T+0:00:00 |
Liftoff |
The twin Solid Rocket Motor Upgrade (SRMU) boosters are ignited and the Titan 4B rocket launches from Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. |
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T+0:00:07 |
Roll Program |
Rocket beings a roll maneuver to the flight azimuth of 93 degrees for the travel downrange from launch site. |
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T+0:02:11 |
Stage 1 Ignition |
The Titan 4B rocket's core vehicle stage 1 engines -- Aerojet LR87-AJ-11 -- is ignited. The liquid-propellant powerplants burns Aerozine-50 fuel and nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer. |
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T+0:02:26 |
SRMU Separation |
Having consumed all their solid-propellant, the two Alliant Techsystems-built solid rocket boosters are jettisoned to fall into the Atlantic Ocean. |
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T+0:03:35 |
Jettison Payload Fairing |
The tri-sector payload fairing buit by Boeing that protected the Milstar satellite during launch is separated once heating levels drop to predetermined limits. |
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T+0:05:25 |
Staging of Titan Core |
The first stage engine shuts down and the second stage Aerojet LR91-AJ-11 engine is ignited. The spent first stage is jettisoned from the rest of the space-bound Titan 4B rocket one second after the second stage is started. |
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T+0:09:06 |
Stage 2 Shutdown |
The liquid-fueled second stage engine completes its firing and begins a momentary coast period before deployment of the upper stage and Milstar payload. |
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T+0:09:14 |
Stage 2/Centaur Separation |
The Lockheed Martin-built Centaur upper stage (TC-22) is released from the Titan rocket's core vehicle, which has completed its role in the launch. |
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T+0:09:36 |
Centaur Burn 1 |
The liquid-fueled Centaur stage is ignited for the first of three firings needed to deliver the Milstar satellite into the desired geostationary orbit. |
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T+0:11:34 |
Centaur Cutoff 1 |
The Centaur completes its first burn to achieve a stable low-Earth orbit with the attached Milstar satellite. |
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T+1:05:02 |
Centaur Burn 2 |
After quiet coast period through space, the Centaur stage is restarted in the first of a two-step process to propel Milstar in geostationary orbit. |
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T+1:10:13 |
Centaur Cutoff 2 |
The Centaur engines are shut down following the firing that should raise one side of the orbit to geostationary altitude of 22,300 miles. |
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T+6:22:24 |
Centaur Burn 3 |
Following a lengthy coast to the high point of its orbit -- around geostationary altitude -- the Centaur engines are again reignited to circularize the orbit by raising the low end of the orbit. This will deliver Milstar into a geostationary orbit 22,300 miles above the planet. |
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T+6:24:36 |
Centaur Cutoff 3 |
Shut down of the Centaur engines occur to complete the powered phase of this launch. The stage now prepares to release the Milstar satellite. Centaur will later perform a collision avoidance maneuver, propellant blowdown and hydrazine depletion after spacecraft separation. |
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T+6:34:49 |
Spacecraft Separation |
The Milstar 2-F2 secure military communications satellite is deployed into space from the Centaur upper stage to complete the Titan B-41 launch. |