TacSat-4 - Minotaur IV - Kodiak LP-1 - 27.09.2011 15:49 UTC

[Sharicoff]

TacSat-4 is a Navy lead Joint project managed by NRL's SED. TacSat-4's mission is to augment current SATCOM capabilities and to advance Operationally Responsive Space systems. TacSat-4 provides 10 Ultra High Frequency (UHF) communications channels that can be used for any combination of communications, data exfiltration, or Friendly Force Tracking (FFT).
 
TacSat-4's HEO (Highly Elliptical Orbit) orbit augments geosynchronous SATCOM by providing near global - but not continuous - coverage, including the high latitudes. TacSat-4 improves on current SATCOM by providing communications-on-the-move (COTM) for existing radios without antenna pointing. TacSat-4 provides flexible up- and down-channel assignments, increasing its ability to operate in some interfered environments. The tasking system, coupled with the orbit, allows dynamic reallocation of communication channels to different theaters worldwide and within 24 hours, enabling rapid SATCOM augmentation to support unexpected operations such as when natural events occur.

Sponsors & Management: The Office of Naval Research is funding the payload, management, and first year of operations. OSD-OFT/DDR&E funded the standardized spacecraft bus. The ORS Office & Air Force are providing the launch on a Minotaur-IV. The Naval Research Lab (NRL) is the program manager.

Spacecraft & Orbit: TacSat-4 is in the Small-Sat class at 450kg with 1000W array and steerable 12-foot payload antenna. The "Low HEO" orbit has a 4 hour period (6 orbits per day), altitude range from 700km to 12,050km, and is inclined at 63.4 degrees with an argument of perigee at 210 degrees[/size]. For a single satellite, a given location on the ground in the Northern Hemisphere is generally in view for about 2 hours per pass and sees three consecutive passes each day.

User Terminals: TacSat-4 enables COTM with existing radios, such as the PRC-117 and 152, and does NOT require user antenna pointing at the typical rates of 16 kbps or less. Advanced capabilities such as converting voice comms to SIPRNET, bridging channels, FFT, or specific buoy data exfiltration collections require a custom terminal for each 2000nm radius area. Given the state of wideband radio development, users are expected to use TacSat-4's 5-MHz channel only for purposes of experimentation. Commercial ODTML transmitters are available to provide a turn-key, IP-based data exfiltration option.

Availability: Launch is scheduled for Fall 2009 on a Minotaur IV from Kodiak, Alaska.

http://www.nrl.navy.mil/code8200/programs.php


(Картинки взяты из википедии, первоисточник - здесь: http://www.nrl.navy.mil/pao/pressRelease.php?Y=2009&R=109-09r )

[Sharicoff]

Переезд аргумента перигея с 270 на 210 градусов легко объясним: новые враги тактического плана, АоП 210 дает апогей над 30 градусом северной широты.

[Старый]

Большая антена забавна. Интересно: на СЛДкоме такая была?

[Leroy]

На картинке слева параболическая антенна и призматический корпус - ну чисто TecSAR!  :wink:

[X]

На картинке слева параболическая антенна и призматический корпус - ну чисто TecSAR! :wink:

Ну да, это первое, что приходит в голову. Но во-первых:



Центральная чатсть антенны (уж не знаю, как она правильно называется - переотражатель м.б.?) конструктивно совершенно разная.

И во-вторых. На картинке из "Хааретца" судя по росту людей диаметр чашки всё-таки поменьше 12 футов.  :roll:

[Космос-3794]

Антенну скорее всего Harris делали. Их эмблема среди производителей ПН:

[Sharicoff]

1 марта клиент прибыл на космодром Кодьяк.
http://us.generation-nt.com/nrl-positions-unique-elliptic-orbit-tacsat-4-satellite-launch-press-2793482.html

NRL Positions Unique Elliptic-Orbit TacSat-4 Satellite for Launch
March 11th, 2011 - 10:02 am ET by Business Wire

Naval Research Laboratory spacecraft personnel make final preparations to ready the TacSat-4 spacecraft for a May 2011 launch. Transported March 1, to the Kodiak Alaska airport via an Air Force C-17 and trucked to the Alaska Aerospace Kodiak Launch Complex, the TacSat-4 satellite will be launched aboard an Orbital Sciences Minotaur-IV launch vehicle into a highly elliptical orbit (HEO) with an apogee of 12,050 kilometers.

