Atlas V, space launch system, United Launch Alliance, Centennial, Colorado, USA

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Atlas V launches Solar Orbiter

Feb 9, 2020

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 411 rocket launched the Solar Orbiter spacecraft from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on 10 February 2020, at 04:03 UTC (9 February, at 23:03 EST). Built by Airbus, Solar Orbiter is an international collaborative mission between ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA, designed to observe the Sun with high spatial resolution telescopes. Solar Orbiter will provide the first-ever images of the Sun’s poles and the never-before-observed magnetic environment there.
Credit: NASA

 

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Blastoff! US Space Force's 1st launch is the AEHF-6 satellite

Mar 26, 2020

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launched the AEHF-6 military communications satellite for the US Space Force on March 26, 2020 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

 

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Atlas V AEHF-6 launch highlights

Mar 29, 2020

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the sixth Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) communications satellite for the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center lifted off from Space Launch Complex-41 on March 26 at 4:18 p.m. EDT. This marks the 83rd successful launch of an Atlas V rocket, 138th launch for ULA and first mission for the U.S. Space Force.

 

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Atlas V launches OTV-6 (USSF-7)

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 501 rocket launched the USSF-7 mission for the U.S. Space Force, the sixth flight of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-6), from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on 17 May 2020, at 13:14 UTC (09:14 EDT). Built by Boeing, X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) is a reusable unmanned spacecraft. The mission was the 84th for an Atlas V launch vehicle and the 7th in the 501 configuration.
Credits:
Video footage Courtesy of United Launch Alliance/Photos Courtesy of Boeing/Photos Courtesy of United Launch Alliance

Boeing X-37

 

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Blastoff! US Spy satellite launches atop Atlas V Rocket

Nov 13, 2020

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launch the classified NROL-101 spy satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office on Nov. 13, 2020 from Space Launch Complex 41 of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida

 

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Atlas V NROL-101 launch highlights

Nov 16, 2020

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the NROL-101 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) lifted off on Nov. 13 at 5:32 p.m. EST from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

 

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Atlas V launches SBIRS GEO-5

May 18, 2021

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 421 launch vehicle launched SBIRS GEO Flight 5 to a geosynchronous transfer orbit, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on 18 May 2021, at 17:37 UTC (13:37 EDT). SBIRS GEO Flight 5 is the fifth Space Based Infrared System Geosynchronous Earth Orbit missile detection and early warning satellite for the U.S. Space Force Space and Missile Systems Center.
Credit: United Launch Alliance/Lockheed Martin
Atlas V launches SBIRS GEO Flight 5

 

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Atlas V launches Landsat 9

Sep 27, 2021

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 401 launch vehicle launched the Landsat 9 Earth-observation satellite into a near-polar, sun-synchronous orbit, from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on 27 September 2021, at 18:12 UTC (11:12 PDT). Landsat 9 is a joint mission of NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and will join Landsat 8 in orbit, collecting images from across the Earth every eight days.
Credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin/Bill Ingalls/United Launch Alliance
Atlas V launches Landsat 9

 

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Atlas V launches Lucy

Oct 16, 2021

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 401 launch vehicle launched NASA’s Lucy spacecraft to a hyperbolic orbit, from Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, on 16 October 2021, at 09:34 UTC (05:34 PDT). According to NASA, “The Lucy mission is the first space mission to explore a diverse population of small bodies known as the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. Over its 12-year primary mission, Lucy will explore a record- breaking number of asteroids, flying by one main belt asteroid and seven Trojan asteroids. Additionally, Lucy will have three Earth flybys for gravity assists, making it the first spacecraft ever to return to the vicinity of Earth from the outer Solar System. The Lucy mission is named after the fossilized skeleton of an early hominin (pre-human ancestor) that was found in Ethiopia in 1974 and named “Lucy” by the team of paleoanthropologists who discovered it. And just as the Lucy fossil provided unique insights into human evolution, the Lucy mission promises to revolutionize our knowledge of planetary origins and the formation of the Solar System, including the Earth.”
Credit: NASA/Mike Downs/Bill Ingalls/Glenn Benson/Southwest Research Institute/United Launch Alliance
Atlas V launches Lucy

 

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Atlas V launches STP-3

Dec 7, 2021

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 551 launch vehicle launched the Space Test Program-3 (STP-3) mission for the U.S. Space Force’s (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC), from Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, on 7 December 2021, at 10:19 UTC (05:19 EST). The primary spacecraft is STP Satellite (STPSat)-6 and the rideshare spacecraft is the Long Duration Propulsive Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) (LDPE) – 1. STPSat-6 carries nine payloads including the Space and Atmospheric Burst Reporting System 3 (SABRS-3), NASA’s Laser Communication Relay Demonstration (LCRD) payload and several Department of Defense Space Experiments Review Board space weather and situational awareness payloads.

 

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Atlas V launches GSSAP-5 and GSSAP-6

Jan 21, 2022

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 511 rocket launched the USSF-8 mission, two identical Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) satellites - GSSAP-5 and GSSAP-6 - for the U.S. Space Force, from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on 21 January 2022, at 19:00 UTC (14:00 EST). This is the 102nd mission for an Atlas V launch vehicle and the first and only planned flight of the Atlas V 511 configuration, the two-stage rocket with a single solid rocket booster.

 

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Atlas V launches GOES-T

Mar 1, 2022

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 541 launch vehicle launched the GOES-T satellite to an optimized geosynchronous transfer orbit from Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, on 1 March 2022, at 21:38 UTC (16:38 EST). The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite - T (GOES-T) will provide NASA and NOAA with continuous imagery and atmospheric measurements of Earth’s Western Hemisphere, lightning detection and mapping, solar imaging and space weather monitoring. Upon reaching geostationary orbit, the satellite will be renamed GOES-18.

 

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Atlas V launches USSF-12

Jul 2, 2022

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 541 launch vehicle launched the USSF-12 mission directly to geosynchronous orbit, from Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, on 1 July 2022, at 23:15 UTC (19:15 EDT). The USSF-12 mission for the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC) has two satellite payloads: the Wide Field of View (WFOV) Testbed for SSC's Space Sensing Directorate and the USSF-12 Ring spacecraft for the Defense Department’s Space Test Program. Atlas V will deliver both spacecraft directly to geosynchronous orbit approximately 35,500 km (22,000 miles) above the equator approximately 6 hours after liftoff.

 

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Atlas V launches SBIRS GEO-6

Aug 4, 2022

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 421 launch vehicle launched SBIRS GEO Flight 6 to a geosynchronous transfer orbit, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on 4 August 2022, at 10:29 UTC (06:29 EDT). SBIRS GEO Flight 6 is the sixth and final Space Based Infrared System Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (SBIRS GEO 6) spacecraft for the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC).

 

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Atlas V launches SES-20 and SES-21

Oct 5, 2022

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 531 launch vehicle launched the SES-20 and SES-21 satellites into near-geosynchronous orbit, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on 4 October 2022, at 21:36 UTC (17:36 EDT). SES-20 and SES-21 are all-electric 702SP (small platform) satellites equipped with C-band payloads that will operate to provide television broadcasting services across the United States.

 

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Atlas V launches JPSS-2 and LOFTID

Nov 10, 2022

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 401 launch vehicle launched the Joint Polar Satellite System - 2 (JPSS-2) and the Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on 10 November 2022, at 09:49 UTC (01:49 PST, 04:49 EST). JPSS-2, which will be renamed NOAA-21 after reaching orbit, is the latest generation of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) polar-orbiting environmental satellites, designed to capture data to inform weather forecasts, helping scientists predict and prepare for extreme weather events. NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator, or LOFTID, is demonstrating a cross-cutting aeroshell for atmospheric re-entry.

 

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Atlas V launches NROL-107 / SILENTBARKER

Sep 10, 2023

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 551 launch vehicle launched the SILENTBARKER/NROL-107 mission, from Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, on 10 September 2023, at 12:47 UTC (08:47 EDT). According to ULA, SILENTBARKER/NROL-107 is “a joint National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and U.S. Space Force (USSF) capability to improve space domain awareness”.

 

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Atlas V launches USSF-51

Jul 30, 2024

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 551 launch vehicle launched the USSF-51 mission, from Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, on 30 July 2024, at 10:45 UTC (06:45 EDT).