NROL-129 (4 мКА) - Minotaur IV - Wallops FF, MARS Pad 0B - 15.07.2020 13:46 UTC

Автор tnt22, 02.07.2020 23:04:27

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tnt22

https://www.losangeles.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2274682/minotaur-iv-rocket-successfully-launches-nro-payload/

Цитата: undefinedMinotaur IV rocket successfully launches NRO payload
By SMC Public Affairs, Space and Missile Systems Center / Published July 15, 2020

NASA WALLOPS FLIGHT FACILITY, Va. --
The U.S. Space Force successfully launched a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office aboard a Minotaur IV rocket at 9:46 a.m. EST (6:46 a.m. Pacific) today from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

This mission, named NROL-129, was the first USSF launch and the NRO's first dedicated launch from WFF. The launch vehicle, built and operated by Northrop Grumman Corporation, lifted off from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport's Pad 0B at NASA's WFF and was visible throughout the mid-Atlantic region.

"I am thrilled with today's successful launch for our NRO mission partner, and look forward to our additional missions with Northrop Grumman," stated Lt. Col. Ryan Rose, chief of SMC Launch Enterprise's Small Launch and Targets Division. "This was the first USSF mission and the first dedicated NRO mission from WFF and we look forward to continuing to launch national priority satellites for our NRO mission partner."

"Congratulations to the entire government and industry NROL-129 team on successfully pressing forward to execute this important mission amidst this global pandemic," stated Col. Robert Bongiovi, director of SMC's Launch Enterprise.

Mission information, including photos are available on the NRO, NASA Wallops, and Northrop Grumman Corp. website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter sites.

The U.S. Space Force's Space and Missile Systems Center, located at Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo, California, is the center of excellence for acquiring and developing military space systems. SMC's portfolio includes space launch, global positioning systems, military satellite communications, a defense meteorological satellite control network, range systems, space-based infrared systems, and space situational awareness capabilities.
 
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tnt22

https://news.northropgrumman.com/news/releases/northrop-grumman-successfully-launches-minotaur-iv-rocket-carrying-satellite-for-the-national-reconnaissance-office

Цитата: undefinedMinotaur product line boosts flawless record to 27 missions

July 15, 2020

WALLOPS, Va. – July 15, 2020 – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) successfully launched its Minotaur IV space launch vehicle and placed a National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) spacecraft into orbit at 9:46 a.m. EDT on July 15. The Minotaur IV was launched from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad 0B at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility.


Northrop Grumman successfully launched its Minotaur IV Rocket into orbit this morning, at 9:46 a.m. ET.

"This mission marks the 27th consecutive successful launch for the company's Minotaur product line which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year," said Kurt Eberly, director, launch vehicles, Northrop Grumman. "Minotaur's record of success along with its ability to responsively launch from multiple spaceports continues to be a valuable asset for our customers."

The NROL-129 launch (L-129) was the seventh Minotaur IV flight. The Minotaur IV is capable of launching payloads of up to 4,000 pounds (or 1,800 kilograms) to low earth orbit. This mission's Minotaur IV configuration included three decommissioned Peacekeeper stages and a Northrop Grumman manufactured Orion 38 solid fuel upper stage. The Minotaur rockets are manufactured at Northrop Grumman's facilities in Chandler, Arizona; Vandenberg, California; and Clearfield and Magna, Utah.

The Minotaur family of launch vehicles is based on government-furnished Peacekeeper and Minuteman rocket motors that Northrop Grumman has integrated with modern avionics and other subsystems to produce a cost-effective, responsive launcher based on flight-proven hardware. Minotaur rockets have launched from ranges in Alaska, California, Florida and Virginia.


Northrop Grumman's Minotaur IV Rocket successfully launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility this morning.

The vehicle used to launch the L-129 mission was procured under the OSP-3 contract administered by the U.S. Space Force Space and Missile Systems Center's Launch Enterprise Small Launch and Targets Division at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. Minotaur vehicles are currently available to customers under the OSP-4 contract.

