Tag: Preview
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National Reconnaissance Office to begin year’s manifest with Delta 4
File of Delta 4 Medium+ (5,2) on the pad at Vandenberg. Credit: Justin Ray/Spaceflight Now. See more images like this. Beginning the National Reconnaissance Office’s campaign of four launches in 2016 using boosters big and small to deploy a varied collection of new intelligence satellites, a Delta 4 rocket stands ready for liftoff before sun-up…
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United Launch Alliance’s high-tempo year begins with GPS launch Friday
File photo of the Atlas 5. Credit: James Murati / Bionetics CAPE CANAVERAL — Kicking off United Launch Alliance’s ambitious 2016 with as many as 15 launches planned for the U.S. military, intelligence community, NASA and commercial clients, an Atlas 5 rocket will thunder to orbit Friday to deploy the last satellite in the current…
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Preview: Atlas 5 rocket goes for its third launch of October
Credit: ULA CAPE CANAVERAL — The penultimate satellite in the current generation of Global Positioning System spacecraft will be deployed Friday, capping a hectic four weeks with three launches from two coasts for the Atlas 5 rocket fleet. The GPS replenishment mission comes on the heels of the Oct. 2 commercial launch of the Mexican…
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Intel-gathering spacecraft launch on Atlas 5 scheduled for Thursday
Mission poster. Credit: ULA CAPE CANAVERAL — Poised for its one and only satellite launch of the year, the National Reconnaissance Office will conduct a hush-hush flight Thursday, Oct. 8 using a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from California. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 3-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base is targeted for 5:49…
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Stats: ULA to mark milestone in powering payloads to space
Launch of Atlas 5 with Landsat 8. Credit: ULA CAPE CANAVERAL — United Launch Alliance, the incumbent leader in U.S. rocketry, goes for its 100th flight Friday, a milestone nine years in the making after eclectic missions to Mars, the moon and Jupiter, and deployments of commercial, military and reconnaissance spacecraft. An Atlas 5 rocket…
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Preview: Launch to complete Navy satellite fleet’s reach
A prior Atlas 5-551 rocket rolls out. Credit: ULA CAPE CANAVERAL — Likened to raising a cellular tower 22,300 miles high, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will put the Navy’s fourth mobile communications satellite into space Monday in a deployment that expands the rugged smartphone system to global coverage. The predawn launch is…
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Preview: Enhanced rocket engine to power Delta 4 first stage Wednesday
Credit: ULA CAPE CANAVERAL — Using a new, uprated main engine for the first time on a rocket of its kind, a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Medium+ vehicle will soar into space Wednesday night carrying a $566 million Air Force communications satellite. The enhanced RS-68A main engine will power the medium-lift rocket off the pad…
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Preview: New GPS navigation satellite heads into space this week
CAPE CANAVERAL — The Global Positioning System, its precision navigation and timing services made possible by the U.S. Air Force and provided free-of-charge to the planet’s civilian population, is a marvel of the modern world, and the orbiting network will receive a fresh satellite Wednesday. The $245 million GPS 2F-10 satellite is scheduled for liftoff…