TacSat-1 was an experimental satellite built by the

Naval Research Laboratory The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. It was founded in 1923 and conducts basic scientific research, applied research, technologic ...

(NRL) on behalf of the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...

(DoD) Office of Force Transformation (OFT). It was the planned payload of the sixth launch of the

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal o ...

Falcon 1 Falcon 1 was a small-lift launch vehicle that was operated from 2006 to 2009 by SpaceX, an American aerospace manufacturer. On 28 September 2008, Falcon 1 became the first private spaceflight, privately-developed fully liquid-fueled launch vehi ...

. It was however never launched into space. The second satellite in the series,

TacSat-2 TacSat-2 is the first in a series of U.S. military experimental technology and communication satellites.TacSat-2 (also known as JWS-D1 ((Joint Warfighting Space-Demonstrator 1) or RoadRunner) was an experimental satellite built by the USAF's A ...

, launched before TacSat-1 and this led to the cancellation of TacSat-1's launch. TacSat-1 would have carried a variety of experimental payloads. Much of the payload software was implemented through the use of

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scripts operating on the "Copperfield-2" general-purpose computer system aboard the spacecraft.

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-1 could collect color images sharp enough to distinguish ground objects as small as 1 meter in diameter.

Launch

TacSat-1 was initially planned for launch in January 2004, but delays in Falcon 1 becoming operational precluded this date. It was initially scheduled to fly on the maiden flight of the Falcon 1, but technical problems led to another Falcon 1, with FalconSat-2, launching first. Following the failure of this launch, it was moved to the third flight, to allow a demonstration launch to precede it. The failure of the demonstration flight led to further delays. In August 2007, the Pentagon announced that the launch of TacSat-1 was canceled due to the completion of most of its mission requirements by AFRL's previously launched TacSat-2. In September 2008, this decision was reversed, and it was reported that TacSat-1 would be launched by the sixth Falcon 1, in 2009, and be called TacSat-1A. This revamped mission was later cancelled again when TacSat-2 proved all the things TacSat-1 was supposed to.

Systems

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

Satellite bus

The TacSat-1 spacecraft was based on

Orbital Sciences Corporation Orbital Sciences Corporation (commonly referred to as Orbital) was an American company specializing in the design, manufacture, and launch of small- and medium- class space and launch vehicle systems for commercial, military and other governmen ...

(OSC) MicroStar (triple)

satellite bus A satellite bus (or spacecraft bus) is the main body and structural component of a satellite or spacecraft, in which the payload and all scientific instruments are held. Bus-derived satellites are opposed to specially produced satellites. Bus- ...

, also used for the

Orbcomm ''ORBCOMM'' is an American company that offers industrial Internet of things (IoT) and machine to machine (M2M) communications hardware, software and services designed to track, monitor, and control fixed and mobile assets in markets including ...

communications constellation. TacSat-1 inherited its avionic bus from an unlaunched Orbcomm-satellite.

Developers

Apart from the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), other organizations participating included: * DoD

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

(

Space and Missile Systems Center Space Systems Command (SSC) is the United States Space Force's space development, acquisition, launch, and logistics field command. It is headquartered at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California and manages the United States' space launch ...

Space Development and Test Wing The Space Development and Test Wing (SDTW) was a unit of Air Force Space Command's Space and Missile Systems Center of the United States Air Force. The wing is located at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The unit was combined w ...

) * DoD

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Army Space Program Office The United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command (USASMDC) is an Army Service Component Command (ASCC) of the United States Army. The command was established in 1997. The current USASMDC commander is Lieutenant General Daniel L. Karbler ...

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Space Innovation and Development Center Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...

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Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, La Cañada Flintridge, California ...

(JPL)

References

{{AFRL spacecraft Cancelled spacecraft Satellites of the United States