TacSat-2

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TacSat-2

TacSat-2 is an experimental satellite built by the USAF's Air Force Research Laboratory with an operational life expected to be not more than one year as part of the Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration program.

1 Purpose
2 Launch
3 Systems
4 Orbit
5 Developers
6 References

[edit] 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.^[1]

[edit] Launch

TacSat-2 was launched on 16 December 2006 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport using an Orbital Sciences Minotaur launch vehicle. The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport is a commerical space launch facility located on the Delmarva Peninsula 5 miles west of Chincoteague, Virginia.

TacSat-2 was launched ahead of TacSat-1, which is scheduled for launch in 2007 using a SpaceX Falcon 1 launcher.

[edit] Systems

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

TacSat-1 was initially planned for launch in January 2004 but funding shortfalls and development delays precluded this date.

[edit] Platform

The space platform was built by MicroSat Systems of Littleton, Colorado. 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).

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

[edit] 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 platsoms such as the US Navy's P-3C maritime patrol aircraft.

Other systems include: