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[UPDATE: RL-10C engine use further delayed] ULA sends Boeing’s Crewed Flight Test booster to Florida ahead of the next uncrewed test

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.

UPDATE: ULA Begins OFT-2 Booster Stacking

UPDATE: RL-10C not to be used for upcoming Atlas missions

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Boeing’s Starliner Crewed Flight Test rocket arrives at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

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.

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[Update: Payload separation] Next Launch: ULA plans to launch first Atlas V rocket of the year

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

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Dispatches from NASA: Countdown to Mars kicks off a decade of science and discovery

NASA’s Perseverance lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral on July 30. The new Mars rover traveled atop a United Launch Alliance-operated Atlas V rocket. The Countdown to Mars is just beginning, however. The rover’s months-long journey to Mars will continue through February 2021, then the next decade of Martian science and astrobiological discovery can commence. In this Dispatches from NASA installment, Space Explored captures the week that the Mars 2020 mission took flight in photos, video, and more.

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Launch Rundown: The path to NASA’s upcoming Mars 2020 Perseverance and Ingenuity mission

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…

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