Pegasus Successfully Launches SORCE from Canaveral

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Pegasus Successfully Launches SORCE from Canaveral

More Information:

A Pegasus XL successfully launched the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 20:13:35 UTC on January 25. The launch occurred 161 km (87 nmi) east of CCAFS at an altitude of 11,890 m (39,000 ft) above sea level being released from underneath a modified L-1011. The satellite was placed in a low-Earth-orbit (LEO) at an altitude of 645 km (348 nmi), inclined at 40 degrees. The total mission cost, spacecraft, launch and operations is US$122 million.

The 315 kilogram (693 lbm) SORCE was built by Orbital Sciences for US$85 million, and has an expected mission life of 5 years. The spacecraft carries four instruments: a Total Irradiance Monitor (TIM), the Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SIM), Solar Stellar Irradiance Comparison Experiment (SOLSTICE) and the Extreme Ultraviolet Photometer System (XPS). TIM, SIM and SOLSTICE will measure solar irradiance and the solar spectrum. XPS will measure high-energy radiation from the Sun. The University of Colorado at Boulder Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) built the SORCE instruments; 250 to 300 scientists, engineers, and students worked on the SORCE project.

The SORCE project is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The spacecraft's mission will be operated by the University of Colorado at Boulder Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics.

The next Pegasus flight is currently scheduled for April 4 when NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) will be launched from Cape Canaveral.

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January 27, 2003