[Satellite TODAY 07-08-10] The U.S. Air Force has postponed a  scheduled July 8 Minotaur 4 launch carrying the Space-Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) due to an anomaly discovered on another Minotaur 4 rocket during testing, the Air Force announced July 7.
    The test identified a software issue that is being assessed for implications to the SBSS mission. The Air Force said SBSS’ integrated government and contractor team is accessing the cause of the software anomaly and expects to establish a new launch date as early as next week.
    SBSS aims to provide the Air Force with the capability to detect man-made hazardous objects from a geosynchronous orbit in space by tracking them once every 24 hours rather than with ground-based radars and optical sensors.  The Air Force said the need for space situational awareness was driven by the February 2009 collision of a defunct Russian satellite and an operational Iridium spacecraft in low-Earth orbit.
   Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. designed and built the $500 million satellite for prime contractor Boeing Co. under a contract issued to the manufacturer in 2004. Boeing developed and will maintain the ground segment, with operations at Schriever Air Force Base and the 50th Space Wing in Colorado.