Atlas launches military communications satellite
Posted: Sat, Apr 4, 2009, 10:59 AM ET (1459 GMT)
An Atlas 5 rocket successfully launched the second in a new series of military communications satellites Friday night. The Atlas 5 421 lifted off at 8:31 pm EDT Friday (0031 GMT Saturday) from Cape Canaveral and placed the WGS 2 satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit about a half hour later. The launch had been scheduled for last month but was delayed by a leaking valve in the rocket's Centaur upper stage that had to be replaced. WGS 2 is the second in the military's series of Wideband Global SATCOM spacecraft designed to greatly increase the military's communications capacity at Ka- and X-band frequencies. The satellite, built by Boeing, will operate at around 60 degrees east in GEO, serving the Middle East and Central Asia.
An Atlas 5 rocket successfully launched the second in a new series of military communications satellites Friday night. The Atlas 5 421 lifted off at 8:31 pm EDT Friday (0031 GMT Saturday) from Cape Canaveral and placed the WGS 2 satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit about a half hour later. The launch had been scheduled for last month but was delayed by a leaking valve in the rocket's Centaur upper stage that had to be replaced. WGS 2 is the second in the military's series of Wideband Global SATCOM spacecraft designed to greatly increase the military's communications capacity at Ka- and X-band frequencies. The satellite, built by Boeing, will operate at around 60 degrees east in GEO, serving the Middle East and Central Asia.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Blue Origin describes plans for increased New Glenn launch rates
Posted: Sat, Oct 17 11:41 AM ET (1541 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Wednesday, October 21
Elon Musk Thinks $3.5 Trillion Tesla-SpaceX Mashup Is a Good Idea
Bloomberg News — 6:37 am ET (1037 GMT) SA still committed to Bennell-Pegg space mission, as other states decline funding request
Australian Broadcasting Corporation — 6:35 am ET (1035 GMT) FAA Comment Period on spaceports closes next week
KADN-TV Lafayette, LA — 6:34 am ET (1034 GMT) Early-career graduate students host an exclusive, NASA-funded astrobiology conference
Univ. of Arizona — 6:32 am ET (1032 GMT) Completion of the Initial Critical Operations Phase of the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) Spacecraft
JAXA — 6:32 am ET (1032 GMT) |
