{"id":21634,"date":"2024-07-31T18:59:32","date_gmt":"2024-07-31T10:59:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/ula-launches-final-national-security-atlas-v\/"},"modified":"2024-07-31T18:59:32","modified_gmt":"2024-07-31T10:59:32","slug":"ula-launches-final-national-security-atlas-v","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/ula-launches-final-national-security-atlas-v\/","title":{"rendered":"ULA launches final national security Atlas V"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\t\"\"Image: Theresa Cross \/ Space Explored<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tImage: Theresa Cross \/ Space Explored\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ULA launched an Atlas V rocket early this morning carrying a classified payload. This was the Atlas V\u2019s final national security payload, with the remaining NSSL missions being carried out by the company\u2019s new Vulcan rocket.<\/p>\n

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At 6:45 A.M. ET Tuesday morning, an Atlas V lifted off from SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The mission, designated USSF-51, was a classified payload awarded to ULA by the Space Force under its National Security Space Launch contract.<\/p>\n

The Atlas V rocket was launched in a 551 configuration, its largest and most powerful variation. It\u2019s unknown what was inside the payload, however Space Systems Command confirmed it was deployed into its correct orbit about seven hours after it lifted off.<\/p>\n

For ULA this was its 100th national security launch, a sector it has dominated in since its inception in the early 2000s from its merger of Lockheed Martin and Boeing rocket programs. For many years it was a defacto monopoly on government launch contracts, operating all the popular rockets of its time, Delta II, Delta IV, and the Atlas V.<\/p>\n

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