Launch Success
Liftoff Time (GMT)
04:29:00
Tuesday September 9, 2003
Watch Replay
24/7 Coverage
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.
Geostationary Earth Orbit
1 Payload


Agency
LockheedRocket
Height: 62m
Liftoff Thrust
15,000 Kilonewtons
Fairing
Diameter: 5.1m
Stages
3
Strap-ons
2
36th
Mission
2nd
Mission of 2003
41st
Orbital launch attempt