Integrating secondaries on Delta II (overview of XSS-10)

Integrating secondary payloads on the Boeing Delta II launch vehicle can require a level of coordination on a par with primary payloads. This was particularly true with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) XSS-10 satellite. XSS-10 was the first secondary payload mission to employ a free-flying scenario, which required power, signals, and orientation control from the Delta II second stage. Integration was extra challenging considering that the satellite did not conform to the preferred Boeing integration standards for mass, volume, processing, etc. Additionally, there were program challenges in the form of coordinating requirements from AFRL and its key subsystem contractors, Boeing Rocketdyne, SPARTA, Swales, and Octant. At the end of the day, mission success was ensured by applying the Delta mission engineering and integration processes in a thorough, methodical manner.