TacSat-4 is a Navy-led joint mission managed by the NRL Naval Center for Space Technology. The mission of TacSat-4 is to experiment with new satellite communications (SATCOM) techniques, augment current SATCOM capabilities, and advance the development of Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) systems for improved responsiveness of space capabilities.

TacSat-4 augments current SATCOM by providing communications-on-the-move (COTM) for existing radios without requiring antenna pointing and providing 10 Ultra High Frequency (UHF) channels that can be used for any combination of communications, data ex-filtration, or Blue Force Tracking — a system that provides military commanders and forces with location information about friendly military forces.

TacSat-4 provides flexible up and down channel assignments, which increases the ability to operate in busy, and sometimes restrictive, UHF environments. The unique orbit of TacSat-4 also augments geosynchronous SATCOM by providing near global, but not continuous, coverage to include the high latitudes.

"The ability to provide communications on the move without having to stop and point a SATCOM antenna was the most important user requirement and one which drove the design of the system," said Mike Hurley, section head, NRL Spacecraft Development.

The NRL Blossom Point Ground Station provides the command and control for TacSat-4 and maintains its user Virtual Mission Operations Center (VMOC) tasking system, allowing dynamic reallocation to different theaters worldwide and enabling rapid SATCOM augmentation when unexpected operations or natural events occur.

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. The Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Office funded the launch that will be performed by the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC).

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 Laboratory APL, ATK Space, Ball Aerospace and Technologies, Boeing, Design Net Engineering, General Dynamics AIS, Microcosm, Microsat Systems Inc., Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory, Orbital Sciences, NRL, SMC, Space System Loral, and Raytheon.

The Naval Research Laboratory is the Department of the Navy's corporate laboratory. NRL conducts a broad program of scientific research, technology, and advanced development. The Laboratory, with a total complement of nearly 2,500 personnel, is located in southwest Washington, D.C., with other major sites at the Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Monterey, Calif.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6644080&lang=en

[KBOB]

Солнечные батареи у него прикольные.
http://carbon-free-energy.com/papers/2009/slate_final.pdf

[ОАЯ]

Солнечные батареи у него прикольные.
http://carbon-free-energy.com/papers/2009/slate_final.pdf

Шаг назад http://carbon-free-energy.com/papers.html и в списке статей мечта несчастных японцев о электростанции на орбите (только на лунной) за 2006 A Solar Electric Propulsion Mission For Lunar Power Beaming.

[Salo]

http://www.spacenews.com/military/20110318-taurus-delay-tacsat-4-launch.html

Fri, 18 March, 2011
Taurus XL Failure Investigation Could Delay TacSat-4 Launch[/size]
By Turner Brinton

    WASHINGTON — The U.S. Defense Department this month shipped an experimental satellite communications payload and its spacecraft platform to the Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska, where they were mated in preparation for launch as early as May 5, a Navy official said March 14.

    However, the launch date for the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)-developed TacSat-4 satellite could be affected by an investigation into the March 4 launch failure of a Taurus XL rocket, said Mike Hurley, head of spacecraft development at NRL. The Minotaur 4 vehicle that will carry TacSat-4 to orbit shares some hardware in common with the Taurus XL; both vehicles are built by Dulles, Va.-based Orbital Sciences Corp.

    In addition, the military may decide to launch the ORS-1 operational surveillance satellite ahead of TacSat-4 if it is ready in time, the Air Force has said. Although ORS-1 is launching from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base, both launch campaigns share some personnel.

