Gunsmoke-J [LANL]
Gunsmoke-J, formerly named Jacob's Ladder, are experimental 3U CubeSats designed by the US Army SMDC (Space Missile Defense Command) to demonstrate advanced information collection in direct support of the Army combat operations.
The satellites consist of a LANL built Prometheus Block-2 1.5U CubeSat featuring the attached 1.5U Gunsmoke-J experiment module. Power and communications are handled via the Prometheus bus. Gunsmoke-J uses emerging advanced electronics to allow the use of dedicated intelligence assets to provide tactically actionable targeting data to warfighters on a responsive and persistent timeline.
Three flight units have been built.
Launch of one is planned for March 2021 on a shared Electron Photon-LEO launch.
Another one was launched in February 2021 on the Cygnus CRS-15 cargo craft. It will be deployed from Cygnus after departing the ISS.
Nation: | USA |
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Type / Application: | Technology |
Operator: | SMDC |
Contractors: | Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) (satellite) |
Equipment: | |
Configuration: | CubeSat (3U) |
Propulsion: | None |
Power: | 4 deployable fixed solar arrays, batteries |
Lifetime: | 3-5 years |
Mass: | 5 kg |
Orbit: |
Satellite | COSPAR | Date | LS | Launch Vehicle | Remarks | |
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Gunsmoke-J 1 (ex Jacob's Ladder 1) | - | 202x | with ? | |||
Gunsmoke-J 2 (ex Jacob's Ladder 2) | 2021-013D | 20.02.2021 | WI LC-0A | Antares-230+ | with Cygnus CRS-15, Lawkanat 1, ORCA 6, ORCA 7, IT-SPINS, TAU-SAT 1, MYSAT 2, STARS-EC, OPUSAT 2, RSP 01, WARP 01, Maya 2, Guaranisat 1, Tsuru, ThinSat 2A, ..., 2I | |
Gunsmoke-J 3 (ex Jacob's Ladder 3) | 2021-023E | 22.03.2021 | OnS LC-1A | Electron Photon-LEO | with BlackSky 7, Centauri 3, Myriota 7, RAAF-M2 A, RAAF-M2 B, Veery Hatchling, Pathstone | |
Gunsmoke-J 4 (ex Jacob's Ladder 4) | 2021-058H | 30.06.2021 | Mo RW12/30 | LauncherOne | with HALO-Net Free Flyer, CNCE 1, CNCE 3, Brik-2, STORK 4, STORK 5 |