TacSat-2
Encyclopedia
TacSat-2 is an experimental satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....

 built by the USAF's Air Force Research Laboratory
Air Force Research Laboratory
The Air Force Research Laboratory is a scientific research organization operated by the United States Air Force Materiel Command dedicated to leading the discovery, development, and integration of affordable aerospace warfighting technologies; planning and executing the Air Force science and...

 with an operational life expected to be not more than one year as part of the 'Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration' program.

Purpose

The TacSat series of experimental spacecraft are designed to allow military commanders on a battlefield to request and obtain imagery and other data from a satellite as it passes overhead. Collected data will be delivered to field commanders in minutes rather than hours or days. The sensor on TacSat-2 can collect color images sharp enough to distinguish ground objects as small as 1 meter in diameter.

Launch

TacSat-2 was launched on 16 December 2006 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport
Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport
The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport is a commercial space launch facility located at the southern tip of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on the Delmarva Peninsula south of Chincoteague, Virginia.-Background:...

 using an Orbital Sciences
Orbital Sciences Corporation
Orbital Sciences Corporation is an American company which specializes in the manufacturing and launch of satellites. Its Launch Systems Group is heavily involved with missile defense launch systems...

 Minotaur
Minotaur (rocket)
The Minotaur is a family of American solid fuel rockets derived from converted Minuteman and Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missiles. They are built by Orbital Sciences Corporation....

 launch vehicle
Launch vehicle
In spaceflight, a launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket used to carry a payload from the Earth's surface into outer space. A launch system includes the launch vehicle, the launch pad and other infrastructure....

. The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport is a commercial space launch facility located on the Delmarva Peninsula
Delmarva Peninsula
The Delmarva Peninsula is a large peninsula on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by most of Delaware and portions of Maryland and Virginia...

 5 miles (8 km) west of Chincoteague
Chincoteague
Chincoteague may refer to:Geography*Chincoteague Bay, a bay on the coast of Maryland and Virginia*Chincoteague Channel, a channel in Virginia connecting Chincoteague Bay and Chincoteague Inlet*Chincoteague Inlet, an inlet on the coast of Virginia...

, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

.

Systems

Satellites in the TacSat series were planned to use commercial or available launchers, and largely off-the-shelf components, in order to reduce costs.

Platform

The space platform was built by MicroSat Systems of Littleton, Colorado
Littleton, Colorado
Littleton is a Home Rule Municipality contained in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. Littleton is a suburb of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and the 20th most populous city in the state of...

. The core avionics of the spacecraft including command and data handling, electrical power switching and distribution, and subsystem & payload interfaces is handled by an Integrated Avionics Unit (IAU) developed by Broad Reach Engineering (http://www.broadreachengineering.com). The spacecraft flight software consists of the low level drivers, and bus manager functionality provided by Broad Reach Engineering, ADCS Software by ASI (http://www.go-asi.com), and a number of higher level applications by 3rd parties, most notably the Autonomous Tasking Experiment (ATE) by Interface & Control Systems (http://www.interfacecontrol.com).

Camera / Telescope

The developers originally asked for bids from contractors for a camera. These were priced at around USD$10 million. The team then bought a high-end observatory telescope
Telescope
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...

 costing around $20,000 and added a camera sensor ($2 million), delivering a sensor capable of 1m ground resolution.

The telescope has 50 cm (0.5 m) aperture and was from RC Optical Systems
RC Optical Systems
RC Optical Systems is a high-end American telescope and optics manufacturer that specializes in Ritchey-Chrétien telescopes with hyperbolic mirrors. RC also makes related mounts and systems for the telescopes, with a focus on open and closed carbon fiber trusses for low expansion...

.
TacSat-2 (also known as JWS-D1 or RoadRunner)http://pdf.aiaa.org/preview/CDReadyMSPACE05_1181/PV2005_6830.pdf Accessed 28 June 2007 is an experimental satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....

 built by the USAF's Air Force Research Laboratory
Air Force Research Laboratory
The Air Force Research Laboratory is a scientific research organization operated by the United States Air Force Materiel Command dedicated to leading the discovery, development, and integration of affordable aerospace warfighting technologies; planning and executing the Air Force science and...

 with an operational life expected to be not more than one year as part of the 'Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration' program.

Purpose

The TacSat series of experimental spacecraft are designed to allow military commanders on a battlefield to request and obtain imagery and other data from a satellite as it passes overhead. Collected data will be delivered to field commanders in minutes rather than hours or days. The sensor on TacSat-2 can collect color images sharp enough to distinguish ground objects as small as 1 meter in diameter.


