Science |

After Idalia delay, ULA is set for an Atlas V launch on Saturday

United Launch Alliance has only launched one rocket in 2023 and Hurricane Idalia put a hold on what it planned to be No. 2.

Plans are back now, though, for an 8:51 a.m. liftoff on Saturday of an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 on the joint SILENTBARKER/NROL-107 mission for National Reconnaissance Office and Space Force.

Space Launch Delta 45’s weather squadron forecasts 85% chance for good conditions, and same in the event of a 24-hour delay.

SILENTBARKER’s classified mission, which includes multiple payloads, has a primary goal of placing watchdog satellites in geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) “so that we can understand the intentions of other countries to see what they’re doing in the GEO belts and see if there’s any indications of threats or if it’s just normal operations,” said Chris Scolese, director of the NRO on a media call last week. “That capability will just allow us to have increased understanding of what’s going on there.”

Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein, commander of the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command, said the goal of Space Force when it was created in 2019 was to get a handle on a more congested and contested space environment. This is the first of two or more missions to deliver multiple payloads as part of that watchdog role in national security.

“The capability that we’re going to launch [Saturday] goes a long way toward giving us the competitive endurance, competitive advantage in space to make sure we can not only see, but maintain custody of the threats in GEO,” he said.

ULA President and CEO Tory Bruno said this version of the Atlas is one of the most powerful for launch.

“The launch is going to be cool. This is our bruiser configuration of the Atlas,” he said in that it has five solid rocket motors. “When you hear ‘4-3-2-1 Ignition,’ do not blink because it will leap off the pad, will be pulling more than a G before we clear the top of that tower.”

He said the spacecraft will burn through 500,000 pounds of solid propellant within 90 seconds after which the boosters will fall off. It will then reach space within 3 1/2 minutes, lose its fairing and make it to low-Earth orbit at about 20,000 mph about a minute later.

The upper Centaur stage will then perform orbital maneuvers to get the payloads to their destination orbit in GEO about 24,000 miles away.

“My rocket scientists love this mission because it is what Atlas was designed to do,” Bruno said. “And no other rocket is better. … This is going to do a lot to keep us safe — high ground, peaceful high ground — as it is meant to be.”

It was due to launch on Aug. 29, but because of what was at the time an approaching Tropical Storm Idalia to Florida’s Gulf Coast, ULA opted to roll back the Atlas V to the safety of its vertical integration facility allowing teams to prepare for the storm.

Brevard County ended up being under a tropical storm warning all day Wednesday while what grew into dangerous Hurricane Idalia traveled up the Gulf Coast eventually hitting Florida’s Big Bend.

ULA’s lone launch in 2023 was a Delta IV Heavy back in June, also a mission for the NRO. That was the second-to-last Delta IV with the last slated to fly next year.

It has not launched an Atlas V since November 2022, which was from California. The last Space Coast Atlas V launch was November 2022.

ULA also only has limited Atlas V rockets left as it continues to develop its new Vulcan Centaur, which could fly before the end of the year, but has faced a series of delays.

Because of those delays, there might be another Atlas V launch this month, currently targeting Sept. 26  with payload to carry up two of Amazon’s test Project Kuiper satellites that had been on the manifest for the first Vulcan Centaur launch. Amazon had already purchased nine of the remaining fleet of Atlas rockets, though, while also purchasing dozens of Vulcan Centaur launches in its effort to get its 3,236 satellite constellation in place so that it could compete with the likes of SpaceX’s Starlink system and other satellite providers. With Vulcan’s delay, Amazon opted to fly sooner than later on one of its  Atlas Vs.

ULA also uses Atlas V rockets for the Boeing CST-100 Starliner, but what was supposed to be its first crewed mission flying to the International Space Station this year has been delayed to no earlier than March 2024.

This is the 97th national security mission for ULA and 33rd for the NRO, Bruno said, with this the final Atlas V mission for the NRO.

“It’s bittersweet,” Bruno said. “It’s our mission that we’re designed for, so it’s kind of a fitting way to end that. But it means a lot to our guys. You’re going to see people with tears in the corner of their eye. However, we move from here to Vulcan and Vulcan will have actually more capabilities than Atlas, … in a way it’s kind of like an Atlas VI. Think of it that way.”