US Navy – Spaceflight Now

Photos: Atlas 5 puts on predawn sky show

September 2, 2015 Stephen Clark

Streaking away from Cape Canaveral less than an hour before sunrise Wednesday, an Atlas 5 launcher painted a memorable spectacle in the skies over Florida, catching the first rays of the morning as it rocketed out of the stratosphere with a U.S. Navy communications satellite.

Recap story: 200th Atlas-Centaur launching delivers Navy satellite

January 21, 2015 Justin Ray

Launching for the 200th time and loaded with one of its heaviest cargoes ever, the Atlas-Centaur rocket flexed its muscle and sped away from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday night with a U.S. Navy satellite for mobile communications to the military and White House.

Live coverage: Atlas 5 blasts off with Navy satellite

January 19, 2015 Justin Ray

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket fitted with five powerful solid-fueled boosters has lifted off from a seaside launch complex at Cape Canaveral with the U.S. Navy’s third Mobile User Objective System communications satellite.

Preview: Navy craft to ride milestone Atlas-Centaur launching

January 17, 2015 Justin Ray

The 200th Atlas-Centaur rocket, history some 52 years in the making, will blast off Tuesday from Cape Canaveral to deliver a U.S. Navy mobile communications satellite into orbit.

Photos: Navy satellite readied for Atlas 5 launch

January 16, 2015 Justin Ray

This photo gallery shows the U.S. Navy’s third Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite being encapsulated in the rocket’s nose cone and being lifted atop the Atlas-Centaur vehicle. Liftoff is planned for Jan. 20.

Atlas/MUOS 3 launch timeline

January 14, 2015 Justin Ray

Preview the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket launching the U.S. Navy’s third MUOS mobile communications satellite.

Navy satellite to be hoisted atop rocket for Jan. 20 launch

January 7, 2015 Justin Ray

The payload will be mounted aboard the 200th Atlas-Centaur rocket Thursday, completing assembly of the most-powerful version of the vehicle available in the modern era.

Photos: Orion spaceship unloaded from USS Anchorage

December 10, 2014 Stephen Clark

Fresh home from a high-flying test flight Friday that took it 3,600 miles above Earth, NASA’s Orion spacecraft was pulled off a U.S. Navy recovery ship Monday night for initial inspections before a cross-country trip to its home base in Florida.

Orion spacecraft back on land

December 9, 2014 Stephen Clark

A U.S. Navy transport ship carrying NASA’s first space-worthy Orion capsule arrived Monday in San Diego, where ground crews will offload the spacecraft for shipment back to its home port at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Photos: Orion capsule plucked from the Pacific

December 8, 2014 Stephen Clark

A recovery team stationed in the Pacific Ocean west of Baja California secured NASA’s Orion spacecraft and winched it into the flooded well deck of a U.S. Navy transport ship after the capsule splashed down into the sea to wrap up a successful four-and-a-half hour test flight.