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Trailblazer [SpaceDev]
The Trailblazer satellite demonstrated a flexible, modular commercial bus design using off the shelf components. Trailblazer used a satellite bus originally developed for the DSE project under a Missile Defense Agency contract.
ORS notified SpaceDev in 2008 that they intended to fund SpaceDev to prepare a modified DSE satellite (called Trailblazer) for the Falcon launch as a backup to the AFRL PnPSat 1 satellite.
Trailblazer was one of the three candidate payloads for the quick reaction "Jumpstart" launch in 2008 (retroactively named TacRL 1) on a SpaceX Falcon-1 launch vehicle. Trailblazer was selected only a few weeks before launch.
The satellite failed to reach orbit due to a launch vehicle first stage malfunction.
| Nation: | USA |
|---|---|
| Type / Application: | Technology |
| Operator: | SpaceDev, ORS |
| Contractors: | SpaceDev |
| Equipment: | |
| Configuration: | MMB-100 Bus |
| Propulsion: | None |
| Power: | Solar cells, batteries |
| Lifetime: | |
| Mass: | 83.5 kg |
| Orbit: |
| Satellite | COSPAR | Date | LS | Launch Vehicle | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trailblazer | 2008-F01 | 03.08.2008 | Om | F | Falcon-1 | with PreSat, Nanosail D, Celestis 07 |
Launch Sites:
- Om = Omelek Island, Reagan Test Site (formerly Kwajalein Missile Range), Kwajalein, Marshall Islands
References:
- Bill Jackson, Sierra Nevada Corporation: A New Paradigm for Responsive Space Missions
- SpaceRef: http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=18196
Further TacRL / TacRS missions:
- TacRL 1 (Trailblazer)
- TacRL 2 (Odyssey)
- TacRS 3 (Victus Nox)
- TacRS 4 (Victus Haze Puma)
- TacRS 4 (Victus Haze Jackal)
- TacRS 5 (Victus Sol)
- TacRS x (Victus Surgo)
- TacRS x (Victus Salo)
