OrbView 2

 1997-037A

---

The SeaStar satellite was built by Orbital/Germantown for Orbimage using the Pegastar (later renamed LeoStar) bus, to satisfy a NASA requirement for ocean monitoring data. This was an experimental approach in which NASA bought the data, not the satellite. In the event the program was much delayed from its initial planned 1994 launch. Orbimage called the SeaStar satellite OrbView-2, after renaming its Microlab-1 as OrbView-1.

The satellite was launched by a Pegasus XL. Two of the Pegasus stages reportedly underperformed, with the satellite reaching a 295 x 313 km orbit compared to the originally planned 309 x 389 km. However other sources indicate the difference in orbit was a mission planning issue (incorrect spacecraft mass properties) that was known prelaunch, rather than an underperformance.

SeaStar
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1997 Aug 1		L-1011 takeoff from VAFB
		L-1011 at 11.6 km
1997 Aug 1	2020	Launch from L-1011
		Stage 1 TIG T+0:05
		Stage 1 MECO T+1:16
		Stage 1 sep T+1:33
		Stage 2 TIG T+1:34
		Stage 2 MECO T+2:46
		Stage 2 sep T+5:26
	2025	Stage 3 TIG T+5:37
	2026	Stage 3 MECO T+6:43
	2027	Stage 3 sep T+7:43
	2034	Solar array deploy T+14:03
1997 Aug 2	1200		90.61 295 x 313 x 98.3
1997 Aug 12		Orbit raising begins
1997 Aug 30	0725	Burn 26
	0939	Burn 27
	1848	Burn 28
	2248	Burn 29
1997 Aug 31	0255	Burn 30	689 x 691 x 98.3
1997 Sep 2	1000	Burn 31
1997 Sep 2	1424	Burn 32	697 x 712