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Atlas 3 Carries Military Communications Satellite to Orbit
By Jim Banke
Senior Producer,
posted: 10:10 pm ET
17 December 2003
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- An Atlas 3B rocket successfully lifted a military communications satellite into Earth orbit Wednesday night on a commercial mission procured from International Launch Services. The Lockheed Martin-built booster blasted off at 9:30 p.m. EST (0230 GMT Thursday) from pad 36B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and began a nearly 33-minute satellite delivery mission. Flying atop the 176-foot-tall (53.6 meters) launcher was a satellite known as UFO F11, an acronym meaning the 11th in a series of Ultra High Frequency Follow On spacecraft. The Boeing Space Systems-built satellite will join a constellation of nine similar orbiting spacecraft that form the backbone of a $2.1 billion system first ordered in 1988.Operated by the U.S. Navy, but intended to serve all branches of the military, the satellites provide secure links between troops on the ground, in the air or on the oceans. About 20,000 satellite terminals designed for this system are in use around the world, officials said. Wednesday's launch -- which took place on the 100th anniversary of the first powered flight by the Wright Brothers -- was the last in this UFO series. The first, launched in March 1993, was lost because of a problem with the upper stage of the Atlas 1 rocket. Since then, all remaining UFO spacecraft have flown on versions of the Atlas vehicle without incident. In fact, this launched marked the 68th consecutive success of an Atlas mission and continued the perfect string of Atlas 3 missions at four. A Monday launch attempt was scrubbed due to a technical issue at the pad. Windy conditions threatened Wednesday's shot but ultimately did not interfere with the launch. More from SPACE.com:
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