Complex 41 – Page 4 – Spaceflight Now

Atlas 5 dedicated to health care workers, coronavirus victims

May 15, 2020 Stephen Clark

U.S. military officials and United Launch Alliance have dedicated the planned launch Saturday of an Atlas 5 rocket with the military’s winged mini-space shuttle to coronavirus first responders, front-line workers and all who have been affected by the pandemic.

Live coverage: Atlas 5 launches with X-37B spaceplane

May 14, 2020 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance fired an Atlas 5 rocket into space from Cape Canaveral at 9:14 a.m. EDT (1314 GMT) Sunday with the U.S. Air Force’s X-37B spaceplane, an automated reusable mini-space shuttle designed to host experiments for years in orbit, then return to Earth and land on a runway. A launch attempt Saturday was scrubbed by bad weather.

Back-to-back launches scheduled from Cape Canaveral this weekend

May 13, 2020 Stephen Clark

Working under physical distancing requirements and other precautions against the coronavirus pandemic, range teams at Cape Canaveral are preparing for launches of Atlas 5 and Falcon 9 rockets from neighboring pads this weekend.

Payloads revealed for next flight of X-37B military spaceplane

May 6, 2020 Stephen Clark

The next flight of the U.S. military’s reusable X-37B spaceplane — scheduled for liftoff May 16 from Cape Canaveral — will carry more experiments into orbit than any of the winged ship’s previous missions, including two payloads for NASA and a small deployable satellite built by Air Force Academy cadets.

ULA begins stacking rocket for next launch of U.S. military spaceplane

April 24, 2020 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance technicians raised the first stage of the company’s next Atlas 5 rocket onto a mobile launch platform at Cape Canaveral Thursday, kicking off the launch vehicle’s build-up for a mission scheduled for liftoff May 16 with the U.S. military’s hush-hush X-37B spaceplane.

Next GPS launch delayed by coronavirus concerns; X-37B launch remains on track

April 7, 2020 Stephen Clark

U.S. military officials said Tuesday the launch of the next satellite for the GPS navigation network — planned for April 29 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket — has been delayed to no earlier than June 30 to avoid exposing launch crews to the COVID-19 viral disease. However, the next launch of the military’s X-37B spaceplane remains on track for liftoff in May on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, officials said.

After problem-plagued test flight, Boeing will refly crew capsule without astronauts

April 6, 2020 Stephen Clark

Boeing officials said Monday the company’s Starliner crew capsule will fly a second time without astronauts after software problems and other issues plagued a first test flight in December, preventing the ship from reaching the International Space Station.

Photos: Atlas 5 soars into clear skies over Cape Canaveral

March 31, 2020 Stephen Clark

Propelled by five strap-on solid rocket boosters and a Russian-made kerosene-fueled RD-180 main engine, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on March 26 with the U.S. military’s sixth AEHF communications satellite.

Atlas 5 launch caps deployment of ultra-secure military communications network

March 26, 2020 Stephen Clark

The sixth and final satellite in the U.S. military’s most secure satellite communications fleet lifted off from Cape Canaveral Thursday aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, extending the network’s expected lifetime beyond 2030.

Atlas 5 launch timeline for the AEHF 6 mission

March 26, 2020 Stephen Clark

A United Launch Atlas 5 rocket is set to launch the U.S. Air Force’s sixth and final Advanced Extremely High Frequency communications satellite from Cape Canaveral. This timeline shows the major mission events planned over a nearly six-hour flight to an optimized geostationary transfer orbit.