The launch of an Orbital Sciences Taurus booster from Vandenberg AFB, California, carrying the Department of Energy's Office of Nonproliferation and National Security Multispectral Thermal Imager (MTI) satellite, has been cancelled after a protest by Tahiti.
The South Pacific island's government was concerned that the booster's third stage could hit a small inhabited island in the predicted impact zone.
The MTI, equipped with a cryogenically cooled telescope, is a testbed for future imaging systems to detect reflected and thermally radiated electromagnetic radiation. This will help in the development of reconnaissance satellites dedicated to monitoring facilities suspected of making nuclear or chemical weapons.
Source: Flight International