A collection of pad photos from the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket flight carrying the NROL-55 cargo for the National Reconnaissance Office.
Photo Credit: United Launch Alliance
See earlier NROL-55 coverage.
Our Atlas archive.
Mission Reports
Drop test moves Virgin Orbit closer to first satellite launch
A full-scale model of Virgin Orbit’s air-dropped small satellite launcher, filled with water and antifreeze instead of rocket fuel, dropped from the wing of a modified Boeing 747 carrier jet Wednesday over a test range at Edwards Air Force Base in California, paving the way for the company’s first space mission later this year.
Falcon 9
SpaceX to debut satellite-dimming sunshade on Starlink launch next month
A new sunshade, or visor, designed to reduce the brightness of SpaceX’s Starlink broadband Internet satellites will debut on the company’s next launch, a measure intended to alleviate astronomers’ concerns about impacts on observations through ground-based telescopes, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said Monday.
