Autonomous Space Transport Robotic Operations (ASTRO), was an American technology demonstration

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

which was operated as part of the

Orbital Express Orbital Express: ASTRO and NEXTSat Orbital Express was a space mission managed by the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and a team led by engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). The Orbital Express p ...

program. It was used to demonstrate autonomous servicing and refuelling operations in orbit, performing tests on the

NEXTSat NEXTSat, or Next Generation Satellite and Commodities Spacecraft (NEXTSat/CSC) was an American technology demonstration satellite which was operated as part of the Orbital Express programme. It was used as a target spacecraft for a demonstration ...

satellite which was launched with ASTRO for that purpose. Launched in March 2007, it was operated for four months, and then deactivated in orbit. ASTRO was launched by

United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance, LLC (ULA) is an American launch service provider formed in December 2006 as a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Space and Boeing Defense, Space & Security. The company designs, assembles, sells and launches rockets ...

on an

Atlas V Atlas V is an expendable launch system and the fifth major version in the Atlas (rocket family), Atlas launch vehicle family. It was developed by Lockheed Martin and has been operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA) since 2006. Primarily used to ...

401 rocket; serial number AV-013. The launch occurred at 03:10 UTC on 9 March 2007, from

Space Launch Complex 41 Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41), sometimes referred to as "Slick Forty-one," is one of two launch sites at the Integrate-Transfer-Launch Complex in Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Originally built as Launch Complex 41 (LC-41), it and ...

at the

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida. Headquartered at the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, the sta ...

. The launch was contracted by the

Space Test Program The Space Test Program (STP) is the primary provider of spaceflight for the United States Department of Defense (DoD) Outline of space science, space science and technology community. STP is managed by a group within the Advanced Systems and De ...

to launch the STPSat-1 spacecraft, and was named STP-1. It also deployed NEXTSat; as well as

FalconSAT-3 FalconSAT is the United States Air Force Academy's (USAFA) small satellite engineering program. Satellites are designed, built, tested, and operated by Academy cadets. The project is administered by the USAFA Space Systems Research Center under ...

CFESat CFESat (Cibola Flight Experiment Satellite) was a satellite that examined radio spectra for ionospheric and lightning studies, using field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). As well as science observation, the mission aimed to demonstrate the use o ...

and MidSTAR-1. The launch marked the first time United Launch Alliance had launched an Atlas V, the type having previously been operated by

International Launch Services International Launch Services, Inc. (ILS) is a joint venture with exclusive rights to the worldwide sale of commercial Angara and Proton rocket launch services. Proton launches take place at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan while Angara is l ...

. ASTRO was a spacecraft, which was built by

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

. It had a robotic arm, approx 4 metres when extended. It was able to transfer hydrazine to other satellites/NEXTSat. It was operated in

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an geocentric orbit, orbit around Earth with a orbital period, period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an orbital eccentricity, eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial object ...

. On 9 March 2007, it had a

perigee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values. Apsides perta ...

of , an

apogee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values. Apsides perta ...

of , 46.0 degrees of

inclination Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object. For a satellite orbiting the Eart ...

, and an

orbital period The orbital period (also revolution period) is the amount of time a given astronomical object takes to complete one orbit around another object. In astronomy, it usually applies to planets or asteroids orbiting the Sun, moons orbiting planets ...

of 94.49 minutes. After completing operations, the ASTRO and NEXTSat spacecraft were separated, and ASTRO performed a separation burn. On 21 July 2007, ASTRO was deactivated. It re-entered on October 25, 2013 (UTC).

References

Spacecraft launched in 2007 Spacecraft which reentered in 2013 Technology demonstration satellites Satellites in low Earth orbit Satellites of the United States {{US-spacecraft-stub