CAPE CANAVERAL \u2014 A record number of Atlas 5 launches, the return of Delta 2 and a Delta 4-Heavy at the dawn of a new space exploration era highlighted 2014 for United Launch Alliance.<\/p>\n
The company performed 14 missions this year from Cape Canaveral in Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California using nine Atlas rockets, four Delta 4 vehicles and one Delta 2. ULA\u2019s customer lineup for the year included a half-dozen launches for the U.S. Air Force, three for the National Reconnaissance Office, three commercial flights, and two for NASA.<\/p>\n
The year featured four Global Positioning System satellite launches, the most conducted in a given calendar year since 1993.<\/p>\n
Take a look back at 2014 with the help of ULA\u2019s post-launch highlights films for each mission:<\/p>\n
Vehicle:<\/strong> Atlas 5-401 The Tracking and Data Relay satellite-L was successfully delivered into orbit to reinforce NASA\u2019s space-based tracking and communications network. Advancing from the days of ground stations providing sporadic coverage of man\u2019s early exploits in space to the creation of an orbiting satellite network for constant communications, the next bird in the third generation of NASA\u2019s tracking stations in the sky roared off the launch pad on Jan. 23.<\/p>\n
\nPayload:<\/strong> TDRS-L
\nDate:<\/strong> Jan. 23, 2014
\nSite:<\/strong> Cape Canaveral, Fla.<\/p>\n