VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. (KEYT) – A Minotaur IV rocket launch of the Space Test Program S29A mission has been scheduled from Vandenberg Space Force Base's Space Launch Complex 8 on Tuesday, April 7, between 4:30 a.m. and 8:45 a.m. Pacific Time.
The STP-S29A mission, a $29.9 million Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation-managed order authorized by the Space Systems Command's Assured Access to Space organization, will deliver a variety of Defense, Space Force, and academic payloads for orbital demonstrations explained Space Systems Command in a press release regarding the approval of the mission.
The Minotaur IV family of launch vehicles, operated by Northrop Grumman, use surplus Peacekeeper boosters to support small satellite launches.
The baseline configuration of the Minotaur IV is shown in the image to the right.
The repurposed launch system is designed to be launched from all four commercial spaceports as well as the two existing government spaceports at Vandenberg Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The four-stage, intertially-guided, solid propellant-fueled, ground launch vehicle is operated through a Launch Control Room.
The first three stages of the Minotaur IV are refurbished respective Peacekeeper stages and required no modification noted Northrup Grumman.
The repurposed launch vehicle has participated in over 50 launches and the baseline Orion 38 motor is used for orbit insertion of the launch vehicle.
This will be the fourth task order under the Orbital Services Program-4 Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract.
"The competitive award of the STP-S29A task order is a prime example of the flexible and responsive contracting processes that SSC [Space Systems Command] is using to deliver resilient and affordable space capabilities," said Col. Chad Melone, Chief of Space Systems Command's Launch Procurement and Integration Division. "I'm proud of the work AATS [Assured Access to Space program] is doing to support the Department of Defense's science and technology efforts."
Three of the publicly announced payloads hitching a ride on Tuesday's launch are detailed below.
The STPSat-7, developed by Aegis Aerospace, is a free-flying satellite that houses five Defense Department experiments:
NanoUHFComms – This experiment will demonstrate military SATCOM capabilities from low-Earth orbit including message broadcast services and over-the-horizon point-to-point communications with on-orbit Doppler correction LARADO – The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory's Lightsheet Anomaly Resolution and Debris Observation instrument is designed to detect and identify small orbital debris using satellite and laser technology GARI-1C – The GAGG Radiation Instrument was designed to detect gamma-rays for space-based astrophysical and defense purposes. GOSAS – The GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) Orbiting Situational Awareness Sensor is a programmable Global Positioning Satellite receiver designed to create high-quality ionospheric space weather details SFPE – The Satellite Fingerprint Experiment will use a physical security primitive to enhance security and information assurance for mission-critical systemsThe ASTRA-HyRAX (Auburn Satellite Testbed for Retrodirective Array - Hybrid Retrodirective Array in X-Band), developed at Auburn University, will use a phased array to receive radio frequency signals that use the direction of the arriving signal, and which parts of the array received it, to determine the location of the signal's origin explained Auburn University.
The system then stores that information and can use it to send a signal back.
The ASTRA-HyRAX that will be launching on Tuesday is a smaller version of the planned array and will be used to demonstrate the concept as well as test the performance of the array in space using known ground targets.
The image below details the expected experiment's steps.
In addition to the above and other payloads on Tuesday's Minotaur IV launch will be Texas A&M University's AggieSat6.
The AggieSat6 is a proof of concept mission to expand space domain awareness, how we determine the position and vector of objects in space explained Texas A&M University.
The Defense Department currently relies on ground-based systems to do that, but AggieSat6 will use an array of antennas to detect signals coming from a targeted satellite in space.
For this experiment, AggieSat6 will use it antennas to track satellites in the already-operating Iridium constellation of satellites.
Depiction of Iridium satellite constellation courtesy of Iridium Satellite Communications.There is the potential for one or more sonic booms across the region during the early Tuesday morning launch, but how far the sound can be heard will depend on weather and other conditions at launch time.
A Minotaur IV launch of Space Test Program’s S29A mission scheduled for early Tuesday News Channel 3-12.
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