| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aerospace and Defense |
| Founded | 1969 |
| Founder | Richard Rasmussen |
| Headquarters | Chatsworth, California |
Key people | Eric Grabow, President |
| Website | spacevector.com |
Space Vector Corporation (SVC) is a United States-based company that provides aerospace products and services to government and commercial customers. Space Vector is headquartered in Chatsworth, California and is a privately held small business. Its primary products are flight safety and system batteries, GPS tracking systems, custom avionics and structures, attitude control systems, pneumatic components, and separation systems. Space Vector also provides launch services as a prime contractor under the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) Sounding Rocket Program (SRP-3) which includes performing vehicle integration activities, end-to-end system testing, payload integration, launch operations, and mission analysis and design.
Space Vector was founded in 1969 to supply NASA with Miniature Inertial Digital Attitude System (MIDAS) platforms and reaction control systems for use on sounding rockets. In 1972, Space Vector secured the right to use surplus Minuteman I motors for guided, suborbital rockets which it later names Aries. Over the next 20 years Space Vector successfully launched 30 Aries rockets in support of a variety of microgravity scientific experiments. [1] Based on its experience working with Minuteman assets, Space Vector was tasked by Lockheed in 1980 to help develop the Homing Overlay Experiment (HOE) booster for the U.S. Army which would go on to become the first successful hit-to-kill intercept of a mock ballistic missile warhead outside the Earth's atmosphere. [2] This technology was later used by the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) and expanded into the Exoatmospheric Reentry-vehicle Interception System (ERIS) program. [3] In 1982 Space Vector was tapped by Space Services Inc. of America (SSIA) to fabricate and launch the Conestoga 1 off Matagorda Island, Texas which became the first privately funded rocket to reach space. [4]
In 1992 Space Vector teamed with Coleman Research Corporation (now a division of L-3 Communications) and Aerotherm to provide the Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) with 25 Hera target vehicles to support testing of THAAD and Patriot PAC-3 anti-ballistic missile systems. Space Vector went on to earn the distinction in 1997 as the first company to air launch a Minuteman based target vehicle. The single stage AltAir vehicle was developed by Space Vector for the United States Air Force to demonstrate the feasibility of the air drop concept. [5] The U.S. Air Force awarded Space Vector a prime contract in 1997 to provide launch services for the Sounding Rocket Program (SRP). Under its first delivery order to SMC Space Vector fabricated a 2-stage medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) target and successfully launched it from the Kodiak Launch Complex, Alaska in order to exercise the PAVE Phased Array Warning System (PAVE PAWS) radar located at Beale Air Force near Marysville, California. [6]
Space Vector shifted its focus in 2002 to providing high reliability aerospace systems and components to large prime contractors such as Lockheed Martin on programs like Targets and Countermeasures (T&C) and Payload Launch Vehicle (PLV). As a member of Team Air Launch in 2005, Space Vector worked on the DARPA funded FALCON small launch vehicle program with the goal of placing 1,000 lbs into low Earth orbit (LEO). Space Vector fabricated a Vapak pressure fed coaxial pintle injector engine and the Storage and Launch Carrier (SLC) system used to deploy the 72,000 lbs, 60 foot long vehicle from the back of an unmodified C-17 cargo aircraft. [7]
A non-ordnance separation system was developed by Space Vector in 2007 to separate large vehicle stages and payloads without explosive bolts or cutters to minimize shock and debris. A 50-inch version was qualified and delivered to ATK for use on their ALV X-1 flight test vehicle launched out of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. [8] [ self-published source? ] Space Vector was awarded a contract in 2008 from the United Launch Alliance (ULA) to develop and supply the GPS tracking unit (GTU) and low noise amplifiers used to provide Range Safety with real-time metric tracking data on the Atlas V and Delta IV Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELV). [9] [ self-published source? ] The first flight of the GPS metric tracking system occurred in 2012 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with the system being fully certified a year later after the fourth flight from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Contracts were awarded to Space Vector in 2013 from ULA to fabricate the mission critical Fuel Level Sensing System for Delta II and to develop a new Fuel Depletion Probe for Atlas V. [10]
The LGM-30 Minuteman is an American land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in service with the Air Force Global Strike Command. As of 2024, the LGM-30G is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States and represents the land leg of the U.S. nuclear triad, along with the Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) and nuclear weapons carried by long-range strategic bombers.
Vandenberg Space Force Base, previously Vandenberg Air Force Base, is a United States Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California. Established in 1941, Vandenberg Space Force Base is a space launch base, launching spacecraft from the Western Range, and also performs missile testing. The United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 30 serves as the host delta for the base, equivalent to an Air Force air base wing. In addition to its military space launch mission, Vandenberg Space Force Base also hosts space launches for civil and commercial space entities, such as NASA and SpaceX.
Pegasus is an air-launched multistage rocket developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC) and later built and launched by Northrop Grumman. Pegasus is the world's first privately developed orbital launch vehicle. Capable of carrying small payloads of up to 443 kg (977 lb) into low Earth orbit, Pegasus first flew in 1990 and remained active as of 2021. The vehicle consists of three solid propellant stages and an optional monopropellant fourth stage. Pegasus is released from its carrier aircraft at approximately 12,000 m (39,000 ft) using a first stage wing and a tail to provide lift and altitude control while in the atmosphere. The first stage does not have a thrust vector control (TVC) system.
