MUOS 3

Spacecraft nº:

US spacecraft nº:

Launch data:

Spacecraft data: Prime manufacturer  Lockheed Martin (Prime), Boeing, General Dynamics Platform  A2100M? Operator  US Navy Mass at launch  6740 kg Dry Mass  3812 kg Basic shape   Dimension (m)   Equipment   Solar array  2 deployable solar arrays Stabilization   Propulsion  IHI BT-4 DC power   Design lifetime

Lockheed engineers prepare MUOS-3 for acoustic testing, one of several simulated environmental tests to validate the satellite’s performance throughout its launch and on-orbit mission life. Photo Credit: Lockheed Martin

Description:

• The 15,000-pound (6,800-kg) MUOS-3 represents the third of an eventual constellation of five next-generation narrowband tactical satellites to offer U.S. and allied military forces improved communications capabilities whilst on the move.

Mission details:

• In 2014, in the third MUOS a soldering defect was discovered, shuffling it behind the fourth spacecraft in the five-member fleet.
• Liftoff of the 206-foot-tall (62.8-meter) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex (SLC)-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., occurred at 8:04 p.m. EST Tuesday, 20 January, about 21 minutes into the 44-minute ′window.′ The launch was slightly delayed, due to Eastern Range command interference issues and high-level winds, both of which were subsequently cleared. Powered uphill by the Russian-built RD-180 engine of its core stage and supplemented by five strap-on, solid-fueled boosters, this was only the fifth occasion in the Atlas V‘s 13-year history that it has flown in its most powerful ′551′ configuration.

External links:

• US Navy: Mobile User Objective System.
• Satellite tracking: Real time satellite tracking