Bloomberg reports Amazon “said it plans to launch the first two test satellites for its Project Kuiper constellation this fall on United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket, rather than its next-generation Vulcan, as previously planned.” The change “comes amid repeated delays of the debut launch of Vulcan, which has been in development for much of the last decade.” Space News reports spokesman James Watkins said the target launch date is September 26.
Full Story (Bloomberg); More Info (Space News)
Tag: Atlas V
Space Force Selects Participants for Rocket Technology Projects
Space News reported that the US Space Force Space Systems Command announced Friday that United Launch Alliance, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, and SpaceX “were selected to participate in technology development projects to advance rocket engine testing and launch vehicle upper stages.” The contracts, awarded to the companies by the Space Enterprise Consortium, are “for prototypes that will be jointly funded by the government and the contractors under partnerships known as OTAs, or other transaction authority.” According to Space News, the “contracts were split between current national security launch providers SpaceX and ULA, and new entrants Blue Origin and Rocket Lab that might compete in 2024 for the next round of national security launch service contracts.” ULA will receive “$24.3 million for uplink command and control for Centaur 5, the upper stage of the company’s new rocket Vulcan Centaur.”
Full Story (Space News)
ULA to Use Atlas 5 Instead of Vulcan Centaur for USSF-51 Mission
Space News reports that United Launch Alliance said Wednesday that the company will use its Atlas 5 rocket for the USSF-51 mission. The mission was supposed to be “the first national security mission for United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket,” but the Vulcan has fallen behind schedule. The USSF-51 mission was “awarded to ULA in August 2020 and is scheduled to launch in late 2022.” USSF-51 is a “classified mission for the National Reconnaissance Office.”
Full Story (Space News)
ULA’s Atlas V Launches from Cape Canaveral
Spaceflight Now reports that a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas 5 rocket successfully launched Tuesday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 5:36 p.m. ET, “on a delivery mission for the commercial telecom satellite operator SES.” The mission is noteworthy as it marked “the first commercial Atlas 5 launch into geosynchronous orbit.” More than six hours after liftoff, the rocket’s Centaur upper stage deployed the SES 20 and 21 satellites, which are set “to begin 15-year missions beaming C-band television and raido programming across the United States.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Video
ULA’s live broadcast of its Atlas V SES-20/21 mission launch.
(ULA; YouTube)
ULA Atlas 5 Rocket Launches NRO Satellite
Space News reported, “A National Reconnaissance Office satellite flew to orbit Nov. 13 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket.” The launch took place “at 5:32 p.m. Eastern from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.”
Full Story (Space News)
Atlas 5 Rocket Prepared for Friday NRO Launch
Spaceflight Now reports that the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket “made its third trip to a Cape Canaveral launch pad Thursday, rolling into position for liftoff Friday afternoon with a classified payload for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency.” The US Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron issued a forecast Thursday morning that indicates a 90 percent chance of favorable weather conditions for the launch with cumulus clouds being the primary weather concern. The NROL-101 mission “will launch a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, which owns the U.S. government’s fleet of intelligence-gathering surveillance satellites.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
ULA Delays Launch of Atlas V Rocket
Florida Today reports that ULA has postponed the launch of an Atlas V rocket carrying a satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office. The mission was scheduled to lift off Tuesday evening, but ULA now plans to launch the rocket at 5:54 p.m. EDT Wednesday. ULA said in a statement, “Upon arriving at the launch pad we experienced an upper payload environmental control system flow rate reduction. … The team is in the process of rolling the Atlas V back to the vertical integration facility to complete troubleshooting. The vehicle and payload are healthy.”
Full Story (Florida Today)
ULA Launches Nuclear Blast Detection, NASA Laser Communication Payloads
Spaceflight Now reports that after a delay due to high winds, ULA successfully launched an Atlas 5 rocket carrying the STP-3 mission Tuesday morning. WESH-TV Orlando, FL reports that the main spacecraft “houses an experiment designed to more accurately detect nuclear detonations on Earth,” and will also deploy “two satellites with new technology that have never been deployed to space before.” The second experiment is “for NASA to study and refine the process that uses lasers instead of radio waves to transmit data.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now) More Info (WESH-TV)
ULA to Launch US Space Force Satellites on Thursday
Spaceflight Now reports that United Launch Alliance (ULA) teams “at Cape Canaveral rolled an Atlas 5 rocket to its launch pad Wednesday, moving the launcher into position for liftoff Thursday evening with a pair of geostationary satellites for the U.S. Space Force.” The rollout “began shortly after 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT), when the Atlas 5 emerged from the Vertical Integration Facility south of the launch pad. The 196-foot-tall (59.7-meter-tall) rocket rode a mobile launch platform along rail tracks to Space Launch Complex 41, the East Coast home of Atlas 5 launch operations.” Launch is set for 6 p.m. EDT Thursday, “the opening of a two-hour launch window. There is a 60% chance of favorable weather for Thursday’s launch window, according to the Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Boeing Planning Starliner Test Flight Atop ULA Atlas V on May 19
The Houston Chronicle reports that The Boeing Company has announced that it plans to launch its CST-100 Starliner test flight – originally scheduled for August 3 of last year – on May 19. “Next month, Boeing will launch its Starliner spacecraft atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. They will lift off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.”
Full Story (Houston Chronicle)
ULA Atlas V Rocket Rolls to Pad at Cape Canaveral, Setting Stage for Friday Liftoff
Florida Today reports that a “nearly 200-foot Atlas V rocket rolled to its pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Thursday, setting the stage for liftoff from Launch Complex 41 a little more than 24 hours later.” Just before noon, United Launch Alliance confirmed that the “rocket’s mobile platform secured itself on four “piers” at the pad, marking the end of rollout operations with two Space Force satellites onboard.” Unlike other rockets, “Atlas V is configurable based on mission needs. For this flight known as USSF-8, the rocket is set to the 511 configuration: a five-meter payload fairing, one upper stage engine, and one additional side-mounted solid rocket booster.” Liftoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Friday, the “opening of a roughly two-hour window.”
Full Story (Florida Today)
Amazon’s Second Batch of Kuiper Internet Satellites Targeted for June 13 Launch on Atlas V
SPACE reports, “Amazon’s second fleet of internet satellites now has a target launch date. The stack of 27 satellites, part of Amazon’s Project Kuiper constellation, is scheduled to launch on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket next Friday (June 13). Liftoff of the mission, known as Kuiper 2, is set for 2:29 p.m. EDT (1829 GMT), from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, ULA announced.”
Full Story (SPACE)
ULA to Launch Amazon’s Second Batch of Kuiper Internet Satellites
SPACE reports, “United Launch Alliance (ULA) is set to launch Amazon’s second group of satellites for its Kuiper internet satellite constellation today (June 16), and you can watch the action live. The 27 satellites, riding atop a ULA Atlas V rocket, are scheduled to lift off at 1:25 p.m. EDT (1725 GMT) today from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.”
Full Story (SPACE)