The NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va., has been selected by the Space and Missile Systems Center’s Detachment 12 as the launch site for the Air Force Research Laboratory’s TacSat 2 satellite. The launch is scheduled for November 2006.
The satellite will be launched on an Air Force four-stage Minotaur I space launch vehicle contracted through Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Launch Systems Group. The mission will be conducted from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport launch pad on the south end of Wallops Island.
“The Wallops Flight Facility has a 61-year heritage of providing fast response launch services to government, academia and commercial organizations. We are very pleased to be able to support this Air Force mission,” said Jay Pittman, chief of the Range and Mission Management Office.
In addition to supporting the TacSat 2 launch, Wallops also will be the launch site for a Minotaur I rocket carrying the Near-Field Infrared Experiment (NFIRE) satellite.
