Mars 2MV-4 No.1

Mars 2MV-4 No.1

Name         : Mars 2MV-4 No.1

 Launch      : 24 Oct 1962

Owner        : Roscosmos

Type           : Flyby

Rocket       : Molniya

Decay Date : 26 Feb 1963

Description:
                 
                   Mars 2MV-4 No.1 was also known as Sputnik-22 which was a Soviet Union's Spacecraft launched in 24th October of 1962 as a part of Soviet Mars Programme. It was planned to make Mars flyby and transmit images of Mars to Earth. But due to the problem in carrier Rocket, it was destroyed in the Low Earth Orbit. It was the first of two Mars 2MV-4 spacecrafts to be launched and other Mars 1 later after 8 days.

Designations:
                   
                      The designation of Sputnik 29 and later Sputnik 22 were used by United State Naval Command to identify the spacecraft in its Satellite Situation Summary documents, since the Soviet union did not release the designations of its Spacecraft at that time, and had not assign it an official name due to its failure to depart geocentric orbit.

Read More

Mars 2M Flyby

Name              : Mars 2M Flyby

Launch date    : 14 October 1960

Operator          : Russia

Type                : Flyby

Carrier Rocket  : Molniya

Mission status   : Failure

Mission Description :-

      Mars 2M Flyby otherwise called Mars 1M No.2 designated as Mars 1960B by NASA analyst. It was launched as a part of Soviet Unions Mars Programme after four days of sister launch Mars 1M Flyby which lost in launch failure in 1960.

Mission Objective:-

         Mars 2M was aimed to perform flyby of Mars, but it was destroyed after its Molniya carrier rocket failed to achieve orbit.

Causes for failure of Spacecraft:-

         During preparation of launch, an oxidizer leak in the second stage caused liquid oxygen at cryogenic temperature, to spill around the engine's fuel inlet valve which made the rocket unable to ignite. As a result spacecraft failed to achieve earth's orbit.

Read More

Mars 1M Flyby

            













                                First Step to Mars Ever  

Spacecraft Description:-

Name                            : Mars 1M Flyby

Launch                       : 10 Oct 1960

Type of Spacecraft    : Flyby

Mission Status        : Mission failure

Carrier Rocket       : Molniya

Power Source       : Silver-Zinc Batteries

                The Mars 1M Flyby otherwise called Mars IM No.1 which is designated as Mars 1960A by NASA. It was the first attempt to launch as a part of Soviet Union's programme to Study Mars.

  Mission Objective:-  

                     The main objective of Mars 1M Flyby is to study the space between the Earth and Mars. And to take the Surface image of Mars. Another objective of this mission is to test the radio communication systems from Mars to Earth.

Instruments Carried:-

1. Magnetometer
2. Cosmic ray Counter
3. Plasma ion Trap
4. Radiometer
5. Micrometeorite detector
6. Spectroreflectometer
7. Photo television Camera                                                  

 Mission Status:-

                  The Mars IM Flyby failed to orbit because of launch failure carried by Molniya Rocket on 10th October 1960. 

Read More

Jan 28 Soyuz Hipasat 36W-1

 


Satellite Name  : Hipasat 36W-1
Operator           : ESA
Launch time    : 0103:34  GMT on 28th Jan
Launch Site    : ELS Sinnamary, French           Guiana

                                            

                                 An Ariane Space Agency's Soyuz Rocket designated VS16, will launch a mission from guiana Space Center in South America. The Soyuz will carry the Hipasat 36W-1 communication satellite. Also known as Hipasat Ag1, the satellite is based on the small GEO platform developed by OHB and the European Space Agency and is owned by madrid-based Hipasat to provide communications services over Spain, Portugal and the Americans. The Soyuz 2-1b Soyuz ST-B rocket will use Fregat-MT upper stage.

