Tag: GSSAP
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ULA’s Vulcan Rocket Completes Space Force Mission Despite Booster Anomaly
United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket successfully carried multiple U.S. Space Force payloads to geosynchronous orbit on Feb. 12, despite encountering a performance anomaly with one of its solid rocket boosters early in flight, the company said. The mission, designated USSF-87, lifted off shortly after 4 a.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on…
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Vulcan suffers solid rocket booster problem during USSF-87 launch
An anomalous plume is visible from one of the Vulcan’s solid rocket motors during the launch of the USSF-87 mission on Feb. 12, 2026. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now. United Launch Alliance said an issue affected one of the four solid rocket boosters that helped propel its Vulcan rocket into space Thursday on a mission for…
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ULA to debut unflown variant of Atlas 5 rocket later this year
The Atlas 5-511 vehicle is the last of 11 versions of United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket to have never flown. That will change in late 2020. Credit: United Launch Alliance The last unflown variant of United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 launcher — fitted with a five-meter fairing and a single strap-on solid rocket booster…
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U.S. military orders two more surveillance satellites to roam geosynchronous orbit
Artist’s concept of two GSSAP spacecraft in orbit. Credit: U.S. Air Force Orbital ATK started work on two more surveillance satellites for the U.S. Air Force’s geosynchronous neighborhood watch program late last year as the military aims to expand its ability to track and investigate other objects in the heavily-trafficked belt more than 22,000 miles…
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Video: Liftoff of Delta 4 with second GSSAP satellite duo
The United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket, standing 206 feet tall and and weighing 720,000 pounds, unleashes 1.1 million pounds of thrust from its main engine and two side-mounted boosters at 12:52 a.m. EDT (0452 today to launch the GSSAP No. 3 and No. 4 satellites for the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program from Cape…
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Photos: Delta 4 lights up the sky for night owl launch
Launching the second pair of Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program satellites for the U.S. military, a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket thundered away from Cape Canaveral today at 12:52 a.m. EDT (0452 GMT). Photos by Alex Polimeni/Spaceflight Now See earlier Delta 375 coverage. Our Delta archive.
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Photos: 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 on Aug. 19. The 9-million-pound gantry was retracted the length of a football field in preparation for launch of the GSSAP payload into Earth orbit for…
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Delta 4 successfully soars to the high ground to deploy two patrol satellites
CAPE CANAVERAL — The 375th Delta rocket doubled the size of the Air Force’s “neighborhood watch” program today with the successful launch and deployment of two surveillance satellites into the vast geosynchronous belt of spacecraft around the planet. Evolved from its humble beginnings 56 years ago to today’s modern Delta 4 rockets, the 206-foot-tall vehicle…
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Photos: More Launch shots of Delta 375 rocket
The United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Medium+ (4,2) rocket lifted off at 12:52 a.m. EDT (0452 GMT) from Cape Canaveral for the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program. Credit: United Launch Alliance See earlier Delta 375 coverage. Our Delta archive.
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Live coverage: Tonight’s Delta 4 countdown and launch journal
(Launch webcast begins at 12:27 a.m. EDT) Mission Status Center Live coverage of the United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket flight with two GSSAP space situational awareness satellites. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.