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Delta Launches
GeoLITE Satellite for U.S. NRO
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A Boeing Delta II
successfully launched GeoLITE satellite from Cape Canaveral, pad
17B, at 1745 UTC (10:45 a.m. PDT) on May 18. The satellite was
designed and built in 3  1/2
years using streamlined program methodologies by TRW Space &
Electronics, Redondo Beach, a subsidiary of TRW, Inc. for the
National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). Laser technology that might
provide future spy satellites with a better way to transmit
information to Earth will be tested from its position in
geosynchronous orbit over the Indian Ocean. GeoLITE will also
serve as an operational telecommunications satellite for the NRO
using a conventional UHF communications package. Additional
details of how the system will work, including location of ground
stations and the orbital position of GeoLITE, remain classified.
The 635 kg (1400
lbm) satellite GeoLITE (Geosynchronous Lightweight Technology
Experiment), an advanced technology demonstration satellite, is
the first mission for TRW's T-310 satellite bus, a new
lightweight, highly stable platform capable of a range of  missions.
TRW has system integration responsibility for GeoLITE, including
the satellite development,  integration
and preparation for launch. The contract award was announced on
July 10, 1998. The
US$77.8 million contract nearly doubled in cost to US$130 million,
not including launch costs. Launch costs were not released by the
NRO.
The T-310 bus is
built of lightweight composite materials that allow for increased
instrument weight and reduced launch costs. The T-310 modular bus
design provides flexible capability for a variety of applications,
including geostationary communications and weather observation
missions, as well as planetary missions. The design features
common subsystems scalable to the mission-specific needs.
Instrument payloads can be attached on a “mix and match” basis
without changes in the overall design or subsystem support
requirements. The GeoLITE mission is expected to last nine years.
The bus provides 1.2 kW EOL (End of Life) electric power. The
satellite is based on previous TRW spacecraft designs, including
NASA's Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer Earth Probe (TOMS) and
China's ROCSAT-1 satellite.
The
Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory was
responsible for developing for the laser communications payload.
The conventional ultra-high frequency (UHF) communications relay
package was built by Boeing Satellite Systems.
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