Virginia's Wallops Island hosted its
first space launch in seven years this morning when a Minotaur rocket
blazed a trail into orbit with a U.S.
Air Force demonstration satellite.
Liftoff of the 69-foot tall
booster occurred at 7:00 a.m. EST (1200 GMT) from the Mid-Atlantic Regional
Spaceport on the southern tip of Wallops Island, Va [image].
The four-stage booster flew
toward the rising Sun as it headed
southeast away from the U.S. East Coast. Deployment of the TacSat 2
primary payload came 11 minutes after launch, according to the NASA Wallops
Flight Facility.
NASA's tiny GeneSat 1
research craft was released into space ten minutes later, and controllers
later confirmed they had received the first signals from the nanosatellite.
The diminutive satellite
will conduct a four-day series of biological tests to observe the behavior of
E. coli bacteria in space. The samples are housed within a miniature laboratory
inside the craft [image].
The Minotaur was targeting
a circular orbit about 255 miles high with an inclination of around 40 degrees.
The mission marked the
first rocket flight into orbit from Wallops since 1999, when an air-launched
Pegasus rocket hauled seven communications satellites into space [image]. The last
ground-based space launch attempt was more than 11 years ago, and the most
recent successful orbital launch before Saturday was in 1985.
Saturday's launch was
postponed from Dec. 11 after last-minute
concerns with TacSat 2's flight software. Engineers spent much of the week
analyzing the issue before finally clearing
the satellite for launch.
Managed by the Air Force
Research Laboratory, TacSat 2 is a test bed for potential tactical applications
for future military satellites. The 814-pound spacecraft was built by MicroSat
Systems, Inc., and the program's partners come from every branch of the U.S. armed forces [image].
TacSat 2's mission is
slated to last from six to 12 months, and controllers plan to declare the craft
operational after just one day of test and checkout procedures. The project is
designed to demonstrate an accelerated manufacturing process and launch
schedule with a rapid transition to normal operations after the satellite is
delivered to orbit, according to the Air Force Research Laboratory.
The Air Force's Joint
Warfighting Space initiative seeks to transform the military's role in space to
include a fleet of tactical satellites that can serve troops more quickly than
current programs.
Another objective of the initiative
is to "operationalize" space to benefit deployed military forces,
according to a 2005 presentation by Air Force Brig. Gen. Larry James, former
vice commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center.
Officials also hope the
program will eventually demonstrate the ability to rapidly launch satellites as
necessary, decreasing preparation time from weeks to hours.
TacSat 2 is the first in a
series of planned spacecraft to put the goals of the Joint Warfighting Space
initiative to the test.
TacSat 1 is scheduled for
launch on a Falcon 1 rocket next year, while another Minotaur will launch
TacSat 3 in late 2007. TacSat 4 could follow in 2008.
These satellites will
conduct further tests for the Joint Warfighting Space program.
Loaded with 11 experiments,
the microsatellite will attempt to respond to tactical requests from military
forces deployed in the field. TacSat 2 carries a 20-inch optical telescope that
should be able to produce photos of targets soon after orders are given by
military commanders.
Imagery will be downlinked
to a ground site at the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center facility at China Lake, Calif. Officials hope this experiment will lead to reduced response times for
image requests from deployed troops.
"TacSat 2 will
directly benefit the troop on the ground," said Neal Peck, TacSat 2
program manager. "By demonstrating that it can communicate directly with
the China Lake facility, TacSat 2 can directly talk to any common data link
compatible ground station across the globe."
Also among TacSat 2's
experiments are an ion thruster, a global positioning system occultation
receiver and an experimental thin film solar array. The spacecraft also
features software for autonomous operations, according to an Air Force written
statement.
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