Slipping: ULA:Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. (Jan. 16, 2017) – The launch date for a United Launch Alliance Atlas V carrying NROL-79 for the National Reconnaissance Office is under review. The team is actively working to resolve Atlas V second stage booster issues discovered during vehicle testing. This additional time will allow the ULA team to ensure all systems are operating nominally prior to launch. A new launch date will be released once it is established. The Atlas V is set to lift off from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg air Force Base in California. The Atlas V SBIRS mission remains on schedule for Jan. 19 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, pending final vehicle verifications.
In June 2015, UrtheCast first announced its plans to build, launch and operate the OptiSAR™ Constellation, which is expected to comprise 16 satellites in total (eight optical and eight SAR) flying in two orbital planes, with each plane consisting of four satellite pairs. Each pair will fly in tandem and consist of a high-resolution optical satellite offering video and pushbroom imaging and a dual-band, high-resolution SAR satellite comprised of X and L radar bands. By employing two orbital planes, the OptiSAR™ Constellation can provide for maximum revisit rates in the mid-latitudes, while providing global coverage extending to the poles. Subject to UrtheCast financing the build and launch of the remaining six satellites in the first orbital plane, the first eight satellites are scheduled for launch in late 2021, with operations expected to begin in 2022.
NET Jan 30, just after midnight local time now, per L2 KSC schedule. Pad is the constraint, as the Static Fire date is what's moving as the primary driver (pending remaining pad work).
NET Feb 3. Window opens 00:07 local time. Emphasis on the NET.
Date - Satellite(s) - Rocket - Launch Site - Time (UTC)2017TBD - FORMOSAT 5, SHERPA SSO: eXCITe (PTB 1), Blacksky Global Pathfinder 2, Flock-2c (x56), Lemur-2 (x8), Corvus-BC 3, ICE-Cap, PropCube 2, Arkyd-6A, CNUSail 1, KAUSAT 5, SIGMA (KHUSAT 3), CANYVAL-X 1, CANYVAL-X 2, STEP Cube Lab, EcAMSat, ISARA, OCSD B, OCSD C, Fox 1C, Fox 1D, Nayif 1, skCUBE, ITASAT 1, Aalto 1, DIDO 1, 3Cat 1, LMPC (AeroCube 9), ROBUSTA 1B, SUCHAI - Falcon 9 - Vandenberg SLC-4E
NASA, Orbital ATK and United Launch Alliance (ULA) have updated the launch of the OA-7 commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station to Sunday, March 19. This date takes into account space station operations, payload processing, and range availability. Orbital ATK will launch Cygnus atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida for delivery of essential crew supplies, equipment and scientific experiments to astronauts aboard the station. The 30 minute launch window opens at approximately 10:56pm EDT.
Orbital Sciences Corp., Dulles, Virginia, has been awarded a $78,176,000 undefinitized contract action for Space Test Program Satellite-6 (STPSat-6) spacecraft integration and testing. Contractor will provide integration and early on-orbit support of the Department of Defense STPSat-6 space vehicle. Work will be performed at Dulles, Virginia; and Cape Canaveral, Florida, and is expected to be complete by Aug. 15, 2021.
