39380 - STPSAT-3

Primary satellite on the ORS-3 launch mission. Carries five separate packages of instruments and an aero-drag de-orbit module to drop it from orbit at the end of life (up to 25 years). Packages: iMESA-R(Integrated Miniaturized Electrostatic Analyzer Reflight) - USAF Academy instrument to measure plasma densities and energies, J-CORE (Joint Component Research) - space phenomenology (sic) instrument sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory Countermeasures Technology Branch & Army Space and Missile Defense Command, SSU (Strip Sensor Unit) - AFRL Directed Energy experiment for on-orbit testing and operation of a sensor assembly, SWATS (Small Wind and Temperature Spectrometer) - Naval Research Laboratory instrument to provide in-situ measurements of the neutral and plasma environment to characterize the Earth's ionosphere and thermosphere, TCTE (TSI Calibration Transfer Experiment) - a NASA/NOAA instrument to collect high accuracy, high precision measurements of Total Solar Irradiance to monitor changes in solar irradiance at the top the Earth's atmosphere.

Facts in Brief

Launch Date: 2013-11-19
Launch Vehicle: Minotaur 1
Launch Site: Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA