Kirtland-managed satellite prepares for launch

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Michael Clark
  • Space Development and Test Directorate
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  The Kirtland-managed Space Test Program Satellite-3 is scheduled to launch Nov. 19 aboard a Minotaur I rocket from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Va.

The spacecraft, along with 28 CubeSats, will be carried into the cosmos as part of the Operationally Responsive Space-3 mission. STPSat-3 is the second launch of a Department of Defense Space Test Program Standard Interface Vehicle. The STP and SIV programs are managed by the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center of the Space Development & Test Directorate at Kirtland.

"The whole team, government and contractor alike, contributed to make this mission a success," said Maj. Catherine Porcher, deputy mission manager. "We had a few bumps along the way, but each time the team was able to pull together, solve the tough problems, and deliver this satellite. We look forward to many years of successful operations on-orbit."

STPSat-3 is the second spacecraft built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo., and the second vehicle operated on the Multi-Mission Satellite Operations Center ground system from the Research and Development Test and Evaluation Support Complex at Kirtland. MMSOC permits cost savings for missions like STPSat-3 by maximizing reuse of common ground system components.

Along with the new STPSat-3 mission-unique software, MMSOC will provide a new data distribution capability to automatically make vehicle and payload data available to customers at external locations. Multiple organizations have teamed up with the SDTD to field the Data Distribution System including Lockheed Martin, Aerospace, Defense Information System Agency, and the 377th Air Base Wing Communications Squadron.

Although designed to be a cost-effective platform for space payloads with limited test objectives, the STP-SIV has proven to be highly reliable. STPSat-3 has a designed mission life of 13 months, but could extend operations for several years after the initial experiment phase is complete. Its predecessor, STPSat-2, was launched in November 2010 as part of the STP-S26 mission and has exceeded its 13-month mission requirement, continuing to operate three onboard experiments as it approaches its third anniversary on orbit.

Col. Todd Krueger, director of the DoD Space Test Program, characterized the SIV program as, "a system that enables affordable 'access to space' for technologies offering significant military utility," emphasizing the efficient use of precious space resources.

"Our ability to partner with the ORS office is a demonstration of the 'rideshare' concept being advanced across the space enterprise to maximize launch vehicle lift capacity," Krueger said.

The ORS-3 Mission, also known as the Enabler Mission, demonstrates launch and range improvements to include: automated vehicle trajectory targeting, range safety planning, and flight termination; a commercial-like procurement and FAA licensing of the Minotaur I rocket; and the Integrated Payload Stack consisting of 29 spacecraft. These enablers not only focus on the ability to execute a rapid call up mission, but they also automate engineering tasks, which reduce timelines from months to days, and in some cases hours, resulting in decreased mission costs.

STPSat-3 payloads include:

· Strip Sensor Unit, a laser illumination sensor developed by the Space Dynamics Laboratory for the Air Force Research Laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate.

· TSI Calibration Transfer Experiment, a NASA/NOAA mission to collect high accuracy, high precision measurements to monitor changes in solar irradiance incident at the top of Earth's atmosphere with an instrument provided by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder.

· Joint Component Research, a space phenomenology mission sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory and U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command.

· Small Wind and Temperature Spectrometer, a U.S. Naval Research Laboratory-sponsored mission to provide measurements of the neutral and plasma environment to characterize the Earth's ionosphere and thermosphere.

· Integrated Miniaturized Electrostatic Analyzer Reflight, a U.S. Air Force Academy mission designed to measure plasma densities and energies.

· De-Orbit Module, sponsored by AFRL and STP and developed by MMA Design, will demonstrate a lightweight, low cost de-orbit device to meet debris mitigation policy.