Launch

TacSat-2 was launched on 16 December 2006 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport
Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport
The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport is a commercial space launch facility located at the southern tip of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on the Delmarva Peninsula south of Chincoteague, Virginia.-Background:...

 using an Orbital Sciences
Orbital Sciences Corporation
Orbital Sciences Corporation is an American company which specializes in the manufacturing and launch of satellites. Its Launch Systems Group is heavily involved with missile defense launch systems...

 Minotaur
Minotaur (rocket)
The Minotaur is a family of American solid fuel rockets derived from converted Minuteman and Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missiles. They are built by Orbital Sciences Corporation....

 launch vehicle
Launch vehicle
In spaceflight, a launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket used to carry a payload from the Earth's surface into outer space. A launch system includes the launch vehicle, the launch pad and other infrastructure....

. The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport is a commercial space launch facility located on the Delmarva Peninsula
Delmarva Peninsula
The Delmarva Peninsula is a large peninsula on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by most of Delaware and portions of Maryland and Virginia...

 5 miles (8 km) west of Chincoteague
Chincoteague
Chincoteague may refer to:Geography*Chincoteague Bay, a bay on the coast of Maryland and Virginia*Chincoteague Channel, a channel in Virginia connecting Chincoteague Bay and Chincoteague Inlet*Chincoteague Inlet, an inlet on the coast of Virginia...

, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

.

Systems

Satellites in the TacSat series were planned to use commercial or available launchers, and largely off-the-shelf components, in order to reduce costs.

Platform

The space platform was built by MicroSat Systems of Littleton, Colorado
Littleton, Colorado
Littleton is a Home Rule Municipality contained in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. Littleton is a suburb of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and the 20th most populous city in the state of...

. The core avionics of the spacecraft including command and data handling, electrical power switching and distribution, and subsystem & payload interfaces is handled by an Integrated Avionics Unit (IAU) developed by Broad Reach Engineering (http://www.broadreachengineering.com). The spacecraft flight software consists of the low level drivers, and bus manager functionality provided by Broad Reach Engineering, ADCS Software by ASI (http://www.go-asi.com), and a number of higher level applications by 3rd parties, most notably the Autonomous Tasking Experiment (ATE) by Interface & Control Systems (http://www.interfacecontrol.com).

Camera / Telescope

The developers originally asked for bids from contractors for a camera. These were priced at around USD$10 million. The team then bought a high-end observatory telescope
Telescope
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...

 costing around $20,000 and added a camera sensor ($2 million), delivering a sensor capable of 1m ground resolution.

The telescope has 50 cm (0.5 m) aperture and was from RC Optical Systems
RC Optical Systems
RC Optical Systems is a high-end American telescope and optics manufacturer that specializes in Ritchey-Chrétien telescopes with hyperbolic mirrors. RC also makes related mounts and systems for the telescopes, with a focus on open and closed carbon fiber trusses for low expansion...

.
TacSat-2 (also known as JWS-D1 or RoadRunner)http://pdf.aiaa.org/preview/CDReadyMSPACE05_1181/PV2005_6830.pdf Accessed 28 June 2007 is an experimental satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....

 built by the USAF's Air Force Research Laboratory
Air Force Research Laboratory
The Air Force Research Laboratory is a scientific research organization operated by the United States Air Force Materiel Command dedicated to leading the discovery, development, and integration of affordable aerospace warfighting technologies; planning and executing the Air Force science and...

 with an operational life expected to be not more than one year as part of the 'Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration' program.

Purpose

The TacSat series of experimental spacecraft are designed to allow military commanders on a battlefield to request and obtain imagery and other data from a satellite as it passes overhead. Collected data will be delivered to field commanders in minutes rather than hours or days. The sensor on TacSat-2 can collect color images sharp enough to distinguish ground objects as small as 1 meter in diameter.


Launch

TacSat-2 was launched on 16 December 2006 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport
Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport
The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport is a commercial space launch facility located at the southern tip of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on the Delmarva Peninsula south of Chincoteague, Virginia.-Background:...

 using an Orbital Sciences
Orbital Sciences Corporation
Orbital Sciences Corporation is an American company which specializes in the manufacturing and launch of satellites. Its Launch Systems Group is heavily involved with missile defense launch systems...

