Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Trailblazer (satellite)

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Mission type
  
Technology

Mission duration
  
Failed to orbit

Manufacturer
  
Rocket
  
Launch site
  
Regime
  
Low Earth orbit

Operator
  
US Air ForceMDA

Bus
  
MMB-100

Epoch
  
Planned

Launch date
  
3 August 2008

Contractor
  
Reference system
  
Similar
  
Ratsat, FalconSAT‑2, NanoSail‑D, Innovative Space‑based Radar An, Dragon Spacecraft Qualificati

Trailblazer was a technology demonstration satellite, which was to have been operated by the United States Air Force and the Missile Defense Agency. It was selected for launch under a "Jumpstart" contract, to demonstrate responsiveness, with the final payload being chosen less than a month ahead of the scheduled launch date, and was launched as the primary payload of the third Falcon 1, which failed just over two minutes after launch on 3 August 2008. Two previous Falcon 1 launches also failed to reach orbit, but the fourth succeeded although it only carried a dummy payload.

It was originally built for a cancelled MDA project, and was based on a SpaceDev MMB-100 satellite bus. It was launched from Omelek Island, at 03:34 GMT. Several other payloads were to be launched aboard the same rocket, including two CubeSats for NASA, and a space burial payload for Celestis, which would have remained attached to the rocket in low Earth orbit.

References

Trailblazer (satellite) Wikipedia


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