Friday afternoon United Launch Alliance is preparing to launch two satellites directly to geosynchronous orbit for the U.S. Space Force. The USSF-8 mission will be the only Atlas V to fly the 511 configuration and is ULA’s first flight of 2022.
Launch Date: Friday, January 21, 2:00 p.m. EST
NASA and United Launch Alliance launched the Lucy spacecraft in an early morning liftoff beginning its journey the Trojan asteroids.
NASA’s Lucy mission is preparing to launch a daring mission to visit both sets of Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids. These asteroids lead and follow the gas giant in its orbit, and experts believe they will help answer how planets are formed. Read below for updates on the launch of NASA’s Lucy mission.
Date: Saturday, October 16, 5:34 a.m. EDT
NASA will launch their Landsat 9 Earth-imaging satellite to continue the longest-running Earth-imaging satellite program, which began in the 1970s. Landsat 9 will launch on a ULA Atlas V rocket from their west coast launch facilities. The mission will replace Landsat 7, which launched back in 1999. Follow along with live updates on the Landsat 9 launch below.
Date: Monday, September 27 2:12 p.m. EDT
Recently, an Antonov An-124 cargo aircraft believed to be carrying an Atlas V booster took off from Huntsville, Alabama on its way to Lompoc, California.
United Launch Alliance loaded an Atlas V Booster and Dual Engine Centaur onto their Rocketship boat over the weekend. Its destination? Florida. This isn’t just any ordinary Atlas V though, this will be the first one to carry crew to space. The Boeing Starliner Crewed Flight Test (CFT) is still expected NET late 2021. However, a second Orbital Flight Test is needed.
An Atlas V booster and Dual Engine Centaur have arrived at the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center (ASOC) after being offloaded from the Rocketship transport vessel. Spaceflight media was invited to attend the event to provide coverage. This is the third human-rated Atlas V rocket to be delivered to the Cape, with the first being stacked ahead of the Orbital Flight Test 2.
On Tuesday United Launch Alliance launch their first Atlas V rocket of the year. This mission carried with it a missile detection satellite called SBIRS GEO 5 for the United States Space Force.
May 18th, 2:19 PM EDT: The SBIRS GEO 5 satellite has been deployed from the Centaur upper stage.
A few weeks ago, ULA conducted their first launch for 2021 with a launch of a Delta IV Heavy for the National Reconnaissance Office. Next week, ULA plans to launch the first Atlas V rocket of the year carrying a payload for the US Space Force.
Date: Monday, May 18th, 1:37 PM EDT
Amazon’s answer to SpaceX’s satellite-based Starlink internet service is called Project Kuiper, and now the company has secured flights on ULA’s Atlas V rocket. These launches will be the first of many to build out the constellation of 3,236 satellites.
After the failure of Starliner’s first uncrewed test flight back in December 2019, Boeing and NASA are finally ready to give it another go. The aerospace company is now targeting March 29, 2021, to launch Starliner’s second uncrewed flight.
NASA’s Perseverance rover lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on July 30, but the Countdown to Mars is really only just starting. The rover’s months-long journey to Mars will continue through February 2021, then the next decade of Martian science and astrobiological discovery can begin. In this Dispatches from NASA installment, Space Explored captures the week that the Mars 2020 mission took flight in photos and video.
On the heels of the return to human space flight from American soil, NASA is launching another historic mission this year. Perseverance, the newest of NASA’s Mars rovers, plans to launch as soon as July 30, and the mission is packed full of new science experiments to learn more about the Red Planet. The new Mars rover will be launching on top of a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
What makes Perseverance special? For starters, it’s the result of previous Mars missions dating back to the mid ’90s, and the state-of-the-art rover will be accompanied by the first-ever space helicopter…
Thursday, March 26, 2020 is launch day at Space Launch Complex-41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. United Launch Alliance is completing the Sixth Advanced Extremely High Frequency, or AEHF-6, mission for the United States Space Force.
