MicroSats
Organisation · USA
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
American manufacturer. MicroSats, USA.
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Chronology
1 event
2006 December 16
12:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Wallops Island. Launch Complex: Wallops Island LA0B. LV Family: Minuteman. Launch Vehicle: Minotaur 1.- Tacsat-2 - .
Mass: 370 kg (810 lb). Nation: USA.
Agency: USAF RL.
Manufacturer: MicroSats.
Program: Tacsat.
Class: Surveillance.
Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Road Runner.
Spacecraft: Tacsat ORS.
Decay Date: 2011-02-05 . USAF Sat Cat: 29653 . COSPAR: 2006-058A. Apogee: 426 km (264 mi). Perigee: 410 km (250 mi). Inclination: 40.01 deg. Period: 92.93 min.
Tacsat-2 was a prototype rapid development/rapid deployment tactical military satellite that provided American Joint Task Force commanders direct control of a satellite providing both SIGINT and imagery with a resolution of better than 1-m. The known communications payload used an 8 GHz (X-band) downlink. This was the first orbital launch from Wallops Island since 1985. TacSat-2 was to have been launched by a Falcon-1 from Vandenberg into a sun-synchronous orbit. However, the failure of Falcon-1 on its long-delayed maiden in March 2006 caused AFRL to award a new launch contract for TacSat-2 and TacSat-3 to OSC in May 2006. The launch was achieved using OSC's Minotaur launch vehicle only seven months after contract award.