USA-207
American communications satellite
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PAN mission patch
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Mission type | SIGINT |
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COSPAR ID |
2009-047A
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SATCAT no. | 35815 |
Spacecraft properties | |
Bus | A2100 |
Manufacturer | Lockheed Martin [1] |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 8 September 2009, 21:35:00 ( 2009-09-08UTC21:35Z ) UTC [2] |
Rocket | Atlas V 401 |
Launch site | Cape Canaveral SLC-41 |
Contractor | ULA |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Regime | Geostationary |
Perigee altitude | 35,778 kilometers (22,231 mi) [3] |
Apogee altitude | 35,807 kilometers (22,249 mi) [3] |
Inclination | 0.09 degrees [3] |
Period | 1436.12 minutes [3] |
Epoch | 10 January 2015, 14:22:18 UTC [3] |
USA-207 , [4] international COSPAR code 2009-047A , [5] also known as PAN , officially meaning Palladium At Night , [6] NEMESIS I, [7] or P360 [8] is a classified American SIGINT satellite, [7] which was launched in September 2009. The US government has not confirmed which of its intelligence agencies operate the satellite, [9] but leaked documents from the Snowden files point to the NSA . [10] The spacecraft was constructed by Lockheed Martin , and is based on the A2100 satellite bus , [6] using commercial off-the-shelf components. [8] The contract to build PAN was awarded in October 2006, with the satellite initially scheduled to launch 30 months later, in March 2009. [11]
PAN was launched by United Launch Alliance using an Atlas V 401 carrier rocket, with the serial number AV-018. The launch, from Space Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station , occurred at 21:35 GMT on 8 September 2009, at the start of a 129-minute launch window. [12] PAN successfully separated from the rocket just under two hours after liftoff. [13]
PAN has shown an unusual history of frequent relocations during the first 5 years of its operations, moving between at least 9 different orbital slots since launch. With each move, it was placed close to another commercial communications satellite. [7] From 2013 onwards it was located at 47.7 deg E., over East Africa, staying in that position for several years. In February 2021 it started a slow drift eastwards. [14]
Gallery
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/PAN_geostationary_04072011.jpg/220px-PAN_geostationary_04072011.jpg)
References
- ↑ Ray, Justin (9 July 2009). "Atlas rocket team continues active year of launches" . Spaceflight Now . Retrieved 31 August 2009 .
- ↑ McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log" . Jonathan's Space Page . Retrieved 21 January 2014 .
- 1 2 3 4 5 Peat, Chris (10 January 2015). "USA 207 - Orbit" . Heavens-Above . Retrieved 25 January 2015 .
- ↑ McDowell, Jonathan (10 September 2009). "Issue 615" . Jonathan's Space Report . Jonathan's Space Page. Archived from the original on 15 September 2009 . Retrieved 11 September 2009 .
- ↑ "Spacewarn Bulletin Issue 671" . NASA NSSDC. 30 September 2009 . Retrieved 6 July 2011 .
- 1 2 Day, Dwayne (24 August 2009). "PAN's labyrinth" . The Space Review . Retrieved 31 August 2009 .
- 1 2 3 Langbroek, Marco (31 October 2016). "A NEMESIS in the sky. PAN, Mentor 4 and close encounters of the SIGINT kind" . The Space Review . Retrieved 27 November 2016 .
- 1 2 "New Horizons" (PDF) . Lockheed Martin. December 2007. p. 7 (5 of PDF) . Retrieved 6 September 2009 . [ permanent dead link ]
- ↑ Covault, Craig (26 May 2009). "Secret PAN satellite leads Cape milspace launch surge" . Spaceflight Now . Retrieved 31 August 2009 .
- ↑ "Inside Menwith Hill. The NSA's British Base at the Heart of U.S. Targeted Killing" . The Intercept . 6 September 2016 . Retrieved 8 February 2022 .
- ↑ "Highlights" (PDF) . Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. Spring 2007. pp. 28 (29 of PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 June 2011 . Retrieved 6 September 2009 .
- ↑ Clark, Stephen. "Worldwide Launch Schedule" . Spaceflight Now . Retrieved 31 August 2009 .
- ↑ Malik, Tariq (30 August 2009). "Atlas 5 Rocket to Secret Satellite [ sic ]" . Space.com. Archived from the original on 16 August 2009 . Retrieved 31 August 2009 .
- ↑ Langbroek, Marco (14 September 2021). "PAN (NEMESIS 1) is on the move again" . SatTrackCam Blog . SatTrackCam Leiden . Retrieved 8 February 2022 .
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