XSS-10

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XSS-10 (eXperimental Small Satellite 10) was a small, low-cost spacecraft built by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to test line-of-sight guidance for satellites. The project, led by AFRL's Space Vehicles Directorate with Program Manager David Barnhart and engineer Thom Davis of Georgia Tech Research Institute, launched on January 29, 2003, aboard a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral. It weighed 28 kilograms and operated in a low Earth orbit of about 518 by 805 kilometers, with an inclination of 39.75 degrees and an orbital period of roughly 98 minutes. The mission was declared a success shortly after launch.