New Lockheed Martin Satellite Faces Orbit Delay as Engine Shuts Down Early

The U.S. Air Force is investigating a technical flaw that may keep a new Lockheed Martin Corp. military communications satellite from reaching its required orbit as scheduled, according to service and Pentagon documents. The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center formed a team to examine what it’s calling a “maneuver anomaly” to determine why a satellite engine intended to help boost the vehicle into so-called geosynchronous orbit shut down after nine seconds of operation, according to the documents. The engine shut down prematurely during the initial phase of boosting the satellite from its current orbit of about 200 miles to the 22,236 miles it’s supposed to reach by Nov. 12, the Air Force and U.S. Strategic Command said. More

(Source: Bloomberg - Aug 30)