Satellite Data System (SDS) spacecraft are communication relay satellites for transmitting real-time data from US reconnaissance satellites (e.g. KH-11, Onyx, Topaz) in polar areas. They are also used for communications to USAF aircraft 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.
Atlas II was a member of the Atlas family of launch vehicles, which evolved from the successful Atlas missile program of the 1950s. It was designed to launch payloads into low earth orbit, geosynchronous transfer orbit or geosynchronous orbit. Sixty-three launches of the Atlas II, IIA and IIAS models were carried out between 1991 and 2004; all sixty-three launches were successes, making the Atlas II the most reliable launch system in history.
Lockheed Martin's Space Division started in the production of missiles and later ICBM's in the 1950s. Their TITAN missile system was used for 12 Gemini spacecraft and the Voyager probes. They have worked largely in collaboration with NASA on many of their probes, landers, and spacecraft, and hope to play a key role in NASA's return to the moon in 2024.
INFO WIKILast two operational (TROPICS-06 & TROPICS-07) satellites for NASA's Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation Structure and Storm Intensity with a…
Virgin Galactic return to space mission ahead of the first commercial flight.
Third flight of the KSLV-II "Nuri" launch vehicle, carrying NEXTSat-2 as well as SNIPE A through D.
Progress resupply mission to the International Space Station.
This is a Crew Dragon flight for a private company Axiom Space. The mission will carry a professionally trained commander alongside three private ast…
Macau Science Satellite-1 (MUST-1A/B) are 2 magnetosphere research satellites from the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) aiming to st…
5 spare satellites for the Iridium NEXT constellation and 16 satellites for the OneWeb constellation (15 of current generation and 1 demonstration sa…
A batch of satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
This satellite is a part of the geostationary component of the 3rd phase of the Chinese Beidou (Compass) satellite navigation system. It features a p…
A batch of 56 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.