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Post Info TOPIC: DSP 23 satellite


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An American missile-warning satellite has died, more than 22,000 miles up. So now, the U.S. is sending a pair of mini-spacecraft on a top secret operation to investigate, Craig Covault reports for Spaceflight Now. If the mission is successful, analysts say, it'll have a global impact. Because the same technologies used to investigate a friendly, out-of-service satellite could also be used to help take out an enemy orbiter.
In June 2006, a Delta 2 rocket launched a pair of Darpa spacecraft into geosynchronous orbit. The stated goal of the "MiTex" (Micro-satellite Technology Experiment) project was to have the 225-kilogram ships inspect each other, while twirling around the planet. Equipped with advanced thrusters, batteries and solar panels, the two tiny satellites were meant to be more manoeuvrable, and longer-lasting, than almost anything else in its class. For two years -- as far as we know -- the pair did their inspection pas de deux, tens of thousands of miles up.

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Officials are still examining the failure of a classified Northrop Grumman Corp.-built missile warning satellite, known as DSP 23, four months ago.  
The Defence Support Program (DSP) satellite was owned and operated by the U.S. Air Force, and was launched into geosynchronous orbit around the Earth in November 2007.  By mid-September of last year the satellite had stopped responding to commands.

According to defence officials, possible reasons include natural phenomena such as a solar flare, defective parts, software issues or even space debris.  A deliberate attack was also a possibility, officials said, but highly unlikely.

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The failure of a Northrop Grumman Corp missile-tracking satellite has sparked concerns that Washington's longstanding refusal to disclose the location of classified spacecraft -- even if they are dead -- could boost the risk of disastrous collisions in space.
The newest Defence Support Program (DSP) satellite, DSP 23, launched in November 2007 but halted communications in mid-September. Efforts to resume contact have failed, and the satellite has been drifting in its geosynchronous orbit above the Earth's equator, as Reuters first reported on Nov. 24.
Vladimir Agapov, a senior scientist with the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said careful observations showed that DSP 23 was moving along in GEO "as an absolutely passive object."

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Even in the vacuum of outer space, it's hard to keep the sound of a secret quiet.
The U.S. Air Force apparently has a malfunctioning Defence Support Program satellite on its hands. DSP-23 is one piece of a constellation of such Earth-staring satellites designed to detect missile launchings and nuclear detonations, and gather other technical intelligence.
DSP-23 seems to be drifting out of its high-altitude slot and might prove troublesome to other high-value satellites in that populated area.

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U.S. DSP-23 early warning satellite has failed.
According to a U.S. defence official, the DSP early warning satellite failed after less than a year in geosynchronous orbit.

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Epoch Typ i P P A
07-12-01 Geo 4.00° 1436.0 min 35784 km 35784 km
07-11-12.90 Geo 4.00° 1443.95 min 35936 km 35944 km

dsp23
Expand (57kb, 630 x 390)

TLE Data
USA 197       
1 32287U 07054A 07316.90125814 0.00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 08
2 32287 3.9960 273.0867 0001000 180.0004 179.9996 0.99726600 07



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