This photo gallery shows the U.S. Navy’s Mobile User Objective System communications satellite No. 4 being encapsulated in the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket’s payload fairing for the planned Aug. 31 liftoff.
Continuing a run of military satellite deployments this summer, United Launch Alliance has begun stacking the Atlas 5 rocket that will boost the Navy’s next mobile communications craft.
Tucked inside a shipping crate aboard an Air Force C-5 transport aircraft, the Navy’s next mobile communications satellite has flown from California to Florida in preparation for liftoff this summer.
The massive U.S. Navy communications satellite launched from Cape Canaveral two weeks ago has completed prescribed maneuvers to reach geosynchronous orbit and successfully unfurled its umbrella-like antenna reflectors.
