NOSS-2

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Class: SIGINT. Type: Naval reconnaisance. Destination: Medium Earth Orbit. Nation: USA. Agency: U.S. Navy.

New generation of NOSS naval reconnaissance satellites. However earlier NOSS weighed only 2,000 kg; Titan 4 booster has seven times this capacity. What else was launched?

Typical orbit: 268 km x 284 km at 61 degrees inclination. Associated Launch Vehicle: Titan 4.

NOSS-2 Chronology

1990 June 8 - USA 59 - Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Titan. Perigee: 268 km (166 mi). Apogee: 284 km (176 mi). Inclination: 61.00 deg. Period: 90.00 min.
First launch by Titan 4 of new generation of NOSS naval reconnaissance satellites. However earlier NOSS weighed only 2,000 kg; Titan 4 booster has seven times this capacity. What else was launched?

1990 June 8 - TLD - Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Titan.

1991 November 8 - USA 72 - Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Vehicle: Titan. Perigee: 799 km (496 mi). Apogee: 1,321 km (820 mi). Inclination: 63.40 deg. Period: 106.40 min.
Second launch by Titan 4 of new generation of NOSS naval reconnaissance satellites. However earlier NOSS weighed only 2,000 kg; Titan 4 booster has seven times this capacity. What else was launched?

1993 August 2 - NOSS 19 - Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Vehicle: Titan. FAILURE: Radial cut inadvertently made in SRM during repairs resulted in explosion of SRM and vehicle at T+101 seconds. Apogee: 33 km (20 mi).
Third attempted launch by Titan 4 of new generation of NOSS naval reconnaissance satellites. No known launches of this system thereafter.

1996 May 12 - USA 122 - Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Vehicle: Titan. Perigee: 1,060 km (650 mi). Apogee: 1,156 km (718 mi). Inclination: 63.40 deg.

Bibliography:

McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Home Page (launch records), Harvard University, 1997-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.
McDowell, Jonathon, Quest, "US Reconnaissance Satellite Programs Part 2", 1995, Volume 4, Issue 4, page 49.
McDowell, Jonathan, Launch Log, October 1998. Web Address when accessed: http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~jcm/space/log/launch.html.

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