Titan 404B | NROL-9
United States Air ForceSpace Launch Complex 4E — Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
The launch vehicle successfully inserted its payload(s) into the target orbit(s).
mission
- Name
- NROL-9 (Misty 2)
- Type
- Government/Top Secret
- Target orbit
- Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
This satellite is suspected to be a stealthy electro-optical reconnaissance satellite. The program name for developing an stealth IMINT capability is reportedly "Misty". Hobbyist satellite observers continue to track an object from that launch in a 2700 km × 3100 km, 63.4° orbit, but detailed orbital analysis reveals significant solar radiation pressure perturbations, from an area to mass ratio of about 0.1 m2/kg, 10 to 20 times that of a payload, and more akin to debris or a decoy, can be deduced. It appears to be no more than 5 to 10 m across, and only a few hundred kilograms in mass. If USA 144 is Misty-2, then it is likely to be in a 700 to 800 km, quasi 65° orbit. These orbits are low-drag, so orbit maintenance manoeuvres are not required.
schedule
- NET (no earlier than)
- Window opens
- Window closes
- Last updated
vehicle & provider
- Rocket
- Titan 404B
- Family
- Titan
- Variant
- 404B
- Provider
- United States Air Force
- Type
- Government
- Country
- USA
launch site
- Pad
- Space Launch Complex 4E
- Location
- Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
- Country
- USA
- Timezone
- America/Los_Angeles
- Coordinates
- 34.6320, -120.6110