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Streaking to Orbit: United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the Advanced Extremely High Frequency AEHF-5 jam resistant military communications satellite for
the U.S. Air Force blasts off at twilights dawn to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) in this
long duration exposure photo on Aug. 8, 2019 at 6:13 a.m. ET from Space Launch
Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on a national security
mission securely connecting US troops globally with US national leadership. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Ken
Kremer -- SpaceUpClose.com &
RocketSTEM – 8 August 2019
CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL – An absolutely otherworldly and utterly rare ‘Space Jellyfish’ was spawned in the twilight skies this morning Thursday, Aug. 8 by a mesmerizingly awesome launch of a mighty ULA Atlas V rocket carrying a critical military comsat for the nations warfighters – namely the fifth Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF-5) communications satellite – as it streaked to orbit for the U.S. Air Force that will provide secure jam-resistant military relay communications for US troops across the globe during peacetime and in war in case of a nuclear attack.
Furthermore, the ULA Atlas V AEHF-5 blastoff and streak skywards to geostationary orbit certainly counts as one of the most beautiful and thrilling launches ever witnessed from the Florida Space Coast – everyone unanimously agreed!
But it only came about after a nearly 30 minute hold to resolve several technical glitches and relentlessly increasing daylight at twilights dawn threatened to obliterate our view of the gorgeous ‘Space Jellyfish’ - which is only seen near sunrise and sunset as the rocket rises into daylight and the exhaust plume particles and ice crystal are illuminated.
The 20-story tall ULA Atlas V rocket carrying the $1.2 Billion Lockheed Martin built AEHF-5 military satcom mission for the U.S. Air Force Space Command finally lifted off from seaside Space Launch Complex-41, Thursday, Aug. 8 at 6:13 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL.
The Atlas V roared off pad 41 with 2.6 million pounds of liftoff thrust and put on a most spectacular sky show into near cloudless skies and picture perfect condition that allowed us to see the birth and growth of the stunning space jellyfish.
Enjoy our expanding Space UpClose launch and launch pad gallery of photos/videos of the Atlas V rocket launch and our media camera setup opportunity Wednesday afternoon - which was nearly scrubbed by the terrible weather and phase 2 lightning condition.
Complete success for the mission would not be
known and assured for nearly six hours as the Atlas V rockets Centaur upper
stage fired for a total of three orbit raising and adjustment burns.
The final Centaur firing took place some 5 hours and 36 minutes after liftoff with AEHF-5 spacecraft separation planned for 5 hours and 40 minutes after liftoff.
The 6.7 ton satellite will now undergo three months
of further orbit raising and another month of on-orbit testing.
“The satellite successfully separated from the launch vehicle upper stage approximately 5 hours and 40 minutes after liftoff and will now undergo approximately 97 days of orbit-raising operations, followed by approximately 30 days of on-orbit testing,” the Air Force Space and Missiles Systems Center confirmed in a statement.
CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL – An absolutely otherworldly and utterly rare ‘Space Jellyfish’ was spawned in the twilight skies this morning Thursday, Aug. 8 by a mesmerizingly awesome launch of a mighty ULA Atlas V rocket carrying a critical military comsat for the nations warfighters – namely the fifth Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF-5) communications satellite – as it streaked to orbit for the U.S. Air Force that will provide secure jam-resistant military relay communications for US troops across the globe during peacetime and in war in case of a nuclear attack.
Furthermore, the ULA Atlas V AEHF-5 blastoff and streak skywards to geostationary orbit certainly counts as one of the most beautiful and thrilling launches ever witnessed from the Florida Space Coast – everyone unanimously agreed!
But it only came about after a nearly 30 minute hold to resolve several technical glitches and relentlessly increasing daylight at twilights dawn threatened to obliterate our view of the gorgeous ‘Space Jellyfish’ - which is only seen near sunrise and sunset as the rocket rises into daylight and the exhaust plume particles and ice crystal are illuminated.
The 20-story tall ULA Atlas V rocket carrying the $1.2 Billion Lockheed Martin built AEHF-5 military satcom mission for the U.S. Air Force Space Command finally lifted off from seaside Space Launch Complex-41, Thursday, Aug. 8 at 6:13 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL.
The Atlas V roared off pad 41 with 2.6 million pounds of liftoff thrust and put on a most spectacular sky show into near cloudless skies and picture perfect condition that allowed us to see the birth and growth of the stunning space jellyfish.
Enjoy our expanding Space UpClose launch and launch pad gallery of photos/videos of the Atlas V rocket launch and our media camera setup opportunity Wednesday afternoon - which was nearly scrubbed by the terrible weather and phase 2 lightning condition.
