MDA To Test Propulsion, Tracking With Tiny Spacecraft

摘要

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is developing tiny spacecraft that could be used to demonstrate new satellite propulsion systems and help calibrate missile tracking sensors near the end of this decade, according to a senior MDA official. The agency wants to launch two upcoming small satellite missions as secondary payloads on other military launches as part of the Pentagon's Space Test Program, the official said in a March 16 interview. MDA expects that each satellite will cost less than $10 million, not including launch costs. The two missions are for the Calibrated Orbiting Objects program and the Microsatellite Propulsion Experiment.