Atlas 5 – Page 51 – Spaceflight Now

Atlas 5 rocket and Cygnus freighter mated for next week’s cargo launch

March 14, 2016 Justin Ray

Bound for the International Space Station with a max load of fresh supplies, a commercially-operated cargo ship was mounted atop its booster rocket today for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on March 22.

Photos: Cygnus encapsulated for journey into space atop Atlas 5

March 11, 2016 Justin Ray

United Launch Alliance workers encapsulated the freighter on Wednesday with the 14-foot-diameter, 45-foot-long extra extended payload fairing (XEPF) at Kennedy Space Center’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility.

MUOS 5 satellite comes to Florida on way to geosynchronous orbit

March 9, 2016 Justin Ray

The fifth and final satellite for the U.S. Navy’s new mobile network to provide rugged smartphone communications to all branches of the military has arrived at the launch site for blastoff in May.

InSight Mars lander escapes cancellation, aims for 2018 launch

March 9, 2016 Stephen Clark

The InSight Mars lander has won a reprieve from NASA’s top managers after persistent problems with one of the probe’s science instruments caused the mission to miss a narrow launch window planned for this month.

New GPS satellite begins transmitting to users around the globe

March 9, 2016 Justin Ray

Air Force ground controllers have activated service aboard the newest Global Positioning System satellite, achieving that milestone for the final spacecraft in a dozen built in a manufacturing batch to update the constellation.

Photos: Cygnus packed up and fueled for trip to the space station

March 8, 2016 Justin Ray

The International Space Station cargo ship launching from Cape Canaveral on March 22 has been given a name — the SS Rick Husband.

ULA’s candidates to replace RD-180 engine win Air Force funding

March 7, 2016 Stephen Clark

The Pentagon has awarded at least $162 million in contracts to Aerojet Rocketdyne and United Launch Alliance for development of the AR1 and BE-4 rocket engines, candidates to power the first stage of a next-generation rocket and replace the Russian-made engine currently flying on the Atlas 5 launcher.

Fate of NASA’s InSight Mars mission to be decided soon

March 5, 2016 Stephen Clark

NASA is close to deciding whether to spend an extra $150 million to send the InSight lander to Mars in 2018 or cancel the mission after an instrument problem made the spacecraft miss a launch opportunity this year, with a verdict on the project’s future expected within weeks, officials said.

U.S. resupply ship headed for space station to launch March 22

February 22, 2016 Justin Ray

Signs that a launch to the International Space Station is approaching are obvious this week at Cape Canaveral, with the Atlas 5 booster rocket beginning to take shape and the commercial resupply ship heading to its propellant depot.

Recap story: Last GPS satellite of its generation arrives in space

February 7, 2016 Justin Ray

The main engine rumbling to life. Ice shards breaking free. The rocket lumbering off the pad. The battle against gravity being won once again. That was the scene as the Atlas 5 took flight to cap a generation of Global Positioning System satellites.