TacSat-2 is the first in a series of U.S. military experimental

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, scien ...

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 The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

Air Force Research Laboratory The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is a scientific research organization operated by the United States Air Force Materiel Command dedicated to leading the discovery, development, and integration of aerospace warfighting technologies, pl ...

with an operational life expected to be not more than one year as part of the "Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration" program.

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

Systems

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

Satellite bus

The

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- ...

was built by MicroSat Systems Inc. (MSI) of

Littleton, Colorado Littleton is a home rule municipality city located in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties, Colorado, United States. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Stati ...

. The core avionics of the spacecraft including command and data handling, electrical power switching and distribution, and subsystem and payload interfaces was handled by an Integrated Avionics Unit (IAU) developed by Broad Reach Engineering. The spacecraft flight software consisted of the low level drivers, and bus manager functionality provided by Broad Reach Engineering, ADCS Software by ASI, and a number of higher level applications by third parties, most notably the Autonomous Tasking Experiment (ATE) by Interface & Control Systems.

Camera / telescope

The developers originally asked for bids from contractors for a camera. These were priced at around US$10 million. The team then bought a high-end observatory

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to obse ...

costing around US$20,000 and added a camera sensor (US$2 million), delivering a sensor capable of 1m ground resolution. The telescope had 50 cm aperture and was from

RC Optical Systems RC Optical Systems was a high-end American telescope and optics manufacturer that specialized in Ritchey-Chrétien telescopes with hyperbolic mirrors. RC also made related mounts and systems for the telescopes, with a focus on open and close ...

Signals intelligence

signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of '' signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ...

payload, called the Target Indicator Experiment, detected radio wave emitters and could be used in concert with receivers on other platforms such as the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

's P-3C maritime patrol aircraft. Other systems included: * RoadRunner Onboard Processing Experiment (ROPE) * Common Data Link (CDL) * Autonomous Operations *

Hall Effect Thruster In spacecraft propulsion, a Hall-effect thruster (HET) is a type of ion thruster in which the propellant is accelerated by an electric field. Hall-effect thrusters (based on the discovery by Edwin Hall) are sometimes referred to as Hall thruster ...

(HET) * Propulsion Instrument Electronics (PIE) sensor suite *

Inertial Stellar Compass Inertial Stellar Compass (ISC) is an instrument concept for an advanced navigation system designed to allow spacecraft of the future to operate more autonomously. The ISC is small in size and consumes low power to operate. ISC is a proposed instr ...

(ISC) * Low Power Transceiver (LPT) * Integrated GPS Occultation Receiver (IGOR) * Atmospheric Density Mass Spectrometer (ADMS) * Experimental

solar array A photovoltaic system, also PV system or solar power system, is an electric power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to absorb and ...

* Miniaturized Vibration Isolation System (MVIS)

Developers

Apart from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), other organisations 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's Space Development and Test Wing), *

United States 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, technological ...

, *

United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command 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 ...

, *

Air Force Space Command The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

, *

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 ...

, *

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

, *

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), * Busek

Launch

TacSat-2 was launched on 16 December 2006 from the

Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) is a commercial space launch facility located at the southern tip of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island in Virginia, just east of the Delmarva Peninsula and south of Chincoteague, Virgi ...

, Wallops Island Flight Facility, using an

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)

Minotaur I The Minotaur I, or just Minotaur is an American expendable launch system derived from the Minuteman II missile. It is used to launch small satellites for the US Government, and is a member of the Minotaur family of rockets produced by Orbital ...

launch vehicle A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload ( spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pads, supported by a launch control center and sys ...

. The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport is a commercial space launch facility located on the

Delmarva Peninsula The Delmarva Peninsula, or simply Delmarva, is a large peninsula and proposed state on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by the vast majority of the state of Delaware and parts of the Eastern Shore regions of Maryland and Virginia. ...

west of

Chincoteague, Virginia Chincoteague ( or ) is a town in Accomack County, Virginia, U.S. The town includes the whole of Chincoteague Island and an area of adjacent water. The population was 2,941 at the 2010 census. The town is known for the Chincoteague Ponies, althou ...

Mission

The near circular orbit had a height of 410 km at an inclination of 40.0° to the

equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can also ...

. TacSat-2 decayed on 5 February 2011.

References

External links

* * {{Orbital launches in 2006 Spacecraft which reentered in 2011 Spacecraft launched in 2006 Spacecraft launched by Minotaur rockets Satellites of the United States