Ooops! US spy sats in wrong orbit

[JBFRobisher]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/06/18/us_spy_sat_cockup/

In an expensive technical mishap, a brace of top-secret American spy satellites was fired into incorrect orbits last Friday.

According to a report in Aviation Week and Space Technology, the two spacecraft in question were ultra-classified ocean surveillance jobs, described as "critical to tracking ships that may conceal al Qaeda terrorists...[or] Iranian and Chinese sea-based military operations".

...

Aviation Week and Space Technology quotes an unnamed official as saying that "the Atlas V people have a lot of explaining to do".

Eish!

 

[Syndyre]

Not good.

 

[Alan]

At least they didn't blow up on the launch pad

 

[chiskop]

Iran/Iraq, easy mistake to make.

 

[Conspirator]

Ships concealing al Qaeda terrorists. That's rich. I thought the quintessential terrorist runs around in the dessert with a turban.

Cocaine dealers maybe but terrorists...

 

[StrongTurd]

I see people are reporting an orbit of 776x1246km vs. a expected 1000x1200km. Not a small difference, but not fatal by any means. It seems like the Centaur upper stage failed to perform its second burn for long enough, resulting in a low orbit. I would assume that the two vehicles would have enough internal propellant to correct the orbital anomaly without assistance from the Centaur although this might shorten their operational lifespan.

Also, I find it a bit unfair to start Atlas-bashing because of this incident. The Atlas is, IMHO, the most dependable launch vehicle currently available. This slight anomaly is the first less-than-perfect performance of the Atlas in 80 flights spanning more than 14 years. Not too shabby at all. The Space Shuttle, for one, has a far worse success ratio than the Atlas.

Also slightly ironic is that the Russian-powered first stage performed flawlessly only to be let down by the US-built upper stage. So much for Western superiority.

 

[ettubrute]

Ships concealing al Qaeda terrorists.

Said like that, you would almost think they have the best camera's possible on board: seek and classify people inside ships, identify them as al Qaeda, and then track the ship! Bloody stupid Americans!

 

[vespax]

Bloody stupid Americans!

Hey! er...nevermind.