TacSat-4

Last updated

TacSat-4
TacSat-4.png
Computer model of TacSat-4
NamesJSW 1
COMMx
Tactical Microsatellite Innovative Naval Prototype (INP)
Mission type Technology, Communications
Operator Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)
Applied Physics Laboratory (APL)
Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)
COSPAR ID 2011-052A
SATCAT no. 37818
Mission duration2 years (planned)
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftTacSat-4
Spacecraft typeTacSat
Bus JSW bus
Manufacturer Naval Research Laboratory (bus and payload)
Applied Physics Laboratory (bus)
Launch mass468 kg (1,032 lb)
Power1 kW
Start of mission
Launch date27 September 2011,
15:49:00 UTC
Rocket Minotaur IV+
Launch site Kodiak Launch Complex, LP-1
Contractor Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC)
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric orbit
Regime Low Earth orbit
Perigee altitude 472 km (293 mi)
Apogee altitude 12,291 km (7,637 mi)
Inclination 63.1°
Period 238.9 minutes
  TacSat-3
TacSat-6  
 

TacSat-4 is the third in a series of U.S. military experimental technology and communication satellites. The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the program manager. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) sponsored the development of the payload and funded the first year of operations. The Office of the Director of Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E) funded the standardized spacecraft bus and the Operationally Responsive Space Office (ORS) funded the launch that will be performed by the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC).

Contents

The spacecraft was completed by the end of 2009, and was launched on 27 September 2011, at 14:49:00 UTC, on a Minotaur IV launch vehicle into a highly elliptical orbit (HEO). [1] [2] [3] [4]

Mission

TacSat-4 is equipped with a 3.6 m (12 ft) antenna operating 10 Ultra High Frequency (UHF) channels that can be used for any combination of communications, data ex-filtration or Blue Force Tracking (BFT). TacSat-4 will fly the highly elliptical, 4-hour, orbit (12,050 kilometers at peak) providing typical payload communication periods of two hours per orbit. TacSat-4's orbit also allows it to cover the high latitudes.

Part of its capability is rapid (within 24 hours) reallocation to different theaters worldwide, in support of unexpected operations. Command and control of TacSat-4 will be performed at the United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Satellite Operations Center at Blossom Point, Maryland. Payload tasking will be performed via the SIPRNet based Virtual Mission Operations Center (VMOC).

Design

All TacSat satellites are designed to demonstrate the ability to provide real-time data collected from space to combatant commanders in the field. [5]

The spacecraft bus was built by NRL and Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) to mature ORS bus standards developed by an Integrated (government and industry) System Engineering Team, the "ISET Team", with active representation from AeroAstro, Air Force Research Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, ATK Space, Ball Aerospace & Technologies, Boeing, Design Net Engineering, General Dynamics AIS, Microcosm, Sierra Nevada Corp., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lincoln Laboratory, Orbital Sciences Corporation, NRL, SMC, Space Systems/Loral, and Raytheon. Lithium-ion battery power provided by Quallion.

TacSat-4 with deployed UHF antenna Tacsat4 uhf antenna.jpg
TacSat-4 with deployed UHF antenna
TacSat-4 at Naval Research Lab TacSat4 finalassembly.jpg
TacSat-4 at Naval Research Lab
Bus and COMMx payload TacSat4.jpg
Bus and COMMx payload
System overview TacSat4Overview.jpg
System overview

Related Research Articles

FalconSAT Program within the United States Air Force Academy for building small satellites

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.

Minotaur I

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.

TacSat-2

TacSat-2 is the first in a series of U.S. military experimental technology and communication satellites.TacSat-2 (also known as JWS-D1 was an experimental satellite built by the USAF's Air Force Research Laboratory with an operational life expected to be not more than one year as part of the "Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration" program.

The Small Demonstration Satellite (SDS) is a spacecraft or satellite which is built as part of a JAXA programme to develop and demonstrate technology for and through small satellites. One of the mid-term goals is also to demonstrate formation flying. SDS-1 launched aboard an H-IIA rocket on 23 January 2009, as a secondary payload to GOSAT. The operation finished successfully on September 8, 2010.

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. But STP is a DoD-wide organization. STP provides spaceflight via the International Space Station, piggybacks, secondary payloads and dedicated launch services.

TacSat-1

TacSat-1 was an experimental satellite built by the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) on behalf of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) Office of Force Transformation (OFT). It was the planned payload of the sixth launch of the SpaceX Falcon 1. It was however never launched into space. The second satellite in the series, TacSat-2, launched before TacSat-1 and this led to the cancellation of TacSat-1's launch.

SOLRAD Series of American satellites

SOLRAD was an American series of satellites sponsored by the US Navy in a program to continuously monitor the Sun. SOLRAD was the Naval Research Laboratory's first post-Vanguard satellite.

