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USA-207

Topic: Engineering

 From HandWiki - Reading time: 3 min
Short description: American communications satellite
USA-207
PAN satellite patch.jpg
PAN mission patch
Mission typeSIGINT
COSPAR ID2009-047A
SATCAT no.35815
Spacecraft properties
BusA2100
ManufacturerLockheed Martin[1]
Start of mission
Launch date8 September 2009, 21:35:00 (2009-09-08UTC21:35Z) UTC[2]
RocketAtlas V 401
Launch siteCape Canaveral Air Force Station SLC-41
ContractorULA
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeGeostationary
Perigee altitude35,778 kilometers (22,231 mi)[3]
Apogee altitude35,807 kilometers (22,249 mi)[3]
Inclination0.09 degrees[3]
Period1436.12 minutes[3]
Epoch10 January 2015, 14:22:18 UTC[3]
 

USA-207,[4] international COSPAR code 2009-047A,[5] also known as PAN, officially meaning Palladium At Night,[6] NEMESIS I,[7] or P360[8] is a classified United States SIGINT satellite,[7] which was launched in September 2009. The US government has not confirmed which of its intelligence agencies operate the satellite, [9] but leaked documents from the Snowden files point to the NSA.[10] The spacecraft was constructed by Lockheed Martin, and is based on the A2100 satellite bus,[6] using commercial off-the-shelf components.[8] The contract to build PAN was awarded in October 2006, with the satellite initially scheduled to launch 30 months later, in March 2009.[11]

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.[12] PAN successfully separated from the rocket just under two hours after liftoff.[13]

PAN has shown an unusual history of frequent relocations during the first 5 years of its operations, moving between at least 9 different orbital slots since launch. With each move, it was placed close to another commercial communications satellite.[7] From 2013 onwards it was located at 47.7 deg E., over East Africa, staying in that position for several years. In February 2021 it started a slow drift eastwards.[14]

Gallery

The geostationary satellite PAN (2009-047A), along with two other (commercial) geostationary satellites photographed on 4 July 2011 (photo: Marco Langbroek, Leiden, the Netherlands)


References

  1. ↑ Ray, Justin (2009-07-09). "Atlas rocket team continues active year of launches". Spaceflight Now. http://spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av018/090709status.html. 
  2. ↑ McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. http://planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Peat, Chris (10 January 2015). "USA 207 - Orbit". Heavens-Above. http://www.heavens-above.com/orbit.aspx?satid=35815. 
  4. ↑ McDowell, Jonathan (2009-09-10). "Issue 615". Jonathan's Space Report. Jonathan's Space Page. http://www.planet4589.org/space/jsr/back/news.615. 
  5. ↑ "Spacewarn Bulletin Issue 671". NASA NSSDC. 2009-09-30. http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/spacewarn/spx671.html. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Day, Dwayne (2009-08-24). "PAN's labyrinth". The Space Review. http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1450/1. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Langbroek, Marco (2016-10-31). "A NEMESIS in the sky. PAN, Mentor 4 and close encounters of the SIGINT kind". The Space Review. http://www.thespacereview.com/article/3095/1. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "New Horizons". Lockheed Martin. December 2007. p. 7 (5 of PDF). http://www.lockheedmartin.com/data/assets/ssc/071204a.pdf. [no|permanent dead link|dead link}}]
  9. ↑ Covault, Craig (2009-05-26). "Secret PAN satellite leads Cape milspace launch surge". Spaceflight Now. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0905/26milspace/. 
  10. ↑ "Inside Menwith Hill. The NSA's British Base at the Heart of U.S. Targeted Killing". The Intercept. 2016-09-06. https://theintercept.com/2016/09/06/nsa-menwith-hill-targeted-killing-surveillance/. 
  11. ↑ "Highlights". Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. Spring 2007. pp. 28 (29 of PDF). http://www.lockheedmartin.com/data/assets/14445.pdf. 
  12. ↑ Clark, Stephen. "Worldwide Launch Schedule". Spaceflight Now. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/tracking/index.html. 
  13. ↑ Malik, Tariq (2009-08-30). "Atlas 5 Rocket to Secret Satellite [sic]". Space.com. http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/launches/next_launch.html. 
  14. ↑ Langbroek, Marco (2021-09-14). "PAN (NEMESIS 1) is on the move again". SatTrackCam Blog. SatTrackCam Leiden. https://sattrackcam.blogspot.com/2021/09/pan-nemesis-1-is-on-move-again.html. 



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