Release Sheds Light on Classified Satellite Launch

摘要

An experimental microsatellite built by Millennium Space Systems of El Segundo, Calif., for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) has had three years of "near-flawless" operations, according to a Feb. 6 press release of the company. The announcement reveals some details of a classified NRO launch that took place Feb. 6, 2011, from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., aboard an Orbital Sciences Corp.-built Minotaur 1. The NRO, which builds and operates the nation's spy satellites, said at the time only that the rocket carried a classified payload.