REPLAY: ULA Atlas V Rocket Successfully Launches From Cape Canaveral

By  //  October 17, 2018

launch window opens at 12:15 a.m. et

WATCH REPLAY: ULA Atlas V Rocket Launches From Cape Canaveral

BREVARD COUNTY • CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA – United Launch Alliance (ULA) launched their of Atlas V 551 rocket from Cape Canaveral early Wednesday morning.

Liftoff occurred on schedule at 12:15 a.m. ET.

United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket is a workhorse for the U.S. military, intelligence community and scientific researchers, having flown 78 successful missions since debuting in August 2002.

Developed as a modular vehicle, each Atlas V is tailored to the needs of its passenger by adding as many as five side-mounted solid rocket boosters for increased lift performance and a variety of available payload fairings in various diameters and lengths to protect satellites during atmospheric ascent.

The high-energy Centaur upper stage, which has been used to send spacecraft to every planet in our solar system, is incorporated into Atlas V to deliver the payloads to their intended destinations.

For the AEHF-4 mission, the Atlas V 551 variant will be used. The rocket features a kerosene-fueled common core booster, five strap-on solid rocket motors, the hydrogen-fueled Centaur upper stage and a five-meter-diameter payload fairing.

This configuration launched the New Horizons spacecraft to Pluto and the Juno probe to Jupiter, plus the Navy’s five MUOS satellites and the Air Force’s AFSPC-11 mission.

Mission Information: United Launch Alliance will use an Atlas V 551 rocket to launch the fourth communications satellite in the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) series for the U.S. Air Force.

AEHF satellites provide highly-secure, jam-proof connectivity between U.S. national leadership and deployed military forces. Atlas V rockets successfully launched the first three AEHF satellites in 2010, 2012 and 2013 as the new constellation was formed in geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles above Earth.

Launch Notes: This was the 131st mission for United Launch Alliance and their 50th launch for the Air Force. It is the 79th for an Atlas V rocket and the 9th in the 551 configuration.

Launch coverage was seen on Space Coast Daily TV

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