Launch History
DSMP was initially known as Program 35. The first successful launch of a Program 35 spacecraft used a Scout X-2 rocket lifting off from Point Arguello near Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) on 1962-08-23. This was P35-2; the earlier P35-1 launch on 1962-05-24 had failed to reach orbit. All five Program 35 launch attempts using Scout rockets, including the two successes, were made from VAFB SLC-5. Other early launches were conducted using Thor launch vehicles, with Altair or Burner II upper stages. Program 35 had by this time been renamed the Data Acquisition and Processing Program, and the DAPP acronym is sometimes used for these satellites. Eight satellites were launched using Atlas E launch vehicles between 1982 and 1995. Three were launched aboard Titan II vehicles between 1997 and 2003. One has been launched on a Delta IV rocket.
The next DMSP launch will be of the F18 satellite, scheduled for launch from Vandenberg aboard an Atlas V on October 18, 2009. United Launch Alliance plans to use the DMSP-18 mission to flight-test centrifugal propellant settling as a cryogenic fuel management technique that might be used in future propellant depots.
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