Northrop Grumman solves the toughest problems in space, aeronautics, defense and cyberspace to meet the ever evolving needs of our customers worldwide. Our 90,000 employees define possible every day using science, technology and engineering to create and deliver advanced systems, products and services.

tnt22

https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/07/15/minotaur-rocket-successfully-deploys-four-nro-satellites-in-orbit/

Цитата: undefinedMinotaur rocket successfully deploys four NRO satellites in orbit
July 15, 2020 | Stephen Clark


A Minotaur 4 rocket fires into a mostly sunny sky Wednesday from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island, Virginia. Credit: Northrop Grumman/Thom Baur

A solid-fueled Northrop Grumman Minotaur 4 rocket vaulted into orbit Wednesday from Virginia's Eastern Shore and deployed four top secret spacecraft for the U.S. government's spy satellite agency, extending the program's success record ahead of three more Minotaur missions planned in 2021.

The 78-foot-tall (23.8-meter) launcher fired away from pad 0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia at 9:46 a.m. EDT (1346 GMT) Wednesday after a 46-minute delay to wait for fishing boats to clear a hazard area near the launch site.

Riding a half-million pounds of thrust, the Minotaur 4 darted into a mostly sunny sky at breathtaking speed and broke the sound barrier just 17 seconds after liftoff.

Three solid-fueled rocket motors stockpiled from the U.S. Air Force's retired Peacekeeper nuclear missile program powered the Minotaur 4 rocket into space. A commercial Orion 38 fourth stage motor then fired to inject the four National Reconnaissance Office payloads into orbit a few hundred miles above Earth.

A live video stream of the launch provided by NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, which oversees the launch site, ended a few minutes after liftoff of the Minotaur 4 rocket at the request of the NRO. The rest of the flight occurred in a news blackout without live updates.

The National Reconnaissance Office confirmed the launch — designated NROL-129 —  was a success later Wednesday morning.

"I could not be prouder to witness NRO's first dedicated launch out of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia," said Chris Scolese, director of the NRO. "NROL-129 represents a collaboration between the NRO and our industry partners to design, build, launch, and operate a system of satellites that will demonstrate revolutionary capabilities of value to the nation and our allies."

The NRO did not disclose details about the design or purpose of the four NROL-129 payloads. The NRO is part of the U.S. government's intelligence community, and owns a fleet of optical and radar surveillance satellites.

"Despite facing challenges in 2020, we found new and better ways to collaborate with our partners from a distance, relentlessly pursuing our mission and denying sanctuary to our adversaries," Scolese said.

"I'm excited to add this new chapter to the NRO's long history of developing, launching and operating sophisticated overhead intelligence systems in support of our nation's security, and I look forward to a future with more opportunities for collaboration on the Virginia Space Coast," he said.

The launch Wednesday marked the 27th flight of a Minotaur rocket since January 2000, and the first Minotaur satellite delivery mission in nearly three years. It was the seventh Minotaur launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia, and the first Minotaur to take off from there since 2013.

"This mission marks the 27th consecutive successful launch for the company's Minotaur product line which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year," said Kurt Eberly, director of launch vehicles at Northrop Grumman, in a statement. "Minotaur's record of success along with its ability to responsively launch from multiple spaceports continues to be a valuable asset for our customers."


The launch from Virginia's Eastern Shore on Monday marked the 27th flight of Northrop Grumman's Minotaur rocket family since 2000. Credit: Northrop Grumman/Thom Baur

Despite the low launch rate, Northrop Grumman says the Minotaur rocket family is well-suited for delivering U.S. military and NRO payloads into orbit.

"We're really focused on making this the tried-and-true small-to-medium launch vehicle for the Air Force, and when they really need to launch when they want it, and it needs to be reliable, then we want to be that provider for the NRO and other DOD agencies," Eberly said in a pre-launch interview with Spaceflight Now.

"I think what we offer is the ability to get to every orbit that they need from a variety of launch ranges," Eberly said. "We've launched from Vandenberg, Cape Canaveral, here at Wallops ... We've launched from Kodiak as well. So that just gives us the ability to fit different missions that the NRO and other DOD customers want to execute to different orbits.

