Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

USA 207

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Mission type
  
SIGINT

SATCAT no.
  
35815

Launch site
  
Cape Canaveral SLC-41

Inclination
  
0.09°

Launch date
  
8 September 2009

Bus
  
Lockheed Martin A2100

COSPAR ID
  
2009-047A

Manufacturer
  
Lockheed Martin

Inclination
  
0.09°

Period
  
24 hours

Rocket
  
Atlas V

USA-207 httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

Operator
  
Classified (presumably NSA)

Similar
  
USA‑205, Progress M‑66, Nanosat‑1B, USA‑211, USA‑206

USA-207, international COSPAR code 2009-047A, also known as PAN, officially meaning Palladium At Night, or P360 is a classified American SIGINT satellite, which was launched in September 2009. The US government has not confirmed which of its intelligence agencies will operate the satellite. The spacecraft was constructed by Lockheed Martin, and is based on the A2100 satellite bus, using commercial off-the-shelf components. The contract to build PAN was awarded in October 2006, with the satellite initially scheduled to launch 30 months later, in March 2009.

PAN was launched by United Launch Alliance using an Atlas V 401 carrier rocket, with the serial number AV-018. The launch, from Space Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, occurred at 21:35 GMT on 8 September 2009, at the start of a 129-minute launch window. PAN successfully separated from the rocket just under two hours after liftoff.

PAN has shown an unusual history of frequent relocations, moving between at least 9 different orbital slots since launch. With each move, it was placed close to another commercial communications satellite. As of late 2013 it is located at 47.7 deg E., over East Africa.

References

USA-207 Wikipedia