USA-231
American reconnaissance satellite
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
USA-231[5] or ORS-1 (Operationally Responsive Space-1) is an American reconnaissance satellite which was launched in 2011 from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia by a Minotaur I launch vehicle.[3] It is the first operational satellite of the Operationally Responsive Space Office. It is equipped with a SYERS 2A sensor.[6]
Illustration of the ORS-1 satellite | |
| Mission type | Imaging |
|---|---|
| Operator | US DoD |
| COSPAR ID | 2011-029A |
| SATCAT no. | 37728 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Bus | ATK satellite bus[1] |
| Manufacturer | Goodrich Corporation[1] |
| Launch mass | 434 kilograms (957 lb)[2] |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | June 30, 2011, 03:09 UTC[3] |
| Rocket | Minotaur I |
| Launch site | Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport LP-0B |
| Contractor | Orbital Sciences |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Perigee altitude | 423 kilometers (263 mi)[4] |
| Apogee altitude | 427 kilometers (265 mi)[4] |
| Inclination | 40.07 degrees[4] |
| Period | 92.93 minutes[4] |
| Epoch | January 13, 2015, 04:45:04 UTC[4] |
ORS-1 satellite is designed to provide orbital space imagery of Southwest Asia and to enhance battlespace awareness to operational field commanders. The ORS-1 will undergo a 30-day trial and adjustment check before the ORS Office turns over it operations to USAF's 1st Space Operations Squadron at Schriever AFB, Colorado.[3]
SYERS
SYERS 2 is an optical and infrared camera with a 40 cm aperture and a field of view larger than 2 degrees. It uses time delay and integration CCD sensors to compensate for ground motion, resulting in a resolution of 1m (NIIRS 4) from a nominal 300 km orbit.[7] SYERS 2 is supplied by the Goodrich Corporation.
SYERS is also carried by the Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft.[8]
