Success
NROL-4 (Trumpet 3)
Government/Top Secret
United States Air Force(USAF)Government
Titan 401A Centaur
Direct-GEOorbit
Trumpet signal intelligence satellites were launched by Titan-4(01)A Centaur-T into highly elliptic Molniya-type orbits. In their elliptical orbits they would move very slowly over the northern hemisphere for most of their orbital period, allowing interception of microwave line-of-sight communications beams. Since they would move slowly through the beams during their orbit, a constellation of such satellites was required to monitor Soviet communications throughout the day.
Saturday, November 8, 1997 at 2:05 AM
Mission details
Orbital Attempt
#4,189
USAF Mission
#985
Pad Launch
#25
Location Launch
#538
Designator
1997-068
Launch Window
NET
Nov 8, 1997, 2:05 AM
Schedule Changes
1 update
Titan 401A Centaur Specs
Titan IV was a family of heavy-lift space launch vehicles developed by Martin Marietta and operated by the United States Air Force from 1989 to 2005.
Length
63.1 m
Diameter
3.05 m
Launch Mass
868 t
Thrust
14,200 kN
LEO Capacity
21,680 kg
GTO Capacity
9,000 kg
Reusable
No
Maiden Flight
1994
Fastest Turnaround
1mo 26d
Total Launches
9
Successful
8
Failed
1
Consecutive Success
0
Maiden flight: Feb 7, 1994
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal Corps, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the United States Armed Forces in 1947 with the enactment of the National Security Act of 1947.
Founded
1947
Administrator
Commander-in-Chief: President of the US
Total Launches
1,078
Successful
972
Failed
106
Pending
0
Consecutive Success
68
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida.
Timezone
America/New_York
Local Launch Time
Nov 7, 1997, 9:05 PM
Total Launches
1,109
Total Landings
75
Coordinates
28.4889, -80.5778