Spaceflight Insider

News Archive / Tagged: SBIRS

  • Launched in January, SBIRS GEO-3 reaches operational status

    Joe LatrellSeptember 17th, 2018

    CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — GEO-3, the latest Geosynchronous Earth Orbit satellite in the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) constellation, has achieved operational acceptance from the U.S. Air Force Space Command.

  • ULA Atlas V 411 lights up the night with SBIRS GEO 4 launch

    Bart LeahyJanuary 19th, 2018

    CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- United Launch Alliance (ULA) saw its launch window open at 7:48 p.m. Eastern (00:48 GMT on Jan. 20) and soon thereafter sent its Atlas V rocket thundering into the Florida sky. The payload, the fourth geosynchronous satellite in the U.S. Air Force (USAF) Space Based Infrared Sensor (SBIRS) program, is now headed for geosynchronous orbit.

  • ULA readies for U.S. Air Force SBIRS GEO 4 launch

    Bart LeahyJanuary 16th, 2018

    CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- After a slight delay from late 2017, United Launch Alliance is readying an Atlas V 411 to launch the fourth geosynchronous element of the U.S. Air Force (USAF) Space Based Infrared Sensor (SBIRS) program. The launch, is currently set to take place from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) Space Launch Complex (SLC) 41 on January 18.

  • Fueling operations for SBIRS GEO-4 mission begin

    Jason RhianDecember 21st, 2017

    CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The flight of the fourth Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite is getting closer to its targeted January 2018 launch date.

  • Photo Gallery: SBIRS GEO 3 launches on ULA Atlas V 401

    Mike DeepJanuary 22nd, 2017

    SBIRS GEO 3 is the third satellite launched under the U.S. Air Force’s Space Based Infrared System, which is meant to provide an early warning of missile launches. The SBIRS GEO 3 satellite was sent to geosynchronous orbit atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket on January 20, 2017 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41 in Florida. The flight had been slated to launch the day prior; however, an instrumentation issue and wayward aircraft caused a 24-hour scrub.

  • Various issues prompt 24-hour scrub of Atlas V with SBIRS GEO-3

    Derek RichardsonJanuary 19th, 2017

    CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — It wasn't meant to be. That's what mission teams working to get a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 401 rocket with its missile-detection satellite off the ground must have been thinking. An instrumentation issue plus a fouled range caused a 24-hour scrub to be called late in the Jan. 19 launch window.

  • Next SBIRS missile detection satellite set for launch

    Derek RichardsonJanuary 18th, 2017

    CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — United Launch Alliance (ULA) is set to send the third Space Based Infrared System Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (SBIRS GEO-3) into space for the U.S. military. The $1.2 billion satellite will be part of a system designed to spot missiles threatening the United States or its allies.