USA-193 - Misplaced Pages

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Template:Infobox Spacecraft USA 193, also known as NRO launch 21 (NROL-21 or simply L-21), was an American military spy satellite launched on December 14, 2006. This was the first launch conducted under contract to the United Launch Alliance. Owned by the National Reconnaissance Office, the craft's precise function and purpose was classified.

The satellite malfunctioned shortly after deployment, and was intentionally destroyed just over one year later on February 21, 2008 by an SM-3 missile fired from the warship USS Lake Erie, stationed west of Hawaii. The event sparked some controversy, being considered part of a wider Space Race involving the U.S., China and Russia.

Launch data

Launch date: December 14, 2006 at 21:00:00 UTC
Launch vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta II-7920 rocket
Launch site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, United States
Launch facility: Space Launch Complex 2
Orbit data: not officially available. Reported by amateur observers to be:
- 349 km × 365 km × 58.48° after launch,
- 255 km × 268 km × 58.48° on 2008-02-11,
- 244 km × 261 km × 58.50° on 2008-02-19.
- The orbit was decaying at an increasing rate.

Malfunction and orbital decay

Although launch and insertion into orbit were successful, the satellite lost contact with the ground within hours.

In late January 2008, reports from anonymous U.S. officials indicated a U.S. spy satellite, later confirmed as USA 193, was in a deteriorating orbit and was expected to crash onto Earth within weeks. This came as no surprise to amateur satellite watchers, who had been predicting the deorbit of the satellite for some time.

Hazardous materials on-board

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reports indicated that the satellite contained the hazardous materials hydrazine and beryllium. Though there was some speculation that the satellite might have a "nuclear" power core, i.e. a radioisotope thermoelectric generator, the FEMA report indicates otherwise.

On January 29, 2008 an Associated Press story quoted a U.S. Air Force general as saying that contingency plans were being made since intact pieces of the satellite "might re-enter into the North American area".

The United States vowed to pay for any damage or destruction caused by their failed satellite.

Destruction

Planning for the destruction of USA 193 with a missile reportedly began on January 4 2008, with President Bush approving the plan on February 12. The task force had as its goal to "rupture the fuel tank to dissipate the approximately 1,000 pounds (453 kg) of hydrazine, a hazardous fuel which could pose a danger to people on Earth, before it entered into Earth's atmosphere".

On February 14, 2008, U.S. officials announced the plan to destroy USA 193 before atmospheric reentry, stating that the intention was "saving or reducing injury to human life". They said that if the hydrazine tank fell to Earth it "could spread a toxic cloud roughly the size of two football fields". General James Cartwright confirmed that the United States Navy was preparing to launch an SM-3 missile to destroy the satellite, at an altitude of 130 nautical miles (240 km), shortly before it entered Earth's atmosphere.

At 21 February 03:26 GMT the missile launch went ahead. An SM-3 missile was fired from the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Lake Erie, and at an altitude of about 133 nautical miles (247 kilometers) above the Pacific Ocean hit the satellite which was travelling with a velocity of about 17,500 mph (around 28,000 km/h); not the widely reported 22,000 mph calculated by adding the missile's velocity to that of the satellite. The Department of Defense said it has a "high degree of confidence" that the fuel tank was hit and destroyed, but has not yet confirmed it. The satellite's remnants were expected to burn up over the course of the next forty days, with most of the satellite's mass re-entering the atmosphere within the first 24 to 48 hours after the missile strike.

Controversies

The cost of the destruction operation has been estimated at between $40 million and $60 million. U.S. officials denied that the action was intended to prevent sensitive technology falling into foreign hands, and also denied that it was a response to the 2007 Chinese anti-satellite missile test.

Although the U.S. had objected strongly to the earlier Chinese test of an anti-satellite (or ASAT) weapon that created a large amount of space debris, U.S. officials said there was "no parallel" with that test, as USA 193 was in a much lower orbit, and debris from its destruction would deorbit much sooner, probably within weeks.

However, the Russian defense ministry accused the U.S. of using the hydrazine worries as a cover for a test of an ASAT, and noted that extraordinary measures had never before been needed to deal with the many spacecraft that had fallen to Earth. The New York Times had paraphrased Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the United States National Security Council, as stating that 328 objects had deorbited (controlled and uncontrolled) in the previous 5-year period. U.S. officials maintained that the large quantity of hydrazine on board made USA 193 a special case.

In 1978 the potential dangers of hazardous materials falling to Earth were demonstrated when Cosmos 954, a nuclear-powered Soviet satellite, deorbited and caused environmental damage in Canada.