Tag: military space
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Atlas 5 rocket, NRO payload return to launch pad after repairs
A 206-foot-tall Atlas 5 rocket returned to pad 41 at Cape Canaveral on Tuesday evening after an unplanned rollback to a nearby integration hangar for repairs. Credit: United Launch Alliance Ready for blastoff just after sunset Wednesday with a classified payload for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket…
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Live coverage: Atlas 5 launch delayed to Nov. 13
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of an Atlas 5 rocket with a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office. The mission is designated NROL-101. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. United Launch Alliance’s live launch broadcast begins at 5:38 p.m. EST (2258 GMT) Tuesday, Nov. 3.
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Good weather expected for twilight Atlas 5 launch Tuesday
The NROL-101 mission patch pays tribute to the ‘Lord of the Rings’ stories, with a gold ring and Elvish script that translates to “Goodness Persists.” Credit: National Reconnaissance Office Forecasters predict a 90% chance of good weather for liftoff of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral just after sunset Tuesday with…
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Atlas 5 launch from Cape Canaveral scheduled for next week
The National Reconnaissance Office’s top secret payload is lifted atop ULA’s Atlas 5 rocket Monday inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Credit: United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance teams mounted a top secret payload for the National Reconnaissance Office on top of an Atlas 5 rocket at Cape Canaveral Monday…
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Northrop Grumman ends OmegA rocket program
Artist’s illustration of the OmegA rocket. Credit: Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman says it will not continue development of the OmegA rocket after the U.S. Space Force last month picked United Launch Alliance and SpaceX as the military’s two top launch contractors over the next seven years. A company spokesperson said Sept. 9 that Northrop Grumman…
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NOAA weather satellite transitions to new role for U.S. military
A view of the Earth from the EWS-G1 satellite, formerly known as GOES–13, taken on Sept. 1, 2020, from its new location over the Indian Ocean. Credit: U.S. Space Force’s MARK IV-B Program Office A weather satellite built and launched for NOAA in 2006 to help track hurricanes approaching the United States has been repositioned…
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China tests experimental reusable spacecraft shrouded in mystery
File photo of a previous Long March 2F launch. Credit: Xinhua A mysterious space vehicle described by Chinese state media as an experimental reusable spacecraft completed a two-day flight in low Earth orbit Sunday. The spacecraft took off on top of a Long March 2F rocket Friday from the Jiuquan launch base in the Gobi…
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ULA calls off launch of triple-core Delta 4-Heavy rocket, will try again Saturday
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) on Aug. 27 with confirmation of SAOCOM 1B delay. Updated at 2:45 p.m. EDT (1845 GMT) on Aug. 27 with delay until Saturday. United Launch Alliance’s Delta 4-Heavy rocket is revealed late Wednesday with the removal of the mobile gantry on pad 37B at Cape Canaveral Air…
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Delta 4-Heavy likely heading for geosynchronous orbit with surveillance payload
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated Aug. 28 before second launch attempt. Updated Sept. 28, 29 and 30 before subsequent launch attempts. The top secret intelligence-gathering payload for the U.S. government set for launch Wednesday on top of a Delta 4-Heavy rocket is likely the next in a line of sensitive eavesdropping satellites designed to intercept radio signals…
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Photos: Mobile gantry retracted from ULA’s Delta 4-Heavy for Aug. 27 launch attempt
Towering more than 30 stories tall, the mobile gantry structure at the Delta 4-Heavy rocket’s launch pad at Cape Canaveral was wheeled into position for liftoff of the triple-core launcher Thursday with a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office. The mobile gantry — which weighs around 9 million pounds — is moving on rail…