ULA to execute two Atlas 5 contracts

Juno mission going to Jupiter.

United Launch Alliance of Brevard County will execute two Atlas 5 launch contracts worth $315 million recently awarded to Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services of Littleton, Colo. Lockheed and Boeing formed ULA to execute government launches, but work on these contracts began before ULA was formed in 2005

A $190 million contract is for the Aug. 2011 launch of the Juno mission to Jupiter.

The recently awarded contract includes the launch service for an Atlas V model 551 rocket, payload processing, launch vehicle integration, and the necessary
tracking, data and telemetry support. The spacecraft is scheduled to
lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on an interplanetary trajectory to Jupiter, according to a NASA press release.

Juno will arrive at Jupiter in August 2016 to probe beneath the planet's thick, colorful clouds. Orbiting Jupiter for a year, Juno's remote sensing and gravity science measurements will study Jupiter's interior, atmosphere and polar magnetosphere to learn about the planet's origin and evolution.

The solar-powered Juno spacecraft will enter into an elliptical polar orbit that skims only 5000 kilometers above Jupiter's atmosphere.

Additionally, ULA will execute a $124 million contract to launch a satellite for the Landsat Data Continuity Mission in July 2011 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

NASA researchers use these satellites to study, understand and predict the consequences of land surface changes.