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TheSpace Test Program (STP) is the primary provider ofspaceflight for theUnited States Department of Defense (DoD)space science andtechnology community. STP is managed by a group within theAdvanced Systems and Development Directorate, a directorate of theSpace and Missile Systems Center of theUnited States Space Force. STP provides spaceflight via theInternational Space Station (ISS), piggybacks, secondary payloads and dedicated launch services.
 | This sectionis missing information about activities prior to 2001. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(August 2023) |
STP has actually been in existence for 50 years as of 2019, with several thousand launches it has been responsible for. For example, the initial experiments that led to the modernGlobal Positioning System (GPS) satellite constellation were STP-launched projects.
During August 2001, STP conducted two successful activities using theSpace Shuttle and ISS.STS-105 delivered and successfully deployed theMaterials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) externally on the ISS. MISSE was a passive materials exposure experiment, was the first external experiment on ISS. In addition, STS-105 retrieved and returned MACE II (Middeck Active Control Experiment II) from the ISS. MACE II was the first internal experiment on ISS and was operated for nearly a year.[1]
On 30 September 2001, STP andNASA launched theKodiak Star mission on anAthena Ilaunch vehicle. This was the first orbital launch out ofKodiak Island,Alaska. In addition to NASA'sStarshine III spacecraft, this mission included three small DoD spacecraft which tested a variety of new space technologies.[2]
STP and theAir Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate developed a secondary payload adapter ring for theEvolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV), which can host up to six 180 kg (400 lb)microsatellites. STP also worked closely with NASA and theUnited States Navy on the Geosynchronous Imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer / Indian Ocean Meteorology and Oceanography Imager project.[citation needed]
In December 2001,STS-108 hosted the Shuttle Ionospheric Modification with Pulsed Localized Exhaust (SIMPLEX) experiment. SIMPLEX observed ionospheric disturbances created by the Space Shuttle engine burns via ground radar sites and supported plume technology, plume signature, and space weather modeling.[citation needed]
SIMPLEX flew again onSTS-110 in April 2002.[citation needed] STP also worked to obtain a 1-year radio frequency license extension for the Picosat experiment launched on theKodiak Star mission, in September 2001.[citation needed]
On 6 January 2003, STP and theNaval Research Laboratory (NRL) launched theCoriolis satellite, a risk-reduction effort forNPOESS, aboard aTitan II launch vehicle.[3]
On 9 March 2007, six satellites were launched intolow Earth Orbit (LEO) on a sharedAtlas V launch vehicle on theSTP-1 mission.[4] The satellites were:
The satellites shared the launcher through use of anEvolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA).[5]United Launch Alliance provided a video feed of the launch.[6]
TheC/NOFS (Communications/Navigation Outage Forecasting System) satellite, which was launched on 16 April 2008, was operated by the Space Test Program.
The thirdMinotaur IV, known asSTP-S26, was successfully launched in November 2010. This was the 26th small launch vehicle mission in STP's 40-year history of flying DoD space experiments,[7] STP-S26 launched at 01:45UTC on 20 November 2010 from theKodiak Launch Complex. The launch facility contractor wasAlaska Aerospace Corporation (AAC). The payloads were released in a 650 km (400 mi) orbit, before theHydrazine Auxiliary Propulsion System (HAPS) upper stage, byOrbital Sciences Corporation, was demonstrated by deploying two ballast payloads into a 1,200 km (750 mi) orbit. The payload included theSTPSat-2 spacecraft.[8] STPSat-2 had 3 three experimental payloads:SPEX (Space Phenomenology Experiment) consisting of two payloads to evaluate sensor compatibility for the space environment, and ODTML (Ocean Data Telemetry MicroSatLink) a two-way data relay from terrestrial (ocean or land) sensors to users.[9]
STPSat 3 is a copy[clarification needed] of theSTPSat-2 satellite, adapted to carry six experiments, including a module designed to host various space situational awareness sensors and a pair of space environment sensors. STPSat 3 launched on 19 November 2013, on theORS-3Minotaur 1 launch, along with 28 CubeSats.[10] STPSat-3 carries five payloads, including "Integrated Miniaturized Electrostatic Analyzer Reflight (iMESA-R), Joint Component Research (J-CORE), Strip Sensor Unit (SSU), Small Wind and Temperature Spectrometer (SWATS), and TSI Calibration Transfer Experiment (TCTE)". It also carries a de-orbit module.[8]
As announced on 14 October 2014, theUnited States Department of Defense awardedSierra Nevada Corporation's Space Systems (previously known asSpaceDev) with a contract to develop and build a next-generation science and technology demonstration satellite, known as STPSat-5, for their Space Test Program.[11][unreliable source?]
