USA-268

US spy satellite

USA-268
Spacecraft properties
Launch of USA-268

Mission type	Signals intelligence
Operator	National Reconnaissance Office
COSPAR ID	2016-036A
SATCAT no.	41584


Spacecraft type	Advanced Orion


Start of mission
Launch date	June 11, 2016, 17:51 (2016-06-11UTC17:51Z) UTC
Rocket	Delta IV Heavy
Launch site	Cape Canaveral SLC-37B


Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Geostationary
Semi-major axis	42,165 kilometers (26,200 mi)^[1]
Perigee altitude	35,587 kilometers (22,113 mi)^[1]
Apogee altitude	36,002 kilometers (22,371 mi)^[1]
Inclination	6.3 degrees^[1]
Period	1436.1 minutes^[1]

USA-268, also known as NROL-37,^[2] is an American signals intelligence satellite. Though officially classified, it is presumed to be an Advanced Orion satellite, making it one of the largest and most expensive satellites ever built.^[3]

Launch

USA-268 was launched at 17:51 UTC on June 11, 2016^[4] from Space Launch Complex 37B, on its second attempt.^[2] It was the ninth flight of a Delta IV Heavy,^[2] and the fifth carrying an Advanced Orion.^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "USA 268". N2YO.com. Archived from the original on March 31, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c Dean, James (June 12, 2016). "No secret: Delta IV lofts spy satellite". Florida Today. Archived from the original on August 30, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Blau, Patrick (2016). "Identifying the classified NROL-37 Satellite". Spaceflight101. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
^ Speck, Emilee (June 12, 2016). "Delta IV rocket launches from Cape carrying U.S. spy satellite". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on August 30, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "United Launch Alliance Successfully Launches NROL-37 Payload for the National Reconnaissance Office" (Press release). United Launch Alliance. June 11, 2016. Archived from the original on August 30, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2020 – via PR Newswire.

NRO launches

L-1
L-2
L-3
L-4
L-5
L-6
L-7
L-8
L-9
L-10
L-11
L-12
L-13
L-14
L-15
L-16
L-17
L-18
L-19
L-20
L-21
L-22
L-23
L-24
L-25
L-26
L-27
L-28
L-29
L-30
L-31
L-32
L-33
L-34
L-35
L-36
L-37
L-38
L-39
L-40
L-41
L-42
...
L-45
L-47
L-49
L-55
L-61
L-65
L-66
L-67
L-79

v t e ← 2015 Orbital launches in 2016 2017 →
January	Belintersat-1 Jason-3 IRNSS-1E Intelsat 29e Eutelsat 9B
February	BeiDou M3-S USA-266 / GPS IIF -12 Kosmos 2514 / GLONASS-M 751 Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4 USA-267 / Topaz-4 Sentinel-3A ASTRO-H / Hitomi
March	SES-9 Eutelsat 65 West A IRNSS-1F Resurs-P №3 ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, Schiaparelli EDM Soyuz TMA-20M Cygnus CRS OA-6 (Diwata-1, Flock-2e' × 20 , Lemur-2 × 9) Kosmos 2515 / Bars-M 2L BeiDou IGSO-6 Progress MS-02
April	Shijian-10 Dragon CRS-8, BEAM Sentinel-1B, MICROSCOPE, e-st@r-II Mikhailo Lomonosov IRNSS-1G
May	JCSAT-14 Yaogan 30 Galileo FOC-10, FOC-11 Thaicom 8 Kosmos 2516 / GLONASS-M 753 Ziyuan III-02, ÑuSat 1, 2
June	Kosmos 2517 / Geo-IK-2 №12 Intelsat 31 / DLA-2 USA-268 / Orion 9 BeiDou G7 Eutelsat 117 West B, ABS-2A Cartosat-2C, M3MSat, Flock-2p × 12, SathyabamaSat, Swayam MUOS-5 Chinese next-generation crew capsule scale model Shijian 16-02
July	Soyuz MS-01 Progress MS-03 Dragon CRS-9 USA-269 / NROL-61
August	Tiantong-1 01 Gaofen-3 JCSAT-16 QUESS / Mozi / Micius USA-270 / GSSAP-3, USA-271 / GSSAP-4 Intelsat 33e, Intelsat 36 Gaofen-10†
September	AMOS-6† INSAT-3DR OSIRIS-REx Ofek-11 Tiangong-2 SkySat × 4 ScatSat-1, Alsat-1B, Alsat-2B, BlackSky Pathfinder-1, Pratham, CanX-7, PISat
October	Sky Muster II, GSAT-18 Shenzhou 11 Cygnus CRS OA-5 (Lemur-2 × 4) Soyuz MS-02
November	Himawari 9 Shijian-17 XPNAV 1 WorldView-4, CELTEE 1, Prometheus-2 × 2, AeroCube 8 × 2, U2U, RAVAN Yunhai-1 Galileo FOC 7, 12, 13, 14 Soyuz MS-03 GOES-R Tianlian I-04
December	Progress MS-04 Göktürk-1 Resourcesat-2A WGS-8 HTV-6 / Kounotori 6, (EGG, TuPOD, UBAKUSAT, AOBA-VELOX, STARS, FREEDOM, ITF, Waseda-SAT, OSNSAT, Tancredo-1, TechEDSat, Lemur-2 × 4) Fengyun 4A CYGNSS × 8 EchoStar 19 Arase / ERG TanSat, Spark × 2 Star One D1, JCSAT-15 SuperView / Gaojing-1 01, 02, Bayi Kepu 1
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). CubeSats are smaller. Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).