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)
Tag: ULA
AIAA Statement on Successful Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) Mission
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 21, 2022 – Reston, Va. –The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Executive Director Dan Dumbacher made the following statement:
“Congratulations to the NASA and Boeing team on the successful Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission, including the beautiful launch of the Starliner spacecraft atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. We applaud their combined efforts to deliver this uncrewed cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
The OFT-2 mission is a major step on the path to further realize the potential of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program to safely and reliably fly humans to and from low Earth orbit (LEO). We are encouraged to see human spaceflight capability to the ISS from the United States increase, as the aerospace industry continues opening access to space for more people as part of building the space economy.
New spacecraft programs like Starliner rely on a highly qualified team of partners. We recognize the countless AIAA members involved in all aspects of the supply chain in this endeavor, including those who have helped design, build, and test this new spacecraft. We salute everyone involved for their important contributions to this much needed new capability.”
Video
Boeing Starliner Launches to the International Space Station on Atlas V (Boeing via YouTube)
Media Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cellAbout AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
USAF Secretary Meets With ULA and Blue Origin CEOs, Briefed On Vulcan Centaur
Space News reports that on August 24, US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall “met with the chief executives of United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin and was briefed on the Vulcan Centaur, a new launch vehicle developed by ULA that is powered by Blue Origin’s BE-4 engines.” According to Space News, the “main topic of the meeting were the delays in the development and testing of the BE-4 rocket engine that ULA needs in order to fly its new rocket.” Kendall didn’t provide details of his discussions with ULA CEO Tory Bruno and Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith, but “he expressed confidence that they will be able to work through the problems.” Kendall added that one of the reasons “he pushed to have two providers in the national security space launch program is to offer a fallback in case one of them isn’t able to launch payloads.” Kendall said that he believes ULA and Blue Origin “will probably get there, and they’re motivated to do that. So we’ll see what happens. Hopefully we’ll be all right and they won’t have any additional schedule delays.”
Full Story (Space News)