrated with the upper stage; in the commercialized KZ-1A version the 4th stage separates from the payloads, and launch services are provided by EXPACE, the commercial arm of KZ-1A builder CASIC (which also builds the DF-21 missile that KZ-1/1A was based on). The main payload was Chang Guang Satellite Technology Ltd's "Jilin-1 linqiao shipin xing 03 xing", also called Jilin Linye 1 Weixing (Jilin Forestry 1 satellite). The 165 kg sat has a 1m resolution Earth imager. Two 2U cubesats were also carried. 1030LT SSO.
See Cartosat 2D. India's PSLV placed a record 104 payloads in orbit on Feb 15, 100 of them via 25 QuadPack cubesat dispensers from the Dutch company ISISSpace. The main payload was the 714 kg `Cartosat-2 series satellite', the fourth such imaging payload from ISRO.
See Intruder 12A (NOSS-3 8A, USA 274, NROL 79). Atlas V serial AV-068 carried a National Reconnaissance Office payload to orbit on NRO launch NROL-79. The payload was thought to be an NRO/Navy signals intelligence system code-named INTRUDER consisting of a pair of satellites in 1010 x 1200 km x 63 deg orbit. Both satellites were observed by hobbyists on Mar 3. The Centaur second stage was deorbited south of Australia on the first orbit with impact around 1956 UTC.
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