High-Tech Military Satellite Launched From Florida Atop A ULA Atlas V Rocket
Earlier today, United Launch Alliance (ULA) fired up its workhorse Altas V rocket for the fifth time this year to deliver an advanced Air Force satellite into orbit.
The 197-foot-tall (60 meters) rocket blasted off into space in the early hours of the morning, launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 12:15 a.m. EDT (04:15 GMT), reports Spaceflight Now.
According to NASA Spaceflight, today’s launch saw the most powerful version of ULA’s rocket — the Atlas V 551 — soar to the skies with a high-tech military satellite dubbed AEHF-4.
Short for Advanced Extremely High Frequency 4, the spacecraft was built by U.S. aerospace company Lockheed Martin as part of a military satellite constellation created to “provide survivable, global, secure, and jam-resistant communications for high-priority military ground, sea, and air assets,” U.S. Air Force officials said in a statement.
