SDS-3 7 (USA 236, NROL-38)

Spacecraft n°:

US spacecraft n°:

Launch data:

Spacecraft data:

Description:

• Satellite Data System (SDS) spacecraft are communication relay satellites for transmiting real-time data relay from US reconnaissance satellites (e.g. KH-11) in polar areas. They are also used for communications to USAF air craft on polar routes and connect the various ground stations of the Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN). The spacecraft relay the downlinked data to a ground station at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
• These satellites are the third generation of the system, the SDS-3. Some of them (#1, #4, #5) are in highly elliptical Molniya orbits, but the other (#2, 3, 6, 7) have a geostationary position. Unlike the Trumpet Follow On Elint satellites, the SDS-3 satellites are not placed directly into the Molniya orbit, but use a lower apogee transfer orbit.
• The code-name QUASAR has been suspected to be associated with these satellites.

Mission details:

• On Jun 20, 2012 a Lockheed Martin Atlas V 401, serial AV-023, was launched from Cape Canaveral on the NROL-38 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. Analysts expect that the payload is a Satellite Data System communications and data relay satellite to be placed in geostationary orbit.