{"id":10712,"date":"2022-01-20T21:41:23","date_gmt":"2022-01-20T13:41:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/ulas-first-launch-of-2022-to-debut-unflown-variant-of-atlas-5-rocket\/"},"modified":"2022-01-20T21:41:23","modified_gmt":"2022-01-20T13:41:23","slug":"ulas-first-launch-of-2022-to-debut-unflown-variant-of-atlas-5-rocket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/ulas-first-launch-of-2022-to-debut-unflown-variant-of-atlas-5-rocket\/","title":{"rendered":"ULA\u2019s first launch of 2022 to debut unflown variant of Atlas 5 rocket"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
A promotional poster for the USSF-8 mission, showing the Atlas 5\u2019s configuration with a single solid rocket booster and a 5.4-meter (17.7-foot) diameter payload fairing. Credit: United Launch Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

United Launch Alliance\u2019s Atlas 5 rocket has flown in 10 different configurations over 90 missions since 2002, each version optimized to haul satellites of a certain size and mass into space.<\/p>\n

The only variant of the Atlas 5 rocket yet to fly is set to launch Friday afternoon from Cape Canaveral with a pair of satellites to help the U.S. military keep track of traffic in geosynchronous orbit.<\/p>\n

Fitted with a single solid rocket booster to provide an extra burst of speed off the launch pad, the Atlas 5 is set to depart Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT) Friday to begin ULA\u2019s first mission of 2022.<\/p>\n

The mission: Deliver the fifth and sixth satellites to orbit for the Space Force\u2019s Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program.<\/p>\n

The GSSAP satellites are designed to help the military track and observe objects in geosynchronous orbit more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over the equator. The first four GSSAP satellites launched in pairs on Delta 4 rockets in 2014 and 2016.<\/p>\n

In 2017, the military confirmed it ordered two additional GSSAP satellites from Orbital ATK, now part of Northrop Grumman. Those satellites, each the size of a compact car, are mounted side by side inside the Atlas 5 rocket\u2019s payload fairing for launch Friday.<\/p>\n

ULA will use a unique configuration of its workhorse Atlas 5 launcher for the mission, which the Space Force has designated USSF 8.<\/p>\n

The Atlas 5 will be fitted with a single strap-on solid rocket booster supplied by Northrop Grumman, a 5.4-meter (17.7-foot) diameter payload fairing provided by RUAG Space, and a single RL10 engine from Aerojet Rocketdyne on the rocket\u2019s Centaur upper stage.<\/p>\n

This version of the Atlas 5 is known as the \u201c511\u201d configuration, with the first number denoting the size of the payload fairing, the second number representing the number of solid rocket booster, and the third digit the number of engines on the Centaur stage.<\/p>\n

The placement of just one strap-on booster on the side of the Atlas 5\u2019s first stage will give the rocket asymmetrical thrust as it climbs off the pad. Atlas 5 missions have flown with a single solid rocket booster before, but those flights used the smaller 4-meter-wide payload fairing option.<\/p>\n

The Atlas 5-511 rocket will take off with 1.2 million pounds of thrust from the single solid-fueled booster and the first stage\u2019s kerosene-fueled RD-180 main engine. According to ULA, the Atlas 5-511 can carry up to 11,570 pounds (5,250 kilograms) to an elliptical geostationary transfer orbit. Its capacity to low Earth orbit is roughly 24,250 pounds (11,000 kilograms), according to ULA performance data.<\/p>\n

\"\"
An Atlas 5 rocket rolls out to pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station with two GSSAP satellites for the U.S. Space Force. Credit: United Launch Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tory Bruno, ULA\u2019s CEO, calls the \u201c511\u201d version of the Atlas 5 the \u201cBig Slider.\u201d Its launch Friday will likely be the only flight of the Atlas 5-511 configuration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call it the \u2018Big Slider\u2019 because if you watch the launch, you\u2019re going to see it kind of power slide off the pad because of this asymmetric torque,\u201d Bruno said in a video posted on YouTube by ULA. \u201cA lot of you wonder how do you fly that. That nozzle (of the solid rocket booster) is canted to pass through the average center of gravity, and the RD-180 has tremendous control authority with its thrust vector system, and it can overcome that and compensate for it, and this is just the right amount of energy to carry these two payloads to their very cool mission of space surveillance.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Atlas 5 rocket was designed by Lockheed Martin to fly in up to 20 different configurations, giving engineers the ability to \u201cdial\u201d the rocket\u2019s power and payload volume to meet the needs of each specific mission. Mission planners have the option of flying a four-meter or five-meter diameter payload fairing, and can fly the Atlas 5 with up to five strap-on solid boosters, or none if the mission doesn\u2019t need them.<\/p>\n

The Atlas 5\u2019s Centaur upper stage can fly with one or two RL10 engines, depending on mission requirements. So far, all but one Atlas 5 launch has flown with the single-engine Centaur upper stage.<\/p>\n

The exception is on launches with Boeing\u2019s Starliner capsule, which launches with a dual-engine Centaur stage. There are no other missions on the Atlas 5 launch schedule confirmed to use the dual-engine Centaur stage.<\/p>\n

The addition of the unique Atlas 5 configuration for Starliner missions and the lack of use of other dual-engine Centaur variants effectively leaves 11 Atlas 5 versions that will have flown at least once before the rocket\u2019s retirement.<\/p>\n

Lockheed Martin merged its Atlas rocket program with Boeing\u2019s Delta family in 2006 to create United Launch Alliance.<\/p>\n

The most-used version of the Atlas 5 to date is the \u201c401\u201d variant with a four-meter fairing and no solid boosters. The Atlas 5-401 has flown 40 times, including the first Atlas flight in 2002.<\/p>\n

There have been six flights of the Atlas 5-411 configuration with a sole solid booster.<\/p>\n

With asymmetrical thrust countered by steering from the Atlas 5\u2019s RD-180 main engine, the Atlas 5-511 and -411 configurations are unique among launchers currently in service. The ability to add a single booster allows customers to pay for just enough capacity for their payloads, rather than buying a more larger, more expensive Atlas 5 variant.<\/p>\n