Mission History

Below is a listing of previous Astrotech Space Operations missions.

GOES-P
Launch Date
March 4, 2010

GOES-P is the sixteenth Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), and the last of the three current-generation GOES-N series spacecraft. Once it reaches its operational geostationary orbit, it will be renamed GOES 15.

Launch Site
CCAFS
Vehicle
Delta IV

SDO
Launch Date
February 11, 2010

The SDO is the culmination of decades of solar research, providing a balance between understanding the small-scale dynamics of plasma and magnetic fields on the solar surface and gaining a wide-angle view of the entire solar disk.

Launch Site
CCAFS
Vehicle
Atlas V

WISE
Launch Date
December 14, 2009

WISE is a NASA-funded Explorer mission that will provide a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the Universe. Among the objects WISE will study are asteroids, the coolest and dimmest stars, and the most luminous galaxies.

Launch Site
VAFB
Vehicle
Delta II

WGS-3
Launch Date
December 5, 2009

The WGS satellites are important elements of a new high-capacity satellite communications system providing enhanced communications capabilities to America's troops around the world for the next decade and beyond.

Launch Site
CCAFS
Vehicle
Delta IV

Intelsat 14
Launch Date
November 23, 2009

The Intelsat 14 spacecraft is a communication satellite which will be placed in geosynchronous orbit at a longitude of 45 degrees west. It carries sixty-two transponders, which will be used to provide coverage of Africa, America and Europe. It will replace the nine-year old Intelsat 1R satellite.

Launch Site
CCAFS
Vehicle
Atlas V

ARES 1X First Stage
Launch Date
October 28, 2009

Ares I-X was the first stage prototype and design concept demonstrator in the Ares I program, a launch system for human spaceflight developed by the United States space agency.

Launch Site
CCAFS
Vehicle
ARES 1X

WorldView-2
Launch Date
October 8, 2009

WorldView-2 is DigitalGlobe’s third satellite in a constellation of spacecraft that offers the highest-resolution commercial satellite imagery of Earth.

Launch Site
VAFB
Vehicle
Delta II

STSS Demo
Launch Date
September 25, 2009

STSS Demo is an element of the STSS Program, a space-based sensor component of a layered Ballistic Missile Defense System designed for the overall mission of detection, tracking, and discrimination of ballistic missiles.

Launch Site
CCAFS
Vehicle
Delta II

PAN
Launch Date
September 8, 2009

“Palladium At Night,” or PAN, is a communications satellite, which was built by the Special Programs division of Lockheed Martin Space Systems for the US Government. The agency responsible for operating the spacecraft has not been disclosed.

Launch Site
CCAFS
Vehicle
Atlas V

GOES-O
Launch Date
June 27, 2009

GOES-O will provide enhanced weather monitoring and prediction capability, communications subsystems to rebroadcast data, and space environmental monitoring instruments and sensors. In addition, the satellite will provide more accurate location of severe storms and other weather phenomena, resulting in earlier and more precise warnings to the public.

Launch Site
CCAFS
Vehicle
Delta IV

LRO/LCROSS
Launch Date
June 18, 2009

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) missions will help to set the stage for future exploration and scientific research. The LRO spacecraft will remotely sense evidence of resources such as water ice in cold regions of the moon. The mission will also carry LCROSS, which will directly determine if water ice occurs in an area of permanent shadow near the lunar poles.

Launch Site
CCAFS
Vehicle
Atlas V

Sicral 1B
Launch Date
April 9, 2009

Sicral 1B will provide strategic and tactical communications services for the Italian armed forces, in Italy and abroad, as well as ensuring mobile communications with land, naval and air platforms. It will also provide NATO forces with UHF and SHF SATCOM capabilities.

Launch Site
Sea Launch
Vehicle
Zenit - 3SL

WGS-2
Launch Date
April 3, 2009

The WGS-2 mission is the second installment of the WGS system. The WGS satellites are important elements of a new high-capacity satellite communications system providing enhanced communications capabilities to America's troops around the world for the next decade and beyond.

Launch Site
CCAFS
Vehicle
Atlas V

Kepler
Launch Date
March 6, 2009

The Kepler mission is designed to survey a portion of our region of the Milky Way galaxy to discover dozens of Earth-size planets in or near the habitable zone and determine how many of the billions of stars in our galaxy have such planets.

Launch Site
CCAFS
Vehicle
Delta II

OCO
Launch Date
February 24, 2009

The Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) is a NASA satellite mission intended to provide global space-based observations of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Launch Site
VAFB
Vehicle
Taurus XL

COSMO-SkyMed 3
Launch Date
October 24, 2008

COSMO-3 is the third satellite of the COSMO-SkyMed (Constellation of Small Satellites for Mediterranean basin Observation) constellation.

Launch Site
VAFB
Vehicle
Delta II

IBEX
Launch Date
October 19, 2008

The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission science objective is to discover the nature of the interactions between the solar wind and the interstellar medium at the edge of our solar system.

Launch Site
VAFB
Vehicle
Pegasus

Galaxy-19
Launch Date
September 24, 2008

Galaxy 19 will offer government and network customers refreshed capacity, with seamless data communications for years to come.

Launch Site
Sea Launch
Vehicle
Zenit - 3SL

GeoEye-1
Launch Date
September 6, 2008

GeoEye-1 is part of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) NextView program. The NextView program is designed to ensure that the NGA has access to commercial imagery in support of its mission to provide timely, relevant and accurate geospatial intelligence in support of national security.

Launch Site
VAFB
Vehicle
Delta II

EchoStar-11
Launch Date
July 16, 2008

The EchoStar XI spacecraft is designed for an orbital service life of 15 years, with 20kW of power to support the expansion of DISH Network's capacity and capabilities to customers throughout the United States.

Launch Site
Sea Launch
Vehicle
Zenit - 3SL

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285 Spacecraft Successfully Processed To Date!