Most Powerful ULA Atlas V Propels AF MilSat Duo to Orbit during Stunning Sunset Liftoff: Gallery


A
United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the Air Force Space
Command AFSPC-11 mission lifted off from Space Launch Complex-41 on April 14,
2018 at 7:13 p.m. EDT
on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL.  Credit:
Ken
Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

Ken Kremer 
   SpaceUpClose.com  —   16 April 2018

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL – A duo of military
research satellites were successfully propelled to high Earth orbit by the most
powerful configuration of the venerable Atlas V rocket during a stunning sunset
liftoff on Saturday, April 14, from Cape Canaveral, Florida

The United Launch Alliance
(ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the Air Force Space Command (AFSPC)-11 mission
lifted off from Space Launch Complex-41 on April 14 right at the opening of the
launch window at 7:13 p.m. EDT.

Check out our gallery of launch images.

A
United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the Air Force Space
Command AFSPC-11 mission lifted off from Space Launch Complex-41 on April 14,
2018 at 7:13 p.m. EDT
on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL.  Credit:
Ken
Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

The Atlas V successfully delivered the payload codenamed
AFSPC-11 to geostationary orbit as planned some six hours after a flawless
liftoff from the sunshine state.




The AFSPC-11 payload is comprised of a stacked pair of
satellites named CBAS and EAGLE
The forward payload is
referred to as CBAS (Continuous Broadcast Augmenting SATCOM) and the aft
spacecraft is EAGLE (EELV Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) Augmented
Geosynchronous Experiment), said Air Force officials.







This is the 77th launch of
the Atlas V rocket, ULA’s 4th launch in 2018 and the 127th successful launch
since the company was formed in December 2006.




Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, National
Security, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK and more
space and mission
reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station, Florida.

Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing
Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com –
twitter @ken_kremer –
ken
at kenkremer.com

Ken Kremer

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news. 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.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.