USA-186
American reconnaissance satellite
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
USA-186 (also known as KH-11 14 and NROL-20) is an American reconnaissance satellite which is operated by the National Reconnaissance Office. Launched in October 2005, it is the first KH-11 Block 4 reconnaissance satellite.[2][3][4][5][6]
Launch of USA-186 | |
| Mission type | Optical imaging |
|---|---|
| Operator | NRO |
| COSPAR ID | 2005-042A |
| SATCAT no. | 28888[1] |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | KH-11 |
| Manufacturer | Lockheed Martin |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 19 October 2005 18:05 UTC |
| Rocket | Titan IV (404)B (B-26) |
| Launch site | Vandenberg, SLC-4E |
| Contractor | Lockheed Martin |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
| Regime | Sun-synchronous orbit |
| |
Overview
The satellite launched as the last Titan IV launch and is last Titan rocket launch, ending its many decades of service to US National Security missions. Future KH-11 missions will be launched on the Delta IV Heavy rocket.[3]
KH-11 KENNEN, also called Crystal, is an electro-optical reconnaissance satellite which replaced the film-return satellites like KH-9 HEXAGON.[2][7][8][9]
