Space Security Index

Space Support for Terrestrial Military Operations
e Minotaur IV made its rst ight on 25 September from Vandenberg Air Force Base,
carrying the SBSS-1 satellite into orbit. A subsequent launch on 19 November from the
Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska carried four microsatellites and two CubeSats into orbit
as part of the Air Force Space Test Program S26 (STP-S26). 95
e ORS initiative, which seeks the quick development and deployment of space capabilities
in response to emerging military needs, continued to develop in 2010. TacSat3, an ORS
experimental satellite launched in 2009, completed a series of objectives, including capturing
images from a hyperspectral camera and transmitting processed data, and was transferred
to an operational role with Air Force Space Command in June. 96 TacSat 4 was scheduled
for launch aboard the Minotaur IV in May 2011. As a result of persistent challenges with
the imaging payload, the launch of ORS-1, the rst operational satellite to be built under
the ORS initiative, was postponed from 2010 until April 2011, aboard a Minotaur 1
rocket. In February, the ORS-1 bus was built and ready for primary sensor installation. 97
By December 2010, Goodrich ISR Systems was implementing environmental testing of the
nal component to be installed on the satellite. 98
Figure 6.3: U.S. dedicated military spacecraft launched by application: 1957–2010 99
e U.S. Army has been funding development of what could be the smallest orbital launch
vehicle, the Multipurpose Nanomissile system, a liquid-fueled core booster with solid-rocket
strap-on motors that can launch payloads of 20 kg. 100 e Army has spent about $7-million
since 2008, when it contracted with Colsa Corporation and Dynetics Corporation to
develop the vehicle. 101
Navigation / GPS
Launch delays continued to plague the rst of the Boeing-built GPS IIF navigation satellites,
already more than three years late and costing more than double the original $729-million. 102
e Delta IV launch of the GPS IIF-1 nally took place in May 103 and, although the launch
was successful and the craft was accepted into operation in September, software xes were
later deemed necessary to reduce cross-link degradation of its nuclear-blast detection
payload. 104
Progress continued on the next-generation GPS III space segment program. In June, prime
contractor Lockheed Martin announced the completion of key requirements review for the
GPS IIIB satellites. e company is working under a $3-billion development and production
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