Reservists pave way for launch of world's first all-electric satellites

  • Published
  • By 920th Rescue Wing Public Affairs
PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Reservists from the 920th Rescue Wing were on hand to oversee the safe and successful launch of two next-generation satellites aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 10:50 p.m. March 1 from launch complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Within an hour of launch, the rocket deployed the world's first all-electric communications satellites. The two Boeing 702SP satellites - the ABS 3A and EUTELSAT 115 West B - feature electric engines instead of the chemical propulsion systems found on other satellites.

The electric satellites are significantly lighter than chemical-based satellites. Lower weight means less rocket fuel is needed to lift the satellites into space, which greatly reduces launch costs.

Prior to every launch from Kennedy Space Center or CCAFS, members of the 920th Rescue Wing clear the Eastern Range -- a 12-mile wide by 80-mile long slice of Atlantic Ocean delineating the launch trajectory of each rocket -- of human traffic to prevent death or injury in the event of a launch mishap where a rocket or debris lands in the ocean.

Air Force rescue forces have been partnered with NASA since the advent of the manned spaceflight program, providing medical contingency prevention and response for all launches from the Gemini program of the 1950s though the last flight of the space shuttle in 2011.

The wing's primary mission is combat search and rescue, the recovery of military personnel from denied or hostile territories during wartime.

Most notably, the 920th Rescue Wing were the unit responsible for rescuing former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell and recovering the remains of his fallen SEAL team members after a mission in Afghanistan went wrong. Luttrell documented his ordeal in the book, "Lone Survivor," which was later made into an Academy-Award-nominated Hollywood motion picture of the same name.