Shuttle Slips Military Satellites Into Space

Two $100-million satellites were successfully ejected into space Friday on the second day of the silent, secret military mission of Atlantis, the newest member of the space shuttle fleet, sources said.

Neither NASA nor the Department of Defense would confirm or deny the deployment of the communications satellites, which are built to survive the radiation of a nuclear blast. But reliable sources said the two craft, linked to one rocket engine, were placed as planned into an independent orbit.

The sources said later that the engine fired as planned, sending the satellites toward a geosynchronous orbit of 22,300 miles. The satellites are to part and guide themselves to separate orbital work stations in fixed positions over the Earth.

On Maiden Flight

Atlantis, on its maiden flight, was rocketed into orbit from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday. Its launch time was kept secret until nine minutes before its rockets ignited at 8:15 a.m. PDT.

As it passed out of sight, it also passed into public silence under military secrecy. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration issued a single, terse announcement five hours later: “The crew is doing well and all systems on board the orbiter are performing satisfactorily.”

Public release circuits, which usually carry astronaut communications to reporters during a space shuttle flight, were silent.

NASA officials said the next official report would be a landing announcement just 24 hours before Atlantis sets its wheels down on the desert runway at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The flight is expected to last four or five days while the astronauts conduct experiments.

Hindering Soviets

The military said that secrecy is intended to hinder Soviet surveillance of the launching and satellite release from ships off the Florida coast and by other satellites.

The mission is the second dedicated to military purposes. A spy satellite reportedly was deployed on an earlier flight.

Reliable information identified Atlantis’ prime payload as two Defense Satellite Communications Systems satellites. These are a new type of craft, known as DSCS-3, but they are not secret.

Defense Department information released in the past on the DSCS-3 describe it as jam-proof and shielded against the electromagnetic bursts created by nuclear explosions. Such bursts can short out unshielded electronic equipment. The satellites could be used to communicate with American forces around the globe.

Air Force Col. Karol J. Bobko, a veteran of two other shuttle missions, is commander of Atlantis. His crew consists of Air Force Lt. Col. Ronald J. Grabe, pilot; Marine Maj. David C. Hilmers and Army Lt. Col. Robert C. Stewart, mission specialists, and Air Force Maj. William Pailes, a payload specialist.