 Minotaur
Minotaur (rocket)
The Minotaur is a family of American solid fuel rockets derived from converted Minuteman and Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missiles. They are built by Orbital Sciences Corporation....

 launch vehicle
Launch vehicle
In spaceflight, a launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket used to carry a payload from the Earth's surface into outer space. A launch system includes the launch vehicle, the launch pad and other infrastructure....

. The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport is a commercial space launch facility located on the Delmarva Peninsula
Delmarva Peninsula
The Delmarva Peninsula is a large peninsula on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by most of Delaware and portions of Maryland and Virginia...

 5 miles (8 km) west of Chincoteague
Chincoteague
Chincoteague may refer to:Geography*Chincoteague Bay, a bay on the coast of Maryland and Virginia*Chincoteague Channel, a channel in Virginia connecting Chincoteague Bay and Chincoteague Inlet*Chincoteague Inlet, an inlet on the coast of Virginia...

, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

.

Systems

Satellites in the TacSat series were planned to use commercial or available launchers, and largely off-the-shelf components, in order to reduce costs.

Platform

The space platform was built by MicroSat Systems of Littleton, Colorado
Littleton, Colorado
Littleton is a Home Rule Municipality contained in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. Littleton is a suburb of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and the 20th most populous city in the state of...

. The core avionics of the spacecraft including command and data handling, electrical power switching and distribution, and subsystem & payload interfaces is handled by an Integrated Avionics Unit (IAU) developed by Broad Reach Engineering (http://www.broadreachengineering.com). The spacecraft flight software consists of the low level drivers, and bus manager functionality provided by Broad Reach Engineering, ADCS Software by ASI (http://www.go-asi.com), and a number of higher level applications by 3rd parties, most notably the Autonomous Tasking Experiment (ATE) by Interface & Control Systems (http://www.interfacecontrol.com).

Camera / Telescope

The developers originally asked for bids from contractors for a camera. These were priced at around USD$10 million. The team then bought a high-end observatory telescope
Telescope
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...

 costing around $20,000 and added a camera sensor ($2 million), delivering a sensor capable of 1m ground resolution.

The telescope has 50 cm (0.5 m) aperture and was from RC Optical Systems
RC Optical Systems
RC Optical Systems is a high-end American telescope and optics manufacturer that specializes in Ritchey-Chrétien telescopes with hyperbolic mirrors. RC also makes related mounts and systems for the telescopes, with a focus on open and closed carbon fiber trusses for low expansion...

.Astronautix - Tacsat2

Signals Intelligence

A signals intelligence payload, called the Target Indicator Experiment, detects radio wave emitters and can be used in concert with receivers on other platforms such as the US Navy's P-3C maritime patrol aircraft.

Other systems include:
  • RoadRunner Onboard Processing Experiment (ROPE)
  • Common Data Link (CDL)
  • Autonomous Operations
  • Hall Effect Thruster
    Hall effect thruster
    In spacecraft propulsion, a Hall thruster is a type of ion thruster in which the propellant is accelerated by an electric field. Hall thrusters trap electrons in a magnetic field and then use the electrons to ionize propellant, efficiently accelerate the ions to produce thrust, and neutralize the...

     (HET)
  • Propulsion Instrument Electronics (PIE) sensor suite
  • Inertial Stellar Compass (ISC)
  • Low Power Transceiver (LPT)
  • Integrated GPS Occultation Receiver (IGOR)

  • Atmospheric Density Mass Spectrometer (ADMS)
  • Experimental Solar Array
    Solar cell
    A solar cell is a solid state electrical device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect....

  • Miniaturized Vibration Isolation System (MVIS)

Orbit

The orbit is planned to have a height of 410 km at an inclination of 40 degrees to the equator
Equator
An equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and containing the sphere's center of mass....

. TacSat-2 decayed on February 5, 2011.

Developers

Apart from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), other organisations participating included:
  • DOD Space Test Program
    Space Test Program
    The Space Test Program is the primary provider of spaceflight for the United States Department of Defense space science and technology community. STP is conducted by the Space Development and Test Wing of the United States Air Force...

     (Space and Missile Systems Center’s Space Development and Test Wing),
  • Naval Research Laboratory,
  • Army Space Program Office,
  • Air Force Space Command
    Air Force Space Command
    Air Force Space Command is a major command of the United States Department of the Air Force, with its headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. AFSPC supports U.S. military operations worldwide through the use of many different types of satellite, launch and cyber operations....

  • Space Warfare Center
  • NASA
    NASA
    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

  • Jet Propulsion Laboratory
    Jet Propulsion Laboratory
    Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...

    (JPL).
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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