CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A day after being launched atop an Air Force Delta 2 rocket, the $40 million XSS-10 micro-satellite technology demonstration flight was called a success by program managers.
"The XSS-10 achieved its primary mission objectives and appears to be quite a success," said Anne Gunter, a spokeswoman with the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.
As planned, the 62-pound (28-kilogram) spacecraft was ejected from the Delta 2's second stage about 16 hours after its 1:06 p.m. EST (1806 GMT) Wednesday launch.
The satellite, described by program manager Thom Davis as about the size of "a Buick transmission," then maneuvered itself in close to the spent stage, using its new guidance and navigation system that relies, in part, on a television camera to see.
XSS-10 then backed away from the stage before repeating the process twice more.
"Telemetry was briefly lost between the micro-satellite and the ground tracking station at the end of the primary mission sequence but picked up again through a different ground station within 10 minutes," Gunter said.
"The team then successfully put the micro-satellite into sleep mode and reactivated it as planned. The integrated visual camera, propulsion system, and guidance and control software all performed extremely well."
In addition to testing the new software, the spacecraft demonstrated new technologies involving a miniature communications system, a lightweight propulsion system and advanced lithium polymer batteries.
Davis said the $100 million program is expected to contribute to future operational systems the Air Force might choose to develop and said this experimental satellite was "a building block for future microsat demonstrations."
"XSS-10 is a key element in acquiring the best balance between cost and capability, and will pave the way for future, low cost, on orbit servicing and other space missions," Davis said.
The XSS-10 mission contributed about $4 million of the estimated $65 million launch cost of the Air Force Delta 2, whose primary mission was to deliver a new $35 million Navstar Global Positioning System satellite into orbit, replacing one launched 10 years ago.
The good news about the deployment of the XSS-10 marked the 50th successful launch in a row for the Boeing-built booster and the 295th overall launch of the historic Delta program, which dates back to 1960.
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