Earlier this morning Orbital’s ground-launched Taurus rocket successfully boosted and deployed an experimental imaging satellite for the U.S. Department of Energy.
In a mission that originated from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the Taurus rocket ignited its first stage and lifted-off from launch pad 576E at approximately 1:29 a.m. Pacific time.
Just over 12 minutes later, the Multispectral Thermal Imager, or MTI satellite separated from the final Taurus stage and was placed into orbit approximately 575 kilometers, or 310 nautical miles, above the Earth.
With the completion of the MTI mission, the Taurus rocket program extends its record of mission success to a perfect five-for-five.
The MTI mission also represents Orbital’s nineteenth consecutive successful space launch, including missions carried out by the company’s Taurus, Pegasus and new OSP/Minotaur rocket.
Later today, the health of the MTI spacecraft will be determined as it passes over ground stations that will gather data, which will be analyzed for indications that the main operating systems of the satellite are operating as expected.
Prior to Sunday’s successful launch the satellite had been left sitting atop its Taurus launcher at Vandenberg since Feb. 25, the day a planned Feb. 28 launch was postponed by base safety officials.
Although the U.S. obtained permission to conduct the launch from the French Polynesian government several months ago, the French withdrew the permission Feb. 25 because of uncertainties about whether a small Tahitian island is inhabited or uninhabited.
The island is within an imaginary ellipse that defines the area where the rocket’s third-stage booster would fall after it separates from the rocket during launch.
Late Wednesday (March 8) the French Polynesian government deemed the launch safe and reinstated its permission to conduct the launch.
The Multispectral Thermal Imager (MTI) satellite, designed and built by a government and industry team led by Sandia, includes a sophisticated telescope that collects day and night ground images in 15 spectral bands.
The telescope, calibrated at Los Alamos National Laboratory, gives the satellite the ability to photograph light and heat patterns not visible to the human eye.
The satellite also carries a High-energy X-ray Spectrometer (HXRS), sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), that will study a type of solar flare that can endanger astronauts and damage space equipment.