TheSTP-2 (DoD Space Test Program) payload launched aboard aSpaceXFalcon Heavy on 25 June 2019.[12][clarification needed]
Included wasCOSMIC-2, a cluster of six satellites, with a mass of 277.8 kg (612 lb) each.[13] The primary role of the COSMIC-2satellite constellation is to provideradio occultation data with an average latency of 45 minutes. The six satellites were placed on an orbit with an inclination of 24° to 28.5°[which?] with plans for them to move eventually to six separate orbital planes with 60° separation between them.[14] The payload stack was integrated using anESPA ring. Two ESPA Grande rings were used to mount the six COSMIC-2 satellites beneath the upper payload adapter hosting the DSX payload and avionics modules.[15]
STP-2 also deployed a number of CubeSats assecondary payloads,[13] including E-TBEx, PSAT, TEPCE, andELaNa 15 CubeSats.[16]LightSail 2[17] is carried by the Prox-1 nanosatellite.[17] Other satellites and payloads included Oculus-ASR nanosatellite,[18]GPIM,[19][20][21] and theDeep Space Atomic Clock.[22]
TheSTPSat-4 satellite was launched on 2 November 2019 onboard theCygnus NG-12 mission and was subsequently deployed to orbit from theISS on 29 January 2020.[23] The satellite hosted a variety of experimental technologies, including: iMESA-R, aUSAF mission to measure plasma densities and energies; MATRS, a modular solar array that partially failed to deploy; NISTEx, an inferometric star tracker; NTE, a passive retroreflector.[24] The satellite decayed from orbit on 4 October 2022.[25]
(SpaceX had bid aFalcon Heavy in December 2016 for this launch.[26])TheSTP-3 mission was originally scheduled to be launched on aULAAtlas V 551launch vehicle in 2020.[26][27] It was launched on 7 December 2021 at 10:19UTC.[28]
STP-3 includes theSTPSat-6 satellite with the Space and Atmospheric Burst Reporting System-3 (SABRS-3) forNational Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA),Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) payload for NASA, and seven secondary payloads for theU.S. Air Force. STPSat-6 is destined for an orbit slightly above the geostationary orbit.[27]
TheSTP-27VPD mission was launched onLauncherOne's first mission fromSpaceport Cornwall (and last mission overall) on 9 January 2023. The launch resulted in a failure, with the rocket and all its payloads being destroyed in-flight.[29] The mission consisted of two pairs of cubesats from both British and American agencies.[30] The CIRCE 1 and 2 cubesats were developed by theDSTL and theNRL using 6U platforms provided by Blue Canyon Technologies, and they would've flown in formation to study short-timescale dynamics in the ionosphere.[31] The Prometheus 2A and 2B cubesats have been built by In-Space Missions for theUK Ministry of Defence and theNRO and they would've provided a test platform for monitoring radio signals.[32]
TheSTP-CR2301 mission was successfully launched on aFalcon 9 Block 5 rocket on 12 June 2023 as part of the Transporter-8 rideshare mission.[33] The mission consisted of two Modular Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (MISR) cubesats to demonstrate two-way communications with ground devices and the XVI cubesat to test the capacity of the Link-16 network to communicate to space.[34]
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