OrbView-4

Launch data: Designation F01239 / 01F01 Launch date 21 Sep 2001 - 18:49:30 UT Launch site  Va, 576E Launch vehicle  Taurus-2110 (#T6) Mission  Imaging Perigee/Apogee n/a (planned: 470 km sun-synchronous (10:30 AM)) Inclination n/a (planned: 97°) Period n/a

Specifications Prime contractor OSC Platform LEOStar-2 Mass at launch 368 kg Mass in orbit   Dimension   Solar array   Stabilization   DC power   Design lifetime 5 years

End of life

Panchromatic and Multispectral payload

Hyperspectral payload

Mission details:

• Two satellites that were supposed to give new perspectives of Earth never achieved orbit Friday and likely fell into the Indian Ocean after a botched launch of Orbital Sciences' Taurus rocket from California.
• The four-stage Taurus blasted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 1849 GMT (2:49 p.m. EDT; 11:49 a.m. PDT), punching through a layer of fog over the SLC-576E launch pad.
• The rocket pitched over and headed southward on the thrust of its Castor 120 first stage solid-fueled motor. Everything looked normal until about 85 seconds into the flight when the spent stage was jettisoned and the second stage Orion 50S motor ignited.
• Powerful tracking cameras positioned on the mountain peaks at Vandenberg, above the fog and low clouds, showed the Taurus suddenly veer to the left and then to the right. The gyrations continued for several seconds before the rocket appeared to regain control.
• The sight instantly brought back memories of June's failed flight of NASA's X-43A hypersonic aircraft aboard Orbital's air-launched Pegasus rocket. The Pegasus lost control shortly after ignition of its first stage, which is an Orion 50S motor, too. For Pegasus, the stage features a delta-shaped wing and aerosurface fins.
• Although appearing on video to be similar looking aerobatics in the sky, it is not known if the two incidents were caused by the same problem. The NASA investigation panel probing the X-43A accident has not completed its inqury.
• Unlike the X-43A mission that had to be blown up by safety personnel, Orbital engineers say data from Friday's launch shows the Taurus rocket was able to right itself and continue with the 14-minute flight.
• The commercial Earth-imaging satellite -- OrbView-4 -- was released from the rocket's upper stage about 12 minutes after liftoff. That was followed by deployment of NASA's QuikTOMS ozone monitoring spacecraft about two minutes later.
• But the energy and momentum lost while the rocket was gyrating meant the vehicle was unable to achieve the proper altitude and velocity to reach a safe orbit around Earth.
  The two satellites plunged back into the atmosphere where they were destroyed. Impact occurred in the Indian Ocean, Orbital said.
• Both spacecraft were supposed to be delivered into a 470 km circular sun-synchronous orbit inclined 97.29 degrees to the equator. QuikTOMS would have then boosted itself into an 800 km circular orbit over the coming three weeks.
  The failure was a major blow for ORBIMAGE, which is half-owned by Orbital Sciences. OrbView-4 was designed to provide high-resolution images that ORBIMAGE would sell to civilian, government and military customers.
• The satellite's camera was to snap one-meter resolution black and white (panchromatic) and four-meter resolution color (multispectral) images. The craft also carried a hyperspectral imaging instrument for the Air Force Research Laboratory's Warfighter-1 program.
  The 355 kilogram OrbView-4 would have become the first commercial satellite to produce hyperspectral imagery and allow the U.S. military to determine the value of such photos, which show the identity and quantity of materials present in the picture.
• The military is interested in hyperspectral imagery because it has promising uses for detecting chemical or biological weapons, collecting bomb damage assessment for commanders and finding soldiers and enemy vehicles hidden under foliage.