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Late Wednesday night at 8:09 PM Phoenix time (0309 UTC Thursday), Orbital Sciences successfully launched their Minotaur-1 four stage rocket and placed the ORS-1 satellite in orbit. The launch took place at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) facility, located on Wallops Island, Virginia. The ORS-1 satellite is the first fully operational spacecraft to be launched as part of the Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) program. The TacSat (Tactical Satellite) program is part of ORS and has launched TacSat-1, 2 and 3 satellites between 2005 and 2009. ORS-1 uses the same bus as TacSat-3, and imagery equipment carried by the Lockheed U-2 spyplane. |
National Space Society of Phoenix 