USA-244

USA-244
Spacecraft properties
Artist's impresson of a WGS satellite in orbit

Mission type	Communications
Operator	US Air Force
COSPAR ID	2013-041A
SATCAT №	39222
Mission duration	14 years

Spacecraft type	WGS Block II
Bus	BSS-702
Manufacturer	Boeing
Launch mass	5,987 kilograms (13,199 lb)

Start of mission
Launch date	8 August 2013, 00:29 (2013-08-08UTC00:29Z) UTC^[1]
Rocket	Delta IV-M+(5,4)
Launch site	Cape Canaveral SLC-37B
Contractor	United Launch Alliance

Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Geostationary
Longitude	104° east
Semi-major axis	42,171.00 kilometers (26,203.84 mi)
Eccentricity	0.001186
Perigee	35,750 kilometers (22,210 mi)
Apogee	35,850 kilometers (22,280 mi)
Inclination	0 degrees
Period	23.94 hours
Epoch	1 September 2013^[2]

USA-244, or Wideband Global Satcom 6 (WGS-6) is an American military communications satellite operated by the United States Air Force as part of the Wideband Global Satcom programme. Launched in 2013, it was the sixth WGS satellite to reach orbit. It is stationed at a longitude of 104° east, in geostationary orbit. WGS-6 was procured by the Australian Defence Force for the US Air Force, in exchange for participation in the programme.^[3]

Built by Boeing, USA-244 is based on the BSS-702 satellite bus. It had a mass at launch of 5,987 kilograms (13,199 lb), and was expected to operate for fourteen years. The spacecraft is equipped with two solar arrays to generate power for its communications payload, which consists of cross-band X and Ka band transponders. Propulsion is provided by an R-4D-15 apogee motor, with four XIPS-25 ion engines for stationkeeping.^[4]

USA-244 was launched by United Launch Alliance, who placed it into orbit using an Delta IV Medium+(5,4) rocket, flight number D363. The launch took place from Space Launch Complex 37B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, with liftoff at 00:29 UTC on 8 August 2013.^[1] The launch was successful, placing the WGS-6 into a geosynchronous transfer orbit, from which the spacecraft raised itself into geostationary orbit using its onboard propulsion system. The satellite was designated USA-244 under the US military's designation system, and received the International Designator 2013-041A and Satellite Catalog Number 39222.^[2]^[5]

References

1 2 McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
1 2 McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
↑ Graham, William (7 August 2013). "ULA Delta IV launches with WGS-6 satellite". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
↑ Krebs, Gunter. "WGS 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
↑ "UCS Satellite Database". Union of Concerned Scientists. 1 September 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2013.

← 2012 · Orbital launches in 2013 · 2014 →

January	Kosmos 2482 · Kosmos 2483 · Kosmos 2484 – JSE Reda 4 · Jissho Eisei – STSAT-2C – TDRS-11

February	Intelsat 27 – Globalstar M078, M087, M093, M094, M095, M096 – Azerspace-1/Africasat-1a · Amazonas 3 – Progress M-18M – Landsat 8 – SARAL · Sapphire · NEOSSat · UniBRITE-1 · TUGSAT-1 · AAUSAT3 · STRaND-1

March	SpaceX CRS-2 – USA-241 – Satmex 8 – Soyuz TMA-08M

April	Anik G1 – Bion-M No.1 (Aist 2 · BeeSat-2 · BeeSat-3 · SOMP · Dove-2 · OSSI-1) – Cygnus Mass Simulator · Dove 1 · Alexander · Graham · Bell – Progress M-19M – Gaofen 1 · TurkSat-3USat · NEE-01 Pegaso · CubeBug-1 – Kosmos 2485

May	Zhongxing 11 – Proba-V · VNREDSat 1A · ESTCube-1 – Eutelsat 3D – USA-242 – USA-243 – Soyuz TMA-09M

June	SES-6 – Albert Einstein ATV – Kosmos 2486 – Shenzhou 10 – Resurs-P No.1 – O3b PFM, FM2, FM4, FM5 – Kosmos 2487 – IRIS

July	IRNSS-1A – Uragan-M 48, 49, 50 – Shijian XI-05 – MUOS-2 – Shijian 15 · Shiyan 7 · Chuangxin 3 – Inmarsat-4A F4 · INSAT-3D – Progress M-20M

August	Kounotori 4 (TechEdSat-3 · ArduSat-1 · ArduSat-X · Pico-Dragon) – USA-244 – Arirang-5 – USA-245 – Eutelsat 25B / Es'hail 1 · GSAT-7 – Amos-4

September	Yaogan 17 A, B, C – LADEE – Gonets-M No.14 · Gonets-M No.16 · Gonets-M No.17 – Hisaki – USA-246 – Cygnus Orb-D1 – Fengyun III-03 – Kuaizhou-1 – Soyuz TMA-10M – CASSIOPE · CUSat · POPACS 1, 2, 3 · DANDE – Astra 2E

October	Shijian 16 – Sirius FM-6 – Yaogan 18

November	Mars Orbiter Mission – Soyuz TMA-11M – Globus-1M No.13L – MAVEN – ORS-3 · STPSat-3 · Black Knight 1 · CAPE-2 · ChargerSat-1 · COPPER · DragonSat-1 · Firefly · Ho'oponopono-2 · Horus · KySat-2 · NPS-SCAT · ORSES · ORS Tech 1, 2 · PhoneSat 2.4 · Prometheus × 8 · SENSE A, B · SwampSat · TJ³Sat · Trailblazer-1 · Vermont Lunar CubeSat – Yaogan 19 – DubaiSat-2 · STSAT-3 · SkySat-1 · UniSat-5 (Dove 4 · ICube-1 · HumSat-D · PUCP-Sat 1 (Pocket-PUCP) · BeakerSat-1 · $50SAT · QBScout-1 · WREN) · AprizeSat 7, 8 · Lem · WNISat-1 · GOMX-1 · CubeBug-2 · Delfi-n3Xt · Dove 3 · First-MOVE · FUNcube-1 · HINCube-1 · KHUSat-1 · KHUSat-2 · NEE-02 Krysaor · OPTOS · Triton 1 · UWE-3 · VELOX-P2 · ZACUBE-1 · BPA-3 – Swarm A, B, C – Shiyan Weixing 5 – Progress M-21M

December	Chang'e 3 (Yutu) – SES-8 – USA-247 · ALICE · AeroCube 5A, 5B · CUNYSAT-1 · FIREBIRD A, B · IPEX · M-Cubed-2 · SMDC-ONE 2.3, 2.4 · SNaP · TacSat-6 – Inmarsat-5 F1 – CBERS-3 – Gaia – Túpac Katari 1 – Kosmos 2488 · Kosmos 2489 · Kosmos 2490 – Ekspress AM5 – Aist 1 · SKRL-756 1, 2

Launches are separated by dashes ( – ), payloads by dots ( · ). Manned flights are bolded. Launch failures are in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in brackets).

Wideband Global Satcom satellites

Block I	USA-195 USA-204 USA-211

Block II	USA-233 USA-243 USA-244

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