The USSF-12 mission for the American Space Force was launched on July 1 by a United Launch Alliance Atlas (ULA) 5 rocket. At 7:15 p.m.
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Eastern, the rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida’s Space Launch Complex-41.
Two satellites were launched on the USSF-12 mission, which cost $1.1 billion, into geosynchronous Earth orbit: the Wide Field of View (WFOV) missile-warning satellite for the U.S.
Space Force and a ring-shaped payload adaptor containing six classified smallsat experiments for the DoD’s Space Test Program.
This was the Atlas 5 rocket’s 94th mission
Four solid rocket boosters and an RD-180 engine drove the vehicle’s first stage, and an Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10C-1 engine powered the Centaur’s upper stage.
A 5.4-meter-diameter payload fairing built by Beyond Gravity was used by ULA to enclose the satellites (formerly RUAG Space).
USSF-12 was supposed to launch in April, but it was postponed for unknown reasons. Due to poor weather, a launch attempt scheduled for June 30 was cancelled.
The U.S. Air Force awarded Millennium Space Systems a contract in 2016 to build the mid-sized WFOV spacecraft, which has an infrared sensor payload developed by L3Harris Technologies.
As a testbed satellite, WFOV is a standalone experiment rather than a component of an actual missile warning network.
Developed by L3Harris Technologies for the U.S. Air Force under a contract from 2016, WFOV is a mid-sized spacecraft built by Millennium Space Systems with an infrared sensor payload.
As a testbed satellite, WFOV serves as a standalone experiment rather than being a part of a functioning missile warning network.
WFOV weighs 1,000 kilos, which is roughly one-fourth the size of the SBIRS spacecraft that the Defense Department currently uses for strategical missile warning.
In the latter part of July, ULA is likely to launch the SBIRS-6 satellite.
The WFOV satellite, which has a focusing sensor, is being used to test various techniques for gathering and reporting information about missile launches.
The research, according to the Space Force, will help shape the architecture of upcoming missile warning satellites. WFOV will be able to track close to one-third of the Earth’s surface continually.
Northrop Grumman created the propulsive ESPA ring, a ring-shaped small satellite carrier payload.
In a recent press statement, the Space Systems Command reported that both satellites aboard USSF-12, which were launched on a route demanding three Centaur engine runs, had reached orbit six hours the following launch.
The WFOV satellite’s batteries were kept charged for the duration of the six-hour voyage to geosynchronous orbit by ULA using an in-flight power system.