Orbital Sciences Corporation was an American company specializing in the design, manufacture, and launch of small- and medium- class space and launch vehicle systems for commercial, military and other government customers. In 2014, Orbital merged with Alliant Techsystems (ATK) to create a new company called Orbital ATK, which in turn was purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2018.
Aries is an American sounding rocket and target rocket, developed by Space Vector Corporation from retired LGM-30 Minuteman I intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) stages for use by the United States Air Force and NASA. Taken over by Orbital Sciences Corporation, Aries, as the Target Test Vehicle, remains in use.
The Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska (PSCA), formerly known as the Kodiak Launch Complex (KLC), is a dual-use commercial and military spaceport for sub-orbital and orbital launch vehicles. The facility is owned and operated by the Alaska Aerospace Corporation, a corporation owned by the Government of Alaska, and is located on Kodiak Island in Alaska.
The Minotaur is a family of United States solid-fuel launch vehicles repurposed from retired Minuteman and Peacekeeper model intercontinental ballistic missiles. Built by Northrop Grumman under the Space Force's Rocket Systems Launch Program, these vehicles are used for various space and test launch missions.
FalconSAT is the United States Air Force Academy's (USAFA) small satellite engineering program. Satellites are designed, built, tested, and operated by Academy cadets. The project is administered by the USAFA Space Systems Research Center under the direction of the Department of Astronautics. Most of the cadets who work on the project are pursuing a bachelor of science degree in astronautical engineering, although students from other disciplines join the project.
The Minotaur I, or just Minotaur is an American expendable launch system derived from the Minuteman II missile. It is used to launch small satellites for the US Government, and is a member of the Minotaur family of rockets produced by Orbital Sciences Corporation.
The Conestoga was a launch vehicle design funded by Space Services Inc. of America (SSIA) of Houston, Texas. Conestoga originally consisted of surplus LGM-30 Minuteman stages with additional strap-on boosters, as required for larger payloads. It was the world's first privately funded commercial rocket, but was launched only three times between 1981 and 1995, before the program was shut down.
The Space Test Program (STP) is the primary provider of spaceflight for the United States Department of Defense (DoD) space science and technology community. STP is managed by a group within the Advanced Systems and Development Directorate, a directorate of the Space and Missile Systems Center of the United States Space Force. STP provides spaceflight via the International Space Station (ISS), piggybacks, secondary payloads and dedicated launch services.
Space Systems Command (SSC) is the United States Space Force's space development, acquisition, launch, and logistics field command. It is headquartered at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, and manages the United States' space launch ranges.
A number of suborbital spaceflights were conducted during 2008. These consist mostly of sounding rocket missions and missile tests, and include other flights such as an ASAT firing. Between the start of the year and 16 July, at least 43 publicly announced suborbital spaceflights were conducted, the first of them on 11 January.
Minotaur IV, also known as Peacekeeper SLV and OSP-2 PK is an active expendable launch system derived from the LGM-118 Peacekeeper ICBM. It is operated by Northrop Grumman Space Systems, and made its maiden flight on 22 April 2010, carrying the HTV-2a Hypersonic Test Vehicle. The first orbital launch occurred on 26 September 2010 with the SBSS satellite for the United States Air Force.
Minotaur II rockets consist of the M55A1 first stage and SR19AJ1 second stage of a decommissioned Minuteman missile. The third stage varies depending on the configuration required for the payload: a Minuteman II M57A1 stage is used on the baseline configuration, whilst the Minotaur II+ uses an SR-73-AJ. The Minotaur II Lite is a two-stage configuration, without a third stage. A heavy configuration is also available, with an Orion 50XL third stage, as used on the Minotaur I. The baseline configuration can propel a 400 kilograms (880 lb) payload 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi) downrange, whilst the heavy configuration can place 1,400 kilograms (3,100 lb) onto an 8,000-kilometre (5,000 mi) trajectory.
The Emergency Rocket Communications System (ERCS) was designed to provide a reliable and survivable emergency communications method for the United States National Command Authority, using a UHF repeater placed atop a Blue Scout rocket or Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile. ERCS was deactivated as a communication means when President George H.W. Bush issued a message to stand down SIOP-committed bombers and Minuteman IIs on 27 September 1991. Headquarters SAC was given approval by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to deactivate the 494L payloads beginning 1 October 1992. However, Headquarters SAC believed it was inefficient and unnecessary to support ERCS past fiscal year 1991, and kept the accelerated deactivation schedule.
Space Services, Inc. of America (SSIA) is a space services company and holding company. The primary subsidiary company, Celestis is for space burials; other activities include operation of an unofficial 'star registry'. Though today it buys secondary payload space on third-party commercial rockets such as Falcon 9, Taurus, and Spaceloft XL, in the 1980s the company conducted test flights of several in-house rockets.
The Alpha Draco missile, also known as Weapons System 199D (WS-199D), was an experimental ballistic missile developed by McDonnell Aircraft in the late 1950s to investigate the aerodynamic physics of the boost-glide reentry trajectory. Three test flights were conducted in 1959, of which two were successful.
The 6555th Aerospace Test Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the Eastern Space and Missile Center and stationed at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida. It was inactivated on 1 October 1990.