Status
Success
Orion 5 (USA-171) (NROL-19)
Launch Time
Tue Sep 09, 2003 04:29 UTC
Tue Sep 09, 2003 04:29 UTC
Rocket
Mission Details
Orion 5 (USA-171) (NROL-19)
The Orion 5 - 9 (RIO 5 - 9) satellites, which are generally known as 'Advanced Orion' or 'Mentor', are geostationary signals intelligence satellites, which replaced the earlier Mission 7600 Magnum / Orion series. Their purpose is to intercept missile telemetry from Russia and China and the COMINT capability of the Mission 7500 Mercury satellites was merged into this series. These satellites are launched under the designation Mission 8300.
Payloads: 1
Geostationary Earth Orbit
Location
SLC-40, Cape Canaveral SFS, Florida, USA
Stats
2003
41st orbital launch attempt
Titan IV
36th mission
2nd mission of 2003
32nd successful mission
9th consecutive successful mission