spacetoday.net: Atlas 5 launches military satellites

Posted: Fri, Mar 9, 2007, 8:27 AM ET (1327 GMT)
Atlas 5 launch of STP-1 (ULA)

An Atlas 5 rocket launched a half-dozen small military satellites Thursday night, including two that will test advanced satellite servicing technologies. The Atlas 5 401 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 10:10 pm EST Thursday (0310 GMT Friday), placing six spacecraft into low Earth orbits. The two primary spacecraft on the STP-1 mission, as the launch was designated, were ASTRO and NextSat, the two parts of the Orbital Express mission built by Boeing and Ball Aerospace, respectively, for DARPA. The two spacecraft will spend the next three months testing technologies to allow spacecraft to be refueled and serviced while in orbit. Also launched on the Atlas 5 were four small satellites, including two built by the Naval and Air Force Academies, that were on a secondary payload adapter. The launch was the first Atlas 5 mission for United Launch Alliance since the Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture officially began operations in December 2006. The launch was also the first Atlas 5 mission for the Air Force; previous Atlas 5 flights had been for NASA or commercial customers.