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. |