SBIRS=Space-Based Infrared System - Also called: USA 230
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:
Date
Position
Remarks
Sept 2011
96.84° W
March 2013
93.7° E
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.