Washington – April 27, 1999 – It was to be the most advanced privately owned remote sensing satellite ever flown. But Tuesday it became another piece of space debris. Ikonos-1 is lost in space , Lockheed martin, builder of the satellite and its Athena-II launcher announced just hours after a seemingly successful launch from SLC-6 at the Air Force’s Vandenberg Air base, California.
Tracking stations searched in vain for signals from the 1,600 pound craft. “We have not been able to successfully acquire telemetry signals from the spacecraft,” Lockheed Martin announced at 5:50pm EDT Tuesday.
An investigation of the accident has begun, officials reported. It will review the vehicle’s telemetry data radioed from the rocket to the ground. Launch of the booster, the largest Athena class vehicle in Lockmart’s stable of small launchers, occurred from the military spaceport at 11:22AM PDT (2:22pm EDT).
“Our customers know that space business is risky,” John Copple, Chief Executive Officer of Space Imaging, said following the launch. Ikonos-1 was to be operated by Space Imaging of Denver, Colorado, and would have been capable of one meter ground resolution.
As SpaceDaily went to press, Lockheed said that Ikonos-2 might be readied for launch before the end of the year, depending on the results of the accident investigation. There are sufficient Athena-II components available to effect such a launch, officials confirmed.
Athena 1 + 2 Reports at SpaceDaily
Earth Observation Reports At SpaceDaily