Read More

Small GEO's ride Arrives at ESA

                         The Soyuz launcher that will carry SmallGEO's first flight into orbit was transferred to its launch zone at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana

Read More

Curiosity Rover

                          Curiosity was launched from Cape Canaveral on November 26, 2011, at 15:02 UTC aboard the MSL spacecraft and landed on Aeolis Palus in Gale Crater on Mars on August 6, 2012, 05:17 UTC.The Bradbury Landing site was less than 2.4 km (1.5 mi) from the center of the rover's touchdown target after a 563,000,000 km (350,000,000 mi) journey.The rover's goals include: investigation of the Martian climate and geology; assessment of whether the selected field site inside Gale Crater has ever offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life, including investigation of the role of water; and planetary habitability studies in preparation for future human exploration.Curiosity's design will serve as the basis for the planned Mars 2020 rover. In December 2012, Curiosity's two-year mission was extended indefinitely.

With the Mars Science Laboratory—a rover called Curiosity—safely installed in its spacecraft, the mission set out for the red planet on November 26, 2011, with a projected arrival at Mars on August 5, 2012 PDT. About the size of a small SUV, Curiosity is truly a sophisticated mobile laboratory with the most advanced instruments ever sent to Mars. 

Curiosity’s Job on Mars

       The main science goal of the mission is to evaluate whether Mars has or has ever had an environment that could support bacteria or other microbial life. To try to find out, Curiosity will study rocks and soil to find records of the geologic and climate history of Mars. It will also look for carbon and other chemical building blocks of life.

Rover Innovations

         With each new Mars mission, NASA has reused technologies and design elements that have worked well in the past. Curiosity has six-wheels, for example, as did the earlier rovers, and a rocker-bogie suspension system that has proven to provide excellent stability and obstacle-climbing ability. But each mission has brought innovations as well. Here’s what’s new for Curiosity:

Landing  

         A change dictated partly by necessity is a new descent and landing procedure. Curiosity weighs in at almost 2,000 pounds (900 kg), which is far too heavy for the airbag-assisted landings used formerly, so an ingenious new plan was devised. Once the spacecraft has entered the martian atmosphere, it will fire rocket thrusters to guide its descent. Almost as if an astronaut were at the controls, the spacecraft will perform a series of maneuvers that will help it reach its designated landing site. It will deploy a large parachute to significantly reduce its speed (as did earlier rovers), and then jettison parts that are no longer needed, including the parachute. Retrorockets will cause further deceleration. When it’s close to the surface, the top part of the spacecraft will act as a sky crane, lowering the rover toward the ground on cables. (After the landing, the cables will be cut and the sky crane will move away from the rover, eventually to crash-land.) The rover will extend its wheels much as an airplane lowers its landing gear, and when it touches down, after a few self-checks, it will be ready to roll.

 One important advantage of this new landing procedure is that it's far more precise than the previous air-bag assisted method and gave scientists a much greater choice of landing areas. The final selection was the floor of Gale crater, where Curiosity will land within an elipse about 12 miles by 4 miles (20 km by 7 km) near the foot of Mount Sharp. Layers of this mountain contain minerals that form in water, according to data from Mars orbiters, making the mountain a prime destination for the rover. As with other martian exploration sites, this choice reflects the strategy of "follow the water" in the effort to find life.


Power:

    The power source for Curiosity is plutonium. Plutonium is a radioactive element, which means that its atomic nuclei spontaneously disintegrate, releasing radiation in a process called radioactivity or radioactive decay. Heat is a by-product of this process, and it’s the heat that will be converted into electricity by a device called a radioisotope thermoelectric generator. The power supply is designed to last a minimum of a martian year, which is 687 earth days.
With no worries about dust obscuring solar panels or having to practically hibernate during the martian winter when sunlight is weak (which happened to earlier rovers), Curiosity will be free to explore all year long and at a wide range of latitudes and altitudes.

Instruments  

       Curiosity sports a number of familiar tools such as a variety of cameras and a robotic arm. But it’s called a science laboratory because, unlike its predecessors, it can analyze the rock and soil samples it collects, as well as atmospheric samples, using onboard test instruments. For example, one instrument (which uses X-ray diffraction and fluorescence) will identify and quantify the minerals in the rock and soil samples. A suite of three instruments (a quadrupole mass spectrometer, a gas chromatograph, and a tunable laser spectrometer) can identify organic compounds including carbon and oxygen.
Scientific tools for this mission have been contributed by Canada, Russia, and Spain, as well as by institutions in the United States. For a detailed description of Curiosity’s science instruments, visit the MSL Science Corner on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s website.


