ULA Atlas 5 (531) Launch with AEHF-1 satellite from SLC-41 pad

August 14, 2010 - Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
A sophisticated satellite was launched into space today to improve the preeminent path of communications between the president, military commanders and troops on the battlefield, ensuring a survivable line of contact even in hellish scenarios of nuclear warfare.
The inaugural spacecraft in the Advanced Extremely High Frequency program rode a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket away from Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 at 7:07 a.m. EDT.
Three solid-fueled boosters mounted to the launcher's kerosene-fed first stage provided a substantial kick in speed and power coming off the pad, sending the 197-foot-tall, million-pound Atlas blazing a trail toward the east.
A scant five minutes later, the rocket had ascended out of the atmosphere and the cryogenic Centaur upper stage lit its liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen engine for the first of two burns. The second firing delivered the necessary push to deploy the AEHF 1 satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit.
The 13,420-pound payload separated from the rocket 51 minutes after liftoff while cruising high above the Indian Ocean.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• ula
• atlas
• 531
• rocket
• launch
• aehf-1
• aehf
• satellite
• cape
• canaveral
• air
• force
• station
• slc-41

[ugowar]

@Feexer007 Probably because the booster flew on a different azimuth than desired due to SRB disposal considerations. Also, Atlas enables closed loop steering somewhere around that point, before that and during early portions of ascent it flies a preprogrammed pitch profile.

[Feexer007]

Did you notice that just after SRB sep core changed it's yaw to right? What's the reason?

[paperpichay]

Thanks for posting!

Can't wait for SV2!