The U.S. Air Force’s fifth Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite, designed for secure, jam-resistant communications, is set for launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket. These photos show the AEHF 5 satellite during encapsulation inside the Atlas 5’s payload shroud.
The AEHF 5 satellite, built by Lockheed Martin, will join four other satellites in the Air Force’s protecting communications network providing secure data, voice and video links to the military and government leaders.
The spacecraft weighs around 13,600 pounds (6,168 kilograms) fully fueled. The Atlas 5 rocket set to launch with the AEHF 5 satellite will fly in the “551” configuration — the most powerful Atlas 5 variant — with a 5.4 meter (17.7-foot) diameter payload fairing produced by Ruag Space and five solid rocket boosters from Aerojet Rocketdyne.
The AEHF 5 communications satellite was encapsulated inside the Atlas 5 rocket’s payload fairing in early June at the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Florida. Credit: Lockheed MartinThe AEHF 5 communications satellite was encapsulated inside the Atlas 5 rocket’s payload fairing in early June at the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Florida. Credit: Lockheed MartinThe AEHF 5 communications satellite was encapsulated inside the Atlas 5 rocket’s payload fairing in early June at the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Florida. Credit: Lockheed MartinThe AEHF 5 communications satellite was encapsulated inside the Atlas 5 rocket’s payload fairing in early June at the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Florida. Credit: Lockheed MartinThe AEHF 5 communications satellite was encapsulated inside the Atlas 5 rocket’s payload fairing in early June at the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Florida. Credit: Lockheed MartinThe AEHF 5 communications satellite was encapsulated inside the Atlas 5 rocket’s payload fairing in early June at the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Florida. Credit: Lockheed Martin
Targeting a pair of satellite launches in June and July, ground teams will resume work at the Guiana Space Center in South America next week after a nearly two-month pause in Arianespace’s launch campaigns due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A multipurpose communications satellite owned by a South Korean telecom company is set for liftoff Monday from Florida’s Space Coast aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster, and forecasters predict near-ideal conditions for a rocket launch.
The next flight of Europe’s heavy-lift Ariane 5 rocket, set for July 28 from French Guiana, will carry a record payload of three multi-ton satellites toward geostationary orbit, including a pair of U.S.-built commercial communications payloads and Northrop Grumman’s second robotic satellite servicing spacecraft.
