USA-202

USA-202
Spacecraft properties
USA 202 and Thuraya 2, photographed on 8 December 2010 from the Netherlands.

Mission type	ELINT
Operator	NRO
COSPAR ID	2009-001A
SATCAT №	33490

Spacecraft type	Orion

Start of mission
Launch date	18 January 2009, 02:47 (2009-01-18UTC02:47Z) UTC
Rocket	Delta IV Heavy
Launch site	Cape Canaveral SLC-37B
Contractor	United Launch Alliance

Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Geosynchronous
Longitude	44° east^[1]
Perigee	35,777 kilometers (22,231 mi)
Apogee	35,809 kilometers (22,251 mi)
Inclination	3.69 degrees
Period	23.93 hours
Epoch	1 January 2014, 15:43:08 UTC^[2]

USA 202,^[3] previously NRO Launch 26 or NROL-26, is a classified spacecraft which is to be operated by the United States National Reconnaissance Office. It is an Advanced Orion ELINT satellite. According to Aviation Week it, "Fundamentally involves America's biggest, most secret and expensive military spacecraft on board the world's largest rocket."^[4] The combined cost of the spacecraft and launch vehicle has been estimated to be over US$2 billion.^[4]

Launch

USA-202 was launched from Space Launch Complex 37B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, on the third flight of a Delta IV Heavy rocket. The launch was originally scheduled for 2005, but was delayed due to a number of issues, and lift-off took place at 02:47 GMT on 18 January 2009.^[5]

References

↑ "UCS Satellite Database". Union of Concerned Scientists. 1 September 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
↑ Peat, Chris (1 January 2014). "USA 202 - Orbit". Heavens Above. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
↑ McDowell, Jonathan. "Issue 605". Jonathan's Space Report. Retrieved 2009-01-18.
1 2 "NRO Delays Delta IV Heavy Launch". Aviation Week. Dec 10, 2008.
↑ "First ULA Delta IV Heavy NRO Mission Successfully Lifts Off From Cape Canaveral". ULA.

External links

Delta IV Heavy NROL-26 - launch information from ULA.

United States reconnaissance satellites

IMINT

Photographic	KH-1 Corona KH-2 Corona KH-3 Corona KH-4A Corona KH-4B Corona KH-5 Argon KH-6 Lanyard KH-7 Gambit KH-8 Gambit 3 KH-9 Hexagon KH-10 Dorian

Electro-optical	Samos KH-11 Kennan Misty Enhanced Imaging System

Synthetic aperture radar	Quill Lacrosse FIA

Infrared

SIGINT

Low Earth orbit	GRAB Poppy White Cloud Samos-F

Highly elliptical orbit	Jumpseat Trumpet

Geosynchronous Earth orbit	Canyon Magnum Mentor Mercury Rhyolite/Aquacade Vortex

MASINT

Primary mission	FORTE GPS DMSP Vela

Secondary mission	MIDAS DSP SBIRS STSS

Research and
development

Primary mission	MiTEx

Secondary mission

Unknown

USA number	USA-193

NRO Launches

L-1 L-2 L-3 L-4 L-5 L-6 L-7 L-8 L-9 L-10 L-11 L-12 L-13 L-14 L-15 L-16 L-17 L-18 L-19 L-20 L-21 L-22 L-23 L-24 L-25 L-26 L-27 L-28 L-29 L-30 L-31 L-32 L-33 L-34 L-35 L-36 L-37 L-38 L-39 L-40 L-41 L-42 ... L-45 L-49 L-55 L-61 L-65 L-66 L-67 L-79

← 2008 · Orbital launches in 2009 · 2010 →

USA-202 \| Ibuki · SDS-1 · Sohla-1 · Raijin · Kagayaki · Hitomi · Kukai · Kiseki \| Koronas-Foton \| Omid \| NOAA-19 \| Progress M-66 \| Ekspress-AM44 · Ekspress-MD1 \| Hot Bird 10 · NSS-9 · Spirale-A · Spirale-B \| OCO \| Telstar 11N \| Raduga-1 \| Kepler \| STS-119 (ITS S6) \| GOCE \| USA-203 \| Soyuz TMA-14 \| Eutelsat W2A \| USA-204 \| Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 \| Compass-G2 \| RISAT-2 · ANUSAT \| SICRAL 1B \| Yaogan 6 \| Kosmos 2450 \| USA-205 \| Progress M-02M \| STS-125 \| Herschel · Planck \| ProtoStar 2 \| TacSat-3 · PharmaSat · AeroCube 3 · HawkSat I · CP6 \| Meridian 2 \| Soyuz TMA-15 \| LRO · LCROSS \| MEASAT-3a \| GOES 14 \| Sirius FM-5 \| TerreStar-1 \| Kosmos 2451 · Kosmos 2452 · Kosmos 2453 \| RazakSAT \| STS-127 (JEM-EF · AggieSat 2 · BEVO-1 · Castor · Pollux) \| Kosmos 2454 · Sterkh No.11L \| Progress M-67 \| DubaiSat-1 · Deimos-1 · UK-DMC 2 · Nanosat-1B · AprizeSat-3 · AprizeSat-4 \| AsiaSat 5 \| USA-206 \| JCSAT-RA · Optus D3 \| STSAT-2A \| STS-128 (Leonardo MPLM) \| Palapa-D \| USA-207 \| HTV-1 \| Meteor M No.1 · Universitetsky-Tatyana-2 · Sterkh-2 · UGATUSAT · BLITS · SumbandilaSat · IRIS \| Nimiq 5 \| Oceansat-2 · BeeSat-1 · UWE-2 · ITU-pSat1 · SwissCube-1 · Rubin 9.1 · Rubin 9.2 \| USA-208 · USA-209 \| Soyuz TMA-16 \| Amazonas-2 · COMSATBw-1 \| WorldView-2 \| Progress M-03M \| USA-210 \| Thor 6 · NSS-12 \| SMOS · Proba-2 \| Progress M-MIM2 (Poisk) \| Shijian XI-01 \| STS-129 (ExPRESS-1 · ExPRESS-2) \| Kosmos 2455 \| Intelsat 14 \| Eutelsat W7 \| IGS Optical 3 \| Intelsat 15 \| USA-211 \| Yaogan 7 \| Kosmos 2456 · Kosmos 2457 · Kosmos 2458 \| Yaogan 8 · Xi Wang 1 \| Helios IIB \| Soyuz TMA-17 \| DirecTV-12

Payloads are separated by bullets ( · ), launches by pipes ( \| ). Manned flights are indicated in bold text. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in brackets.

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