Tag: United Launch Alliance
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Photos: Atlas 5 rocket moved to launch pad for Thursday takeoff
Ready to deliver 1.5 million pounds of thrust Thursday morning, an Atlas 5 rocket was rolled from its assembly building to the launch pad today for its national security satellite-deployment flight. The United Launch Alliance rocket, equipped with two strap-on solid-propellant boosters for added performance, will launch the clandestine NROL-61 payload for the U.S. National…
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NASA books nuclear-certified Atlas 5 rocket for Mars 2020 rover launch
An Atlas 5-541 rocket, like this one, will launch the Mars 2020 rover. Credit: Pat Corkery/United Launch Alliance CAPE CANAVERAL — America’s next Mars rover, a $2.1 billion nuclear-powered vehicle to search for evidence that life once existed there, will be launched to the Red Planet in the summer of 2020 by a powerful Atlas…
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Secret NRO satellite mounted atop Atlas 5 rocket for July 28 launch
Editor’s note July 20: Story updated with launch time announcement. File photo of Atlas 5 payload installation. Credit: ULA CAPE CANAVERAL — Crews hoisted a covert spacecraft atop an Atlas 5 booster rocket this morning for its trek into an equatorial orbit next week. United Launch Alliance will perform the deployment mission on July 28…
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Delta 2 rocket being assembled at Vandenberg for penultimate launch
The step-by-step Delta 2 assembly process. Photos by NASA The next-to-last Delta 2 rocket is being stacked at its California launch site to take flight in January to put a civilian weather satellite into polar orbit. The first stage, interstage, nine strap-on boosters and second stage of the United Launch Alliance rocket are being pieced…
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Mystery payload for spy satellite agency launching aboard next Atlas 5
The NROL-61 poster. Credit: United Launch Alliance CAPE CANAVERAL — United Launch Alliance is preparing an Atlas 5 rocket to boost an undercover satellite into orbit for national security later this month. Details are scarce and informed speculation is nonexistent in the lead up to launching the clandestine NROL-61 mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance…
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Delta 4 rolls out for second launch in ‘neighborhood watch’ effort
File video of Delta 4 rollout. Courtesy of NASA-KSC CAPE CANAVERAL — Just three weeks after the Delta 4-Heavy rocket left the launch pad on its way to a successful satellite-deployment mission for U.S. national security, a smaller booster in the family has rolled out for its August military flight. The United Launch Alliance Delta…
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Atlas 5 rocket gains approval to launch again after issue on last flight diagnosed
The Atlas 5 rocket streaks to space on March 22. Credit: Alex Polimeni/Spaceflight Now CAPE CANAVERAL — United Launch Alliance has granted “flight clearance” for its workhorse Atlas 5 rocket to resume satellite deployments after linking an errant valve with the fuel usage crunch on its most recent mission and tweaking subsequent vehicles. The next…
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Photos: More shots of Saturday’s Delta 4-Heavy rocket Launch
Departing on three pillars of fire, the United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket lifted off at 1:51 p.m. from Cape Canaveral for a classified national security satellite deployment. Photos by Alex Polimeni/Spaceflight Now See earlier Delta 374 coverage. Our Delta archive.
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Photos: Spectacular start to Delta 4-Heavy’s satellite deployment mission
The United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket fired away from Cape Canaveral at 1:51 p.m. EDT Saturday to deploy a covert surveillance satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. Credit: Walter Scriptunas II / Scriptunas Images See earlier Delta 374 coverage. Our Delta archive.
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Photos: Gantry rollback for second launch attempt
After being put back in position around the Delta 4-Heavy rocket after Thursday’s weather scrub, the 330-foot tall mobile service tower is retracted again at Cape Canaveral’s pad 37B for launch that will place the NROL-37 payload into Earth orbit. Photos by Alex Polimeni/Spaceflight Now See earlier Delta 374 coverage. Our Delta archive.