2012 Winter - Space and Missile Defense Command - U.S. Army

dedICAtIoN
In the hush of morning twilight, a brilliant
light and deafening roar shattered the tranquility
of the Alaskan wilderness launch complex
at Kodiak, Alaska. This was the scene of the
Naval Research Laboratory’s TacSat-4 launch on
Sept. 27, 2011, and the second event dedicated
to fallen American heroes by the Operationally
Responsive Space (ORS) Office.
The Minotaur-IV+ launch vehicle displayed
a specially designed decal in honor of U.S. special
operations personnel killed in action. An earlier
launch lauded recipients of the Medal of Honor.
On Aug. 6, Americans were shocked to hear
of the single deadliest loss of U.S. forces in the
decade-long war in Afghanistan. Thirty brave
Americans, eight Afghans, and a military working
dog perished in the crash of a CH-47 Chinook
helicopter in Wardak province, Afghanistan. The
tragedy was compounded by the fact that 22 of
the dead were Naval Special Warfare Command
Sailors (SEALs), including 15 SEALs who participated
in the operation that killed Osama Bin
Laden three months earlier. Other U.S. casualties
were five Soldiers of the 135th and 158th
Aviation regiments and three Airmen from Air
Force Special Operations Command.
The TacSat-4 dedication also included having
SEAL team members present for the launch.
The launch vehicle decal listed the names of every
American killed in the crash and even Bart the
military working dog. To signify their bravery, silver
wings are the most prominent part of the
design. A purple heart enfolds the U.S. Special
Operations Command spear tip, SEAL trident
badge, Air Force Special Operations Command
symbol, and 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation
Regiment insignia.
ORS-1 Dedication
On June 29, the ORS office dedicated the launch
of the ORS-1 satellite to honor the extraordinary
courage and selflessness of Soldiers, Sailors,
and Marines who received the Medal of Honor,
the nation’s highest award for valor, in Somalia,
Iraq, and Afghanistan. The ORS-1 satellite blasted
off atop a Minotaur 1 rocket from NASA’s
Wallops Flight Facility and Mid-Atlantic Regional
Spaceport on Wallops Island, Va. ORS-1 is an
electro-optical/infrared satellite employing a U-2
reconnaissance aircraft sensor package covering
seven different wavelength bands. It is the first
operational satellite launched by the ORS office.
About TacSat-4
The TacSat-4 mission will provide enhanced
Space-based communication to U.S. forces in
Afghanistan. The satellite’s highly elliptical orbit
brings it close enough for a service member using
a handheld radio or pack radio to communicate
effectively in the deep valleys of Afghanistan.
It will also provide ten additional Ultra High
Frequency channels and allow forces using
existing radios to communicate on-the-move.
Moreover, TacSat-4 provides flexible up and
down channel assignments, which increase the
ability to operate in busy radio-frequency environments
and will cover the high latitudes and
mountainous areas where users currently cannot
easily access UHF satellite communications.
TacSat-4 will maintain a highly elliptical orbit
of 435 miles by 7,470 miles at a 63.4-degree inclination.
This unique flight path, three times closer
to the Earth than most communications spacecraft,
will enable TacSat-4 to provide four-hour
coverage in the northern hemisphere during each
of its six daily treks around the globe.
LtC M. trOY BentLeY
is an aviation officer
who became a Space
Operations Officer in
December 2010. He
currently serves as the
Tier-2 division chief in the
Operationally Responsive
Space Office. He has
served as a National
Police Transition Brigade
team chief in Iraq and as
a senior military adviser
in Saudi Arabia, and
worked for NASA at the
Kennedy Space Center as
an operations engineer,
payload test director, and
in program management.
Army Space Journal 2012 Winter edition 57