US reconnaissance payload launched
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) launched an Atlas V rocket with a payload for the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) on 8 October.
The designated NROL-55 mission package will serve national defence purposes. The payload included 13 Government Rideshare Advanced Concepts Experiment (GRACE) CubeSats - four NASA-sponsored and nine NRO sponsored.
The CubeSats weigh 1-5 kilograms each. They have been developed as a cost-effective alternative to typical satellite payload solutions.
Jim Sponnick, vice president, Atlas and Delta programs, ULA, said: ‘The GRACE CubeSats will perform missions demonstrating tracking technologies, software-defined radio communications and will also conduct other measurements and experiments. We are happy that ULA could play a part in bringing these nano-satellites to orbit along with the NRO payload through a cost-effective rideshare.’
The CubeSats were developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, AMSAT, Salish Kootenai College, the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, SRI International, Tyvak, Aerospace Corporation and the US Army’s Space and Missile Defense Center.
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