Developed on a rapid timeline for the Pentagon's Operationally Responsive Space office, the satellite will snap images of the battlefield and relay them directly to troops, bypassing intelligence analysts and ground controllers in the United States.
The ORS 1 satellite's importance is highlighted by the planned reduction in troop levels in Afghanistan, according to a U.S. Air Force space official.
"It's even more critical as we look at operations in CENTCOM and the Department of Defense starts to draw down troops," said Peter Wegner, director of the ORS office. "Capabilities like ORS 1 are truly force-enablers and force-multipliers for those young men and women, allowing them to see what's going on around them."
With less manpower on the ground, forces will need a technological edge over the enemy. The ORS 1 spacecraft will operate at the whim of troop commanders on the battlefield, while legacy reconnaissance satellites typically capture strategic imagery that ends up in the hands of analysts in Washington, D.C.
"As terrorists move around the world to other locations, space-based [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] capabilities are going to very critical to the future of our country," Wegner said.
The 957-pound spacecraft blasted off at 11:09 p.m. EDT Wednesday (0309 GMT Thursday) atop a Minotaur 1 rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island, Va.
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