Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Vehicles Directorate at Kirtland AFB, N.M., achieved a space milestone when a 220-pound microsatellite came as close as 500 meters of the upper stage of a Minotaur I launch vehicle. The event bodes well for servicing, repairing, and resupplying space vehicles in the future. The Air Force launched Experimental Satellite System-11 microsat in April 2005 on a 12-to 18-month mission to test its ability to rendezvous and perform proximity maneuvers with several dead or inactive US spacecraft. According to program manager Harold Baker, XSS-11 has been “performing better than expected.” He said it shows good fuel efficiency and there have been no “significant technical glitches.”
The Space Force’s recent contract to Muon Space to repurpose their commercial weather satellites for military use will inform a broader “data-as-a-service” strategy for its space-based environmental monitoring mission.
