US ends 55-year satellite warning program — Ars Technica
The United States has officially ended the Defense Support Program (DSP), the first US satellite-based early-warning system for missile launches. As Ars Technica reports, the US Space Force decommissioned the last two satellites in the network after more than 55 years of service.
The last satellites were moved to a higher orbit
According to the US Space Force, the last two DSP spacecraft took part in an orbital maneuvering exercise in early September. Independent tracking of their orbits showed that the satellites had risen several hundred kilometers higher. Such a maneuver is usually associated with moving spacecraft to a graveyard orbit above geostationary orbit.
Commander of Mission Delta 4, US Space Force Colonel Brandon Davenport, said that the DSP constellation had been one of the country’s core defense elements. According to him, the system contributed to deterrence during the Cold War and protected US military personnel deployed abroad from the Persian Gulf War until the satellites were decommissioned.
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From the Cold War to new systems
The first DSP satellite was launched in late 1970 aboard a Titan IIIC rocket from Cape Canaveral. The initial spacecraft, weighing about one tonne, carried approximately 2,000 infrared detectors and operated in geosynchronous orbit. They continuously monitored the planet to detect missile launches, primarily Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The satellites’ capabilities were subsequently improved: later spacecraft had more than 6,000 infrared detectors and weighed about 2.5 tonnes. DSP satellites were launched through 2007, including DSP-16, which was delivered to orbit by the Space Shuttle Atlantis in 1991.
DSP successors
The DSP was replaced by the Space Based Infrared System, whose satellites the US military began launching in 2011. Its sensors can detect less intense phenomena and provide longer warning time. In parallel, the United States is developing Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared satellites; the first of them may be launched by a Vulcan rocket within the next 12 months.