    The Navy started the TacSat-4 program in 2006 to demonstrate an ultra high frequency (UHF) mobile communications capability that would be compatible with many deployed satellite radios. The spacecraft cost $75 million to develop, and the launch cost another $43 million, Hurley said.

    The 450-kilogram spacecraft was built by NRL and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory of Laurel, Md. TacSat-4 will circle the globe six times a day in a highly elliptical orbit with an apogee — the spacecraft's furthest distance from Earth during each orbit — of 12,050 kilometers. Once on orbit, it will deploy a steerable 4-meter antenna that will provide 10 25- megahertz channels to users inside a coverage area 3,700 kilometers in diameter. TacSat-4's coverage area can be moved within 24 hours to serve users in a different location, Hurley said.

    The Navy currently relies on its fleet of UHF Follow-On geostationary satellites and leased UHF capacity on geostationary commercial satellites for mobile communications links. But geostationary satellites, which operate 36,000 kilometers above the equator, have limitations, and TacSat-4 could offer a unique capability, primarily the ability to reliably cover high latitudes, Hurley said. The satellite could also open up capacity previously unavailable to users with lower priority missions, he said. And because of TacSat-4's lower orbit, many users will be able to link with the satellite while on the move rather than stopping to point their antennas at a geostationary craft.

    The downside of a single satellite in TacSat-4's orbit is that users will be able to link to it for only about two hours at a time, three times a day, Hurley said. But if the mission proves successful, an operational constellation of three or four satellites in this orbit could provide continuous coverage and augment geostationary satellites, he said.

    TacSat-4 will be put through a yearlong military utility assessment led by the Pentagon's Operationally Responsive Space Office. The Navy has a lot riding on TacSat-4's success, because it is one element of a strategy the service has developed to stave off a looming gap in UHF coverage.

    The Navy's UHF Follow-On satellites are aging, and the next-generation Mobile User Objective System spacecraft have been delayed by technical troubles. The Navy has done everything it can do to extend the lives of the satellites on orbit, and also has arranged to use capacity from an Australian UHF payload that will fly on the Intelsat 22 commercial spacecraft set for launch in early 2012. Satellite operator Intelsat has added a UHF payload to another satellite that will launch next year with the expectation that the Navy will need its capacity.

    Meanwhile, the Air Force is processing both TacSat-4 and ORS-1 for May launches, though one will end up launching later. ORS-1 is the higher-priority mission, but has missed several previously scheduled launch dates because of technical troubles. ORS-1 is launching on a Minotaur 1 vehicle, which for the most part has a separate launch crew from the Minotaur 4, allowing them to be processed concurrently and launched within about 30 days of each other, Hurley said. ORS-1 is tentatively scheduled to launch first, and the final launch order should be determined by April, Air Force spokeswoman Valerie Skarupa said March 10.

    But the launch plan could be complicated by the March 4 launch failure of a Taurus XL rocket. In that mission, the rocket's payload fairing failed to separate from the vehicle, resulting in the destruction of NASA's Glory climate monitoring satellite. The fairing separation mechanism was a redesigned version of one that failed two years ago, resulting in the loss of NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory satellite.

    The redesigned fairing separation system flew on three successful Minotaur 4 flights last year.

    Orbital's TacSat-4 launch team will review the initial findings of a NASA failure review board by the end of March and decide if there is cause to delay the mission.

    "That's the biggest wildcard for both our launch and the ORS-1 launch," Hurley said.

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/tracking/index.html

May 14     Minotaur 4  •  TacSat 4
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: LP-1, Kodiak Launch Complex, Alaska

The Air Force Minotaur 4 rocket will launch the experimental TacSat 4 demonstration satellite for the military's Operationally Responsive Space office. TacSat 4 will test new satellite communications systems. Delayed from September, October, November 2010 and May 5. [April 11]

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1104/15minotaur/

Minotaur launch schedule in limbo after Taurus mishap[/size]
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: April 15, 2011

Two small U.S. military satellites are queued up and waiting to ride into space on Minotaur rockets in May, but managers want to make sure the boosters are immune from the glitch that doomed the launch of a NASA science mission in March.
    