Mobility    

                      While not quite able to leap the martian equivalent of tall buildings, Curiosity’s designed to roll over objects a remarkable 29 inches (75 cm) high. And it can move rather quickly—up to almost 300 feet (90 m) an hour—although usually it will move more slowly.

The Mars Exploration Program

The Mars Science Laboratory mission is part of NASA’s long-term Mars Exploration Program, which is trying to understand if Mars is or has ever been a habitable planet. The program has four primary scientific goals:
•  to determine if there has ever been life on Mars
•  to understand the climate history of Mars
•  to understand the geology of Mars
•  to prepare for human exploration of Mars
In planning future missions, the Mars Exploration Program will focus on high-priority scientific objectives such as returning martian rock and soil samples to Earth for further study. It will also be developing technology to meet President Obama’s goal of sending astronauts to Mars orbit and safely back to Earth in the mid-2030s, with a landing on Mars to follow.
But now it’s time for Curiosity to do its part.

The Mars Science Laboratory project is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Read More

SmallGEO/H36W-! ESA

A special media briefing on SmallGEO and its first flight is taking place on Wednesday 18 January, at ESA HQ in Paris, following on from Director General Jan Woerner's annual meeting of the press.  

SmallGEO is a multipurpose satellite platform capable of accommodating a wide range of commercial telecommunications payloads and missions, from TV broadcasting to multimedia applications, Internet access and mobile or fixed services in a wide range of frequency bands. 

Its new, modular and flexible design boosts European industry’s ability to play a significant role in commercial satcoms by easing entry into the lower-mass telecom satellite market. It was developed by Germany's OHB System AG under ESA's ARTES Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems programme.  

Hispasat's Hispasat 36W-1 will be the first satellite to use the SmallGEO platform, marking the first partnership between ESA and a Spanish operator. It is set for launch in the early hours of 28 January (CET) from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.  

H36W-1 will provide Europe, the Canary Islands and South America with faster multimedia services through its Redsat payload, which offers better signal quality and flexible land coverage. Redsat enables H36W-1 to provide advanced connectivity services based on the latest communication standards. 

The briefing will be shared by the Director General and the Director of Telecommunications & Integrated Applications, Magali Vaissiere. Speakers include Carlos Espinós, Hispasat CEO, Andreas Lindenthal, of OHB System AG's Management Board and Gerd Gruppe, Director of Space Administration at the DLR German Aerospace Center. It will be followed by a Q&A. Media and the public may ask questions during the briefing on Twitter to @esa using the hashtag #askSmallGEO.

Read More

UK at the forefront of NASA's CYGNSS mission

A UK company is at the forefront of NASA’s latest Earth observation mission to see inside tropical storms and hurricanes like never before.

Surrey Satellite Technology has developed the Space GNSS Receiver Remote Sensing Instrument (SGR-ReSI) for the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) mission providing scientists with innovative satellite technology.

The CYGNSS mission, which launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on 15 December, is part of a NASA programme to improve extreme weather prediction by studying how tropical cyclones form.

CYGNSS will measure ocean surface winds in and near a hurricane’s inner core, including regions previously could not be measured from space. CYGNSS will use both direct and reflected satellite navigation signals to obtain estimates of surface wind speed over the ocean.

Surrey Satellite Technology demonstrated the technology for the first time on its UK-DMC mission launched in 2003. It has subsequently developed the SGR-ReSI with sponsorship from the UK Space Agency, Innovate UK and the UK Centre for Earth Observation and Instrumentation and Space Technology. The first flight of the SGR-ReSI is on the UK TechDemoSat-1 mission, with exploitation support from the European Space Agency.

The UK is already a world-leader in satellite technology and Earth observation. In September the UK Space Agency unveiled new support to help the UK space sector maintain its leading position in Earth observation, helping to tackle global issues such as deforestation and disaster monitoring. This support included a new £2m joint programme for UK companies and academia to develop innovative technologies to observe the Earth from space.

