- USA-202
-
USA-202 Operator NRO Bus Mentor Mission type ELINT Launch date 18 January 2009
02:47 UTCCarrier rocket Delta IV Heavy Launch site Cape Canaveral SLC-37B COSPAR ID 2009-001A Orbital elements Regime Geosynchronous USA 202,[1] previously NRO Launch 26 or NROL-26, is a classified spacecraft which is to be operated by the United States National Reconnaissance Office. It is believed to be either the first Intruder, or an Advanced Orion, ELINT satellite. According to Aviation Week it, "Fundamentally involves America's biggest, most secret and expensive military spacecraft on board the world's largest rocket."[2] The combined cost of the spacecraft and launch vehicle has been estimated to be over US$2 billion.[2]
Contents
Launch
USA-202 was launched from Space Launch Complex 37B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, on the third flight of a Delta IV Heavy rocket. The launch was originally scheduled for 2005, but was delayed due to a number of issues, and lift-off took place at 02:47 GMT on 18 January 2009.[3]
Orbit
USA-202 is in a geostationary orbit at longitude 44°E, replacing its predecessor USA-139. It thus covers East Africa, the Middle East, and western Russia.[4]
References
- ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Issue 605". Jonathan's Space Report. http://host.planet4589.org/space/jsr/back/news.605. Retrieved 2009-01-18.
- ^ a b "NRO Delays Delta IV Heavy Launch". Aviation Week. Dec 10, 2008. http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=space&id=news/NRODSP12108.xml.
- ^ "First ULA Delta IV Heavy NRO Mission Successfully Lifts Off From Cape Canaveral". ULA. http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-17-2009/0004956494.
- ^ William Graham (2010-11-20). "Delta IV Heavy launch with NROL-32 scrubbed". nasaspaceflight.com. http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2010/11/live-delta-iv-heavy-launch-with-nrol-3/. Retrieved 2010-11-19.
External links
- Delta IV Heavy NROL-26 - launch information from ULA.
IMINT KH-1 CORONA · KH-2 CORONA · KH-3 CORONA · KH-4A CORONA · KH-4B CORONA · KH-5 ARGON · KH-6 LANYARD · KH-7 GAMBIT · KH-8 GAMBIT 3 · KH-9 HEXAGON · KH-10 DORIANLACROSSE ··SIGINT MASINT Primary missionSecondary missionResearch and
developmentPrimary missionMiTEx ·Secondary mission·Unknown USA number← 2008 · Orbital launches in 2009 · 2010 → USA-202 | Ibuki · SDS-1 · Sohla-1 · Raijin · Kagayaki · Hitomi · Kukai · Kiseki | Koronas-Foton | Omid | NOAA-19 | Progress M-66 | Ekspress-AM44 · Ekspress-MD1 | Hot Bird 10 · NSS-9 · Spirale-A · Spirale-B | OCO | Telstar 11N | Raduga-1 | Kepler | STS-119 (ITS S6) | GOCE | USA-203 | Soyuz TMA-14 | Eutelsat W2A | USA-204 | Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 | Compass-G2 | RISAT-2 · ANUSAT | Sicral-1B | Yaogan 6 | Kosmos 2450 | USA-205 | Progress M-02M | STS-125 | Herschel · Planck | ProtoStar II | TacSat-3 · PharmaSat · AeroCube 3 · HawkSat I · CP-6 | Meridian 2 | Soyuz TMA-15 | LRO · LCROSS | MEASAT-3a | GOES 14 | Sirius FM-5 | TerreStar-1 | Kosmos 2451 · Kosmos 2452 · Kosmos 2453 | RazakSAT | STS-127 (JEM-EF · AggieSat 2 · BEVO-1 · Castor · Pollux) | Kosmos 2454 · Sterkh-1 | Progress M-67 | DubaiSat-1 · Deimos-1 · UK-DMC 2 · Nanosat 1B · AprizeSat-3 · AprizeSat-4 | AsiaSat 5 | USA-206 | JCSAT-RA · Optus D3 | STSAT-2A | STS-128 (Leonardo MPLM) | Palapa-D | USA-207 | HTV-1 | Meteor M-1 · Universitetsky-Tatyana-2 · Sterkh-2 · UGATUSAT · BLITS · SumbandilaSat · IRIS | Nimiq 5 | Oceansat-2 · BeeSat-1 · UWE-2 · ITU-pSat1 · SwissCube-1 · Rubin 9.1 · Rubin 9.2 | USA-208 · USA-209 | Soyuz TMA-16 | Amazonas-2 · COMSATBw-1 | WorldView-2 | Progress M-03M | USA-210 | Thor-6 · NSS-12 | SMOS · Proba-2 | Progress M-MIM2 (Poisk) | Shijian XI-01 | STS-129 (ExPRESS-1 · ExPRESS-2) | Kosmos 2455 | Intelsat 14 | Eutelsat W7 | IGS Optical 3 | Intelsat 15 | USA-211 | Yaogan 7 | Kosmos 2456 · Kosmos 2457 · Kosmos 2458 | Yaogan 8 · Xi Wang 1 | Helios IIB | Soyuz TMA-17 | DirecTV-12Payloads are separated by bullets ( · ), launches by pipes ( | ). Manned flights are indicated in bold text. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in brackets.Categories:- National Reconnaissance Office satellites
- 2009 in spaceflight
- Spacecraft launched by Delta rockets
- United States spacecraft stubs
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