 NASA and Orbital Sciences Corp. are investigating the cause of the March 4 failure of a Taurus XL rocket that destroyed the $424 million Glory mission, a NASA climate research satellite designed to study the atmosphere and the sun's relationship with Earth.

The clamshell-like nose cone responsible for the March 4 Taurus mishap uses similar components as the Minotaur 1 and Minotaur 4 launch vehicles being prepared for a pair of flights in May.

"They are both potentially affected because of similar components," said Lou Amorosi, the Orbital Sciences senior vice president for the Minotaur program. "We are hoping to show separation from Taurus within the next couple of weeks through testing of those components."

Amorosi declined to elaborate on the progress of the Taurus investigation.

A Minotaur 4 rocket is being prepared for liftoff as soon as May 14 from Kodiak, Alaska. Its payload will be the Naval Research Laboratory's TacSat 4 experimental communications satellite.

Workers at Wallops Island, Va., have already stacked a smaller Minotaur 1 rocket on the launch pad. Liftoff from Virginia's Eastern Shore is scheduled for no earlier than May 30 with the U.S. military's ORS 1 spacecraft, a tactical Earth observation satellite for the Pentagon's Operationally Responsive Space office.

TacSat 4 is already at its Alaska launch site, and ORS 1 is awaiting shipment to Virginia.

Orbital Sciences is the prime contractor for the Taurus and Minotaur rocket families.

Amorosi said Thursday there is "no decision yet" on which launch will be allowed to proceed first.

"The satellites are ready, but we are waiting for the Taurus/Glory failure review board to exonerate Minotaur 1 and 4 before we launch," said Peter Wegner, director of the ORS program.

The Taurus rocket's 63-inch-diameter nose shroud failed to separate in the March 4 launch anomaly. The payload fairing, which shields sensitive satellites on the launch pad and through flight in the lower atmosphere, was supposed to fall away a few minutes after blastoff when the Taurus rocket reached the edge of space.

But the two halves of the fairing did not jettison and clung to the rocket as it ascended into space. The extra mass of the nose cone meant the Taurus XL didn't have enough power to propel the Glory satellite into a stable orbit.

Officials say the rocket's upper stage and payload likely splashed down somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.

It was the second payload fairing separation failure in a row for the Taurus rocket. Another NASA science satellite was lost under nearly identical circumstances in February 2009.

Investigators probing the 2009 launch failure did not find a root cause, but officials identified a most probable cause in the hot-gas system that initiates the payload fairing separation.

Orbital Sciences turned to a different cold-gas system successfully demonstrated three times on the Minotaur 4 rocket.

Officials haven't released any preliminary findings on the March 4 anomaly.

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/tracking/index.html

October     Minotaur 4  •  TacSat 4
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: LP-1, Kodiak Launch Complex, Alaska

The Air Force Minotaur 4 rocket will launch the experimental TacSat 4 demonstration satellite for the military's Operationally Responsive Space office. TacSat 4 will test new satellite communications systems. Delayed from September, October, November 2010, May 5 and May 14. [May 21]

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/tracking/index.html

Sept. 27     Minotaur 4  •  TacSat 4
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: LP-1, Kodiak Launch Complex, Alaska[/size]

[Sharicoff]

На картинке слева параболическая антенна и призматический корпус - ну чисто TecSAR!  :wink:

Другая ассоциация: на маленького "Спектра-Р" похож.



http://www.nrl.navy.mil/pao/pressRelease.php?Y=2009&R=109-09r

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/minotaur/tacsat4/110906campaign/

Minotaur launch campaign begins at Alaska spaceport[/size]
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: September 6, 2011


Preparations to launch a U.S. Navy communications satellite have kicked off in Alaska three weeks before a souped-up Minotaur rocket will pilot the spacecraft to an orbit 7,500 miles above Earth.

