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Code Name: Onyx. Class: Surveillance. Type: Radarsat. Destination: Medium Earth Orbit. Nation: USA. Agency: US National Reconnaissance Office, Chantilly / Cen. Manufacturer: Martin. Side-looking radar all-weather reconnaissance satellite. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver (formerly Martin Marietta) Typical orbit: 586 km circular orbit, 62.4 deg inclination.
Lacrosse Chronology - 1988 December 2 - USA 34 - Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: LC39B. Launch Vehicle: Shuttle. Perigee: 437 km (271 mi). Apogee: 447 km (277 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg. Period: 93.40 min.
Deployed from STS-27. Operations completed March 1997.
- 1991 March 8 - USA 69 - Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: SLC4E. Launch Vehicle: Titan. Perigee: 420 km (260 mi). Apogee: 662 km (411 mi). Inclination: 68.00 deg. Period: 95.50 min.
Still operating December 1997. First West Coast launch of a Titan 4.
- 1997 October 24 - USA 133 - Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: SLC4E. Launch Vehicle: Titan. Perigee: 666 km (413 mi). Apogee: 679 km (421 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg.
Still operating December 1997.
- 2000 August 17 - USA 152 - Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: SLC4E. Launch Vehicle: Titan. Mass: 14,500 kg (31,900 lb). Perigee: 689 km (428 mi). Apogee: 695 km (432 mi). Inclination: 68.00 deg. Period: 98.53 min.
The National Reconnaissance Office satellite was reported to be an Onyx (formerly Lacrosse) radar imaging spacecraft built by Lockheed Martin. The Titan second stage reached a 572 x 675 km x 68.0 deg orbit and separated from the payload. Amateur observers reported the payload has made two small maneuvers and by Aug 23 was in a 681 x 695 km x 68.1 deg orbit.
- 2005 April 30 - USA 182 - Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: LC40. Launch Vehicle: Titan. Mass: 14,500 kg (31,900 lb). Perigee: 481 km (298 mi). Apogee: 705 km (438 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg.
Last East Coast Titan launch. Delayed from December 18, 2001; July 3, 2002; October 2004; February 20, April 6, 10 and 11, 2005. Amateur observors believed this to be the fifth in the Lacrosse/Onyx radar spy satellite series built by Lockheed Martin.
Bibliography:- McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Home Page (launch records), Harvard University, 1997-present. Web Address when accessed: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.
- McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Report (Internet Newsletter), Harvard University, Weekly, 1989 to Present. Web Address when accessed: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.
- JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997. Web Address when accessed: http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html.
- Sorokin, Vladislav, Novosti Kosmonavtiki, "'Yantarnaya istoriya'", 1997, Issue 17, page 57.
- NASA/GSFC Orbital Information Group Website, Web Address when accessed: http://oig1.gsfc.nasa.gov/.
- Space-Launcher.com, Orbital Report News Agency. Web Address when accessed: http://www.orbireport.com/Log.html.
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© Mark Wade, 1997 - 2008 except where otherwise noted.
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