Atlas 5 – Spaceflight Now

First flight of astronauts on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft slips to July

March 29, 2023 William Harwood

The first piloted flight of Boeing’s Starliner astronaut ferry ship is slipping from late April to at least July 21, officials said Wednesday, to allow more time to close out paperwork and to carry out an additional test of the spacecraft’s parachute deploy system.

Military officials forecast 87 launches from Florida’s Space Coast in 2023

January 2, 2023 Stephen Clark

The U.S. Space Force is preparing for as many as 87 launches from Florida’s Space Coast in 2023, including dozens more SpaceX missions and the expected debuts of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan and Relativity’s Terran 1 rockets.

Atlas 5 rocket moves closer to retirement with final launch from California

November 10, 2022 Stephen Clark

The 301st and final Atlas rocket to launch from California blasted off Thursday with a NOAA weather satellite and a first-of-its-kind re-entry tech demo experiment, clearing the way for modifications to ready the Atlas launch pad for United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan rocket.

Live coverage: Atlas 5 rocket launches on its final mission from California

November 10, 2022 Stephen Clark

The final launch of an Atlas 5 rocket from California took off early Thursday with NOAA’s JPSS 2 weather satellite and the LOFTID re-entry tech demo experiment for NASA. The Atlas 5 rocket launched at 1:49 a.m. PST (4:49 a.m. EST; 0949 GMT) Thursday from Vandenberg Space Force Base. United Launch Alliance has 19 more Atlas 5s slated to launch from Florida before the rocket’s retirement.

First Starliner crew flight slips to April 2023

November 6, 2022 Stephen Clark

The first test flight of Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule with astronauts has been delayed from February to April 2023, moving the mission after a busy stretch of crew and cargo missions to the International Space Station, and allowing more time for engineers to address problems discovered on an unpiloted test flight earlier this year, NASA said last week.

Final Atlas 5 launch from California delayed for battery replacement

October 31, 2022 Stephen Clark

The final flight of an Atlas 5 rocket from California has been delayed from Tuesday until no earlier than Nov. 9 to replace a battery on the launcher’s Centaur upper stage, United Launch Alliance and NASA officials said.

Atlas 5 rocket completes high-altitude tandem satellite delivery for SES

October 5, 2022 Stephen Clark

Running a few days late after a delay caused by Hurricane Ian, an Atlas 5 rocket built by United Launch Alliance thundered off a launch pad at Cape Canaveral Tuesday and soared to an altitude of nearly 22,000 miles to deploy two commercial television broadcasting satellites for the commercial operator SES.

Live coverage: Atlas 5 rocket lifts off with two SES communications satellites

October 4, 2022 Stephen Clark

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifted off Tuesday from Cape Canaveral on a dual spacecraft delivery mission for the commercial telecom satellite operator SES. The Atlas 5 blasted off at 5:36 p.m. EDT (2136 GMT) at the opening of a 45-minute launch window.

Atlas 5 rocket rolls launch pad at Cape Canaveral with two SES comsats

October 3, 2022 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance hauled an Atlas 5 rocket to its launch pad Monday at Cape Canaveral on the eve of a planned blastoff with two commercial television broadcasting satellites for SES, owner of one of the largest fleets of geostationary communications spacecraft.

SpaceX, ULA postpone launches as Hurricane Ian moves toward Florida

September 28, 2022 Stephen Clark

The forecast track of Hurricane Ian across Central Florida has forced SpaceX and United Launch Alliance to postpone several launches planned in the coming days at Cape Canaveral, including the next crew flight to the International Space Station, a Starlink mission, and the liftoff of an Atlas 5 rocket.