SORCE Spacecraft Moves One Step Closer to Launch

	Photo of SORCE aboard Pegasus

The Pegasus Launch Vehicle that will carry the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) SORCE spacecraft arrived at Kennedy Space Center on December 17. The vehicle was ferried non-stop from Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB), Calif., using the Orbital Sciences L-1011 aircraft. The arrival of the launch vehicle moves SORCE one step closer to its' January 25 launch date

The Pegasus vehicle was transported to the Multi-Payload Processing Facility (MPPF) where it was placed in the highbay to undergo testing, verification and three flight simulations prior to launch. SORCE is scheduled to be mated to the Pegasus rocket on January 5 and then additional testing will be performed concurrent with the Pegasus XL launch vehicle.

The SORCE satellite includes four instruments to study and measure solar irradiance as a source of energy in the Earth's atmosphere. SORCE is a PI managed mission led by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) for the University of Colorado. The instruments were built by LASP, Orbital provided the spacecraft and Goddard provided management oversight.