Delta 2 Launches ICESat and CHIPSat

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Delta 2 Launches ICESat and CHIPSat

More Information:

A Delta 2 7320-10 successfully launched ICESat and CHIPSat from Vandenberg AFB, pad SLC 2W, at 7:45 p.m. PST on January 12 (00:45 UTC January 13). The two NASA science satellites were placed into a 590.3 km (318.744 nmi) by 591.5 km (319.388 nmi) orbit, with an inclination of 94.0 degrees. The mission cost US$282 million.

The 300 kg (661 lbm) Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) is a NASA Earth Science Enterprise spacecraft measure the change in elevation of the world’s icecaps during its 3 year mission. The spacecraft was built by will be Ball Aerospace and will be controlled by the University of Colorado in Boulder. Over the next few days the ICESat spacecraft will gradually be despun and placed into a safe stable attitude. Within two weeks the onboard propulsion system will gradually tune the orbit. Once in its final orbital position, ICESat will be approximately 600 km (324 nmi).

The 60 kg (131 lbm) Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer Satellite (CHIPSat) was designed and built by SpaceDev, Poway, CA. CHIPSat will study the formation of stars, having a life span of about a year for the mission. CHIPSat will provide information into the origin, physical processes and properties of the hot gas contained in the interstellar medium. CHIPSat will orbit at about 590 km (319 nmi).

The Astrium-built Reduced Height-Dual Payload Attach Fitting (RH-DPAF) was used to carry and deploy the 2 satellites. It allows two satellites of different sizes to be flown aboard one Delta 2 rocket. DPAF is basically a cylinder with a cone on its top where ICESat was mounted with CHIPSat inside.

The next Delta 2 mission will be the launch of GPS 2R-8 for the U.S. Air Force on January 29, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL.

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January 13, 2003