 Technicians began transferring the three lower stages of the Minotaur 4 rocket to Launch Pad No. 1 at Kodiak Launch Complex on Monday, kicking off assembly of the solid-fueled launcher ahead of its Sept. 27 blastoff.

The Minotaur's first stage, a decommissioned SR118 Peacekeeper missile motor, was placed atop the launch pad's pedestal Monday. The second and third stages of the Minotaur 4 will be stacked Tuesday, according to Alaska Aerospace Corp., which operates the oceanfront launch complex.

The launch site is positioned on the southern shore of Kodiak Island in southern Alaska.

Workers inside a clean room at Kodiak are finishing up work on TacSat 4, a Navy-led satellite designed to offer additional UHF communications channels to U.S. forces in Afghanistan and the Middle East.

Once the satellite is fueled and configured for launch next week, engineers will enclose the 1,000-pound craft inside the Minotaur 4 rocket's 92-inch payload fairing. The Minotaur's fourth stage and nose cone should be moved to the launch pad attached to the rocket around Sept. 14, according to the Air Force, which is providing the launch services for the Defense Department's Operationally Responsive Space office.

After final readiness reviews and a mission dress rehearsal, officials will give a final go-ahead for liftoff Sept. 27 at approximately 1545 GMT (11:45 a.m. EDT), or just before sunrise at the Alaska launch site.

TacSat 4's launch has been held up by rocket delays and a cramped Minotaur flight manifest. The military chose to fly other satellites before TacSat 4, pushing its launch from 2009 until this year, then an investigation into a failure of a similar Taurus XL rocket delayed the mission's start from May until September.

The four-stage Minotaur launcher will boost TacSat 4 into an orbit stretching from an altitude of 435 miles to almost 7,500 miles above Earth. Its targeted orbital inclination is 63.4 degrees.


File photo of a previous Minotaur 4 rocket launch from Kodiak, Alaska. Credit: Thom Rogers/T-Minus Productions Inc.

 Orbital Sciences Corp., the Minotaur rocket family's prime contractor, is replacing the launcher's Orion 38 fourth stage with a more powerful Star 48 rocket motor to generate the energy needed to propel TacSat 4 into the high-altitude orbit. The Star 48 motor is produced by ATK Space Systems.

The spacecraft will rapidly sweep near Earth on the low side of its orbit, then slowly rise high in the sky as it reaches its peak altitude, dwelling above battle zones for hours.

Its orbit will place TacSat 4's communications payload in range of polar regions for much of its orbit. Existing communications satellites stationed over the equator have trouble reaching those locations.

"Communication is a critical warfighting requirement," said Larry Schuette, the Office of Naval Research's director of innovation. "TacSat 4 will support forward deployed forces at sea and marines on the ground. We've developed a technology more rapidly and at lower cost that will supplement traditional satellites, giving multiple combatant commanders around the globe another outlet for data transmission and communications on the move."

TacSat 4 is the third in a series of experimental tactical satellites developed under the military's Operationally Responsive Space initiative, which aims to field more focused, less expensive spacecraft to answer the needs of commanders in combat zones.

The ORS office launched its first operational satellite in June on a mission to snap high-resolution images of battlefields and relay them directly to troops on the ground.

TacSat 4 carries a 12-foot communications antenna to relay voice and data messages between military units equipped with small backpack or handheld radios.

"We've got more 10 more UHF channels we can use," said Mike Hurley, director of spacecraft development at the Naval Research Laboratory, which manages the project. "They're very high-gain channels, which means that a marine or a soldier with a man pack or a handheld radio can actually talk to the satellite, which is not really possible now."

The Navy is responsible for the military's UHF satellite communications, and its existing satellites have trouble reaching smaller radios that enable mobile units to communicate with each other.

"That was a big design driver for TacSat 4, to be able to close that link," Hurley said.


Sketch of TacSat 4 with solar arrays and antenna deployed. Credit: Naval Research Laboratory

 The ORS program was conceived to link satellites with far-flung military forces, including specialized units, to provide real-time communications, intelligence and reconnaissance data.

