During the second half of 2002, 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 ...

studied the tactical application of space assets. Relatively new technologies and processes in the areas of microsatellites, affordable and quick-response launch vehicles, and the classified

SIPRNet The Secure Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet) is "a system of interconnected computer networks used by the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of State to transmit classified information (up to and including information cl ...

(Secret Internet Protocol Router Network) made tactical use of space assets possible in the relatively near term. The DoD's Office of Force Transformation (OFT) agreed with the core findings of the study and decided to start an Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Initiative consisting of a series of experiments. TacSat-1 is the first experiment in this OFT initiative. The TacSat-1 experiment received go-ahead on 7 May 2003. 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. All TacSats have been launched on

Minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur ( , ;. grc, ; in Latin as ''Minotaurus'' ) is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "p ...

launch vehicles. These series of spacecraft should not be confused with the TACSAT program in 1969. * TacSat-1 - Cancelled * TacSat-2 - Launched 16 December 2006 *

TacSat-3 TacSat-3 is the second in a series of U.S. military experimental technology and communication satellites. It was assembled in an Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate facility at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. Th ...

- Launched 19 May 200

*

TacSat-4 TacSat-4 is the third in a series of U.S. military experimental technology and communication satellites. The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the program manager. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) sponsored the development of ...

- Launched 27 September 2011 * TacSat-5 - Conceptual *

TacSat-6 TacSat-6 is a U.S. military experimental technology and communication satellites. The Operationally Responsive Space Office (ORS) funded the launch that will be performed by the United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC). ...

- Launched on 6 December 2013

References

External links

* http://www.responsivespace.com/ - Conference, yearly, that has content that includes Tacsat * http://www.nrl.navy.mil/content.php?P=04REVIEW207 * http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/tacsat-2/main/ Reconnaissance satellites of the United States Air Force Research Laboratory projects Satellite series {{US-spacecraft-stub