The U.S. Air Force aims to launch two Department of Defense (DoD)-sponsored experiments early Wednesday, using an air-launched Pegasus rocket to do the job.
An L 1011 jet will first carry the Orbital Sciences Corp.-made rocket to an altitude of approximately 40,000 feet (12 kilometers) above the Pacific Ocean some 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
The Pegasus XL will then free-fall for five seconds before its first-stage rocket motor ignites, sending it on its way into space.
The $85 million Tri-Service Experiments Mission 5 (TSX 5) consists of two projects for the DoDs Space Experiments Review Board. Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico manages the program itself.
STRV 2 is a joint American-British suite of experiments, including one designed to further the study of laser-based data communications from satellite to satellite or to the ground.
The work could lead to laser-based communications networks between constellations of satellites, as well as improvements to the downlink capabilities of Earth-sensing satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO).
A second instrument, the Medium Wave Infrared imager (MWIR), will be used to spot flying aircraft from space, picking them out against a variety of backgrounds -- including urban, marine and rural settings, said 1st Lt. Tonya Summerall, an Air Force spokeswoman.
STRV 2 will also carry experiments that will:
- suppress satellite vibration that can skew instrument results;
- test the use of composites in satellite construction;
- monitor the effects of micrometeoroid and debris impacts;
- assess the negative effects of contamination and the ambient space environment on spacecraft components.
CEASE can act as a housekeeping device on a satellite, warning or identifying the cause of on-board anomalies caused by the natural environment. Examples include radiation-dose effects and surface charging.
Vandenberg AFB will also launch an unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile this week. The ICBM is scheduled for a launch some time between 4:01 a.m. and 10:01 a.m. EDT (08:01 and 14:01 GMT) on Friday as part of a reliability and accuracy test of the weapon system.
The missile will travel 4,200 miles (6,720 kilometers) in about 30 minutes before sending its three unarmed reentry vehicles slamming into a target at the Kwajalein Missile Range in the western chain of the Marshall Islands.
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