Pegasus XL
Successfully Launches TSX 5
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An Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL
successfully launched the Tri-Service Experiments Mission-5 (TSX
5) off central California's Pacific coast at 6:19:30 a.m. PDT
(1319:30 UTC) June 7. The L-1011 carrier aircraft, “Stargazer” took off
from Vandenberg. The US$85
million TSX 5 is based on  Orbital
Sciences standard LeoStar bus, with launch costs totaling US$30
million. The 250 kg (551 lbm) spacecraft will fly in an
elliptical low-Earth-orbit with a perigee of 410 km (221 nmi) and apogee
of 1750 km (994 nmi), inclined 69 degrees to the equator. TSX 5 is planned
as a 6-month mission, but the mission could be extended to one year.
 The
TSX 5 mission is managed by the USAF Space Technology Program
(STP) based at the Space and Missiles Center, Test and Evaluation
(SMC/TELS) at
Kirtland AFB, New Mexico. The mission is in support of the Space
Technology Research Vehicle-2 (STRV-2) and Compact Environmental
Anomaly SEnsor (CEASE) experiments.
STRV-2
is a US$ 43 million multi-national, highly integrated suite of
experiments designed to push the envelope of space based imaging
technology, satellite vibration suppression, and material science.
STRV-2 is sponsored by the U.S. Ballistic  Missile Defense
Organization.
CEASE
is a US$ 4 million environmental scanner, providing the Spacecraft
with essential knowledge about its surrounding space. CEASE will
use this flight to prove its near spacecraft environmental
assessment capabilities. CEASE is sponsored by the USAF Phillips
Laboratory Geophysics Laboratory (PL/GPSP).
TSX
5 is the sixth in a series of the U.S. Air Force's Space Test
Platform missions, following STEP-0 through 4. The program has
dropped the STEP name in favor of Tri-Service Experiments because
of the various branches of the military that participate in the
missions.
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