USA-231,[4] or ORS-1 (Operationally Responsive Space-1) is an American reconnaissance satellite which was launched in 2011 from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia by a Minotaur I launch vehicle.[2] It is the first operational satellite of the Operationally Responsive Space Office. It is equipped with a SYERS 2A sensor.[5]
![]() Illustration of the ORS-1 satellite | |
Mission type | Imaging |
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Operator | US DoD |
COSPAR ID | 2011-029A ![]() |
SATCAT no. | 37728 |
Spacecraft properties | |
Bus | ATK satellite bus[clarification needed] |
Manufacturer | Alliant Techsystems |
Launch mass | 434 kilograms (957 lb)[1] |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | June 30, 2011, 03:09 (2011-06-30UTC03:09Z) UTC[2] |
Rocket | Minotaur I |
Launch site | Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport LP-0B |
Contractor | Orbital Sciences |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Regime | Low Earth |
Perigee altitude | 423 kilometers (263 mi)[3] |
Apogee altitude | 427 kilometers (265 mi)[3] |
Inclination | 40.07 degrees[3] |
Period | 92.93 minutes[3] |
Epoch | January 13, 2015, 04:45:04 UTC[3] |
ORS-1 satellite is designed to provide orbital space imagery of Southwest Asia and to enhance battlespace awareness to operational field commanders. The ORS-1 will undergo a 30-day trial and adjustment check before the ORS Office turns over it operations to USAF's 1st Space Operations Squadron at Schriever AFB, Colorado.[2]
SYERS 2 is an optical and infrared camera with a 40 cm aperature and a field of view larger than 2 degrees. It uses Time Delay and Integration CCD sensors to compensate for ground motion, resulting in a resolution of 1m (NIIRS 4) from a nominal 300 km orbit.[6] SYERS 2 is supplied by the Goodrich Corporation.
SYERS is also carried by the Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft.[7]
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Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Cubesats are smaller. Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses). |