Saturday, August 14, 2010

Atlas V launches new era of secure military communications

A next generation military communications satellite is safely in orbit following a launch atop an Atlas V rocket just after sunrise this morning.

The United Launch Alliance rocket concluded a smooth countdown with an on-time 7:07 a.m. blastoff into a clear sky, with the sun low on the horizon.

The rocket carried a trail of smoke and steam on an easterly course over the Atlantic Ocean, jettisoning three solid rocket motors nearly two minutes into flight and dropping the first stage booster a couple of minutes later.

ULA and the Air Force declared mission success after the first Advanced Extremely High Frequency, or AEHF, spacecraft separated from the Centaur upper stage 51 minutes into flight.

The AEHF-1 satellite is the first of at least three designed to provide 10 times the capacity of the Milstar constellation they will replace.

The Lockheed Martin Corp.-built spacecraft will take weeks to settle in a geosynchronous orbit about 22,000 miles above the planet, helping to provide highly secure communications even in the event of nuclear war.

The second AEHF satellite is expected to be launched next year on the same type of rocket.

IMAGE: A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with the Air Force's Advanced Extremely High Frequency-1 (AEHF-1) satellite launches from its Launch Complex-41 pad at 7:07 a.m. EDT today. Photo by Pat Corkery, ULA.

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