spacetoday.net: Atlas launches military communications satellite

Posted: Sat, Apr 4, 2009, 10:59 AM ET (1459 GMT)
Atlas 5 421 launch of WGS 2 (ULA)

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.