Mission History
Below is a listing of previous Astrotech Space Operations missions.
GPS III SV04 is the fourth in a series of 10 upgraded GPS III satellites for the military that will join the current constellation of satellites already in orbit. They will help provide positioning, navigation and timing services for more than four billion users worldwide. GPS III-SV04 will replace an aging predecessor that was launched 20 years ago.
SkySat-19, 20, 21 are the final three spacecraft that will complete the SkySat imaging constellation, bringing the fleet total to twenty-one. The constellation will be able to image anywhere in the world seven times per day (up to twelve times per day in some locations).
GPS III SV03 is the third United States Space Force (USSF) mission launch and the second National Security Space Launch (NSSL) mission to be launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. SV03 will add another military code (M-Code) capable satellite to the constellation as the USSF team continues to modernize the GPS fleet. M-Code will provide more accurate military signals with improved anti-jamming capabilities for the warfighter.
SkySat-16, 17, 18 are Earth-imaging spacecraft for Planet. They were successfully launched with fifty-eight SpaceX Starlink satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket, utilizing the company’s small satellite rideshare service. The final SkySat spacecraft are scheduled to launch on another Starlink rideshare mission in 2020.
The first mission for the United States Space Force, AEHF-6 will complete a constellation of satellites at the core of the US military communications. AEHF satellites provide secure, survivable and jam-resistant protected communications to U.S. warfighters, military units and facilities around the globe.
Solar Orbiter is a joint collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency. This is the first mission that will provide images of the sun's north and south poles using a suite of six instruments on board that will capture the spacecraft's view. Having a visual understanding of the sun's poles is important because it can provide more insight about the sun's powerful magnetic field and how it affects Earth.
The Lockheed Martin-built satellite, GPS III SV02 known as “Magellan” (in honor of Ferdinand Magellan, the Portuguese navigator who led the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe), was carried to orbit aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV (4,2) launch vehicle, the final flight for the Delta IV medium launch vehicle. Magellan will join the current GPS constellation comprised of 31 operational spacecraft. Each satellite circles the Earth twice per day, providing the “Gold Standard” of position, navigation and timing services for billions of users worldwide.
The AEHF-5 satellite joins four previous satellites in the AEHF constellation launched by Atlas 5 rockets in 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2018. The first four AEHF satellites in orbit allowed the Air Force’s new generation of secure, nuclear-hardened voice, video and data relay spacecraft to span the globe. The addition of a fifth AEHF geostationary relay satellite will grow the network’s capacity and resiliency.
The WGS-10 satellite, built by the Boeing Space Systems, is an important element of the new high-capacity satellite communications system. Each WGS satellite provides more wideband communications capacity than the entire Defense Satellite Communications System.
A Delta IV-Heavy rocket delivered to orbit a satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office.
The United States’ Global Positioning System (GPS) delivers positioning, navigation, and timing services supporting vital U.S. and allied operations worldwide, and underpins critical financial, transportation, and agricultural infrastructure that billions of users have come to depend on daily. The United States Air Force’s first GPS III satellite will augment the current constellation of 31 operational GPS satellites.
This newest generation of GPS satellites is designed and built to deliver positioning, navigation, and timing information with three times better accuracy, and up to eight times improved anti-jamming capability. GPS is used by over four billion users and supports critical missions worldwide.
Built by Lockheed Martin, the AEHF 4 satellite joins three previous satellites in the AEHF constellation launched by Atlas 5 rockets in 2010, 2012 and 2013. With four AEHF satellites in orbit, the Air Force’s new generation of secure, nuclear-hardened voice, video and data relay spacecraft will provide global coverage.
ICESat-2 (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite 2), part of NASA's Earth Observing System, is a satellite mission for measuring ice sheet elevation and sea ice thickness, as well as land topography and vegetation characteristics. The ICESat-2 project is being managed by Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The sole instrument was designed and built by the center, and the bus was provided by Orbital ATK. The satellite was launched on a Delta II rocket provided by United Launch Alliance. This was the last launch of the Delta ll launch vehicle.
Parker Solar Probe (PSP) is a NASA robotic spacecraft en route to probe the outer corona of the Sun. It will approach to within 8.86 solar radii (3.85 million miles) from the "surface" (photosphere) of the Sun and will travel, at closest approach, as fast as 430,000 mph. PSP will assess the structure and dynamics of the Sun's coronal plasma and magnetic field, the energy flow that heats the solar corona and impels the solar wind, and the mechanisms that accelerate energetic particles.
InSight is a robotic lander designed to study the interior of the planet Mars. The mission is expected to land on the surface of Mars (landing site: Elysium Planitia) on 26 November 2018, where it will deploy a seismometer and burrow a heat probe. It will also perform a radio science experiment to study the internal structure of Mars
Air Force Space Command (AFSPC)-11 is a dual-payload mission. The first payload is the Continuous Broadcast Augmenting SATCOM (CBAS) satellite. The secondary payload is the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) Augmented Geosynchronous Laboratory Experiment satellite (EAGLE). CBAS is a military satellite communications spacecraft destined for geosynchronous orbit to provide communications relay capabilities to support senior leaders and combatant commanders. EAGLE hosts experiments designed to detect, identify, and attribute threatening behavior as well as enhance space situational awareness.
NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-S) is the second satellite in a series of next-generation weather satellites. It will launch to a geostationary position over the U.S. to provide images of storms and help predict weather forecasts, severe weather outlooks, watches, warnings, lightning conditions and longer-term forecasting.
The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-on (GRACE-FO) mission is a partnership between NASA and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ). The Mission will continue the work of tracking Earth's water movement to monitor changes in underground water storage, the amount of water in large lakes and rivers, soil moisture, ice sheets and glaciers, and sea level caused by the addition of water to the ocean.
Orbital ATK's Minotaur IV space launch vehicle launched the ORS-5 mission for the U.S. Air Force as a part of the Orbital/Suborbital Program-3 (OSP-3) contract. ORS-5, also known as SensorSat, is designed to scan for other satellites and debris to aid the U.S. military’s tracking of objects in geosynchronous orbit.
The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite – (TDRS-M) is the last of a generation of NASA satellites providing communication and tracking services between orbiting spacecraft and ground control, supporting the International Space Station, Hubble Telescope, and other missions.
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