Tag: AV-068
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Photos: Atlas 5 delivers success on 70th Launch
For its 70th launch in 14 years, the Atlas 5 rocket carried the NROL-79 payload into space for the National Reconnaissance Office. Credit: United Launch Alliance See earlier NROL-79 coverage. Our Atlas archive.
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Atlas 5 powers covert reconnaissance payload to orbit on its 70th mission
Performing a successful spacelift mission for the U.S. spy satellite agency, an Atlas 5 rocket delivered a surveillance package into orbit today believed by analysts to be another pair of tandem sleuths to scoop up radio signals from adversarial ships at sea. Liftoff came at 9:49:51 a.m. local time (12:49:51 p.m. EST; 1749:51 GMT) from…
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Video: NROL-79 launch aboard Atlas 5
The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, standing 191 feet tall and and weighing 720,000 pounds, unleashes 860,000 pounds of thrust from its main engine at 9:49:51 a.m. local time (12:49:51 p.m. EST; 1749:51 GMT) today to launch the secret NROL-79 payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. See…
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Photos: Pad gantry rolled back to reveal Atlas 5 for launch
The mobile service tower retracts from the Atlas 5 rocket, revealing the 191-foot-tall vehicle for liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, carrying the classified NROL-79 national security payload for the U.S. government. Credit: United Launch Alliance See earlier NROL-79 coverage. Our Atlas archive.
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Photos: Atlas 5 rocket ready to fly with NROL-79 payload
The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket stands atop Space Launch Complex 3-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on the eve of Wednesday’s NROL-79 satellite-deployment mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. Rocky, the ULA mascot, even paid a visit to the pad Tuesday morning while photographers were setting up sound-activated cameras to capture…
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Timeline: Atlas 5/NROL-79 launch events
Follow the unclassified portion of the Atlas 5 rocket’s ascent to space from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base launch site with the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office’s NROL-79 satellite payload. Launch is scheduled for Wednesday at 9:50 a.m. local time (12:50 p.m. EST; 1750 GMT). T+00:01.1: Liftoff The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 vehicle, designated AV-068,…
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Preview: Atlas 5 to provide spacelift for U.S. National Reconnaissance Office
The NROL-79 commemorative poster. Credit: United Launch Alliance Taking a U.S. national security satellite payload into space is the primary objective of the 70th Atlas 5 booster that will be launched Wednesday. The United Launch Alliance rocket, flying for the 35th time in its basic two-stage version with no solids, is scheduled for liftoff around…
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Reconnaissance payload mounted atop Atlas 5 for California launch
File photo of Atlas 5 payload lift and mate at Space Launch Complex 3-East pad. Credit: United launch Alliance Rising from the ground and into the launch pad gantry, a clandestine U.S. national security payload was fitted atop its Atlas 5 booster rocket in California today for the ride into space on March 1. The…