TacSat-3

TacSat-3 is the second in a series of U.S. military experimental technology and communication satellites. It was assembled in an Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate facility at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. The TacSat satellites are all designed to demonstrate the ability to provide real-time data collected from space to combatant commanders in the field.

ARGOS (satellite)

The Advanced Research and Global Observation Satellite (ARGOS) was launched on 23 February 1999 carrying nine payloads for research and development missions by nine separate researchers. The mission terminated on 31 July 2003.

The Operationally Responsive Space Office is a joint initiative of several agencies within the United States Department of Defense (DoD). The "stand up" of the office took place 21 May 2007 at Kirtland Air Force Base. The first director of the ORS Office was Col. Kevin McLaughlin, who was also dual-hatted as commander of the Space Development and Test Wing located at Kirtland. The ORS Office focuses on providing quick-response tactical space-based capabilities to the warfighter utilizing smaller satellites, such as the Tactical Satellite Program and smaller launch vehicles.

Demonstration and Science Experiments

Demonstration and Science Experiments (DSX) was a small spacecraft developed by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate to perform experiments to study the radiation environment in medium Earth orbit.

MightySat-2.1, also known as P99-1 or Sindri was a small spacecraft developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory to test advanced technologies in imaging, communications, and spacecraft bus components in space.

Tactical Satellite Program

During the second half of 2002, the Naval Research Laboratory studied the tactical application of space assets. Relatively new technologies and processes in the areas of microsatellites, affordable and quick-response launch vehicles, and the classified SIPRNet made tactical use of space assets possible in the relatively near term. The DoD's Office of Force Transformation (OFT) agreed with the core findings of the study and decided to start an Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Initiative consisting of a series of experiments. TacSat-1 is the first experiment in this OFT initiative. The TacSat-1 experiment received go-ahead on 7 May 2003.

CP6, also known as PolySat-6, PolySat CP-6 or CalPoly 6 is a single-unit CubeSat which was built and operated by the California Polytechnic State University. It was primarily intended to perform a technology demonstration mission. The main experiment consisted of sensors to determine the spacecraft's attitude. Cameras on the satellite will be used to verify the data returned by the attitude sensors. Originally built as a backup to CP3, which was launched in April 2007, CP6 was modified after it was decided that it would no longer be needed for that role.

Radio Aurora Explorer

Radio Aurora Explorer (RAX) is the first National Science Foundation sponsored CubeSat mission. The RAX mission is a joint effort between SRI International in Menlo Park, California and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The chief scientist at SRI International, Dr. Hasan Bahcivan, led his team at SRI to develop the payload while the chief engineer, Dr. James Cutler, led a team of students to develop the satellite bus in the Michigan Exploration Laboratory. There are currently two satellites in the RAX mission.

The EELV Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) is an adapter for launching secondary payloads on orbital launch vehicles.

Miniature Sensor Technology Integration-3 (MSTI-3) was a technology demonstration satellite operated by the United States Air Force. It was equipped with two infrared cameras and one visible light camera, designed to survey Earth's surface features and characterize their appearance in infrared wavelengths. MSTI-3 launched on 17 May 1996 aboard an Orbital Sciences Pegasus rocket.

SPARK (rocket)

SPARK, or Spaceborne Payload Assist Rocket - Kauai, also known as Super Strypi, is an American expendable launch system developed by the University of Hawaii, Sandia and Aerojet Rocketdyne. Designed to place miniaturized satellites into low Earth and sun-synchronous orbits, it is a derivative of the Strypi rocket which was developed in the 1960s in support of nuclear weapons testing. SPARK is being developed under the Low Earth Orbiting Nanosatellite Integrated Defense Autonomous System (LEONIDAS) program, funded by the Operationally Responsive Space Office of the United States Department of Defense.

SOLRAD 6 was the sixth solar X-ray monitoring satellite in the United States Navy's SOLRAD series, the third in the series to successfully orbit. It was launched along with POPPY 2, an ELINT surveillance package, as well as three other satellites, boosted into orbit via a Thor Augmented Delta-Agena D rocket on June 15, 1963.

TacSat-6 is a U.S. military experimental technology and communication satellites. The Operationally Responsive Space Office (ORS) funded the launch that will be performed by the United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC).

References

  1. "Next launch: May 5". Kodiak Daily Mirror. 1 March 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
  2. "TacSat-4 spacecraft complete and awaiting launch". Naval Research Laboratory. 1 December 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2010.PD-icon.svgThis article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. "Launch Schedule". Spaceflight Now. 15 June 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  4. Brinton, Turner (30 August 2010). "Rapidly Delivered Systems". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  5. Ferster, Warren (7 November 2005). "U.S. Air Force Payload for TacSat 4". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 28 July 2008.