"Different payloads need different processing facilities, and different availability from different ranges," Eberly said. "So the ability to launch off of austere launch pads with these all-solid vehicles, it doesn't take much. It's really just a launch stool, and then a protected vault for our electrical ground support equipment. I think that's pretty attractive to the Air Force."

The government paid Northrop Grumman $38 million for the NROL-129 launch. The launch contract for the NROL-129 mission was awarded to Northrop Grumman in 2017 through the military's Orbital/Suborbital Program-3 procurement vehicle.

The Peacekeeper rocket motors used on Wednesday's launch were filled with pre-packed solid fuel between 1988 and 1990, then placed on alert in missile silos for 15 years until the military decommissioned the Peacekeeper in 2005, according to Col. Robert Bongiovi, director of the launch enterprise division at the Space and Missile Systems Center.

The Space Force maintains an "active aging surveillance program" to ensure decommissioned Peacekeeper and Minuteman missile motors can be made flightworthy in a short time when needed for a satellite launch. The missile motors are stored at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, and refurbished there before shipping out for launch preparations.

Ground teams at Wallops took precautions to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19, and Northrop Grumman re-planned some operations associated with the NROL-129 mission, Eberly said.

Without a waiver, U.S. government policy requires the Minotaur rocket family only be used to launch military and intelligence-gathering satellites. The policy is intended to keep government-furnished equipment, such as the retired Peacekeeper stages, from competing with privately-developed rockets in the small satellite launch market.

The Minotaur 4 rocket can carry payloads of up to 3,814 pounds (1,730 kilograms) into low Earth orbit, according to Northrop Grumman. The smaller Minotaur 1 launcher is powered by decommissioned Minuteman missile stages, and is capable of injecting a payload of up to 1,278 pounds (580 kilograms) into low Earth orbit.

There are also heavier variants, such as the Minotaur 5 and 6, designed to launch payloads into higher orbits, or deploy larger satellites.


The National Reconnaissance Office's two patches for the NROL-129 mission feature "two warrior figures working together to defend our nation's interests and deny our enemies sanctuary," the NRO said. "The patches include the phrase 'Our Time has Come,' which symbolizes that these payloads will enable the NRO's continued support to both defense and intelligence operations in support of national security." Credit: NRO

The Minotaur 4 and 5 rockets can carry heavier payloads than the commercial small satellite launchers developed by Rocket Lab, Virgin Orbit, Firefly Aerospace, Relativity Space, and numerous other firms fueled by venture capital financing.

Despite the Minotaur rocket's low flight rate, Eberly said he thinks the program "fills a niche that is not really addressed very much for U.S. launchers."

"Maybe (Europe's) Vega is something similar in the international market, but the ability to launch two metric tons to low Earth orbit isn't well-served, and I think a lot of space vehicles, and the kinds of new space vehicles that the NRO and others are producing, they just can't always be served by the by the really small end of launch market," Eberly said.

"So that's where we can come in and offer a very dependable ride on a schedule, wherever they need us, and fill that bigger niche for payloads that just aren't going to fit on a smaller vehicle, and they may not want to be on a rideshare, where you're not able to drive the schedule, or if it's a classified payload, you don't want to be in a rideshare on a bigger vehicle," he said.

"That's where I think the dedicated launch aspect is very attracted to the NRO, where they can get just what they want. They can tailor the mission just the way they want, and then we can provide that service to them."

The NRO has booked two more satellite launches on Northrop Grumman Minotaur rockets.

A classified payload is scheduled to take off on a Minotaur 1 rocket in the second quarter of 2021 on the NROL-111 mission. The NRO has also purchased another Minotaur 4 rocket for the launch of the NROL-174 mission in late 2021, Eberly said.

Both of those missions will launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia, military officials said.

There's also a mission assigned to a Minotaur 2 rocket — a suborbital Minotaur configuration — scheduled to fly from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in late 2021, according to the Space and Missile Systems Center.

