U.S. Air Force X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle To Launch From Cape May 20
By Space Coast Daily // May 19, 2015
60 percent chance of favorable conditions
ABOVE LIVESTREAM: The fourth flight of the U.S. Air Force X-37B program is set to lift off May 20 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket between 10:45 a.m. and 2:45 p.m. EDT from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
BREVARD COUNTY • CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FLORIDA — The fourth flight of the U.S. Air Force X-37B program is set to lift off May 20 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket between 10:45 a.m. and 2:45 p.m. EDT from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
A Launch Readiness Review on Monday was successful and the rocket will roll out Tuesday.
The weather outlook is currently 60 percent chance of favorable conditions.
The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, or OTV, is an experimental test program to demonstrate technologies for a reliable, reusable, unmanned space test platform for the U.S. Air Force.
The primary objectives of the X-37B are twofold: reusable spacecraft technologies for America’s future in space and operating experiments which can be returned to, and examined, on Earth.
LAUNCH FACTS
Rocket/Payload: A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 501 will launch the AFSPC-5 mission for the U.S. Air Force.
Date/Site/Launch Time: Wednesday, May 20, 2015, from Space Launch Complex (SLC)-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The launch period is 10:45 a.m.–2:45 p.m. EDT.
Viewing the Launch by Webcast: The live webcast will begin at 10:45 a.m. EDT.
Mission Description: AFSPC-5 is carrying OTV-4 for the U.S. Air Force in support of national security.
The Atlas V vehicle will also launch an Aft Bulkhead Carrier (ABC) containing eight P-Pods that will release 10 CubeSats. Following primary spacecraft separation the Centaur will change altitude and inclination in order to release the CubeSat spacecraft which are sponsored by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The ten CubeSats were developed by the U.S. Naval Academy, the Aerospace Corporation, the Air Force Research Laboratory, California Polytechnic State University, and Planetary Society.
Launch Notes: AFSPC-5 marks ULA’s 96th mission since the company was founded in 2006 and the fifth ULA launch of 2015. AFSPC-5 also will be the 54th Atlas V launch since the vehicle’s inaugural mission in 2002
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPACE NEWS
