Tag: Air Force
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Photos: Launch boosts satellite for U.S. allies
The United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Medium+ (5,4) rocket lifted off at 8:18 p.m. EDT (0018 GMT) from Cape Canaveral in service to the U.S. military’s Wideband Global SATCOM communications satellite constellation. Photos by Alex Polimeni/Spaceflight Now See earlier Delta 377 coverage. Our Delta archive.
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Internationally-backed military satellite successfully launched atop Delta 4 rocket
CAPE CANAVERAL — With an international flair for collaboration, a military communications satellite jointly purchased by five allies was rocketed in space Saturday to further expand the U.S.-operated network that serves battlefield forces anywhere on Earth. The Wideband Global SATCOM satellite No. 9, which will act like an information router in space, was successfully propelled…
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Photos: Launch pad gantry retracted from Delta 4 rocket
The 330-foot-tall mobile service tower is rolled away from the United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket at Cape Canaveral’s pad 37B in the hours before the scheduled liftoff. The 9-million-pound gantry was retracted the length of a football field in preparation for launch of the Air Force’s WGS 9 communications satellite into Earth orbit. Photo…
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Live coverage: Delta 4 countdown and launch journal
Live coverage of the United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket flight with the Wideband Global SATCOM 9 satellite. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter. (Launch webcast begins at 7:24 p.m. EDT (2324 GMT)
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Timeline: Delta 4/WGS 9 launch events
Follow the Delta 4 rocket’s ascent into orbit from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 37 launch pad to deploy the Wideband Global SATCOM 9 communications satellite. Liftoff is scheduled for Saturday at 7:44 p.m. EDT (2344 GMT). T-00:05.0 Engine start The RS-68A main engine begins to ignite as the liquid hydrogen fuel valve is opened, creating a…
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Preview: U.S. military satellite purchased by coalition forces to be launched Saturday
WGS 9 will be launched by a Delta 4 Medium+ (5,4) rocket. Credit: United Launch Alliance CAPE CANAVERAL — Signaling strength in the international cooperation between the U.S. military and allied nations, a satellite funded by five countries will be launched by the Air Force on Saturday to codify a global communications deal. A United…
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Delta 4’s military launch bumped by commercial SpaceX flight, but good weather expected
The Delta 4 will launch from Complex 37. Credit: ULA CAPE CANAVERAL — With the SpaceX scrub earlier this week and the time needed to convert the Eastern Range over to the Delta 4, liftoff of that rocket carrying an internationally-purchased military communications satellite for the Air Force has been bumped to Saturday evening. Liftoff…
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Multimedia: WGS 9 readied for launch
This collection of photographs and videos shows the Wideband Global SATCOM communications satellite No. 9 being encapsulated in the United Launch Alliance Delta 4 nose cone and hoisted atop the rocket for launch March 17 at 7:44 p.m. EDT (2344 GMT). Encapsulation occurred at the Astrotech processing facility on Feb. 14. Stacking atop the Delta…
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Delta 4 receives communications satellite payload for launch into space
The nine WGS mission patches. Credit: Air Force logos; Spaceflight Now graphic CAPE CANAVERAL — A military communications satellite, built with international funding from Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and New Zealand, has been stacked atop a Delta 4 rocket to launch into a worldwide information-relay network operated by the U.S. WGS 9, the ninth…
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No imminent X-37B landing planned
An artist’s concept of X-37B in orbit. Credit: Boeing CAPE CANAVERAL — The enigmatic X-37B spaceplane, launched into low-Earth orbit on an experimental military mission in 2015, continues to circle the planet despite a flurry of landing rumors. “The X-37 is still on-orbit. The program is conducting a regularly scheduled exercise this week,” said Capt.…