DART spacecraft

[gc]

Excerpts from a CNN report. If this spacecraft can go maneuvering around the satellite, then maybe if there is a need, the pentagon can use it to destroy enemy satellites, such as chinese communications satellites and the Galileo systems if the chinese use it for war against us.

CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/04/15/dart.launch.ap/index.html

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, California (AP) -- A NASA robotic spacecraft equipped with navigational computers and sensors was launched into orbit Friday to rendezvous with a Pentagon satellite without the help of astronauts or human controllers.

If the $110 million mission is successful, it could lay the groundwork for future projects like robotic delivery of cargo to space shuttles and automated docking and repair between spacecraft in orbit.

DART was designed to catch up with the Pentagon satellite flying 472 miles above Earth. The satellite was launched in 1999 and carries special reflectors for use in guidance systems similar to the one aboard DART.

During the 24-hour mission, DART will attempt several automated tasks, including maneuvering around the satellite, making close approaches and moving away.

[Bluezoo]

GREAT NEWS! woot

[seruriermarshal]

Another XSS-11

Orbital's Minotaur Launches XSS-11 Research Satellite

The Minotaur I rocket at Vandenburg AFB prior to launch. Photo courtesy: Orbital Sciences.
Dulles VA (SPX) Apr 13, 2005
Orbital Sciences has successfully launched the XSS-11 satellite aboard a Minotaur I rocket. The XSS-11 is an experimental small satellite for the US Air Force designed to test technologies that could allow quick visual examinations or maintenance of spacecraft in orbit.
The mission originated on Monday, April 11, 2005, at 9:35 a.m. (EDT) from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA (VAFB) when the Minotaur rocket ignited its first stage motor and lifted-off from its West Coast launch site.

Approximately 12 minutes after launch, the XSS-11 satellite was inserted into its targeted orbit of approximately 850 kilometers above the Earth. Yesterday's mission was the third flight the Minotaur I space launch vehicle, all of which have been successful.

Since the program's first flight in 2000, the Minotaur family of space and suborbital launch vehicles has carried out eight launches with 100% success.

Over the next three years, Minotaur rockets are scheduled to conduct another nine launches, including the first flights of the larger Peacekeeper-based vehicles.

The Minotaur I space launch vehicle used in yesterday's successful launch of the XSS-11 satellite is the first in Orbital's Minotaur product line, which includes both space launch vehicles as well as long-range missile defense targets and other suborbital vehicles.

The rockets are derived from U.S. Government-supplied Minuteman and Peacekeeper rocket motors.

The space launch configurations combine commercial rocket motors, avionics and other elements with the government-supplied stages to create responsive, reliable and low-cost launch systems for U.S. government payloads.

The Minotaur I configuration includes Minuteman rocket motors that serve as the vehicle's first and second stages, efficiently reusing motors that have been previously decommissioned.

Its third and fourth stages, structures and payload fairing are common with Orbital's highly reliable Pegasus XL rocket.

The Minotaur I space launch vehicle made its inaugural flight in January 2000, successfully delivering a number of small military and university satellites into orbit and marking the first-ever use of residual U.S. Government Minuteman boosters in a space launch vehicle.

Its second mission was carried out less than six months later, in July 2000, with the launch of a technology demonstration satellite for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory.

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