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Space Jellyfish spawned in the skies over the Florida Space
Coast after liftoff of United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the Advanced Extremely High Frequency AEHF-5 jam resistant military communications satellite for
the U.S. Air Force on Aug. 8, 2019 at 6:13 a.m. ET from Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station,
Florida. See both payload fairings and load
reactor segment tumbling overhead inside the bulb and mesoglea like feature. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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The final Centaur firing took place some 5 hours and 36 minutes after liftoff with AEHF-5 spacecraft separation planned for 5 hours and 40 minutes after liftoff.
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Streaking to Orbit and forming a ‘space
jellyfish’: United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the Advanced
Extremely High Frequency AEHF-5 jam resistant military
communications satellite for the USAF blasts off at twilights dawn to GTO in this wide angle photo on Aug. 8,
2019 at 6:13 a.m. ET from Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station,
Florida. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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“The satellite successfully separated from the launch vehicle upper stage approximately 5 hours and 40 minutes after liftoff and will now undergo approximately 97 days of orbit-raising operations, followed by approximately 30 days of on-orbit testing,” the Air Force Space and Missiles Systems Center confirmed in a statement.
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Space Jellyfish spawned in the skies over the Florida Space
Coast after liftoff of United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the Advanced Extremely High Frequency AEHF-5 jam resistant military communications satellite for
the U.S. Air Force on Aug. 8, 2019 at 6:13 a.m. ET from Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station,
Florida. Credit:
Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Eventually a constellation of six is planned to be completed next year.
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Up Close Engine view
of the fiery fury spewing from the five first stage Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ-60A solid
rocket boosters and liquid fueled Russian made RD-180 engine after launch of
the ULA Atlas V carrying the Advanced Extremely High Frequency AEHF-5 jam resistant military communications satellite for
the U.S. Air Force on Aug. 8, 2019 at 6:13 a.m. ET from Space Launch
Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on US national
security mission. Credit: Ken
Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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“The satellite is healthy and operating as expected. We have now turned our attention to maneuvering it into its final orbital location over the next several months and look forward to many years of service in providing critical communications capabilities to our warfighters around the world.”
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ULA Atlas V rocket carrying the Advanced
Extremely High Frequency AEHF-5 jam resistant
military communications satellite for the U.S. Air Force blasts off on Aug. 8, 2019 at 6:13 a.m. ET from Space Launch
Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on a national security
mission securely connecting US troops globally with US national leadership. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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AEHF-5 counts as the newest and most advanced US Air Force jam-resistant protected military communications satellite, and will play a vital role in U.S. national security.
AEHF provides survivable, global, highly secure, protected, and jam-resistant communications for high-priority military ground, sea, and air assets, between U.S. national leadership [meaning the President] and deployed military forces, says USAF Space Command.
The AEHF constellation “provides 10
times the throughput and a substantial increase in coverage compared to the
1990s-era Milstar satellites” that it replaces and are currently in
orbit.
The satellite was built by prime contractor Lockheed Martin at the satellite integration facility in Sunnyvale, California, based on the A 2100 series communications satellite spacecraft model and has a mass of some 6100 kg (13600 pounds).
The AEHF constellation also provides protected satellite communications for American allies including Canada, United Kingdom, Netherlands and Australia.
The cost of the Lockheed Martin built AEHF-5 satellite years in the making and critical for U.S. national security and our troops is about $1.1 Billion.
The prior satellite in the AEHF constellation namely AEHF-4 launched on a ULA Atlas 551 vehicle in Oct. 2018. See our Space UpClose photos.
ULA fly their workhorse Atlas V rocket in the commanding 551 configuration to launch the secure AEHF-5 milsatcom for Air Force Space Command.
The 551 configuration includes a LOX & RP-1 kerosene-fueled common core booster, a five-meter-diameter payload fairing (PLF) built by RUAG Space. The Atlas V first stage booster for this mission was powered by the twin nozzle RD AMROSS RD-180 engine and five first stage strap-on Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ-60A solid rocket motors and a single engine LOX & LH2 fueled Centaur upper stage powered by the RL10C-1 engine.
The satellite was built by prime contractor Lockheed Martin at the satellite integration facility in Sunnyvale, California, based on the A 2100 series communications satellite spacecraft model and has a mass of some 6100 kg (13600 pounds).
The AEHF constellation also provides protected satellite communications for American allies including Canada, United Kingdom, Netherlands and Australia.
The cost of the Lockheed Martin built AEHF-5 satellite years in the making and critical for U.S. national security and our troops is about $1.1 Billion.
The prior satellite in the AEHF constellation namely AEHF-4 launched on a ULA Atlas 551 vehicle in Oct. 2018. See our Space UpClose photos.
