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Aviation History
1986
1986 - 1047.PDF
SPACEFLIGHT Big Bird destroyed as Titan explodes VANDENBERG AFB The classified military satel lite destroyed in the April 18 Titan 34D launch explosion was a Lockheed Big Bird photo-reconnaissance space craft, not a TRW KH-11 spy satellite as widely reported, reports Tim Furniss. According to a British space defence analyst, the Big Bird was being launched as an interim measure to fill a gap in surveillance coverage caused by the loss of a KH-11 in a Titan launch accident on August 28 last year. Whereas the KH-11 returns recon naissance information to Earth via digital datalink, Big Bird releases film canisters which re-enter the atmos phere and are recovered. According to analyst Anthony Kenden, initial belief that a KH-11 had been lost when the Titan 34D exploded after lift-off was a result of the morning launch time. This suggested that the KH-11 orbited in December 1984 was about to be replaced. These satellites usually operate in pairs with "morn ing" and "afternoon" craft in polar orbit to ensure coverage of certain areas of the Earth at the same time every four or five days. The US Air Force has only one KH-11 operating, a "morning" craft. An "after noon" KH-11 was destroyed in the previous Titan 34D launch accident, says Kenden, soon after its predecessor had been de-orbited in the normal procedure. The KH-11 is designed to operate for about four years and Kenden thinks that, with the loss of a craft last August, there was a lack of a spare. These satellites are not "off the shelf, and only seven KH-lls have been launched in nine years, prompting initial speculation that the craft lost on April 18 was a KH-11 test model refurbished for operational use. The US Department of Defence stated categorically on April 22 that the lost satellite was not a KH-11. *FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 10 May 1986 Because KH-11 digital imagery is of moderate resolu tion, they are complemented by the occasional photo- reconnaissance satellite, such as Big Bird or other "close-look" spy craft, and 74 such craft have been launched since 1966. The lost Big Bird was the third to fly on a Titan 34D, says Kenden. Two of the seven KH-lls have flown on Titan 34D, one in 1984 and the one which was lost last year. The US Air Force has developed a new spy satellite, the KH-12, which will produce digital imagery whose resolution matches that of film, and the Big Bird and close-look craft are being phased out in preparation for its arrival. In 1984 it was reported that the KH-12 could be launched by either Shuttle or Titan 34D— although it may require the new uprated Titan 34D-7, of which ten have been ordered for delivery starting in 1988. A further ten 34D-7s are to be ordered to complement Shuttle. No more Titans will be launched until the cause of the April 18 accident is uncovered, says a US Air Force spokesman. It could take six months to a year for Titan launches to resume, although a launch could be ordered before then if there is a crucial defence need. Shuttle flights are not expected to resume before mid-1987. In the past, as the USA's premier heavylift booster, Titan has proved excep tionally reliable, with only six failures in 140 flights since 1964. There have, however, been two consecutive Titan 34D failures. Last August a turbopump problem and fuel leak in the liquid-propellant engines of the Titan 2 core stage resulted in a premature shut-down after the solid rocket boosters had burned out. The vehicle was destroyed by the range safety officer, with the loss of the $150 million KH-11 payload. The April 18 accident was caused, observers believe, by a solid rocket booster fault, but not by a leaking seal as was the case in the Shuttle acci dent. This may have activated the vehicle's self-destruct mechanism. The Titan 34D was 8 • 5sec into its flight and at 200m altitude when it exploded. France tests spy sensor PARIS Aerospatiale has successfully conducted qualification tests of a high-resolution "keyhole" camera for France's Helios military reconnaissance satellite, scheduled for launch in 1992, reports Gilbert Sedbon. The Helios programme will cost FFr4,000-5,000 million ($550-700 million), including four satellites in 800- 900km-high Sun-synchronous orbits, ground receiving stations, and rapid-image- processing facilities. Helios is designed to achieve far higher per formance than the Samro military satellite programme suspended in 1982 pending further studies. The decision to proceed with Helios followed February's success ful orbiting of France's Spot Earth-resources satellite. The quality of images returned by Spot from 820km altitude convinced the military that Helios would work. The best resolution of Spot's two visible-light cameras is 10m. Helios will do better, it is claimed, with a classified resolution of less than lm. "The qualification model of the Helios camera has been tested and qualified with success," says a senior Aerospatiale official. Aerospatiale is prime contractor on the Helios programme, with subcon tractors Sat Control for the spacecraft ground control station, Matra for the satellite and ground segment, and SEP for image processing. Matra will build the spacecraft plat form, which will be similar to Spot. The visible-light sensor will be manufactured by Sfim, using Thomson-SCF charge- coupled device detectors. France's Helios military recon naissance satellite will be launched in 1992 25
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