Fact sheet: Atlas 5 rocket to launch the NROL-52 mission

		*** AV-075/NROL-52 launch fact sheet *** 

Payload:               CLASSIFIED NATIONAL SECURITY PAYLOAD
                       NRO geosynchronous communications satellite
		       Relays imagery and intelligence from LEO craft

Launch Date:           Saturday,  Oct. 14, 2017

Target
Launch Time:	       3:31 a.m. EDT
		       0731 GMT

Launch Period:         90 minutes
                       3:00-4:30 a.m. EDT
                       0700-0830 GMT

Launch Site:           Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
                       Space Launch Complex 41

Customer:              National Reconnaissance Office
		       Launch Enterprise Directorate, Air Force's 
				Space and Missile Systems Center

Launch Services
Provider:              United Launch Alliance, Centennial, Colorado

Launch Vehicle:        Atlas 5 designated AV-075
		       421 configuration
                       Weight at liftoff: 950,000 pounds
		       Thrust at liftoff: 1.6 million pounds
                       Height: 194 feet (59 m)

                       Common Core Booster with RD-180 engine
			    73,800 gallons RP-1 kerosene and liquid oxygen
			    Thrust: 860,300 pounds

			Two side-mounted solid-fuel rocket boosters
			    World's largest monolithic SRB
			    Thrust: 380,000 pounds each

                        Centaur upper stage with RL10C-1 engine
			     16,450 gallons liquid hydrogen and oxygen
			     Thrust: 23,300 pounds

			Extra Extended Payload Fairing
			      14-foot-dia., 45-foot-tall aluminum shroud

Construction:          Atlas stage and Centaur upper stage built by 
			      United Launch Alliance in Decatur, Alabama
		       Fairing manufactured by ULA in Harlingen, Texas
    		       RD-180 from NPO Energomash, Khimki, Russia
		       SRBs by Aerojet Rocketdyne, Sacramento, Calif.
		       RL10C-1 from Aerojet Rocketdyne, West Palm 
			       Beach, Florida

Payload Speculation:   NROL-52 is believed to be the second spacecraft
				in the Fourth Generation of the Satellite 
                                Data System. The NRO has used earlier 
                                versions of the SDS in geosynchronous orbit
                                to relay data from low-Earth orbiting 
                                surveillance platforms.

			Two classified missions -- NROL-61 last July and 
                                NROL-52 -- are payloads on fixed-price 
                                contracts that include provisions for 
                                Atlas 5 launch vehicles provided as 
                                government-furnished equipment. 


About the NRO:		Headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, the 
				National Reconnaissance Office develops 
				and operates overhead reconnaissance 
				systems and conducts intelligence-related 
				activities for U.S. national Security.

NRO Uses:               The NRO is the nation's eyes and ears in 		
				space, supporting policy makers, the Armed 
				Services, the Intelligence Community, 
				Departments of State, Justice and 		
				Treasury, and civil agencies. All of them 
				depend on the unique capabilities NRO 
				systems provide.

NRO Capabilities:	    - Monitoring the proliferation of weapons of 
				mass destruction

			    - Tracking international terrorists, drug 
				traffickers, and criminal organizations

			    - Developing highly accurate military 
				targeting data and bomb damage assessments

			    - Supporting international peacekeeping and 
				humanitarian relief operations

			    - Assessing the impact of natural disasters, 
				such as earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and 
				fires.

NRO Constellations: 	Exquisite-class electro-optical and 
			        radar-imaging observatories, 
				geosynchronous and Molniya-orbit 
				eavesdropping platforms, ocean 
				surveillance network and data-relay 
				support spacecraft

* Launch statistics *

- The 656th launch for Atlas program since 1957
- The 359th Atlas launch from Cape Canaveral
- The 245th mission of a Centaur upper stage
- The 222nd use of Centaur by an Atlas rocket
- The 483rd production RL10 engine to be launched
- The 22nd RL10C-1 engine launched
- The 80th flight of an RD-180 main engine
- The 94-95th AJ-60 solid rocket booster flown
- The 74th launch of an Atlas 5 since 2002
- The 16th National Reconnaissance Office use of Atlas 5
- The 60th launch of an Atlas 5 from Cape Canaveral
- The 6th Atlas 5 launch of 2017
- The 109th Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle flight
- The 26th EELV flight for National Reconnaissance Office
- The 122nd United Launch Alliance flight overall
- The 66th Atlas 5 under United Launch Alliance
- The 88th United Launch Alliance flight from Cape Canaveral
- The 26th NRO launch by United Launch Alliance
- The 51st 400-series flight of the Atlas 5
- The 7th Atlas 5 to fly in the 421 configuration
- The 87th launch from Complex 41
- The 60th Atlas 5 to use Complex 41
- The 49th NRO launch since acknowledging flights in 1996
- The 24th acknowledged NRO launch from Cape Canaveral
- The 4th NRO launch this year

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