Tag: Atlas V
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Cygnus set for December Atlas V ride ahead of Antares return
Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft is set to return to International Space Station (ISS) resupply duties in December, hitching a ride on an Atlas V, prior to resuming operations with the modified Antares rocket in 2016. Cygnus has been out of action since the CRS-3/OrB-3 failure that occurred in October 2014 – with the full investigation…
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RUAG to establish composites production capability at ULA
Swiss company RUAG will be setting up base at United Launch Alliance’s Decatur facility in Alabama, following a deal to further strengthen their cooperation. RUAG are best known for their production of payload fairings for a number of launch vehicles. However, the deal is also aimed at providing additional composite hardware specific to ULA’s Vulcan…
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ULA Atlas V successfully launches with GPS IIF-10
The United States Air Force is continuing to replenish its fleet of Global Positioning System navigation satellites Wednesday via the successful launch of the tenth Block IIF spacecraft atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Liftoff from Cape Canaveral was on schedule at 11:36 local time (15:36 UTC) – at the start of a…
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USA’s next generation weather sentinel completes assembly
The first of four next-generation weather satellites has completed assembly at Lockheed Martin. The new Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite “GOES-R” will launch atop an Atlas V rocket in early 2016, ahead of providing significant improvements to monitoring the weather conditions over North America. GOES-R: The history of weather satellites working in geostationary orbits reaches back to…
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ULA Atlas V conducts X-37B spaceplane launch
The US Air Force’s X-37B spaceplane began its fourth mission Wednesday, lifting off atop United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket to begin a classified mission for Air Force Space Command. The Atlas departed from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 11:05 Eastern, the opening opportunity provided by two short launch windows on Wednesday. Atlas V AFSPC-5…
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MMS successfully launched by ULA’s Atlas V
United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket launched NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission on Thursday. Launching from Cape Canaveral, the rocket placed the four-satellite constellation into a highly elliptical orbit, beginning a two-year mission to study reconnection in the magnetosphere. Launch occurred at the start of a thirty-minute window at 22:44 local time (02:44 UTC on…
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ULA Atlas V successfully launches third MUOS spacecraft
United Launch Alliance conducted its first launch of 2015 on Tuesday, with an Atlas V carrying the third Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite to orbit. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 41 of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station occurred at 20:04 local time (01:04 UTC on Wednesday), midway through a forty-four minute window. Atlas…
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Atlas V launches NROL-35 out of Vandenberg
United Launch Alliance has conducted its final launch of 2014, making use of a new upper stage engine on its Atlas V rocket to deliver a National Reconnaissance Office payload into orbit. Friday’s launch of NROL-35 dodged the weather and occurred at 19:19 local time (03:19 UTC on Saturday) from Space Launch Complex 3E at Vandenberg…
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ATK expand on its domestic alternative to Atlas V’s RD-180
ATK has provided additional details about its domestic alternative to the Russian-built RD-180 engine currently in use on the venerable Atlas V rocket of United Launch Alliance (ULA). While ULA has aligned with Blue Origin’s BE-4 engine, ATK proposal of a solid-fueled first stage – as a reliable, cost-effective, and commercial alternative to the RD-180…
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ULA Atlas V successfully launches with GPS IIF-8 satellite
In what is proving to be a dramatic week for space flight, United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket made its fiftieth flight on Wednesday, tasked with orbiting the GPS IIF-8 satellite for the US Air Force. Liftoff from SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral was on schedule at the start of an eighteen minute window that opened…