Washington. December 11. INTERFAX-a Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle launched into orbit on Friday Moscow time with the secret nrol-44 satellite of the National office of military space intelligence (NRO), the operator of the United Launch Alliance (ULA) said.
The launch of the three-stage rocket was carried out on Thursday at 20: 09 East coast time (on Friday at 04: 09 Moscow time) from the SLC-37B launch complex at the Cape Canaveral space center in Florida.
ULA is a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin corporations that performs launches for the benefit of the Pentagon and the American intelligence community.
The launch of the reconnaissance satellite, which was planned in June, was postponed several times due to technical problems and bad weather.
The goals, orbit, size and other characteristics of the secret American satellite NROL-44 are not officially reported. The mission and capabilities of this type of satellite are strictly classified.
Meanwhile, according to former NASA employee David Baker, who is familiar with the NRO program, we are talking about the launch of the American Orion spacecraft, also known as Mentor or Advanced Orion - a series of American satellites designed for electronic intelligence.
"It weighs more than 5 tons and is equipped with a huge parabolic antenna with a diameter of more than 100 meters, which opens up in orbit," the expert said. According to him, a giant satellite the size of a bus will be launched into an Equatorial orbit with a height of 36 thousand km.
The main task of the new American satellite is to intercept telemetry information and listen to communication channels of geostationary satellites.
Since 1995, seven similar satellites developed by the NRO with the participation of the CIA have already been put into geostationary orbit.
Currently, there are 49 spacecraft of the National office of military space intelligence of the United States in Earth orbit. In total, the United States has an orbital constellation of at least 154 military satellites.