тавот

Цитата: Старый от 14.07.2020 16:57:57Фраза

Цитата: undefinedNRO's continued support to both defense and intelligence operations
может намекать что полезная нагрузка является продолжением некой ранее существующей программы.
На эмблемах половцы и печенеги, о победе над которыми неоднократно говорили большевики ВВП.  ;D
Three, two, one, ignition, and liftoff !

Охотник утки, пьющий водки !

Это ещё не сверхтяж, но уже и не супертяж.© Д.О.Р.

Старый

А это точно половцы и печенеги? Ато я смотрю: ребята какието неопознаваемые.
1. Ангара - единственная в мире новая РН которая хуже старой (с) Старый Ламер
2. Назначение Роскосмоса - не летать в космос а выкачивать из бюджета деньги
3. У Маска ракета длиннее и толще чем у Роскосмоса
4. Чем мрачнее реальность тем ярче бред (с) Старый Ламер

Старый

1. Ангара - единственная в мире новая РН которая хуже старой (с) Старый Ламер
2. Назначение Роскосмоса - не летать в космос а выкачивать из бюджета деньги
3. У Маска ракета длиннее и толще чем у Роскосмоса
4. Чем мрачнее реальность тем ярче бред (с) Старый Ламер

tnt22

НОРАД внёс в каталог 5 объектов запуска

Цитата: undefined
NORAD CAT IDSATNAMEINTLDESTYPECOUNTRYLAUNCHSITEDECAYPERIODINCLAPOGEEPERIGEERCSTLE
45873 USA 3052020-046APAYLOADUS2020-07-15WLPISTLE | OMM
45874 USA 3062020-046BPAYLOADUS2020-07-15WLPISTLE | OMM
45875 USA 3072020-046CPAYLOADUS2020-07-15WLPISTLE | OMM
45876 USA 3082020-046DPAYLOADUS2020-07-15WLPISTLE | OMM
45877 MINOTAUR 4 R/B2020-046EROCKET BODYUS2020-07-15WLPISTLE | OMM

Старый

Так на эмблемах точно половцы и печенеги? Ато я не узнаю их в лицо. :(
1. Ангара - единственная в мире новая РН которая хуже старой (с) Старый Ламер
2. Назначение Роскосмоса - не летать в космос а выкачивать из бюджета деньги
3. У Маска ракета длиннее и толще чем у Роскосмоса
4. Чем мрачнее реальность тем ярче бред (с) Старый Ламер

Брабонт

Предположительно найден любителями на круговой орбите высотой 577 км и наклонением 54 градуса.
Пропитый день обмену и возврату не подлежит

tnt22

Цитата: Виктор  Воропаев от 31.07.2020 09:24:15Предположительно найден любителями на круговой орбите высотой 577 км и наклонением 54 градуса.
Цитировать Dr Marco Langbroek @Marco_Langbroek 4 авг.

Last week, amateur observers located 5 (and possibly 6) objects related to the classified #NROL-129 launch from Wallops on Jul 15.
These images which I shot in twilight this evening shows two of them: objects D and E, one minute apart.
Canon EOS 80D + EF 2.5/50 mm, 500 ISO, 4 s.





4 авг.

They are naked eye objects (they reach about mag +3). The C-object is a bit fainter and irregular, we think this might be the Centaur stage. They are in 54-degree inclined, 570 x 580 km orbits.
A 6th object is very faint and in a somewhat different orbit.


Старый

Цитата: V.V. от 31.07.2020 09:24:15Предположительно найден любителями на круговой орбите высотой 577 км и наклонением 54 градуса.
Спустя три года орбиты 490х500. Так эти печенеги с половцами долго не протянут. 
1. Ангара - единственная в мире новая РН которая хуже старой (с) Старый Ламер
2. Назначение Роскосмоса - не летать в космос а выкачивать из бюджета деньги
3. У Маска ракета длиннее и толще чем у Роскосмоса
4. Чем мрачнее реальность тем ярче бред (с) Старый Ламер

Брабонт

Перенимают российское ноу-хау с одноразовыми спутниками без ДУ. Положительно влияет на финансовые показатели.
Пропитый день обмену и возврату не подлежит