ULA fly their workhorse Atlas V rocket in the commanding 551 configuration to launch the secure AEHF-5 milsatcom for Air Force Space Command.
The 551 configuration includes a LOX & RP-1 kerosene-fueled common core booster, a five-meter-diameter payload fairing (PLF) built by RUAG Space. The Atlas V first stage booster for this mission was powered by the twin nozzle RD AMROSS RD-180 engine and five first stage strap-on Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ-60A solid rocket motors and a single engine LOX & LH2 fueled Centaur upper stage powered by the RL10C-1 engine.
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A United Launch
Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the AEHF-5 milcomsat for the U.S. Air Force is poised for twilight liftoff to GTO on Aug.
8, 2019 at 5:44 a.m. ET from Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air
Force Station, Florida on a national security mission. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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With the successful delivery of AEHF-5 to orbit this marks will be 134th successful mission for ULA since the company was founded in 2006 and the 50th launch for the Air Force maintaining a 100% success rate. It is the 80th for an Atlas V rocket and the 10th in the 551 configuration.
Atlas V rockets successfully launched the first four AEHF satellites in 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2018.
My commentary about both the ULA and SpaceX launches was
featured on local Channel 13 Spectrum TV News and the Front Page of Florida
Today:
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Dr. Ken Kremer/Space UpClose post launch interview with Spectrum
News 13 about ULA Atlas V AEHF-5 military comsat launch Aug. 8, 2019. Screenshot:
Ken Kremer/Spectrum 13
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Dr. Ken Kremer/Space UpClose post launch interview
on Florida Today front page Aug. 9, 2019 about ULA Atlas V AEHF-5 launch Aug. 8,
2019
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The
next Atlas V launch will be the first uncrewed Orbital Flight Test (OFT) of the
Boeing Starliner commercial crew vehicle.
No launch date has been announced but could be as soon as late September or October.
But it could come about 4 to 6 weeks after this Atlas, as ULA can now process and stack the next Atlas former NASA astronaut and current Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson told me recently.
Ken is onsite at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for live reporting of the ULA AEHF-5 mission launch.
Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.
Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com
Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics.
………….
No launch date has been announced but could be as soon as late September or October.
But it could come about 4 to 6 weeks after this Atlas, as ULA can now process and stack the next Atlas former NASA astronaut and current Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson told me recently.
Ken is onsite at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for live reporting of the ULA AEHF-5 mission launch.
Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.
Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com
Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics.
………….
Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events
ken’s upcoming outreach events:
Aug 8: Quality Inn Kennedy Space Center, Titusville, FL, evenings. Learn more about the upcoming/recent SpaceX AMOS-17, SpaceX Falcon 9/CRS-18 launch to ISS, NASA Orion Ascent-2 Abort test Falcon Heavy, NASA 2024 Moon landing goal, SpaceX Starlink-1, SpaceX Demo-1 launch/test failure, SpaceX Beresheet launch, NASA missions, ULA Atlas & Delta launches, Northrop Grumman Antares, SpySats and more
Ken will display his photos for sale
Aug 30, 7 PM: Skyscrapers Inc Astronomical Society, Seagrave Memorial Observatory, 47 Peeptoad Road, North Scituate, Rhode Island:
“Exploring Mars and the Search for life – 3D” – Learn all about NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover illustrated with Ken’s custom created Mars rover panoramas from Curiosity, Spriit and Opportunity and up close clean room and launch pad views. Free and open to public
Ken’s Space/Rocket/Mars imagery for sale to support his outreach
Website:s http://www.theskyscrapers.org/
ken’s upcoming outreach events:
Aug 8: Quality Inn Kennedy Space Center, Titusville, FL, evenings. Learn more about the upcoming/recent SpaceX AMOS-17, SpaceX Falcon 9/CRS-18 launch to ISS, NASA Orion Ascent-2 Abort test Falcon Heavy, NASA 2024 Moon landing goal, SpaceX Starlink-1, SpaceX Demo-1 launch/test failure, SpaceX Beresheet launch, NASA missions, ULA Atlas & Delta launches, Northrop Grumman Antares, SpySats and more
Ken will display his photos for sale
Aug 30, 7 PM: Skyscrapers Inc Astronomical Society, Seagrave Memorial Observatory, 47 Peeptoad Road, North Scituate, Rhode Island:
“Exploring Mars and the Search for life – 3D” – Learn all about NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover illustrated with Ken’s custom created Mars rover panoramas from Curiosity, Spriit and Opportunity and up close clean room and launch pad views. Free and open to public
Ken’s Space/Rocket/Mars imagery for sale to support his outreach
Website:s http://www.theskyscrapers.org/
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Artists concept of AEHF satellites in orbit. Credit:
Lockheed Martin
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