A United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket will deliver the U.S. Air Force’s second GPS 3-series navigation satellite into an elliptical transfer orbit nearly two hours after liftoff from Cape Canaveral.
Liftoff is scheduled during a launch window opening at 9:00:30 a.m. EDT (1300:30 GMT) Thursday. The window extends to 9:27 a.m. EDT (1327 GMT).
The United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket takes off powered by an Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-68A main engine and two solid rocket boosters built by Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems. The hydrogen-burning main engine ignites at T-minus 5 seconds, following by ignition of the two boosters at T-minus 0, the release of four hold-down bolts and retraction of the launch pad’s three swing arms.
T+00:00:58.5 — Max-Q
Heading northeast from Cape Canaveral on an azimuth of roughly 60 degrees, the Delta 4 surpasses the speed of sound at T+plus 42 seconds, then experiences the most extreme aerodynamic pressures of the mission at T+plus 58.5 seconds.
T+00:01:40.0 — Solid Rocket Motor Separation
The Delta 4’s two GEM-60 solid rocket boosters are jettisoned in two pairs around seven seconds after consuming all their propellant.
T+00:03:55.9 — Booster Engine Cutoff
The Delta 4’s RS-68A main engine shuts down after burning its supply of super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.
T+00:04:02.4 — Stage Separation
The Delta 4’s Common Booster Core separates from the rocket’s second stage.
T+00:04:16.9 — First Second Stage Ignition
The Delta 4’s second stage Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10B-2 engine ignites and powers up to 24,750 pounds of thrust in the first of its two firings to place the GPS 3 SV02 satellite into a MEO transfer orbit.
T+00:04:26.9 — Payload Fairing Jettison
The Delta 4’s composite bisector fairing jettisons from the rocket once the launcher reaches a safe altitude above the dense lower layers of Earth’s atmosphere.
T+00:13:33.1 — First Second Stage Engine Shutdown
The second stage’s RL10B-2 engine shuts down after placing the GPS 3 SV02 satellite in a preliminary parking orbit, beginning a 53-minute coast before the engine reignites.
T+01:06:47.3 — Second Stage Engine Restart
The RL10B-2 second stage engine ignites again for a three-and-a-half-minute burn to send the GPS 3 SV02 spacecraft into a higher, elliptical transfer orbit.
T+01:10:14.6 — Second Stage Engine Shutdown
The Delta 4’s second stage engine shuts down after placing the GPS 3 SV02 spacecraft in a transfer orbit ranging between 745 miles (1,200 kilometers) and 12,542 miles (20,185 kilometers) above Earth, with an orbital plane tilted 55 degrees to the equator.
T+01:55:26.6 — GPS 3 SV02 “Magellan” Separation
The Lockheed Martin-built GPS 3 SV02 spacecraft, nicknamed “Magellan,” separates from the Delta 4’s second stage.
The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket that will hurl the four MMS satellites into a highly elliptical Earth orbit on March 12 has completed its basic build up at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 Vertical Integration Facility.
A United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 8:09 p.m. EST Thursday (0109 GMT Friday). The long-delayed mission is carrying a classified spy satellite into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office.
Boeing’s Starliner capsule, carrying an instrumented astronaut test dummy nicknamed “Rosie,” is on track for launch Friday on an unpiloted test flight to the International Space Station, mission managers said Tuesday. The flight is a major milestone in NASA’s push to resume launching U.S. crews from American soil.
