Orbital ATK Launches ORS 5 Satellite for US Air Force

Minotaur 4 lifts off from Cape Canaveral carrying the OSR 5 satellite. Photo: Orbital ATK.

Orbital ATK has successfully launched and placed into orbit the U.S. Air Force’s Operationally Responsive Space 5 (ORS 5) spacecraft on Aug. 26. Its Minotaur 4 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 46 (SLC-46), which is operated under license by Space Florida.

The rocket’s first stage ignited at 2:04 a.m. EDT. Approximately 28 minutes later, the Minotaur 4 deployed the ORS 5 satellite into its targeted low inclination orbit 372 miles (599 kilometers) above Earth. From this orbit, ORS 5 will deliver timely, reliable and accurate Space Situational Awareness (SSA) information to the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) through the Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC), according to the U.S. Air Force.

The Space and Missile Systems Center’s Operationally Responsive Space Office, located at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, is leading the ORS 5 team. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, Massachusetts, is the ORS 5 prime contractor, while the 50th Space Wing at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, operates the ORS 5 system.