"The real advantages of the UHF is the equipment can be generally smaller and cheaper, and the nature of that frequency is it will get through trees and rain all that stuff better than the higher frequencies," Hurley said. "From that perspective, it's often a more reliable link."

The Naval Research Laboratory will control the spacecraft for the first year of communications experiments, then the satellite's management will be turned over to U.S. Strategic Command if officials believe there is an operational military utility for the platform.

[Salo]

27 сентября, 19:45 ЛМВ - TacSat-4 - Minotaur IV - Kodiak LP-1

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/minotaur/tacsat4/status.html

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2011

 Technicians attached a 1,000-pound U.S. Navy communications satellite to its launch vehicle this week as preparations continue for liftoff Sept. 27 from the southern coast of Alaska.

The TacSat 4 satellite was moved from its processing facility to Kodiak Launch Complex's primary launch pad Thursday, then workers lifted the fully-fueled spacecraft in place on top of the fourth stage of the Minotaur 4 rocket.

The spacecraft was enclosed inside the rocket's 92-inch payload fairing earlier this month, then the entire nose apparatus was transported to the pad in one piece.

It was the last stop for the U.S. military payload before launching into orbit at approximately 1545 GMT (11:45 a.m. EDT; 7:45 a.m. Alaska time) on Sept. 27.

With the 78-foot-tall launcher now fully assembled, the attention of the launch team will now turn to testing and a series of readiness reviews leading toward the Sept. 27 blastoff from Kodiak Island, Alaska.

TacSat 4 is the third in a series of experimental tactical satellites developed under the military's Operationally Responsive Space initiative, which aims to field more focused, less expensive spacecraft to answer the needs of commanders in combat zones.

Developed by the Naval Research Laboratory, the craft features a 12-foot-wide antenna and 10 UHF communications channels to help reach mobile military units deployed in combat theaters.

The Minotaur 4 rocket will propel the satellite into an orbit stretching from an altitude of 435 miles to almost 7,500 miles above Earth.

The spacecraft will rapidly sweep near Earth on the low side of its orbit, then slowly rise high in the sky as it reaches its peak altitude, dwelling above battle zones for hours.

Its orbit will place TacSat 4's communications payload in range of polar regions for much of its orbit. Existing communications satellites stationed over the equator have trouble reaching those locations.

The launch of TacSat 4 will be the third orbital space mission to originate from the remote Alaska spaceport. Owned and operated by the state of Alaska, Kodiak Launch Complex hosted satellite launchings in 2001 and 2010 with Athena and Minotaur rockets.[/size]

[Salo]

http://armstass.su/?page=article&aid=98987&cid=125

Министерство обороны США планирует 27 сентября вывести на орбиту экспериментальный спутник связи "Таксат-4"[/size]


МОСКВА, 19 сентября. (АРМС-ТАСС). Министерство обороны США планирует 27 сентября вывести на орбиту экспериментальный спутник связи "Таксат-4" (Tacsat-4). Спутник предназначен для испытания средств связи с войсками в боевых условиях. Об этом сообщили ВВС США.

Запуск спутника с помощью ракеты-носителя "Минотавр-4+" (Minotaur-4+) будет осуществлен с военной базы на острове Кодьяк (шт.Аляска). Спутник принадлежит научно- исследовательской лаборатории ВМС США NRL (Naval Research Laboratory). Масса спутника 460 кг. Он собран на стандартной платформе ORS (operationally responsive space), разработанной Университетом имени Джона Гопкинаса в рамках концепции оперативного выведения в космос по требованию.

Масса полезной нагрузки 190 кг. Она имеет 10-канальный ретранслятор с зонтичной антенной диаметром 3,6 м.

Планируемый запуск будет 100-м запуском спутника лаборатории NRL с момента первого выведения на орбиту ее спутника "Вангуард-1" (Vanguard-1) в марте 1958 года.[/size]

Фото www.onr.navy.mil.

[instml]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/minotaur/tacsat4/status.html идет трансляция