| 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 United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 vehicle, designated AV-037, lifts off and begins a vertical rise away from Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. |
|
|
| T+01:30.6 |
Mach 1 and Max Q |
| The Atlas rocket achieves Mach 1 some 81 seconds into the flight, then passes through the region of maximum dynamic pressure at 91 seconds. |
|
| T+04:03.1 |
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+04:09.1 |
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+04:19.0 |
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 SBIRS GEO 2 spacecraft into a parking orbit. |
|
| T+04:27.1 |
Nose Cone Jettison |
| The two-piece payload fairing that protected the SBIRS GEO 2 craft during the atmospheric ascent is separated to reveal the satellite to space. |
|
| T+15:20.9 |
Centaur Cutoff 1 |
| The Centaur engine shuts down after arriving in a planned parking orbit. The vehicle enters a brief coast period lasting nearly 9 minutes before arriving at the required location in space for the second burn. |
|
| T+24:07.5 |
Centaur Ignition 2 |
| The Centaur re-ignites over the equatorial Atlantic to accelerate the payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit from the parking achieved earlier in the launch sequence. |
|
| T+28:02.9 |
Centaur Cutoff 2 |
| At the conclusion of its second firing, the Centaur will have delivered the SBIRS GEO 2 spacecraft into the targeted orbit with an apogee of 22,237 statute miles, perigee of 115 miles and inclination of 22 degrees to the equator. |
| T+43:12.6 |
Spacecraft Separation |
| The U.S. military's second Space Based Infrared System Geosynchronous spacecraft, or SBIRS GEO 2, is released into orbit from the Centaur upper stage to complete the AV-037 launch. |