Working together with the University of Leicester, Airbus Defence and Space UK, and RAL Space, the £2m funding from UK Space Agency will support UK companies and academia to develop their technologies and help them gain access to government funding worth up to £10 million.

For more information on the UK’s involvement in the mission, check out the SSTL website.

Read More

Phoenix Lander

Launched in August 2007, the Phoenix Mars Mission is the first in NASA's Scout Program. Phoenix is designed to study the history of water and habitability potential in the Martian arctic's ice-rich soil.

 The Phoenix Mars Mission has a collaborative approach to space exploration. As the very first of NASA's Mars Scout class, Phoenix combines legacy and innovation in a framework of a true partnership: government, academia, and industry. Scout class missions are led by a scientist, known as a Principal Investigator (PI). Peter Smith of the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory serves as Phoenix's PI and is responsible for all aspects of the mission. 

The Phoenix Mission has a three-vertebrae backbone: the PI at the University of Arizona, the project manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and the flight system manager at Lockheed Martin Space Systems (LMSS). These three frequently communicate and ensure that decisions are understood and quickly implemented by the team.

PI Smith has delegated project management responsibility to JPL. Barry Goldstein serves as the project manager and leads an experienced team of JPL engineers and scientists. Under Goldstein, the JPL team conducts vital functions of payload management, and flight systems and mission operations. These functions are supported by system engineering, mission assurance, and a business office. JPL also provides the interface to the Deep Space Network, sending command sequences and receiving data. During the 10-month cruise phase to Mars, JPL maintains the proper cruise trajectory to get the spacecraft to Mars by performing correcting maneuvers. Finally, JPL will lead the Phoenix spacecraft through the highly risky entry-descent-landing process. No team surpasses JPL in its ability to land spacecraft safely on the Martian surface.  

Ed Sedivy leads the Lockheed Martin engineering team in designing, constructing, and testing the Phoenix spacecraft. Sedivy was Lockheed Martin's chief engineer for developing the Mars Surveyor 2001 lander, the highly capable spacecraft that the Phoenix Mission is inheriting. The Lockheed Martin engineering team is restoring the 2001 lander to a flight-ready Phoenix spacecraft and developing enhanced spacecraft reliability through extensive testing. Throughout all phases of the mission, the Lockheed Martin team will closely monitor Phoenix's health by linking their spacecraft operations centers with those at JPL and the University of Arizona.

From the University of Arizona, PI Smith works closely with Leslie Tamppari, project scientist at JPL, to lead an international assembly of scientists from a wide variety of academic, private, and government research institutions. This science team has experience in all previous landed Mars missions. The team's scientific background includes experience in hydrology, geology, chemistry, biology, and atmospheric science. For operations, the team is conceptually divided into four instrument groupings, each with a lead co-investigator (Co-I) scientist. The groups are not intended to be restrictive: Co-Is are expected to have a broad, cross-instrument participation driven by scientific objectives. The science team will co-locate for the first three months of the mission, to operate all the instruments and to perform the first analysis on data that may provide important answers to the following questions:

 (1) can the Martian arctic support life, 

(2) what is the history of water at the landing site, and 

(3) how is the Martian climate affected by polar dynamics?

To answer these questions, Phoenix uses some of the most sophisticated and advanced technology ever sent to Mars. A robust robotic arm built by JPL digs through the soil to the water ice layer underneath, and delivers soil and ice samples to the mission's experiments. On the deck, miniature ovens and a mass spectrometer, built by the University of Arizona and University of Texas-Dallas, will provide chemical analysis of trace matter. A chemistry lab-in-a-box, assembled by JPL, will characterize the soil and ice chemistry. Imaging systems, designed by the University of Arizona, University of Neuchatel (Switzerland) (providing an atomic force microscope), Max Planck Institute (Germany) and Malin Space Science Systems, will provide an unprecedented view of Mars—spanning 12 powers of 10 in scale. The Canadian Space Agency will deliver a meteorological station, marking the first significant involvement of Canada in a mission to Mars.

