A classified National Reconnaissance Office spacecraft is winging its way around the planet tonight after a roaring rocket launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.With the clandestine cargo nestled in its protective nosecone, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 5:05 p.m. EST.
A crackling rumble rippled across the eastern coast of Florida as the rocket leapt off Launch Complex 41 and then arced out over the Atlantic Ocean, trailing a puffy white umbilical of smoke. The Atlas appeared to fly on a northerly trajectory, and officials with the NRO declared victory about 90 minutes after launch.
"We have had a totally successful launch," NRO spokesman Rick Oborn said.
The NRO would not identify the payload. But Craig Covault, senior editor with the highly regarded trade magazine Aviation Week and Space Technology, said it was a Boeing-built Satellite Data System spacecraft.
He said the spacecraft will fly in a highly elleiptical orbit, relaying images and data to the ground from other NRO spacecraft -- particularly KH-11 photo reconnaissance satellites in polar orbits.
Here is the news release that ULA put out after the mission: NRO%20L-24%20Post-launch%20Release.doc.
Coming up next on the Space Coast: the planned Dec. 20 launch of a ULA Delta 2 rocket and a Navstar Global Positioning System satellite. Launch window: 2:59 p.m. to 3:13 p.m.
Join us for live coverage here in The Flame Trench.
IMAGE NOTE: Click to enlarge the ULA photo of the Atlas 5 rocket moments after its sporty Russian RD-180 first stage engine ignited at 5:05 p.m. EST at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 41. Photo credit: ULA/Pat Corkery.
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