SBIRS GEO-1

Spacecraft n°:

US spacecraft n°:

Launch data: Designation  37481 / 11019A Launch date  07 May 2011 - 18:10 UT Launch site  CC, SLC-41 Launch vehicle  Atlas-V/401 (AV-022) Mission  Military: Early Warning Geostationary orbit: Perigee / Apogee  35778 x 35795 km Eccentricity  2.02E-04 Inclination  5.7 deg Period  1436.11 min

Spacecraft data: Prime manufactor  Lockheed Martin Space Systems Platform  A2100 Operator  US Air Force Mass at launch  4500 kg Dry Mass   kg Basic shape   Dimension (m)   Equipment   Solar array   Stabilization   Propulsion   DC power   Design lifetime  12 yrs - still active

SBIRS GEO 1 being encapsulated in the rocket's nose cone. Credit: Lockheed Martin

Location:

Mission details:

• Uses infrared sensors to detect and track missile launches; equipped with both scanning and staring instruments. Will eventually replace DSP system.
• The US Air Force's SBIRS GEO-1 missile early warning satellite was launched on May 7, 2011. This is the first dedicated satellite in the Space-Based Infrared System, which will be the successor to the Defense Support Program satellites in operation since 1970. In addition to GEO-1, two National Reconnaissance Office satellites in highly elliptical orbit, USA 184 and USA 200, carry the SBIRS HEO-1 and SBIRS HEO-2 payloads in addition to their main NRO signals intelligence payloads.
  
  
  
• GEO-1 carries an infrared telescope with a large focal plane infrared array to monitor large areas of the Earth at once. An internal movable mirror is used to scan the field of view across the visible disk of the Earth looking for possible missile launches. This is in contrast to the older spinning DSP satellites, whose telescopes were canted at an angle to the spin axis so that the motion of the entire satellite swept the field of view around. 23 DSP satellites were launched between 1970 and 2007.
• GEO-1 was inserted into geostationary transfer orbit and will use its own on board propulsion to circularize its orbit. The spacecraft is based on the Lockheed Martin A2100 bus and uses a Leros-1 apogee thruster from the UK company AMPAC.