{"id":18762,"date":"2017-10-16T21:45:42","date_gmt":"2017-10-16T13:45:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/systimas-pyrovalves-make-their-debut-with-atlas-5-launch-of-nrol-52-spy-satellite\/"},"modified":"2017-10-16T21:45:42","modified_gmt":"2017-10-16T13:45:42","slug":"systimas-pyrovalves-make-their-debut-with-atlas-5-launch-of-nrol-52-spy-satellite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/systimas-pyrovalves-make-their-debut-with-atlas-5-launch-of-nrol-52-spy-satellite\/","title":{"rendered":"Systima\u2019s pyrovalves make their debut with Atlas 5 launch of NROL-52 spy satellite"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_369691\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-369691\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-369691\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/171016-nro-630x420.jpg\" alt=\"NROL-52 launch\" width=\"630\" height=\"420\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/171016-nro-630x420.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/171016-nro-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/171016-nro-1260x840.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/171016-nro.jpg 1800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-369691\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">United Launch Alliance\u2019s Atlas 5 rocket lofts a payload into space for the NROL-52 mission. (ULA Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After more than a week of delays, the National Reconnaissance Office was glad to see its latest spy satellite go into orbit on Sunday \u2014 and so was Kirkland, Wash.-based Systima Technologies.<\/p>\n<p>When a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket launched the NROL-52 satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Systima\u2019s pyrotechnic valves played a mission-critical role as part of the reaction control system on the rocket\u2019s Centaur upper stage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis marks the first flight of Systima\u2019s pyrovalves, RCS hardware, as well as the first time Systima has supported an Atlas 5 launch,\u201d Taylor Banks, Systima\u2019s controller and contracts manager, told GeekWire in an email. \u201cSystima is thrilled to be part of the ULA team and would like to congratulate all that supported the successful mission.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The pyrovalves went through a one-time firing during ascent to activate the reaction control system. You can hear ULA launch commentator Marty Malinowski calling out that \u201cRCS pyrovalve has been fired \u2026 signatures look good\u201d at the 29:30 mark in this YouTube video of the launch:<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Atlas V NROL-52 LIVE Launch Broadcast (Oct. 15)\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/O9-bBst2b8k?start=1770&amp;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The NROL-52 launch had been delayed several times, due to weather concerns as well as a balky telemetry transmitter that had to be replaced.<\/p>\n<p>The National Reconnaissance Office didn\u2019t discuss the precise nature of the payload, but it\u2019s generally assumed to be a data relay satellite for surveillance imagery.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNever before has innovation been more important for keeping us ahead of the game,\u201d Air Force Col. Matthew Skeen, director of the NRO Office of Space Launch, said in a news release issued after liftoff. \u201cAs the eagle soars, so will the advanced capabilities this payload provides to our national security. Kudos to the entire team for a job well done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>NROL-52 was the fourth of five NRO launches planned this year. The next one is due to blast off in December from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.<\/p>\n<p>Systima Technologies manufactures a variety of energetic components and integrated systems supporting the defense, space and commercial markets. One of its high-profile projects is the fabrication of a ring-shaped joint assembly for a stage adapter on NASA\u2019s heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>United Launch Alliance\u2019s Atlas 5 rocket lofts a payload into space for the NROL-52 mission. (ULA Photo) After more than a week of delays, the National Reconnaissance Office was glad to see its latest spy satellite go into orbit on Sunday \u2014 and so was Kirkland, Wash.-based Systima Technologies. When a United Launch Alliance Atlas [&hellip;]<\/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":[724,439,290,4373,750],"class_list":["post-18762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-atlas-5","tag-military","tag-nro","tag-systima-technologies","tag-united-launch-alliance"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18762"}],"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=18762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18762\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}