Atlas launches Navy communications satellite
Posted: Thu, Dec 18, 2003, 7:39 AM ET (1239 GMT)
An Atlas 3 booster successfully launched the last in a series of Navy communications satellite Wednesday night. The Atlas 3B lifted off from Pad 36B at Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 9:30 pm EST Wednesday (0230 GMT Thursday) and placed its payload, the UHF Follow-On (UFO) F11 spacecraft into geosynchronous transfer orbit 32 minutes later. The launch had been scheduled for Monday but was delayed two days to replace a boltcutter on a liquid oxygen valve that became too cold during pre-launch preparations. The Boeing-built UFO F11 satellite will be located at 172 degrees east and provide communications services for mobile terminals on ships, aircraft, and the ground. The spacecraft is the 11th and final in the UFO series; later this decade the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS), a next-generation system, will replace it. The launch was the 68th consecutive successful launch for an Atlas-family booster.
An Atlas 3 booster successfully launched the last in a series of Navy communications satellite Wednesday night. The Atlas 3B lifted off from Pad 36B at Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 9:30 pm EST Wednesday (0230 GMT Thursday) and placed its payload, the UHF Follow-On (UFO) F11 spacecraft into geosynchronous transfer orbit 32 minutes later. The launch had been scheduled for Monday but was delayed two days to replace a boltcutter on a liquid oxygen valve that became too cold during pre-launch preparations. The Boeing-built UFO F11 satellite will be located at 172 degrees east and provide communications services for mobile terminals on ships, aircraft, and the ground. The spacecraft is the 11th and final in the UFO series; later this decade the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS), a next-generation system, will replace it. The launch was the 68th consecutive successful launch for an Atlas-family booster.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Tuesday, November 4
Space42 Expands SAR Constellation
Aviation Week — 7:04 am ET (1204 GMT) Intuitive Machines to Acquire Lanteris Space Systems, Creating the Next-Generation Commercial, Civil, and National Security Space Prime
Intuitive Machines — 7:02 am ET (1202 GMT) As Florida doubles down on its support of space discovery, FIU takes a lead in exploring critical governance and security issues
Florida International Univ. — 7:01 am ET (1201 GMT) Why Do We Celebrate UCF Space Week? Because Discovery Starts Here
Univ. of Central Florida — 7:01 am ET (1201 GMT) MDA Space investing in $10 million in Maritime Launch Services
Canadian Press — 6:59 am ET (1159 GMT) |
