That mission, called OFT-2, will be the spacecraft's second uncrewed orbital flight test. Tuesday's flight kicks off a busy summer for ULA, which includes the launch of Boeing's Starliner crew capsule to the International Space Station. The flight is the eighth time overall that an Atlas V has flown in the 421 configuration and marked the 87th flight of an Atlas V. A single RL-10 engine, made by Aerojet Rocketdyne, will power Atlas V's Centaur upper stage. Tuesday's flight launched in the 421 configuration which features two solid rocket motors, and a 13.12-foot (4 m) diameter payload fairing. Northrop Grumman built the satellite's onboard sensors that provide visibility over an entire hemisphere, while also allowing ground operators to focus the craft's gaze on hotspots, like North Korea and Russia, for example.Īll of the SBIRS satellites have launched on an Atlas V rocket, in various configurations. (4,850 kilograms) and carries sophisticated infrared scanning and staring sensors that allow the military to track missiles that might threaten U.S. Its capabilities are illustrated in the mission's patch, which features a red-and-blue logo of an eagle holding a missile in its talons with the Earth in the background.Īs the Space Force's fifth Space-Based Infrared System, or SBIRS, satellite, it's part of a constellation that will eventually contain six satellites.įully fueled, the SBIRS Geo-5 satellite weighs about 10,700 lbs.

and allied forces to prepare for any impending attacks, ULA officials said. (Image credit: United Launch Alliance)īuilt by Lockheed Martin, the $1 billion satellite is designed to detect and track plumes produced by missile launches around the world with the help of its onboard infrared sensors. Space Force stands atop Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Related: Pentagon picks SpaceX, ULA to launch national security missionsĪ United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the SBIRS Geo-5 missile detection satellite for the U.S. Ran out of time before we sufficiently understood it.' 'Bad sensor prevented us from confirming the chill,' Bruno tweeted. ULA's CEO, Tory Bruno, said late Monday that the culprit was a 'faulty temperature' sensor in the liquid oxygen ground system. ULA dispatched a team to the pad to troubleshoot the issue however, the team was unable to resolve it during the 40-minute launch window. During Monday's fueling preparations, an anomaly was detected with the rocket's liquid oxygen system. The Atlas V is fueled with liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene (called RP-1) in its first stage and liquid oxygen and hydrogen in the upper stage. (ULA never specified what object they were trying to avoid.) That delay came after the launch team pushed back the target launch time earlier in the countdown, as part of a collision avoidance maneuver to ensure the rocket would not fly close to an object already in orbit.

The mission, called Space-Based Infrared System Geosynchronous Earth Orbit Flight 5 (SBIRS Geo-5), was delayed 24 hours after an issue cropped up during fueling operations on Monday (May 17). Space Force lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on May 18, 2021. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the SBIRS GEO Flight 5 missile-warning satellite for the U.S.

Full moon atlas