The University of Arizona will also host the Phoenix Mission's Science Operations Center (SOC) in its Tucson facility. From the SOC, the Phoenix science and engineering teams will command the lander once it is safely landed on Mars, and also, receive data as it is transmitted directly to Earth. A payload interoperability test bed (PIT) will be located with the SOC to verify an optimal integration of Phoenix's complex scientific instruments. Working together, the SOC and PIT will ensure a seamless scientific and engineering process—from science goal to instrument commands to down-linked and analyzed data.

As with all major NASA missions, Phoenix has a comprehensive education and public outreach program. PI Smith leads the program, which is managed by the University of Arizona, and connects to outstanding educational resources in the desert southwest region, and throughout the U.S.

This powerful team is the cornerstone to the Phoenix mission, which has high hopes to be the first mission to "touch" and examine water on Mars—ultimately, to pave the way for future robotic missions, and possibly, human exploration.

Dust Storm Moving Near Phoenix Lander

This series of images show the movement of several dust storms near NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. These images were taken by the lander's Surface Stereo Imager (SSI) on the 137th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Oct. 13, 2008).

These images were taken about 50 seconds apart, showing the formation and movement of dust storms for nearly an hour. Phoenix scientists are still figuring out the exact distances these dust storms occurred from the lander, but they estimate them to be about 1 to 2 kilometers (.6 or 1.2 miles) away.

 

Read More

JAN 19 - SBIRS - GEO 3

Location : Cape Canaveral AFS SLC-41
Time         :  7:46 PM EST (UTS-5)
Window   : 1 Hour and 20 minutes
Owner      :  United Launch Alliance

The Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) is a consolidated system intended to meet the United States’ infrared space surveillance needs. SBIRS is an integrated “system of systems” that will include satellites in geosynchronous orbit (GEO), sensors hosted on satellites in highly elliptical orbit (HEO), and ground-based data processing and control.

NEWS

The third SBIRS satellite, the next satellite scheduled to join the U.S. Air Force’s Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS), pictured above in final assembly and test at Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale, California. Credit: Lockheed MartinWASHINGTON  

The U.S. Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center has cleared the third missile-warning Space Based Infrared System satellite for launch following an investigation into the satellite’s engine.

The launch of the Lockheed Martin-built satellite was originally scheduled for Oct. 3, but was pushed back when a supplier told the company they had an issue on an unrelated satellite with one of their engine components, a part that was also used aboard SBIRS.

“On Sept. 6, Lockheed Martin was notified by their supplier that the same type of [Liquid Apogee Engine] that was installed on SBIRS GEO Flight-3 had experienced an anomaly on a different, non-SBIRS satellite,” the Air Force said in a statement.

Neither Lockheed Martin nor the Air Force have identified the supplier, or specified what exactly was the issue with the component.Lockheed Martin indicated they did not build the space vehicle that suffered the engine anomaly, which would rule out the Navy’s Mobile User Objective System-5 satellite that experienced propulsion problems in June following launch and took almost four months to reach its assigned orbit.

Investigators said they conducted a variety of tests, including firing a liquid apogee engine (LAE) similar to what is on the SBIRS launch, and concluded that the engine “exhibits normal performance.”

“The safety of our national security space assets is a top priority and the entire investigation team was thoroughly committed to getting this right,” said Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, commander of SMC, in a statement. “The investigation team used modern diagnostics to assess the health of the SBIRS GEO Flight-3 LAE, and we determined it does not exhibit any of the anomalous behavior experienced on the failed component from the non-SBIRS satellite.”

The investigation concluded Nov. 30 and the satellite has been approved for fueling operations Dec. 6–11 at Cape Canaveral, Fla. Launch is currently scheduled for Jan. 19.

SBIRS GEO Flight-3 will be the next element of the Air Force’s missile-warning constellation designed to replace the aging Defense Support Program satellites. The first two satellites in the $19 billion constellation launched in 2011 and 2013.

The constellation is currently controlled from the SBIRS Mission Control Station at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado.

Lockheed Martin also celebrated the Air Force signing-off on an upgrade to the SBIRS ground control system that collects data from SBIRS and DSP satellites as well as missile-warning satellites in elliptical orbits.

