STP-1: Orbital
Express (ASTRO, NextSat/CSC), CFEsat, FalconSat 3, MEPSI-4A, MEPSI-4B, MIDStar
1, STPSat-1
Launched: 9 March 2007
Site: Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA
Launcher: Atlas 5
Centaur
Name: Orbital Express - Autonomous Space Transfer and Robotic
Orbiter (ASTRO)
Orbit: LEO, apogee: 492 km, perigee: 492 km: inclination:
46°
International Number: 2006-06A
Owner: DARPA
Contractor:
Boeing
Name: MIDStar 1
Orbit: LEO, apogee: 492 km, perigee: 492 km:
inclination: 46°
International Number: 2006-06B
Owner: US Naval
Academy
Contractor: US Naval Academy
Name: Orbital Express -
NextSat/CSC
Orbit: LEO, apogee: 492 km, perigee: 492 km: inclination:
46°
International Number: 2006-06C
Owner: DARPA
Contractor: Ball
Aerospace & Technologies
Name: STPSat-1
Orbit:
LEO
International Number: 2006-06D
Contractor: AeroAstro
Name:
FalconSat 3
Orbit: LEO
International Number: 2006-06E
Owner: US Air
Force Academy
Contractor: US Air Force Academy
Name: CFEsat
Orbit:
LEO
International Number: 2006-06F
Owner: Los Alamos National
Laboratory
Contractor: Surrey Satellite Technology Limited
This
mission launched six experimental technology satellites under the US Air
Force's Space Test Program-1 (STP-1).
The mission used the new EELV
Secondary Payload Adapter - or ESPA - which is designed to integrate multiple
smaller satellites on the two EELV-class rockets. The six satellites on this
mission were delivered into two distinctly different orbits.
Orbital
Express
Orbital Express is a two spacecraft in orbit refuelling
demonstrator which is intended to demonstrate the feasibility of autonomously
servicing a satellite in space. The Orbital Express mission consists of the
Autonomous Space Transfer and Robotic Orbiter (ASTRO) prototype servicing
satellite and the NextSat/CSC serviceable spacecraft.
The two spacecraft
are designed to transfer between them spacecraft fuel and two Orbital
Replacement Units, a battery and computer. On orbit they will separate and
demonstrate rendezvous and capture from increasing distances and levels of
autonomy. Ball Aerospace's NextSat/CSC employs architecture adapted from the
successful Deep Impact Impactor, including software, command and data handling,
and power switching; as well as elements from BCP-2000, such as the narrow-band
telecom architecture from the Ball-built CloudSat. The Deep Impact Impactor was
able to autonomously steer itself into the path of comet Tempel 1 in 2005,
using similar technologies that the NextSat/CSC spacecraft bus will use to
demonstrate rendezvous and capture sequences during its
mission.
MIDStar 1
MidSTAR is a general-purpose satellite
bus capable of supporting a variety of space missions by easily accommodating a
wide range of space experiments and instruments.
The MIDStar 1
spacecraft will carry two plasma sensors, as well as an experimental thruster.
The sensors help the military better forecast plasma bubbles in space that can
damage satellites and look at the effect of the host spacecraft on plasma in
the local space environment, to see how satellite signals can be delayed or
degraded on their way to Earth.
STPSat-1
STPsat-1 is a
156-kilogram 3-axis stabilised spacecraft carrying the optical SHIMMER payload
and several smaller experiments to collect atmospheric data and demonstrate
spacecraft technologies.
The primary experiment, Spatial Heterodyne
Imager for Mesospheric Radicals (SHIMMER), is a high-resolution ultraviolet
spectrometer based on the new optical technique known as Spatial Heterodyne
Spectroscopy (SHS). SHS facilitates the design of low mass, low power, high
throughput spectrometers for space-based remote sensing. The secondary
experiment Computerized Ionospheric Tomography Receiver in Space (CITRIS) will
investigate irregularities that affect propagation of satellite-to-ground links
for GPS and communications.
At the end of its mission STPSat will deploy
two MEPSI (Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems-based PicoSat Inspector)
nanosatellites designed to facilitate detection and tracking via ground-based
radar.
FalconSat 3
FalconSat-3 is a 54 kg satellite which
was built by cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy. The satellite carries five
experiments to study the near-Earth space plasma environment, test new hardware
and demonstrate a Micropropulsion Attitude Control
System."
CFEsat
Cibola Flight Experiment (CFEsat) is a
159-kilogram satellite built for the Los Alamos National Laboratory to test a
series of new technologies, including inflatable boom antennas, a new power
supply and a prototype supercomputer designed to process data onboard rather
than sending raw information directly to Earth. It will survey portions of the
VHF and UHF radio spectra to detect and measure impulsive events that occur in
a complex background.
(source: AeroAstro, 45th Space Wing, United Launch
Alliance, Ball Aerospace, Boeing)
