Mission History

Below is a listing of previous Astrotech Space Operations missions.

CloudSAT and CALIPSO
Launch Date
April 28, 2006

NASA launched the CloudSat and the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) spacecraft to study the role that clouds and aerosols play in regulating Earth's weather, climate and air quality.

Launch Site
VAFB
Vehicle
Delta II

Astra 1KR
Launch Date
April 20, 2006

The ASTRA satellite system is the leading direct-to-home (DTH) satellite system in Europe, delivering services to some 107 million direct-to-home and cable households. The ASTRA satellite fleet currently comprises 13 satellites, transmitting in excess of 1,600 analog and digital television and radio channels as well as multimedia and Internet services.

Launch Site
CCAFS
Vehicle
Atlas V

JCSAT-9
Launch Date
April 12, 2006

JCSAT-9 joins nine other JSAT spacecraft currently in orbit, covering North America, Hawaii, Asia and Oceania with communications and broadcasting services for corporate and inter-company networks as well as international telecommunications services.

Launch Site
Sea Launch
Vehicle
Zenit - 3SL

Echostar
Launch Date
February 16, 2006

The Echostar spacecraft is designed to deliver direct-to-home broadcast services to DISH Network customers throughout the United States.

Launch Site
Sea Launch
Vehicle
Zenit - 3SL

Inmarsat 4 - F2
Launch Date
November 8, 2005

Inmarsat 4 - F2 is designed to provide high-speed mobile service to people throughout the Americas during its 13-year service life. It is one in a series of satellites designed to support the Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN).

Launch Site
Sea Launch
Vehicle
Zenit - 3SL

Intelsat Americas-8 (IA-8)
Launch Date
June 23, 2005

The IA-8 satellite is designed to provide expanded coverage over the Americas, the Caribbean, Hawaii and Alaska with voice, video and data transmission and distribution services.

Launch Site
Sea Launch
Vehicle
Zenit - 3SL

Spaceway F-1
Launch Date
April 26, 2005

Spaceway F-1 will provide high definition television to DIRECTV customers with its Ka-band communications payload.

Launch Site
Sea Launch
Vehicle
Zenit - 3SL

Inmarsat-4 PFM
Launch Date
March 11, 2005

The Inmarsat 4 - PFM (or F1) spacecraft becomes the cornerstone in a sophisticated network providing mobile broadband communications services spanning the globe for users at sea, in the air, and on land.

Launch Site
CCAFS
Vehicle
Atlas V

XM-3
Launch Date
February 28, 2005

The XM-3 spacecraft is a revised model from its two predecessors, which were deployed in 2001 before engineers discovered a crippling design flaw that degrades the power-generating capacity as the satellites age.

Launch Site
Sea Launch
Vehicle
Zenit - 3SL

DEEP IMPACT
Launch Date
January 12, 2005

NASA's Deep Impact mission was planned to help answer fundamental questions about comets, which included what makes up the composition of the comet's nucleus, what depth the crater would reach from the impact, and where the comet originated in its formation.

Launch Site
CCAFS
Vehicle
Delta II

Heavy Demo
Launch Date
December 22, 2004

The demonstration flight of the Delta 4-Heavy is a means of testing the rocket before critical national security payloads begin flying aboard the vehicle.

Launch Site
CCAFS
Vehicle
Delta IV Heavy

AMC-16
Launch Date
December 17, 2004

The purpose of the AMC-16 satellite is to expand SES AMERICOM's world-wide fleet of satellites, which provide global distribution of cable, broadcast television and radio programming, mobile communications, business television, broadband data and telecommunications services.

Launch Site
CCAFS
Vehicle
Atlas V

MESSENGER
Launch Date
August 3, 2004

MESSENGER is a robotic NASA spacecraft orbiting the planet Mercury, the first spacecraft ever to do so. The instruments carried by MESSENGER were tested on a complex series of flybys – the spacecraft flew by Earth once, Venus twice, and Mercury itself three times, allowing it to decelerate relative to Mercury using minimal fuel.

Launch Site
CCAFS
Vehicle
Delta II

AURA
Launch Date
July 15, 2004

Aura is a multi-national NASA scientific research satellite in orbit around the Earth, studying the Earth's ozone layer, air quality and climate. It is the third major component of the Earth Observing System (EOS) following on Terra (launched 1999) and Aqua (launched 2002).

Launch Site
VAFB
Vehicle
Delta II

TELSTAR-18
Launch Date
June 28, 2004

The satellite provides Ku-band voice, video and data services to China, Hawaii, and East Asia, and C-band services to other parts of the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia and Hawaii. The new satellite is also used to provide space-based Internet backbone services for the main cities of Asia to and from the U.S. through Hawaii.

Launch Site
Sea Launch
Vehicle
Zenit - 3SL

ROCSAT-2
Launch Date
May 20, 2004

ROCSAT-2 was built by EADS for Taiwan's National Space Program Office (NSPO). The spacecraft carries panchromatic and multispectral instruments to observe Taiwan and its surrounding waters, as well as an instrument to monitor lightning in the upper atmosphere.

Launch Site
VAFB
Vehicle
Taurus XL

AMC-11
Launch Date
May 19, 2004

AMC-11 will provide cable television services to all 50 United States, Mexico and the Caribbean. AMC-11 will take the place of Satcom C-3.

Launch Site
CCAFS
Vehicle
Atlas 2AS

DirectTV-7S
Launch Date
May 4, 2004

DirecTV-7S will use highly focused spot beam technology to provide DIRECTV with the capacity to deliver local channels to 41 additional markets, expanding local channel coverage to a total of 106 markets.

Launch Site
Sea Launch
Vehicle
Zenit - 3SL

MBSAT
Launch Date
March 13, 2004

The new spacecraft will be a version of Loral’s space-proven three-axis, body-stabilized 1300 bus. The spacecraft's system will be able to broadcast more than 50 programs simultaneously.

Launch Site
CCAFS
Vehicle
Atlas 3

AMC-10
Launch Date
February 2, 2004

AMC-10 will provide cable television services to all 50 United States, Mexico and the Caribbean. The satellite will take the place of the retiring Lockheed Martin-built Satcom C-4.

Launch Site
CCAFS
Vehicle
Atlas 2AS

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285 Spacecraft Successfully Processed To Date!