United Launch Alliance – Page 8

Launch of NRO spy satellite delayed at least a week

August 29, 2020 Stephen Clark

The launch from Cape Canaveral of a top secret spy satellite for the U.S. government was aborted at the last moment early Saturday as its United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket ignited three main engines, a dramatic cutoff of the countdown that will delay the mission by at least one week.

Up to three launches planned this weekend from Cape Canaveral

August 28, 2020 Stephen Clark

Delays have set up the possibility of up to three rocket launches this weekend from different pads along Florida’s Space Coast, including two SpaceX missions on Sunday that could set a company record for the shortest span between two Falcon 9 rocket launches. But in the world of ever-changing launch schedules, numerous factors such as weather and technical issues could thwart launch plans this weekend.

ULA calls off launch of triple-core Delta 4-Heavy rocket, will try again Saturday

August 27, 2020 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance early Thursday delayed the launch of a triple-core Delta 4-Heavy rocket — the largest launcher in the company’s fleet — until Saturday to allow engineers more time to resolve an issue with a ground pneumatics control system.

Photos: Mobile gantry retracted from ULA’s Delta 4-Heavy for Aug. 27 launch attempt

August 26, 2020 Stephen Clark

Towering more than 30 stories tall, the mobile gantry structure at the Delta 4-Heavy rocket’s launch pad at Cape Canaveral was wheeled into position for liftoff of the triple-core launcher Thursday with a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Live coverage: Launch of Delta 4-Heavy aborted seconds before liftoff

August 26, 2020 Stephen Clark

The launch of a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral was aborted three seconds before a planned liftoff at 3:28 a.m. EDT (0728 GMT). The rocket was set to loft a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency.

Delta 4-Heavy likely heading for geosynchronous orbit with surveillance payload

August 26, 2020 Stephen Clark

The top secret intelligence-gathering payload for the U.S. government set for launch Tuesday on top of a Delta 4-Heavy rocket is likely the next in a line of sensitive eavesdropping satellites designed to intercept radio signals and other communications traffic from adversaries around the world.

Boeing plans second Starliner test flight in December or January

August 25, 2020 Stephen Clark

Boeing said Tuesday it is “making excellent progress” toward launching a second unpiloted test flight of its Starliner crew capsule to the International Space Station by the end of this year or in early January, setting the stage for the first Starliner demonstration mission with astronauts in mid-2021.

August set to end with string of launches from Cape Canaveral

August 24, 2020 Stephen Clark

Launch teams are readying three rockets for a series of blastoffs this week from Cape Canaveral to loft a classified orbiting spy platform for the U.S. government, a long-delayed Argentine radar imaging payload, and the next set of Starlink broadband satellites.

Next Delta 4-Heavy launch on schedule for Aug. 26

August 12, 2020 Stephen Clark

The flight of a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket set for Aug. 26 from Cape Canaveral continues the Delta rocket family’s countdown to retirement. With five Delta 4-Heavy missions left to launch, ULA’s chief executive Tory Bruno says there are no plans to build more as the company transitions to the next-generation Vulcan Centaur rocket.

ULA, SpaceX win landmark multibillion-dollar launch agreements with Pentagon

August 7, 2020 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance and SpaceX beat out Northrop Grumman and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin for billions of dollars in U.S. military rocket contracts, and will share the load in launching the Pentagon’s highest-priority national security space missions through 2027, officials announced Friday.