Orbital Sciences is in final preparations to launch the NASA’s Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology (DART) spacecraft aboard a Pegasus rocket.
The mission is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, October 26, 2004, from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA (VAFB) during an available seven-minute launch window that extends from 11:15 a.m. to 11:22 a.m. (Pacific).
This operational schedule is subject to the completion of final testing and other pre-launch activities, as well as acceptable weather conditions in the VAFB area at the time of the launch.
DART Mission
Following its launch aboard Pegasus into a targeted 475-mile polar orbit, the DART spacecraft will locate and rendezvous with the mission’s target satellite, the Multiple-Path Beyond-Line-of-Sight Communications (MUBLCOM) spacecraft that has completed its mission and is operating well beyond its design life. The MUBLCOM satellite was also built by Orbital for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and was launched aboard a previous Pegasus mission in 1999.
Once the DART spacecraft achieves orbit and locates and rendezvous with MUBLCOM, it will perform several close-proximity operations such as approaching to as close as 15 feet and moving away from the satellite on different vectors, as well as performing circumnavigation maneuvers using data provided by its onboard sensors. The entire DART mission will be performed without human intervention and will be completed within 24 hours.
