Launch of TacSat-2, Dec. 16, 2006
TacSat-2
With its successful launch, TacSat-2 became the inaugural MSI spacecraft bus to be launched, the first responsive space demonstrator operated by the U.S. military, and the initial demonstration of a deployable thin-film solar array in space.
About TacSat-2
The TacSat-2 program was the first Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) flight demonstration program under the Operationally Responsive Space initiative featuring 11 onboard experiments. The successful December 16, 2006 launch of TacSat-2 demonstrated MSI's ability to provide a high performance small satellite for a very competitive price on a major responsive space program. MSI designed, built, and environmentally qualified the satellite bus, and was responsible for both the primary Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) solar arrays and the experimental thin-film solar arrays.
MSI demonstrated our ability to reuse the TechSat 21 bus design, that allowed MSI to deliver the basic bus structure to AFRL in 12 months from contract ATP, and also enabled MSI to provide the bus at very low cost. MSI completed nine months of on-site integration and test at AFRL in Albuquerque and supported payload integration, system testing, launch vehicle integration and testing and the launch readiness review. MSI also provided launch support, mission operations support and anomaly resolution.
Industry Awards
MicroSat Systems and the TacSat-2 Team have received several awards as a result of the significance and success of TacSat-2. Awards include: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Space Systems (AIAA) Award for 2008, AFRL's Commander Cup Award, 2007 Dr. Harold Gardiner Director's Cup Award, Aviation Week and Space Technology Magazine Small Company Product Breakthrough Award, Jefferson County Innovative Business Award
TacSat-2 Satellite, Air Force Research Laboratory, Thermal Vacuum Testing
The spacecraft launched successfully on Dec. 16, 2006 launched from NASA’s Wallops Island Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va., onboard a Minotaur I rocket and exceeded its initial six month life.
