Experimental satellite DemonStration and Science Experiments (DSX) of the US Air Force (Air Force) Research Laboratory (Air Force), which, according to its size, comparable to the football field, completed its work, reports C4isRnet.
The publication reminds that work on the spacecraft launched in 2019 began in 2003. The satellite was located on the middle near-earth orbit, experiencing the effect of the radiation belt of the Earth. The Air Force assumed that the spacecraft would last year, but its condition allowed to extend the work at the same time.
The main purpose of the DSX missions is called the collection of experimental data on radiation in the near-emblem space, which would help the US Air Force to develop under the appropriate conditions a large spacecraft.
c4isrnet reports that the length of one retractable antenna that stopped the work of the satellite was 80 meters, the other – 16.
The publication does not specify how the DSX operation was completed.
In April last year, Northrop Grumman reported that the Mission Extension Vehicle 1 (MEV-1) vehicle by docked by the telecommunications satellite Intelsat 901, which was in the orbit of burial, held a series of maneuvers to move the latter on geostationary orbit. The operations carried out allowed 30 commercial and state customers to begin work with the telecommunications satellite. The operator hopes that IntelSat 901 for another five years.