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Atlas 2AS Rocket Sends Spanish Satellite into Earth Orbit
By Jim Banke
Senior Producer, Cape Canaveral Bureau
posted: 08:00 pm ET
18 September 2002
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A commercial Atlas 2AS rocket launched Wednesday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station successfully carried a Spanish communications spacecraft into Earth orbit. The shot was the first for the Lockheed Martin and International Launch Services (ILS) launch team since they celebrated the inaugural Atlas 5 mission on Aug. 21. Launches of Atlas 2 and Atlas 3 rockets took place earlier in the year. "It's really a testimonial to their incredible expertise and ability to seamlessly operate vehicles from one to another without a hitch," said ILS president Mark Albrecht. "This team really understands how to launch vehicles." This satellite delivery mission lifted off at 6:04 p.m. EDT (2204 GMT) from pad 36A following an essentially trouble free countdown. The few minor problems were solved without delaying the on-time launch. The 15-story booster, equipped with four solid rocket boosters strapped to its first stage, climbed into a sunny blue sky and left a bright white trail of smoke that made it easy to follow the launch from all over Central Florida. Sightings of the rocket, in fact, were reported as far away as Tampa on Florida's west coast. Just as planned, 29 minutes after launch the Hispasat 1D separated from its Centaur upper stage and was injected into an egg-shaped orbit.It will now take several weeks for the Alcatel-built spacecraft to circularize its orbit and settle into its final position at 30 degrees West longitude, 22,300 miles (35,900 kilometers) above the equator. Once there and declared operational, the satellite will provide basic communications services to areas covering the Americas, Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. By the numbers, Wednesday's launch marked the fourth Atlas mission of 2002, the seventh for ILS this year and the 25th straight success for the Atlas 2AS rocket. "Certainly the Atlas 2 family has demonstrated unparalleled reliability, and it's a great workhorse vehicle that is coming to the end of its lifetime," Albrecht said. With the introduction of the Atlas 5 family of boosters and the larger-sized satellites dominating the market, ILS expects to fly only about a half-dozen more Atlas 2 boosters. ILS markets the Atlas and Russian Proton rockets. The next Atlas mission is scheduled for Nov. 20. That's when an Atlas 2A rocket will carry a NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite into Earth orbit. Launch is expected between 10:36 and 11:16 p.m. EST (0336 to 0416 GMT Nov. 21).
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