- USA-224
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USA-224
Patch related to the NROL-49 launch, with Latin motto "Better the devil that you know..."Operator US NRO Major contractors Lockheed Martin Bus KH-11 Mission type Optical imaging Launch date 20 January 2011 Carrier rocket Delta IV Heavy D352 Launch site Vandenberg SLC-6 COSPAR ID 2011-002A Orbital elements Regime Low Earth Inclination 97.93 degree[1] Apoapsis 987 km (613 mi)[1] Periapsis 260 km (160 mi)[1] USA-224, also known as NRO Launch 49 (NRO L-49), is an American reconnaissance satellite which was launched in 2011. It is a KH-11 optical imaging satellite, the fifteenth such spacecraft to be launched, and intended as a replacement of the USA-161 satellite launched in 2001.
After the failure of the Boeing led Future Imagery Architecture program in 2005, NRO ordered two additional legacy hardware KH-11s. USA-224 - the first of these two - was completed by Lockheed US $ 2 billion under the initial budget estimate, and two years ahead of schedule.[2] USA-224 was launched atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket from Space Launch Complex 6 at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The launch was conducted by United Launch Alliance, and was the first flight of a Delta IV Heavy from Vandenberg.[3] Liftoff occurred on January 20, 2011 at 21:10:30 UTC.[4] Upon reaching orbit, the satellite received the International Designator 2011-002A.[5] The early launch of USA-224, and operational changes to extend the lifetime of its predecessor USA-161, reduced the coverage gap caused by the end of the primary mission of USA-161 to just 33 days.[2]
The fifteenth KH-11 satellite to be launched, USA-224 is a member of one of the later block configurations occasionally identified as being a separate system. Details of its mission and orbit are classified, however amateur observers have identified it as being in a Low Earth orbit with a perigee of 251 kilometres (156 mi), an apogee of 1,023 kilometres (636 mi) and 97.9 degrees of inclination, typical for an operational KH-11 satellite.[6]
See also
- List of NRO Launches
- 2011 in spaceflight
References
- ^ a b c Molczan, Ted (2011-04-27). "NROL-34: NOSS 3-5 elements". http://www.satobs.org/seesat. http://www.satobs.org/seesat/Apr-2011/0337.html.
- ^ a b "10 Who Made a Difference in Space: Bruce Carlson, NRO Director". Space News / NRO. 2011-09-07. http://www.nro.gov/news/articles/2011/2011-01.pdf.
- ^ Ray, Justin (19 January 2011). "Delta 4-Heavy ready to serve nation from West Coast pad". Spaceflight Now. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d352/padmods/. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ^ Ray, Justin. "Mission Status Center". Delta Launch Report. Spaceflight Now. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d352/status.html.
- ^ Christy, Robert. "Space events - 2011". Zarya. http://www.zarya.info/Diaries/2011.php. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ^ Molczan, Ted (21 January 2011). "RE: NROL-49 search elements". SeeSat-L. http://www.satobs.org/seesat/Jan-2011/0195.html. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
← 2010 · Orbital launches in 2011 Elektro-L No.1 | USA-224 | Kounotori 2 | Progress M-09M (Kedr) | Kosmos 2470 | USA-225 | Johannes Kepler | STS-133 (Leonardo) | Kosmos 2471 | Glory · Explorer-1 [Prime] · KySat-1 · Hermes | USA-226 | USA-227 | Soyuz TMA-21 | Compass-IGSO3 | USA-229 | Resourcesat-2 · YouthSat · X-Sat | Yahsat 1A · New Dawn | Progress M-10M | Meridian 4 | USA-230 | STS-134 (AMS-2 · ELC-3) | Telstar 14R | ST-2 · GSAT-8 | Soyuz TMA-02M | SAC-D | Rasad 1 | Zhongxing-10 | Progress M-11M | Kosmos 2472 | USA-231 | Shijian XI-03 | STS-135 (Raffaello · PSSC-2) | Tianlian I-02 | Globalstar M085 · Globalstar M088 · Globalstar M091 · Globalstar M085 · Globalstar M081 · Globalstar M089 | GSAT-12 | SES-3 · KazSat-2 | USA-232 | Spektr-R | Compass-IGSO4 | Shijian XI-02 | Juno | Astra 1N · BSAT-3c/JCSAT-110R | Paksat-1R | Hai Yang 2A | Sich 2 · NigeriaSat-2 · NigeriaSat-X · RASAT · EDUSAT · AprizeSat-5 · AprizeSat-6 · BPA-2 | Ekspress-AM4 | Shijian XI-04 | Progress M-12M | GRAIL-A · GRAIL-B | Zhongxing-1A | Kosmos 2473 | Arabsat 5C · SES-2 | IGS Optical 4 | Atlantic Bird 7 | TacSat-4 | Tiangong 1 | QuetzSat-1 | Kosmos 2474 | Intelsat 18 | Eutelsat W3C | Megha-Tropiques · SRMSAT · VesselSat-1 · Jugnu | ViaSat-1 | Galileo-IOV 1 · Galileo-IOV 2 | NPOESS Preparatory Project · Explorer-1' · RAX · M-Cubed · Dynamic Ionosphere CubeSat Experiment · AubieSat 1 | Progress M-13M · (Chibis-M) | Shenzhou 8 | Kosmos 2475 · Kosmos 2476 · Kosmos 2477 | Fobos-Grunt · Yinghuo-1 | Yaogan 12 · Tian Xun-1Payloads 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).Key Hole satellites KH-1 Corona Discoverer 4 · Discoverer 5 · Discoverer 6 · Discoverer 7 · Discoverer 8 · Discoverer 9 · Discoverer 10 · Discoverer 11 · Discoverer 14 · Discoverer 15KH-2 Corona' KH-3 Corona''' KH-4 Corona-M KH-4Discoverer 38 · FTV-1124 · FTV-1125 · FTV-1128 · FTV-1127 · FTV-1129 · FTV-1151 · FTV-1130 · FTV-1131 · FTV-1152 · FTV-1133 · FTV-1153 · FTV-1154 · FTV-1136 · FTV-1135 · FTV-1155 · FTV-1156 · OPS 0048 · OPS 0583 · OPS 0720 · OPS 0954 · OPS 0999 · OPS 1266 · OPS 2268 · OPS 2260 · OPS 1388KH-4AOPS 1419 · OPS 1353 · OPS 3467 · OPS 3444 · OPS 2921 · OPS 3483 · OPS 3754 · OPS 3491 · OPS 3042 · OPS 3497 · OPS 3333 · OPS 3559 · OPS 5434 · OPS 3360 · OPS 3358 · OPS 3928 · OPS 4782 · OPS 4803 · OPS 5023 · OPS 8425 · OPS 8431 · OPS 5543 · OPS 7208 · OPS 7221 · OPS 5325 · OPS 2155 · OPS 7249 · OPS 4639 · OPS 7291 · OPS 3488 · OPS 1612 · OPS 1508 · OPS 1778 · OPS 1599 · OPS 1703 · OPS 1545 · OPS 1866 · OPS 1664 · OPS 4750 · OPS 4779 · OPS 4696 · OPS 3559 · OPS 4827 · OPS 0562 · OPS 2243 · OPS 4849 · OPS 5343 · OPS 0165 · OPS 4740 · OPS 3722 · OPS 1101 · OPS 3531KH-4BOPS 5089 · OPS 1001 · OPS 1419 · OPS 5955 · OPS 1315 · OPS 3890 · OPS 3654 · OPS 6617 · OPS 0440 · OPS 4720 · OPS 4324 · OPS 4992 · OPS 3297 · OPS 5300 · OPS 5454 · OPS 5640 · OPS 6371KH-5 Argon Discoverer 20 · Discoverer 23 · Discoverer 24 · Discoverer 27 · FTV-1126 · FTV-1132 · FTV-1134 · OPS 1008 · OPS 1561 · OPS 2437 · OPS 2739 · OPS 3236KH-6 Lanyard OPS 0627 · OPS 0924 · OPS 1370KH-7 Gambit OPS 1467 · OPS 1947 · OPS 2196 · OPS 2372 · OPS 2423 · OPS 3435 · OPS 3743 · OPS 3592 · OPS 3684 · OPS 3802 · OPS 4262 · OPS 4036 · OPS 4384 · OPS 4439 · OPS 4703 · OPS 4920 · OPS 4983 · OPS 5236 · OPS 5501 · OPS 5810 · OPS 5698 · OPS 7208 · OPS 6232 · OPS 7253 · OPS 1184 · OPS 0879 · OPS 0910 · OPS 1950 · OPS 1577 · OPS 1850 · OPS 1832 · OPS 1686 · OPS 2055 · OPS 2070 · OPS 1890 · OPS 4399 · OPS 4321 · OPS 4360KH-8 Gambit KH-8OPS 3401 · OPS 4096 · OPS 8968 · OPS 4204 · OPS 4243 · OPS 4282 · OPS 4886 · OPS 4941 · OPS 4995 · OPS 5000 · OPS 5028 · OPS 5057 · OPS 5105 · OPS 5138 · OPS 5187 · OPS 5247 · OPS 5296 · OPS 6518 · OPS 7585 · OPS 4248 · OPS 5310 · OPS 1077KH-8AOPS 7807 · OPS 8455 · OPS 6531 · OPS 2863 · OPS 6820 · OPS 7874 · OPS 7568 · OPS 7776 · OPS 7899 · OPS 8607 · OPS 7616 · OPS 1678 · OPS 6574 · OPS 8888 · OPS 3978 · OPS 2093 · OPS 4018 · OPS 6275 · OPS 6889 · OPS 1776 · OPS 304 · OPS 4883 · OPS 5499 · OPS 7600 · OPS 8533 · OPS 4915 · OPS 7471 · OPS 7164 · OPS 1166 · OPS 2849 · OPS 2925 · OPS 8424KH-9 Hexagon OPS 7809 · OPS 1737 · OPS 7293 · OPS 8314 · OPS 8410 · OPS 8261 · OPS 6630 · OPS 6245 · OPS 7122 · OPS 6381 · OPS 4428 · OPS 4699 · OPS 4800 · OPS 0460 · OPS 3854 · OPS 3123 · OPS 5642 · OPS 0721 · USA-2 · #1220KH-10 Dorian OPS 0855 (mockup)KH-11 Crystal OPS 5705 · OPS 4515 · OPS 2581 · OPS 3984 · OPS 9627 · USA-6 · #2101 · USA-27 · USA-33 · USA-86 · USA-116 · USA-129 · USA-161 · USA-186 · USA-224Categories:- 2011 in spaceflight
- Spacecraft launched by Delta rockets
- United States spacecraft stubs
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