Boeing’s Delta 4 to Launch DMSP 17 in 2003

Boeing will launch, DMSP-17, a weather satellite for the U.S. Air Force in 2003. A Delta 4 Medium rocket will be used to place a Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellite in a near-polar, sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite will be placed in a near-polar, sun-synchronous orbit, at an altitude of 833 km (450 nmi) and inclination of 98.8 degrees.

The 1497 kg (3300 lbm) satellite will be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB), Calif., and is part of a 22-launch U.S. government procurement for satellites using Delta 4 rockets. The satellite is being built by Lockheed Martin. The spacecraft will be 3.7 meters in length with a diameter of 1.2 meters with a design life of 2-3 years.

DMSP Block 5D-2 is the military's sixth generation of weather satellites. Two operational DMSP satellites are in orbit, crossing any point on the earth up to two times a day, providing nearly complete global coverage of clouds every six hours. Previous DMSP satellites were launched by Titan 2. The orbit does not cover two small circular sectors of 2.4 degree centered on the North and South poles.

The DMSP Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) has 7 separate total-power radiometers, each simultaneously measures the microwave emission coming from the earth and the intervening atmosphere. Dual polarization measurements are taken at 19.35, 37, and 85.5 GHz, and only vertical polarization is observed at the 22.235 GHz which is a water vapor channel. The spatial resolutions of these channels vary from about 15 km (85.5 GHz) to 60 km (19.35 GHz) depending on the frequency.

The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) is a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) program run by the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. The DMSP program designs, builds, launches, and maintains several near polar orbiting, sun synchronous satellites monitoring the meteorological, oceanographic, and solar-terrestrial physics environments. The 50th Space Wing at Falcon Air Force Base, Colo., provides command and control support for all DMSP satellites. Tracking stations are located at Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash.; New Boston Air Force Station, N.H.; Thule Air Base, Greenland and Kaena Point, Hawaii. Data is relayed to two military weather centers, one at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., and the other at Monterey, Calif. Field. Some information from the DMSP program is shared with NOAA for use by the civilian community.

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