TSX-5 Spacecraft and Payloads

TSX-5 Space Vehicle

Built and integrated by Orbital Sciences Corporation, TSX-5 is an $80 million (total mission cost) research satellite containing two experiment suites, the Space Test Research Vehicle-2 (STRV-2) and the Compact Environmental Anomaly Sensor (CEASE). The external configuration has four main components: the spacecraft or core module, the separation system, the STRV-2 experiment module, and the fixed-geometry solar arrays. The core module is a 12-sided structure measuring 0.95 meters point to point. Constructed entirely of aluminum, it has a honeycomb core plate with sheet metal panels mounted to milled longerons. The STRV-2 payload, measuring 0.82 meters long, is mounted on top of the spacecraft. A 0.97-meter-diameter Marman ring and V-band separation system transfers launch loads between the space vehicle and launch vehicle and permits separation of the space vehicle after insertion into orbit. Total mass of the in-flight space vehicle is nominally 249.5 kilograms. TSX-5 has an electrical power subsystem, a command and data-handling subsystem, a communication subsystem, and an attitude determination and control subsystem. Subsystem electronic components and the CEASE experiment are mounted internal to the spacecraft on the wake-oriented core plate. Subsystems and payloads are designed for a six-month mission life with a one-year goal and reliability exceeding 90 percent. TSX-5 was launched on June 7, 2000, from Vandenberg Air Force Base on a Pegasus XL rocket into an orbit of 410 X 1740 kilometers with an inclination of 68 degrees.

STRV-2 Experiment

The Space Test Research Vehicle-2 (STRV-2) is sponsored by the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization and is built and integrated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. STRV-2 is a single unit comprising seven subexperiments: the LaserCom laser communications system, MWIR (the Medium-Wave Infrared imager), RadMon (Radiation Monitor), VISS (the Vibration Isolation, Suppression, and Steering system), SAMMES (the Space Active Modular Materials Experiment System), ACESS (the All-Composite Experiment Spacecraft Structure), and ETB (the Electronics Test Bed).

Primary objectives include demonstration of operation of optical instruments on a low-cost, nonprecision platform; demonstration of vibration isolation and suppression; detection of mobile targets from space; high-speed transmission of data via laser communication; collection of infrared background data in selected wavelength bands at low and high altitudes; and performance evaluation of candidate components and materials for space applications.

CEASE Experiment

The Compact Environmental Anomaly Sensor (CEASE) was built and integrated under the direction of the Air Force Research Laboratory. CEASE is an autonomous, lightweight, low-power instrument for monitoring the environment around a spacecraft.

(Orbital Sciences Corporation)

The ultimate operational goal of CEASE is to provide warnings when the environment is likely to cause surface charging, deep dielectric charging, single-event upsets, or radiation-dose effects. The goal on TSX-5 is to demonstrate concept feasibility. The instrument can also provide 72 hours' worth of data on particle fluxes incident on the space vehicle to help satellite operators analyze an anomaly after it has occurred. CEASE's output can be used to distinguish between natural effects and those caused by other (possibly hostile) actions. Self-contained and autonomous, CEASE will be valuable as an early diagnostic tool and has been integrated on DSP-21 for a flight later this year.

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