Tag: ULA
-
ULA launches first operational Amazon Kuiper mission on second attempt
Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband communications mega-constellation, a future competitor to SpaceX’s Starlink service, has launched its first operational satellites to low-Earth orbit. Following a scrubbed first launch attempt, a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 551, standing atop Space Launch Complex 41 in Florida, lofted Project Kuiper (KA-01), the first of more than 80 Kuiper…
-
Launch Roundup: China launches crew, Falcon 9 launches Bandwagon rideshare and 250th Starlink mission
This week, China has launched three taikonauts to the Tiangong space station. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 had four flights scheduled, with its third Bandwagon rideshare mission followed by three more Starlink missions, including its 250th dedicated Starlink flight. United Launch Alliance successfully launched its first batch of operational Kuiper satellites aboard an Atlas V 551 rocket.…
-
Cape launch sites bustling with activity, New Glenn and Starship preparations underway
While several Cape Canaveral launch sites remain busy with launches from SpaceX, ULA, and Blue Origin, other facilities at the United States’ premier space launch facility are undergoing important work for a new generation of rockets to debut in the not-too-distant future. Changes that will affect existing vehicles, such as the Falcon 9, are also…
-
Poor weather forces a scrub of the Kuiper 1 launch on a ULA Atlas 5
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket sits on Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral at sunset. The Atlas V will launch the Kuiper 1 mission for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband satellite constellation. Image: United Launch Alliance A band of off-shore thunderstorms forced United Launch Alliance to scrub a launch attempt of…
-
Launch Roundup: Falcon 9 launches three missions; New Shepard completes NS-31
During this active week of launches, SpaceX launched Falcon 9 three times, and New Shepard carried the first all-woman crew above the Kármán line. On April 10, China successfully launched a Cheng Zhang 3B/E rocket into geostationary transfer orbit. SpaceX launched NROL-192 and Starlink Group 12-17 on April 12, followed by an expected launch of…
-
SpaceX to launch second accelerated GPS 3 satellite mission in late May
Seen here prior to being sealed in its shipping container at Lockheed Martin’s Littleton, Colorado facility, SV08 will join the U.S. Space Force’s operational GPS constellation in orbit. Image: Lockheed Martin. Following the successful accelerated launch of a Global Positioning System on a Falcon 9 rocket in mid-December, the U.S. Space Force, Lockheed Martin and…
-
Amazon targets April 9 for launch of 1st production satellites for its Project Kuiper internet mega-constellation
United Launch Alliance (ULA) payload fairings encapsulate 27 of Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites ahead of their launch no earlier than April 9, 2025. Image: Amazon Amazon is less than a week away from the first launch to assemble its satellite internet constellation, called Project Kuiper. It plans to send 27 of its satellites into low…
-
U.S. Space Force certifies ULA’s Vulcan rocket to begin launching national security missions
Vulcan climbs away from Space Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station shortly after sunrise on Oct. 4, 2024. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now. In an announcement highly anticipated by United Launch Alliance and others in the spaceflight community, the U.S. Space Force’s Assured Access to Space (AATS) office affirmed that the Vulcan…
-
GEM-63XL motor test fired at Promontory as part of Vulcan Cert-2 investigation
After Vulcan’s otherwise successful second certification mission (Cert-2) on Oct. 4, 2024, was marred by a nozzle separation on one of the rocket’s GEM-63XL solid rocket boosters, questions arose about how and whether this would impact Vulcan’s certification for national security missions. The third Vulcan flight was supposed to start the United Launch Alliance’s (ULA)…
-
ULA begins de-stacking Vulcan rocket, pivots to Atlas 5 launch of Amazon’s Kuiper satellites for first 2025 mission
United Launch Alliance (ULA) hoists its Centaur V upper stage atop the Vulcan first stage booster into the Government Vertical Integration Facility (VIF-G) at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida on Nov. 1, 2024. Image: United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance is shifting its launch plans to begin 2025. On Friday,…