“The Block 10 system includes upgrades like faster collection times, improved threat detections and improved target tracking and infrared information to see dimmer events faster,” the company said in a press release.

In August, Col. John Wagner, the 460^th Space Wing commander at Buckley, said his unit was “already seeing improvements across the board with improved surveillance and warning” during the testing and evaluation phase of the Block 10 upgrades.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center has cleared the third missile-warning Space Based Infrared System satellite for launch following an investigation into the satellite’s engine.
The launch of the Lockheed Martin-built satellite was originally scheduled for Oct. 3, but was pushed back when a supplier told the company they had an issue on an unrelated satellite with one of their engine components, a part that was also used aboard SBIRS.
“On Sept. 6, Lockheed Martin was notified by their supplier that the same type of [Liquid Apogee Engine] that was installed on SBIRS GEO Flight-3 had experienced an anomaly on a different, non-SBIRS satellite,” the Air Force said in a statement.
Neither Lockheed Martin nor the Air Force have identified the supplier, or specified what exactly was the issue with the component.
Lockheed Martin indicated they did not build the space vehicle that suffered the engine anomaly, which would rule out the Navy’s Mobile User Objective System-5 satellite that experienced propulsion problems in June following launch and took almost four months to reach its assigned orbit.
Investigators said they conducted a variety of tests, including firing a liquid apogee engine (LAE) similar to what is on the SBIRS launch, and concluded that the engine “exhibits normal performance.”
“The safety of our national security space assets is a top priority and the entire investigation team was thoroughly committed to getting this right,” said Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, commander of SMC, in a statement. “The investigation team used modern diagnostics to assess the health of the SBIRS GEO Flight-3 LAE, and we determined it does not exhibit any of the anomalous behavior experienced on the failed component from the non-SBIRS satellite.”
The investigation concluded Nov. 30 and the satellite has been approved for fueling operations Dec. 6–11 at Cape Canaveral, Fla. Launch is currently scheduled for Jan. 19.
SBIRS GEO Flight-3 will be the next element of the Air Force’s missile-warning constellation designed to replace the aging Defense Support Program satellites. The first two satellites in the $19 billion constellation launched in 2011 and 2013.
The constellation is currently controlled from the SBIRS Mission Control Station at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado.
Lockheed Martin also celebrated the Air Force signing-off on an upgrade to the SBIRS ground control system that collects data from SBIRS and DSP satellites as well as missile-warning satellites in elliptical orbits.
“The Block 10 system includes upgrades like faster collection times, improved threat detections and improved target tracking and infrared information to see dimmer events faster,” the company said in a press release.
In August, Col. John Wagner, the 460^th Space Wing commander at Buckley, said his unit was “already seeing improvements across the board with improved surveillance and warning” during the testing and evaluation phase of the Block 10 upgrades.
- See more at: http://spacenews.com/sbirs-geo-3-cleared-for-launch-following-engine-investigation/#sthash.Uo1lYt1P.dpuf

