![]() Vela 5B Satellite in Orbit. | |
Country of origin | United States |
---|---|
Operator | U.S. Air Force |
Applications | Reconnaissance |
Specifications | |
Regime | Highly elliptical orbit |
Design life | 15 years |
Production | |
Status | Disabled |
Launched | 12 |
Operational | 0 |
Retired | 12 |
Maiden launch | Vela 1A |
Last launch | Vela 6B |
Related spacecraft | |
Derived from | Project Vela & Integrated Operational Nuclear Detection System (IONDS) |
Vela was the name of a group of satellites developed as the Vela Hotel element of Project Vela by the United States to detect nuclear detonations and monitor Soviet Union compliance with the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty.
Vela started out as a small budget research program in 1959. It ended 26 years later as a successful, cost-effective military space system, which also provided scientific data on natural sources of space radiation. In the 1970s, the nuclear detection mission was taken over by the Defense Support Program (DSP) satellites. In the late 1980s, it was augmented by the Navstar Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites. The program is now called the Integrated Operational NuDet (Nuclear Detonation) Detection System (IONDS).