{"id":12598,"date":"2020-03-12T23:54:51","date_gmt":"2020-03-12T15:54:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/final-aehf-satellite-mated-to-atlas-5-launcher-at-cape-canaveral\/"},"modified":"2020-03-12T23:54:51","modified_gmt":"2020-03-12T15:54:51","slug":"final-aehf-satellite-mated-to-atlas-5-launcher-at-cape-canaveral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/final-aehf-satellite-mated-to-atlas-5-launcher-at-cape-canaveral\/","title":{"rendered":"Final AEHF satellite mated to Atlas 5 launcher at Cape Canaveral"},"content":{"rendered":"

EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: <\/strong>Updated March 13 with launch delay to March 26.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The base of the Atlas 5 rocket, fitted with five solid rocket boosters, for the launch of the U.S. Space Force\u2019s AEHF 6 satellite. Credit: United Launch Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The sixth and final satellite in the U.S. Space Force\u2019s network of secure, jam-resistant AEHF communications satellites has been installed on top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket at Cape Canaveral for liftoff March 26.<\/p>\n

Built by Lockheed Martin, the spacecraft was encapsulated inside the Atlas 5\u2019s payload shroud \u2014 built in Switzerland by RUAG Space \u2014 and transported to the Vertical Integration Facility near Cape Canaveral\u2019s Complex 41 launch pad Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The AEHF 6 satellite was raised atop the Atlas 5 on its mobile launch platform inside the VIF. Tory Bruno, ULA\u2019s CEO, confirmed Thursday on Twitter that the spacecraft \u201cis resting comfortably atop the \u2018Mighty Atlas.’\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The addition of the Advanced Extremely High Frequency payload capped assembly of the 83rd Atlas 5 launcher.<\/p>\n

The 197-foot-tall (60-meter) rocket is scheduled for liftoff March 26 during a two-hour window opening at 2:57 p.m. EDT (1857 GMT). Earlier this week, ULA announced a two-day delay in the AEHF 6 launch to March 21 \u201cdue to an off-nominal valve reading during launch vehicle processing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAdditional time is needed for the team to replace and retest the valve,\u201d ULA said in a statement.<\/p>\n

ULA said Friday that the launch would be pushed back again to March 26 after teams needed \u201cadditional time to complete the booster valve replacement and retest.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Atlas 5 slated to launch the AEHF 6 satellite is flying in the \u201c551\u201d configuration with five strap-on solid rocket boosters and a 5.4-meter (17.7-foot) diameter payload fairing.<\/p>\n

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Artist\u2019s concept of an AEHF satellite in orbit. Credit: Lockheed Martin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The AEHF 6 satellite will be the first major U.S. Space Force payload to launch after the creation of the new military branch in December. It joins five previous AEHF satellites launched on Atlas 5 rockets since 2010, continuing and expanding secure communications services for U.S. military commanders and the president provided by the military\u2019s earlier generation of Milstar spacecraft.<\/p>\n

The Space Force is comprised of military units that previously operated under the umbrella of the now-defunct U.S. Air Force Space Command, including space wings that manage launch ranges at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The new Space Force military branch remains part of the Department of the Air Force, and also includes the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base, which oversees launch and spacecraft procurement and development programs, such as AEHF, GPS and SBIRS satellites for communications, navigation and early warning missions.<\/p>\n

The AEHF fleet is a follow-on to the Air Force\u2019s Milstar satellite network, and the sixth satellite will be the final craft in the constellation. The AEHF satellites are designed to operate at last 14 years.<\/p>\n

Northrop Grumman supplies the communications payloads for the AEHF satellites, each of which provides more capacity than the entire five-satellite Milstar constellation, which launched in the 1990s and 2000s. The AEHF satellites are cross-linked with one another, allowing the network to beam signals around the world without going through a ground station.<\/p>\n

The Atlas 5 rocket will deliver the AEHF 6 satellite into an elliptical transfer orbit, then the spacecraft will use its own engine to circularize its orbit more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) above the equator.<\/p>\n

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The first stage for the next Atlas 5 rocket launch was raised on ULA\u2019s mobile launch platform Feb. 19. Credit: United Launch Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After reaching a preliminary orbit, the Atlas 5 will deploy a secondary payload named TDO 2 around 31 minutes after liftoff. Based on a suitcase-sized 12U CubeSat platform, TDO 2 carries multiple U.S. government payloads that will provide optical calibration capabilities, which will support space domain awareness, according to the U.S. Space Force\u2019s Space and Missile Systems Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mission of TDO 2 is to support space domain awareness through optical calibration and satellite laser ranging,\u201d SMC said in a statement. \u201cThis capability will assist the nation\u2019s warfighters in performing their critical missions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The TDO 2 spacecraft was manufactured by Georgia Institute of Technology and sponsored by Air Force Research Laboratory, according to SMC. It is mounted to the aft end of the Atlas 5\u2019s Centaur upper stage.<\/p>\n

A similar secondary payload named TDO 1 accompanied the AEHF 5 satellite into orbit on a previous Atlas 5 launch in August 2019.<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: Updated March 13 with launch delay to March 26. The base of the Atlas 5 rocket, fitted with five solid rocket boosters, for the launch of the U.S. Space Force\u2019s AEHF 6 satellite. Credit: United Launch Alliance The sixth and final satellite in the U.S. Space Force\u2019s network of secure, jam-resistant AEHF communications satellites […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2301,2302,2278,1056,724,2279,1708,1608],"class_list":["post-12598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-a2100","tag-aehf","tag-aehf-6","tag-air-force-research-laboratory","tag-atlas-5","tag-av-086","tag-complex-41","tag-cubesats"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12598"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12598\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}