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center has cleared the third missile-warning Space Based Infrared System satellite for launch following an investigation into the satellite’s engine.
The launch of the Lockheed Martin-built satellite was originally scheduled for Oct. 3, but was pushed back when a supplier told the company they had an issue on an unrelated satellite with one of their engine components, a part that was also used aboard SBIRS.
“On Sept. 6, Lockheed Martin was notified by their supplier that the same type of [Liquid Apogee Engine] that was installed on SBIRS GEO Flight-3 had experienced an anomaly on a different, non-SBIRS satellite,” the Air Force said in a statement.
Neither Lockheed Martin nor the Air Force have identified the supplier, or specified what exactly was the issue with the component.
Lockheed Martin indicated they did not build the space vehicle that suffered the engine anomaly, which would rule out the Navy’s Mobile User Objective System-5 satellite that experienced propulsion problems in June following launch and took almost four months to reach its assigned orbit.
Investigators said they conducted a variety of tests, including firing a liquid apogee engine (LAE) similar to what is on the SBIRS launch, and concluded that the engine “exhibits normal performance.”
“The safety of our national security space assets is a top priority and the entire investigation team was thoroughly committed to getting this right,” said Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, commander of SMC, in a statement. “The investigation team used modern diagnostics to assess the health of the SBIRS GEO Flight-3 LAE, and we determined it does not exhibit any of the anomalous behavior experienced on the failed component from the non-SBIRS satellite.”
The investigation concluded Nov. 30 and the satellite has been approved for fueling operations Dec. 6–11 at Cape Canaveral, Fla. Launch is currently scheduled for Jan. 19.
SBIRS GEO Flight-3 will be the next element of the Air Force’s missile-warning constellation designed to replace the aging Defense Support Program satellites. The first two satellites in the $19 billion constellation launched in 2011 and 2013.
The constellation is currently controlled from the SBIRS Mission Control Station at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado.
Lockheed Martin also celebrated the Air Force signing-off on an upgrade to the SBIRS ground control system that collects data from SBIRS and DSP satellites as well as missile-warning satellites in elliptical orbits.
“The Block 10 system includes upgrades like faster collection times, improved threat detections and improved target tracking and infrared information to see dimmer events faster,” the company said in a press release.
In August, Col. John Wagner, the 460^th Space Wing commander at Buckley, said his unit was “already seeing improvements across the board with improved surveillance and warning” during the testing and evaluation phase of the Block 10 upgrades.
- See more at: http://spacenews.com/sbirs-geo-3-cleared-for-launch-following-engine-investigation/#sthash.Uo1lYt1P.dpuf

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center has cleared the third missile-warning Space Based Infrared System satellite for launch following an investigation into the satellite’s engine.
The launch of the Lockheed Martin-built satellite was originally scheduled for Oct. 3, but was pushed back when a supplier told the company they had an issue on an unrelated satellite with one of their engine components, a part that was also used aboard SBIRS.
“On Sept. 6, Lockheed Martin was notified by their supplier that the same type of [Liquid Apogee Engine] that was installed on SBIRS GEO Flight-3 had experienced an anomaly on a different, non-SBIRS satellite,” the Air Force said in a statement.
Neither Lockheed Martin nor the Air Force have identified the supplier, or specified what exactly was the issue with the component.
Lockheed Martin indicated they did not build the space vehicle that suffered the engine anomaly, which would rule out the Navy’s Mobile User Objective System-5 satellite that experienced propulsion problems in June following launch and took almost four months to reach its assigned orbit.
Investigators said they conducted a variety of tests, including firing a liquid apogee engine (LAE) similar to what is on the SBIRS launch, and concluded that the engine “exhibits normal performance.”
“The safety of our national security space assets is a top priority and the entire investigation team was thoroughly committed to getting this right,” said Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, commander of SMC, in a statement. “The investigation team used modern diagnostics to assess the health of the SBIRS GEO Flight-3 LAE, and we determined it does not exhibit any of the anomalous behavior experienced on the failed component from the non-SBIRS satellite.”
The investigation concluded Nov. 30 and the satellite has been approved for fueling operations Dec. 6–11 at Cape Canaveral, Fla. Launch is currently scheduled for Jan. 19.
SBIRS GEO Flight-3 will be the next element of the Air Force’s missile-warning constellation designed to replace the aging Defense Support Program satellites. The first two satellites in the $19 billion constellation launched in 2011 and 2013.
The constellation is currently controlled from the SBIRS Mission Control Station at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado.
Lockheed Martin also celebrated the Air Force signing-off on an upgrade to the SBIRS ground control system that collects data from SBIRS and DSP satellites as well as missile-warning satellites in elliptical orbits.
“The Block 10 system includes upgrades like faster collection times, improved threat detections and improved target tracking and infrared information to see dimmer events faster,” the company said in a press release.
In August, Col. John Wagner, the 460^th Space Wing commander at Buckley, said his unit was “already seeing improvements across the board with improved surveillance and warning” during the testing and evaluation phase of the Block 10 upgrades.
- See more at: http://spacenews.com/sbirs-geo-3-cleared-for-launch-following-engine-investigation/#sthash.Uo1lYt1P.dpuf

Read More