Tag: Atlas
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Atlas V set for final missions ahead of retirement
United Launch Alliance (ULA) will soon close out production of its Atlas V rocket, completing a stock of 15 boosters set to fly on contracted missions. With ULA’s future focus on the Vulcan rocket, Atlas V will aim to end on a high, adding to over one hundred successful launches. The last Atlas V Common Core Booster will…
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Launch Roundup: Atlas V, Electron, CZ-3B/E, and Falcon 9 missions flying this week
As July turns into August, launch activity will pick up after Falcon 9’s return to flight. Besides the Falcon 9, ULA’s Atlas V and Rocket Lab’s Electron were also being prepared to fly missions to orbit. The USSF-51 flight from Florida was followed by a Chang Zheng-3B/E from China and the Starlink 10-6 flight. CRS…
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Atlas V successfully launched its last ever national security mission
United Launch Alliance, formed in 2006 to merge the Boeing and Lockheed Martin launch vehicle programs, has flown 100 national security missions over the last 18 years using the Delta II, Delta IV, and Atlas V rocket families. USSF-51 was ULA’s 100th national security launch, and the last ever flown by an Atlas-family rocket. An…
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Atlas rocket bids farewell to California as ULA readies for Vulcan
The Atlas rocket family, a staple of the US launch industry since June 11, 1957, ended its West Coast operations on Nov. 10 with the launch of an Atlas V rocket with the JPSS-2 weather satellite. Liftoff of the mission from Space Launch Complex-3 East (SLC-3E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, is scheduled for…
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ULA’s Atlas V launches final SBIRS GEO missile detection satellite
United Launch Alliance was in action Thursday, using an Atlas V rocket to deploy a missile detection satellite for the US Space Force. Liftoff of the SBIRS GEO 6 mission from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is occurred at the opening of a 40-minute window at 6:29 AM EDT (10:29 UTC). The Space-Based Infrared…
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As Centaur turns 60 years old, ULA prepares to evolve Centaur V
60 years ago, on May 8, 1962, Atlas-LV3C Centaur-A – designated Atlas Centaur-1 (AC-1) – lifted off from the newly-constructed Launch Complex-36A (LC-36A). AC-1 was the first flight test of the hydrogen-powered Centaur upper stage. Since the maiden flight of Centaur, the stage has flown on several different rocket families across six decades. Centaur has…
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As Centaur turns 60 years old, ULA prepares to evolve Centaur V
60 years ago, on May 8, 1962, Atlas-LV3C Centaur-A – designated Atlas Centaur-1 (AC-1) – lifted off from the newly-constructed Launch Complex-36A (LC-36A). AC-1 was the first flight test of the hydrogen-powered Centaur upper stage. Since the maiden flight of Centaur, the stage has flown on several different rocket families across six decades. Centaur has…
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Amazon picks the rocket that’ll launch the first Kuiper satellites — and it’s not from Blue Origin
An illustration shows an Atlas V rocket launching Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites. (ULA / Amazon) United Launch Alliance says it’s struck a deal for a series of nine launches of its Atlas V rocket to send satellites into low Earth orbit for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband internet constellation. Amazon emphasized that this is just the…
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Blue Origin Continues to Make Launch Complex Progress for the Eventual Debut of New Glenn
The debut of Blue Origin’s orbital launch vehicle, New Glenn, has been delayed until no earlier than the fourth quarter of 2022. In advance of pathfinder operations later this year, the company has continued to make progress at Launch Complex 36 and Launch Complex 11, two historic facilities which will support the New Glenn program.…
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SpaceX planning launch of two Falcon Heavy missions in summer and fall
File photo of the third Falcon Heavy launch in June 2019. Credit: SpaceX/U.S. Air Force SpaceX plans two Falcon Heavy launches this year for the U.S. Space Force in July and October, and United Launch Alliance has four national security space missions on its 2021 schedule, according to a military spokesperson. The Falcon Heavy missions…