USA-246, also known as Advanced Extremely High Frequency 3 or AEHF-3, is a military
communications satellite operated by the
United States Air Force. It is the third of six satellites to be launched as part of the
Advanced Extremely High Frequency
Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) is a constellation of communications satellites operated by the United States Space Force. They are used to relay secure communications for the United States Armed Forces, the British Armed Forces, the C ...
program, which replaced the earlier
Milstar system.
Satellite
The USA-246 satellite was constructed by
Lockheed Martin Space, and is based on the
A2100
The A2100 is a model of communications satellite spacecraft made by Lockheed Martin Space Systems. It is used as the foundation for telecommunications payloads in geosynchronous orbit, as well as GOES-R weather satellites and GPS Block IIIA satelli ...
satellite bus. The satellite has a mass of and a design life of 14 years.
It will be used to provide
super high frequency (SHF) and
extremely high frequency (EHF) communications for the
United States Armed Forces, as well as those of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Canada.
Launch
USA-246 was launched by
United Launch Alliance, aboard an
Atlas V 531 flying from
Space Launch Complex 41
Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41), previously Launch Complex 41 (LC-41), is an active launch site at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. As of 2020, the site is used by United Launch Alliance (ULA) for Atlas V launches. Previously, it had been use ...
(SLC-41) at the
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS). After a number of weather-related delays, the launch occurred at 08:10:00
UTC on 18 September 2013,
placing the satellite in a parking orbit of 178 kilometers by 1,041 kilometers. A second burn placed the satellite into a
geostationary transfer orbit
A geosynchronous transfer orbit or geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) is a type of geocentric orbit. Satellite, Satellites that are destined for geosynchronous orbit, geosynchronous (GSO) or geostationary orbit (GEO) are (almost) always put into ...
(GTO) with a
perigee of , an
apogee of , and 20.52°
inclination.
The satellite was successfully deployed in this orbit 50 minutes after launch.
See also
*
2013 in spaceflight
In 2013, the maiden spaceflight of the Orbital Sciences' Antares launch vehicle, designated ''A-ONE'', took place on 13 April. Orbital Science also launched its first spacecraft, Cygnus, that docked with the International Space Station in lat ...
References
{{Orbital launches in 2013
USA satellites
Spacecraft launched in 2013
Spacecraft launched by Atlas rockets