Tag: National Reconnaissance Office
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Preview: Atlas 5 to provide spacelift for U.S. National Reconnaissance Office
The NROL-79 commemorative poster. Credit: United Launch Alliance Taking a U.S. national security satellite payload into space is the primary objective of the 70th Atlas 5 booster that will be launched Wednesday. The United Launch Alliance rocket, flying for the 35th time in its basic two-stage version with no solids, is scheduled for liftoff around…
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Reconnaissance payload mounted atop Atlas 5 for California launch
File photo of Atlas 5 payload lift and mate at Space Launch Complex 3-East pad. Credit: United launch Alliance Rising from the ground and into the launch pad gantry, a clandestine U.S. national security payload was fitted atop its Atlas 5 booster rocket in California today for the ride into space on March 1. The…
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Minotaur rocket launch for NRO expected at Wallops by end of 2018
File photo of a Minotaur 1 launch from Wallops Island, Virginia. Credit: NASA/Wallops Flight Facility A classified National Reconnaissance Office satellite mission assigned last month to launch on an Orbital ATK Minotaur 1 rocket will take off from Wallops Island in Virginia by the end of 2018, a U.S. Air Force spokesperson confirmed Wednesday. No…
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NROL-61 satellite launched Thursday spotted in space by sky-watchers
The Atlas 5 rocket lifts off with NROL-61. Credit: Alex Polimeni/Spaceflight Now CAPE CANAVERAL — Sky-watchers with a passion for looking up and tracking satellites with remarkable precision have made quick work of locating the spacecraft launched atop an Atlas 5 rocket on Thursday. The NROL-61 satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office was successfully deployed…
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Spy satellite infrastructure supported by successful Atlas 5 rocket launch
CAPE CANAVERAL — A clandestine satellite for the U.S. reconnaissance program was successfully launched by an Atlas 5 rocket today, riding a ferocious torrent of fire and smoke off the pad before disappearing behind a curtain of secrecy. The 194-foot-tall United Launch Alliance rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 at 8:37 a.m. EDT…
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Photos: Atlas 5 powers away with NROL-61 payload
Launching the secretive NROL-61 payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket thundered away from Cape Canaveral today at 8:37 a.m. EDT (1237 GMT). Credit: United Launch Alliance See earlier NROL-61 coverage. Our Atlas archive.
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Photos: More shots of Thursday’s Atlas 5 rocket launch
Departing Cape Canaveral at 8:37 a.m. EDT Thursday, the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifted a classified national security satellite into orbit for deployment. Photos by Alex Polimeni/Spaceflight Now See earlier NROL-61 coverage. Our Atlas archive.
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Video: Liftoff of Atlas 5 on NROL-61 satellite deployment
The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, standing 194 feet tall and and weighing 950,000 pounds, unleashes 1.5 million pounds of thrust from its main engine and two side-mounted boosters at 8:37 a.m. EDT today to launch the National Reconnaissance Office’s NROL-61 satellite from Cape Canaveral. Video courtesy of United Launch Alliance See earlier NROL-61…
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Atlas 5/NROL-61 launch timeline
Follow the unclassified portion of the Atlas 5 rocket’s ascent to space from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 launch pad with the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office’s NROL-61 satellite. Launch is scheduled for Thursday at 8:37 a.m. EDT (1237 GMT). T+00:01.1: Liftoff The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 vehicle, designated AV-065, will lift off and begin a…
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Photos: Payload with whimsical logo painted on nose cone lifted atop Atlas
Already shrouded in the Atlas 5 rocket’s Extra Extended Payload Fairing (XEPF) aluminum nose cone, the National Reconnaissance Office’s NROL-61 satellite was delivered to Cape Canaveral’s Vertical Integration Facility on Tuesday, July 19 and lifted aboard the United Launch Alliance vehicle for flight. Launch is planned for Thursday, July 28 at 8:37 a.m. EDT (1237…