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DSP Bird Ready For Titan Heavy Lift

Defense Support Program (DSP) spacecraft, Flight 21, is shown mounted on a rotator table in a manufacturing high bay at TRW's manufacturing facility in Redondo Beach, California. In one of the last in a series of inspections prior to shipment to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, technicians are checking the solar cells on the spacecraft. The spacecraft has 73,760 solar cells, which produce an average of 1.5 kilowatts of power. Good design and careful attention to detail have combined to make DSP extremely reliable; the spacecraft have exceeded their design lives by as much as 125 percent in the since the first launch in 1970. DSP serves as the cornerstone of the nation's national defense capability by providing early warning of missile launches and nuclear explosions. TRW builds the DSP spacecraft and integrated the infrared sensor for the Air Force.

Redondo Beach - July 25, 2001
The 21st Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite built by the TRW/Aerojet team is slated for launch on July 27 from a Titan IVB at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Launch Complex 40. The four-hour launch window opens at 4:08 a.m. EDT.

DSP 21 will be launched into a geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles above the Earth. It will join the existing DSP constellation and provide early warning of strategic and tactical ballistic missile launches to the North American Defense Command and U.S. Space Command centers within Cheyenne Mountain.

TRW and Aerojet have worked together for more than 30 years on DSP. TRW has built 23 DSP spacecraft and integrated 23 missile-detecting infrared sensors built by Aerojet. The DSP system has evolved to meet new mission requirements for the Air Force, continually demonstrating its flexibility and utility, and the satellites have exceeded their specified design lives by 150% through five upgrade programs.

TRW provides end-to-end system support for the DSP program. In addition to building and integrating the spacecraft, TRW provides day-to-day technical assistance at Schriever and Buckley Air Force Bases; performs satellite performance analysis, anomaly resolution and early on-orbit testing at its TRW Orbital Test Station; and has built software systems that help to process, display and distribute DSP data to national command authorities.

Aerojet, besides designing and building the 1,200-pound DSP infrared sensors, provides software systems for ground processing of DSP infrared data. The company developed the Joint Tactical Ground Station, which reports DSP data to theater commanders, and the Attack and Launch Early Reporting to Theater System to analyze DSP data and improve the identification and tracking of ballistic missiles.

TRW and Aerojet are also working on the Space-Based Infrared System Low (SBIRS Low) program, the low-Earth orbiting component of the nation's next generation missile warning system. TRW is heading the effort to define program requirements, reduce risk and complete conceptual designs. Aerojet's primary responsibility is providing engineering support for the ground processing segments.

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Space Group To Activate New Unit
Colorado Springs CO (SPX) Jan 6, 2006
Air Force Reserve Command's 310th Space Group will travel deeper into the space program when it activates a new unit Jan. 7. Headquarters Reserve National Security Space Institute will be a Reserve associate unit to the National Security Space Institute in Colorado Springs, Colo. The institute is the Department of Defense's focal point for providing education about space power in joint warfighting.







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