No description available.
Launch Date
5/18/2021
Launch Site
CC SLC41
,
Launch Vehicle
Atlas V 421 C1 (Atlas 5 Family)
SBIRS GEO-5 will launch in fiscal year 2021 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
SBIRS GEO-5, SBIRS GEO-6, and AFSPC-44 are Air Force Space-Based Infrared System geosynchronous Earth orbit satellites.
SBIRS GEO-5 was officially completed on 2020-10-29.
From the June 2015 re-baselining, SBIRS GEO-5 was completed in approximately five years to support the government’s original 2021 launch date.
SBIRS GEO-5 was built in a record time and at no additional cost to the government for the upgrade.
The SBIRS team based at Los Angeles Air Force Base and the flight crew from the 60th Air Mobility Wing at Travis Air Force Base worked together to ensure the safe and timely transportation of SBIRS GEO-5.
SBIRS GEO-5 is the first satellite to use the military variant of the LM 2100 bus called the LM 2100 Combat Bus, which has enhanced security features.
SBIRS GEO-5 is the fifth satellite of the Space Based Infrared System program.
Encapsulation and integration of SBIRS GEO-5 onto its Atlas V launch vehicle will be completed prior to launch.
Final ground testing and fueling activities are necessary for the mission team to use SBIRS GEO-5’s propulsion system to guide the satellite to geosynchronous orbit following separation from a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
The delivery of SBIRS GEO-5 to Cape Canaveral moves the satellite one crucial step closer to the anticipated 2021-05-17 launch.
Lockheed Martin completed manufacturing of SBIRS GEO-5 in December.
Lockheed Martin built the SBIRS GEO-5 missile warning satellite.
TDO-3 and TDO-4 will deploy into an optimized geostationary transfer orbit after the first upper-stage main engine cutoff (MECO-1) and prior to the SBIRS GEO-5 satellite’s separation.
SBIRS GEO-5 is scheduled to launch on 2021-05-17 at 1:35 p.m. EDT.
Encapsulation of SBIRS GEO-5 provides a protective measure for the satellite in preparation for ascent through the atmosphere.
Initial launch preparations for SBIRS GEO-5 included powering up the Atlas and Centaur rocket stages for testing and RP-1 fueling activities.
Nearly 43 minutes after liftoff, the SBIRS GEO-5 satellite separated from the Centaur upper stage and deployed to a geosynchronous transfer orbit.
The SBIRS GEO-5 mission was the first Atlas 5 launch of 2021 and the 87th Atlas 5 mission overall.
SBIRS GEO-5 is the fifth satellite of the Space Based Infrared System network of satellites and hosted payloads in geosynchronous Earth orbit and highly elliptical orbit.