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Atlas/Intelsat 14 launch timeline
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: November 9, 2009

T-00:02.7 Engine Start
The Russian-designed RD-180 main engine is ignited and undergoes checkout prior to launch.
T+00:01.1 Liftoff
The three strap-on solid rocket boosters are lit as the Atlas 5 vehicle, designated AV-024, lifts off and begins a vertical rise away from Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.
T+02:09 Jettison SRBs
Having burned out of propellant approximately 40 seconds earlier, the spent solid rocket boosters are jettisoned to fall into the Atlantic Ocean.
T+04:27 Main Engine Cutoff
The RD-180 main engine completes its firing after consuming its kerosene and liquid oxygen fuel supply in the Atlas first stage.
T+04:33 Stage Separation
The Common Core Booster first stage of the Atlas 5 rocket separates from the Centaur upper stage. Over the next few seconds, the Centaur engine liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen systems are readied for ignition.
T+04:43 Centaur Ignition 1
The Centaur RL10 engine ignites for the longer of the two upper stage firings. This burn will inject the Centaur stage and Intelsat 14 spacecraft into a parking orbit.
T+04:51 Nose Cone Jettison
The payload fairing that protected the Intelsat 14 spacecraft during launch is separated once heating levels drop to predetermined limits.
T+18:24 Centaur Cutoff 1
The Centaur engine shuts down after arriving in a planned parking orbit. The vehicle enters a lengthy coast period lasting nearly 95 minutes before arriving at the required location in space for the second burn.
T+1:53:24 Centaur Ignition 2
The Centaur re-ignites over the southeastern Indian Ocean to accelerate the payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit from the parking achieved earlier in the launch sequence.
T+1:54:57 Centaur Cutoff 2
At the conclusion of its second firing, the Centaur will have delivered the Intelsat 14 spacecraft into the targeted orbit.
T+1:58:03 Spacecraft Separation
The Intelsat 14 commercial communications satellite is released into orbit from the Centaur upper stage to complete the AV-024 launch.

Data source: United Launch Alliance.



MISSION STATUS CENTER